Steinberg Warp VST PC

I've been playing guitar for about 25 years, and adopted home recording as a hobby about 10 years ago. I am a dedicated Cakewalk user, primarily using Sonar 3.1.1. My background as a guitar player is a meat and potatoes, Fender Tube Only No Effects Please kind of guy. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd give up tubes, but the only ones I have left are in my TubeWorks Tube Driver pedal. I use a SansAmp PSA-1, a Boss GT-3, and a Vox Pathfinder 15R. I play a Fender Toronado DE-9000. I make a wide variety of music, and most of it has guitars in it. My style is usually somewhat lo-fi, incorporating lots of different elements, but I've done everything from electronica to punk, ambient and even the occasional polka. I'm using a Pentium 4 2.4 with 1GB of ram on Windows XP Pro SP1. I mix through a Mackie 1404 VLZ (stereo out to my M-Audio Delta44), and monitor through Yamaha MSP-5s. I feel most comfortable working directly with audio, so I bounce a lot of tracks, and do a lot of copying pasting looping etc.

The interface for Warp is so intuitive that I never even had to crack open the manual. Installation was straightforward, copy protection consists of a simple serial number scheme. Automation is supported, although I have heard that a few parameters such as low eq and maybe some other odd things that *should* be supported are not. As such, automating this thing isn't my primary concern. I just wanted to add a little something to broaden my range of tones. That being said, it's as simple to use as the guitar amplifiers it purports to emulate, and so it won't take too long to dial in some satisfactory results.

I've never been happy with the clean tone from the SansAmp nor the Boss, but the Vox comes pretty close to what I like. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the sounds I heard coming out of this thing. My favorite is the clean channel, which not only sounds great on guitar, but sounds pretty rockin with virtual instruments such as DashSignature ComboSister, and Synth1. It just makes everything sound so much more expansive. The plexi simulation is a bit on the muddy side for me, but the "warp" rectifier emulation should please the pants off of anyone who likes heavy metal tones. I have to say that the "warp" channel is the standout of this plugin. The cabinet emulations do change the tone somewhat, but the degree of difference depends on what you're pumping through it. The developers of this software have obviously spent a great deal of time on the algorithms that make it all work, and although it's not perfect, it is one of the better emulations I've heard. It doesn't have a wide range of options, but it is still quite versatile in a virtual setup.

Warp VST was definitely worth $50. I only bought it because it was on sale for so cheap. I would not have paid the $200 original price tag, I don't think it's worth that much. So far it seems to be quite stable, and fairly easy on the CPU (the clean channel took about 15% on my system, the Plexi and "warp" models took just over 20%, and that was with about 3 or so other low-overhead plugs running). After I installed it I went to Steinberg's website to look for updates. There no updates, which I guess is a good sign. Their website is so non-intuitive it took me about 15 minutes to find a mention of Warp VST, and when I finally did it appeard under the "legacy software" category. So it looks like Warp VST is at the end of the line. There's another reason not to drop $200 on it! If you can't get Warp for $50, go demo IK Amplitude instead. If you're into spending a few more bux, try out Native Instruments Guitar Rig. The features and sound samples for that one are f***ing amazing. So there ya go.

Been playing guitar for 11 years. I play it a band that mostly plays rock. I have been recording some demos on my PC and this baby is so sweet! I can just plug my guitar into my mic preamp and record straight in. I normally would never do that cause it sounds so thin. But when you use this plug-in it actually sounds better the less coloring you have on the signal. The manual even says to keep compression and overdrive off the signal as much as possible. Anyway just add the effect of the marshall with greenbacks to my tracks and they are quite convincing.

Way easy, just point and click which amp and which cab to use and you are off. You can also adjust the virtual knobs to taste, then save it to a preset. I have about 15 presets to pull up at any time.

Very convincing on all amp models. As amp modelers go, this has got to be the best I have found. It does not add a digital flavor to the tone. It does the best job on the Roland Jazz Chorus clean tone and the slightly overdriven blues amp. The Marshall is so very good as well. If I had a space to crank my amp and record via mic I would probably do that, but you just can't beat this for sound and ease of use. I can lay track into my laptop while sitting on the couch and they come out sounding incredible.

Worth the money, sounds better that digital effects racks and DSP amps. It can tend to hog the CPU when using the Mesa mod on my Pentium3 500, but that is only the case when auditioning the effect. Once you apply the effect it does not matter anymore.