Studio Devil Virtual Guitar Amp II Review - Reviews

Studio Devil Virtual Guitar Amp II provides a simple, elegant solution to amp modelling. Mike Hillier takes it for a spin.

Price: £79.00
Manufacturer: Gallo Engineering
Website: http:// www.studiodevil.com

studio devil vga 11/1 audio

For decades, guitarists tended to pick one amp and stick with it. These days, thanks to modelling amps and amp simulators a guitarist can have just about the entire history of amp tones at their command. The advantages of this are obvious, though a by-product is that many guitarists no longer have a signature sound, since they can switch their amp and effects for every song.

Virtual Guitar Amp II provides 18 amp models covering all the classics as well as several less common amps such as the Peavey Classic 30 and Laney VH-100R. However, rather than choosing an amp from a list, VGA II essentially functions like a single amp with lots of different parameters. Switching any parameter can either subtly or vastly change the tone, depending on which switch is toggled.

Dial it in

The VGA II interface is very simple and should be familiar to anyone who has used a traditional amplifier. The top row has three switches that define Style, Channel and Type, as well as knobs to control gain, volume, EQ and a noise gate. Below this is a cabinet section that uses impulse responses, a tuner and two effects engines: Tremolo/ Chorus and Delay/Reverb.

Because the 18 amp models aren’t chosen from a list, you find yourself naturally experimenting with amps not based on preconceived notions, but simply by listening. Rather than wondering whether to switch from a Fender Twin to a Matchless Chieftain or a Vox AC30, Studio Devil VGA II leaves you thinking: do I want a more modern sound or a more crunchy sound?

Stack ’em up

As it’s just a set of toggles, the GUI doesn’t change to provide an image of the new amp, nor do you get any different parameters depending on the model. The EQ tone stack does change with each amp setting, along with the preamp model, and for those amps that wouldn’t normally have a four- stage tone stack, Gallo has modified the tone stack to sound as close to the original as possible while retaining all four bands.

This makes it hard to compare the VGA II amps with some of the originals: our AC-30, for example, doesn’t have a presence knob. But you can hear how instead of offering a direct emulation of the tone stack in the AC-30, the VGA II instead delivers something with a similar character.

To emulate speaker cabinet response, VGA II has a convolution engine and a selection of 20 impulse responses, including two from the original Studio Devil VGA and 18 more created by Red Wire Impulses. By default the software picks the cabinet most often seen with the amp you’ve chosen, but you can override this and select any other cabinet if you prefer. Unlike other cabinet emulations we’ve come across, there are no options to switch between microphones or to try different mic positions. Given how important this can be in defining the tone when working with a real amplifier, it seems a surprising oversight for VGA II.

To round out the package, Gallo has included two effects models: a modulation effect with tremolo and chorus, plus a space effect with delay and reverb. The effects are fairly simple and it’s a shame not to see the tremolo built-in to the amp section. Placed before an amp section (or even built-in to an amp section as on some Fender amps), a tremolo can have a stunning effect on tonal characteristics as well as simply modulating volume.

The chorus is a usable effect, if not up to the standard of similar effects in Guitar Rig or AmpliTube. The delay and reverb effects are also very simple. They’re useful if you don’t have anything else, but in most cases you’ll get better effects using your host’s own delay or reverb plug-ins.

The verdict

The amp emulation in VGA II is very good and we like the attention to sound quality over replicating each amp with lifelike graphics. The cabinet modelling is a little simple and the effects seem to be something of an afterthought, which detracts somewhat from the overall quality of the plug-in. However, we still think we could find a place for VGA II alongside the more established amp simulators in our setup. MTM

8/10 Verdict - Studio Devil VGA II is an affordable amp sim with sounds that match many of its more expansive – and expensive – competitors.

WHY BUY

+ Easy to use
+ Broad selection of amp sounds

WALK ON BY

– Limited built-in effects
– Some models aren’t direct clones

Score: 8/10

This review first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 96
Filed under Hardware, Hardware Effects

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Gallo Engineering Studio Devil Virtual Guitar Amp II Review