The Vst for guitar is one of the most difficult instruments to accept for a guitarist who is usually very attached to the older school conception of sound so he would hardly accept a signal processed by a sound card and a computer.
There are many options on the market that allow an at least optimal result, nowadays we have reached very high levels of quality and these software are increasingly advanced and well sounding.
Today we are talking about a software that has a very interesting park of simulations that it is Over Loud TH3, one of the leading products of the Modenese software house as regards the six-string, with about 203 models emulated between amplifiers and effects, it stands out as one of the most complete suites to date, let's see how it is structured.
Interface
The interface is hallucinating banality, but I found the management of the single units slightly difficult through the zoom of the central section that manages the entire chain.
on the left there are the various presets that can be created and those of the factory, at the top there are the various possible settings and the tuner, even in that case the settings are simple and it is possible to manage the buffer for signal management.
On the right side we see the menu that allows the component-by-component choice of the various devices for our audio chain, we can find:
- Amplifiers
- The firm
- compressors
- Overdive
- Fuzz
- Distortionists
- Chorus
- Delay
- Other (Volume and Acoustic Simulator)
It is not very difficult to understand, it becomes intuitive both in the choice of the factory presets and in the drag and drop of the individual elements, but the fact that the front screen has to be managed through different zoom percentages and a small image of the audio chain. it left a bitter taste in the mouth, not really comfortable for everyone in my opinion, the screen below helps navigation this is true, but I would have preferred a more responsive system to the mouse wheel to zoom.
I found very interesting the way the sound chain is built, many combinations of effects are possible both before and after the amplifier, and the possibility of building stereo chains.
Everything is managed, as mentioned above, through a very simple drag and drop system that is very simple to use and each parameter can be changed by turning the knob or by directly writing the value to which you want to set the effects module (the latter is more valid for the section of delays and modulations that for the single pedal).
All in all, with a little time and a little dedication you can get used to it, I don't think it should be rejected on this point of view.
Sound rendering
I wanted to try this vst in conditions of absolute poverty, I used very entry level equipment to see how far the vst can go.
I made the registrations with:
- Fender Lonestar Deluxe Stratocaster
- Linfaudio Platinum Way cable
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB first generation sound card
Nothing esoteric and everything within the reach of any pocket, so let's see what my impression was.
My setting has been set to the maximum sampling possibilities of the Focusrite coupon, at a sample rate of 96 Khz and I tested in two ways:
- Stand Alone use
- Use for processing previously recorded tracks directly on the sound card
I preferred the second use much more to fully appreciate the sound of the vst, unfortunately how I use it stand Alone I had to fight with the latency and with the sound card that gave problems with the drivers allowing me a somewhat limited use and then I had to add a pedal to raise the input level, I then reached a satisfactory result after some work.
Amplifiers and Cabinet Modules
Very impressed with the clean sounds, I particularly liked those of the small house combos Brunetti, Singleman and Metropolitan they are very round and the Singleman reaches a sound very similar to the old Fenders, they impressed me a lot and also hold up well the various effects you put into it, and the spring reverb mounted on the Singleman simulation is also very truthful.
On the plexi sounds I noticed that it is a fairly truthful simulation even if for obvious things it is lacking in sound thickness, but it is much more performing than the plexi simulation that I found on my Pod HD 500, much more sensitive to the touch, more respectful of the sound original and less dark.
Then there are some very successful goodies such as simulations such as those of the Metropolitan of Brunetti that I enjoyed using on many of my tracks to be treated in post-production but also the simulations of the Hiwatt I had a lot of satisfaction, sound quite vivid, very nice.
Effects Modules
I was pleasantly impressed with the modulations and delays section, the echoes have a very respectable sound that didn't make me regret my other digital echoes that I have in stompboxes format, I took an addiction to their tape echo simulations, very nice and settable down to the smallest detail.
