The Basics
You can use the amp section of this plug-in exactly like you would operate the real ENGL E646 VS tube amplifier.
Plug in your guitar (via your computer audio interface in this case), select a Channel, adjust Gain, Tone and Volume... and Rock’n’Roll !
The ENGL plug-ins were developed with the Apollo series interfaces in mind really. Of course the ENGL plug-ins will work with any UAD-2 device, but to experience the ultra-low la-
tency (desirable for playing in real-time) you need an Apollo interface.
A good producer’s trick is to use a REAL GUITAR AMP (a small combo, for example) for real-time monitoring in the control room during tracking while recording only the DI guitar
signal! Then use the ENGL guitar amp plug-in when you play back the recorded tracks together with the rest of your music. You will need to split the dry guitar signal so it can be
recorded in the computer and routed to the real guitar amplifier input at the same time.
To play and record dry DI guitar tracks with the lowest latency and the highest quality possible connect your guitar to the Hi-Z Input of the Apollo Interface or connect a quality DI
Box and Mic Preamp to a line input of your Apollo series interface.
The Insert Effects Switch in the Console Software:
If you insert the ENGL E646 VS plug-in in the Console software mixer (to use the plug-in with the shortest possible latency) you have to decide whether you want to record pro-
cessed guitar amp sounds (switch INSERT EFFECTS to REC) or whether you only want to record the dry DI guitar signal, while monitoring the processed amp sound during track-
ing, of course (switch INSERT EFFECTS to MON).
The advantage of only monitoring the processed sound is that you can alter the settings of your amp and FX completely during mixdown! If you find out later that less or more
Gain or Delay would sound better for your song you can still make that happen.
The advantage of recording pre-processed guitar tracks might be that you will need less plug-ins during mixdown, as your guitar tracks will be ready to be mixed. All you can do
then is EQ and compress the recorded guitar tracks, or add effects, just like you would with traditional guitar amp recordings. Once you know ‘your sound’ you may even save
some time by recording processed guitar tracks and using them without further tweaking or fiddling around... your band mates or your producer may even appreciate this.
;-)
