For decades now, there has been a fiery debate as to whether analog or digital guitar rigs reign supreme. We know where we stand. But when it comes to playing guitar at home, what’s the ultimate solution? We put two completely silent guitar rigs head to head in this video so we could see if an analog tube amp and reactive load box or a guitar amp modeling plugin sounded better.
A great analogy for the analog vs. digital argument is running. Digital solutions are a lot like running on a treadmill. They get the job done, but it’s not the same as running outside. When you run outside, you feel the wind in your face, and there’s no other way to get that experience -- just like a cranked-up tube amp.
While we might sound a little biased, the winner here is up to you. Listen to the sound clips provided in the video so you can hear the differences yourself. No matter what choice you make for your own personal rig, you can get excellent guitar tone out of a completely silent guitar rig.
The signal chains used in this video are:
Digital - American 60th Anniversary Strat - Scarlett 2i2 - Logic Pro X - Logic Tape Delay - Helix Native - Minotaur Overdrive Model - Brit Blexi Brt Model - Greenback Model Cab with 160 & 57 mics.
Analog - American 60th Anniversary Strat - Xotic EP Booster - Analog Man King of Tone - Rivera Knucklehead 55 Lead Channel - Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander - Logic Pro X - Logic Tape Delay - Celestion Creamback Impulse Response with 121 & 57 mics.
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