I was particularly impressed with the compressor section, they do their job really well, the simulation of the Ross compressor and VCA compressor are among my favorites and give that right charge of attack and blow to the overall sound.
I liked the preamp pedals much more than those of the HD 500 pods, the simulation of Tubescreamer is somewhat faithful to the original and responds very differently to the different amplifier you feed it but resulting slightly more transparent than that of the Line6.
But maybe it's better to hear some sounds to get a better idea….
Let's do some tests
I did some tests from scratch, I recorded the audio track of the guitar in the first section and then treated it through the VST, the final sound result that I managed to hunt, obviously the only treatment is only that of the VST, it doesn't fit yet neither mastering nor anything else.
This is one of the most interesting results using Brunetti's Singleman simulation with some tape echo and a nice studio compressor, the overall sound has a very fast and very precise attack, I was very impressed with the result and winks to the Twin sounds.
Here it was a test driven by curiosity, I never had the pleasure of trying one Customwork and I've only heard a few clips of Massimo Varini, however, it is a very personal and interesting result that I tried to push a little and add a very big reverb to have that solo sound, very interesting and with many possibilities given by the amplifier alone, at this point I am curious to try the real one. . .
This is one of the High Gain publications of the software house, it takes a good English imprint while remaining frighteningly precise and without being too dirty or mixed, I really liked it with the single coils it gave me a very respectable three-dimensionality, really a gem.
In these last two tracks I wanted to give more prominence to what was the section dedicated to the sound of the good old Marhsall, I was quite satisfied in general and surpassed the old POD simulations I had by a good span, for me it is promoted with almost no doubt on the rhythm part, I could hear the response of the instrument well, very well done.
Economic Considerations
About $ 250 is currently the cost on their website (Discounted).
The final sound rendition makes it a very attractive vst for many guitarists, I really appreciated the sounds Plexi-Style, they are rendered much better than others that were overly mosquito or in some cases extremely acidic.
With this figure you have a respectable park of simulations, both obviously for guitar and bass, you can get a good level production by spending an at least honest amount.
Let's realize that the cost of this vst is equal to that of a pair of mid-level microphones (buy us one Shure SM 57 and a Sennheiser e606, and not counting something for the bass) while if you can split the expense (the account can be used by three PCs at the same time from the same account) you can very well produce three simultaneously (two guitars and a bass guitar) the cost is lowered to about 80 euro each (not much if you notice).
Fair price for the quantity and quality of simulations, and the account can be used by at least three people, very convenient in my opinion.
Final considerations
It is a well-functioning Vst, with somewhat limited CPU and RAM consumption, especially for me who work on a laptop that is not exactly top of the range, and with a fairly rich and successful park of simulations, it only needs to be studied and managed carefully to have an accurate sound that does not tend to clip, often the volumes of the individual modules and the final OUT output of the software must be adjusted well.
Pro
- Good section of delays and modulations
- Account can be used by three PCs simultaneously
- Great clean sounds
- Presence of some more particular simulations such as Brunetti and THD
Cons
- Slightly tricky interface at first
- Maximum two microphones at the same time
- The levels must be managed carefully
Note from the author
I was pleasantly surprised by the potential of this product, I am producing some of my own things and I am really finding it very comfortable to work on the track at any time and in any place (often I ride with a laptop), I just regret having focused on some particular model but for the simple reason that there are really, really many and it would take two or three books to describe them all.
Later I got to test it but on the new one Audiofuse Arturia arrived in the editorial office, and the result was considerably better than the previous one.
Currently it is a complete software, quite simple to do and with very wide tonal possibilities, it is seriously giving me a lot of satisfaction.
I would like to recommend it for the musician and the small producer, as times are seriously changing on productions, such a suite really allows you to do amazing things with a really ridiculous expense, but it would probably be a great Swiss Army knife even for a more production. important.
If you can try it and tell me yours.
Useful Information
Manufacturer's site: www.overloud.com
Cost: $ 250 including VAT
