Vibramate Bigsby mounting kit

134 Guitarist February 2011
QUICKTEST
MISCELLANEOUS
Quicktest
Kuassa Amplifi kation
Crème
$34
PreSonus
Audiobox USB
£119
Compact audio and MIDI interface
with music creation software
The crème de metal...
CONTACT: Source Distribution PHONE: [phone] WEB: www.presonus.com
We looked at Kuassa’s
Amplifikation One amp sim
plug-in a while back and the
company has now brought out
Amplifikation Crème, which it
says is a darker, fuller and
heavier version. What you get
is a VST or AU plug-in, laid out
as a nice-looking graphic of an
amp head with a built-in
overdrive section, plus a
matching cabinet with various
mic’ing options.
Three different amp types
can be called up, each with
three selectable channels
(clean, distortion and distortion
with full bottom-end) and
controls for gain and volume,
plus low, mid and high EQ. One
of three different overdrives
with drive, tone and level
controls can be placed before
the amp and you can select one
or two 4 x 12 cabs from the
three types on offer
and use two virtual
mics, each from a
choice of four.
Sounds
With options for
moving the mics in
relation to the
speakers alongside
the amp, overdrive
and cab choices,
there’s a useful range
of tones to be had
here. These stretch
from clean through
to full on high-gain
metal sounds, which
can be effortlessly
dialled in, albeit with loads of
hiss when the gain is cranked –
taken care of easily enough
with the built-in noise-gate.
Overall, you get plenty of amp
for not much more than £20.
Verdict
If you’re on a budget and
looking for an amp sim plug-in
for mainly distorted sounds,
this is well worth a listen. [TC]
The Bottom Line
We like: Solid metal
construction; compact; MIDI
as well as audio interfacing
We dislike: Silver marking
on a silver knob means
positioning is not always
clearly seen
The Bottom Line
We like: Easily tweaked
interface; cool range of
overdriven sounds; low cost;
try-before-you-buy demo
We dislike: DAW track needs
to be stereo before plug-in
can be inserted
GUITARIST RATING GUITARIST RATING
A 2 x 2 audio interface (stereo
in, stereo out), the Audiobox
offers a pair of XLR/jack combi
input sockets equipped with
phantom power so you can plug
in any mic, a guitar, or other
instrument. There are both
headphone and line outputs,
each with their own volume
knob and a mixer knob to
balance the level of the input
signal against that coming back
from the computer for
comfortable monitoring.
In Use
The Audiobox takes its power
from your computer’s USB bus,
so it can be used anywhere and
the quality of the onboard
preamps ensure that it provides
a decent signal for anything
plugged in. Besides the audio
connections you also get MIDI
in and out sockets so you can
also use a keyboard to play soft
synths or trigger drum loops –
not a bad function to have, as it
comes bundled with PreSonus
Studio One Artist software.
This music creation program
has over 4GB of virtual
instruments, plug-ins, loops,
and samples to create backing
tracks ready to be used with a
guitar and/or vocals.
Verdict
If you want to record on your
computer or just play through
software amp sims you’ll need
an audio interface and, being
rugged, easily portable and
offering mic, guitar and MIDI
interfacing options, the
Audiobox USB is a strong
contender for your cash. [TC]
CONTACT: Kuassa PHONE: N /A WEB: www.kuassa.com
GIT338.rev_quick 134 12/23/10 9:28:27 AM