VST Amp/Pedal Sims

[lostplaceballast]

I'm hunting down guitar plugins that are native to Linux, and I figure others might be interested. I haven't looked too much into Guitarix or LV2 since I'd like to use these plugins in my DAWs (Bitwig, Renoise, Tracktion Waveform). I actually think Renoise supports LADSPA but nonetheless. I'm particularly looking for high gain amps and pedals, since I'm mostly into metal. I'll update this as I keep looking.

Tuner:
Gtune. This is the tuner I used on Windows, and it's also native to Linux.

Pedals and Amps:
Audio Assault Amps include clones of the Mesa Triple Crown, Revv G20, a 5150, and some originals. I've only tried the Classic Collection, of which two amps are solid and one isn't that great. Pedals are currently only available in their Reamp Studio (their full bundle) but I remember them having the only Linux Native HM-2 clone.
Tonelib Metal A bunch of amps and pedals in here. I'm on the fence about these, they're very inconsistent to my ears. Some sound very useable and some just sound off. There's a few non-clone pedals but only a couple work for me.
ChowDSP BYOD This project is basically a modular distortion/pedalboard. It has a ton of potential but the current roster of pedals is sparse.

IR Loader / Cab Sim:
Audio Assault aIR. Looks to have some interesting features but also be a bit tricky for basic workflows.

[sysrqer]

I've been using Chow BYOD recently, it's surprisingly good for guitar amps.

[bluzee]

Guitarix has a VST release now. IR files are a big part of getting the tone in any amp sim.

[dan_flash]

I settled on guitarix, namely the LV2 version. Couple of stompboxes -> guitarix amplifier x -> x42 IR loader for a cab sim. I generally disable GUIs when mixing etc so the LV2s are grand for me.

Or I sometimes the standalone version via JACK.

I tried a bunch of others but guitarix is the best in my opinion. Tonelib was just OK, Audio Assault amps sound quite good, Airwindows GrindAmp is brilliant (as are MidAmp and BigAmp) but not as versatile as guitarix obviously and they can so be pretty fucking wacky. You said you're into metal though so deffo check out GrindAmp.

If you have a decent preamp or drive plug, you can get good mileage out of the Renoise cab sim.

I like to play heavy stuff, grunge, thrash, etc (baritone guitar) and I think guitarix is amazing for everything.

[MyLoFy]

This one sounds really great imo. Takes a bit of time to find the right settings, but totally worth it. It's LV2, but you can wrap it with Carla in case your host only supports VST.
https://github.com/brummer10/ModularAmpToolKit.lv2

[WforWoollyMammoth]

I use Audio Assault AHM 5050 most of the time - maybe 95% of the time. I use 3rd party IRs with it, although the stock ones are good too.

I don't think the classic series by AA is named that way because they're emulating some of the best classic amps - it's just three of their oldest plugins. Although I think they've been redone in various ways, the new ones like the AHM, RVXX and Shibalba are on a different level. I do have to say ReAmp isn't terribly good on the whole though. Actually, I think it'd be a pretty poor purchase at the full price it's listed at (120+ euros, although AA plugins are almost always on sale).

I've never gotten anything that I'd been pleased with using Guitarix, although I've seen some videos where it's sounded ok (on metal tones, if I recall correctly).

I tried ToneLib and have to say I wasn't impressed after having used AA stuf, although some of the sounds "might work in a mix".

I don't really use the pedal plugins. I'm not sure what the point is with those, as most of the effects designed for general use on DAWs tend to be much better (like the TAL-Chorus - if you like 80s type of sounds).

I really like GTune as well!

[lostplaceballast]

I've heard it said that the more gain you use, the more important the end of the signal chain becomes relative to the beginning. So for a clean tone, pickups and amps are very important, but with high gain, cabinet and post-processing become more important. I do use third party IRs that I like, but the IR loader I currently use is Ignite Amps NadIR, which sounds to me a bit better than my previous favorite, Kazrog Recabinet. This whole search started because the Kazrog Thermionik Suite has been acting funky on my setup.

ReAmp Studio is on sale for half price ($60), and I've been considering it. I was really disappointed with most of the pedal sims, which often don't even have the same controls as their counterparts. I did like the amps though. I'll check out their newer amp sims, as well as Guitarix's VST version.

I agree on modulation pedals, I'd never use a guitar pedal sim of delay/reverb/chorus/etc. But for distortion/fuzz, particularly specific pedals like the HM-2, Metal Zone/Core, Big Muff, Swollen Pickle, a generic distortion plugin just doesn't hit the same.

[finotti]

I really like tamgamp. I used it all the time (with IRs) and really like it! (Mostly the JCM800.) It is rarely mentioned, even though is my favorite of all Linux plugins I've tried.

There is also the new (at least to me) Neurontube, which I did not test very much, but seemed to be good at a first glance.

[Godned]

I just tried the demo for ToneLib and it sounds pretty sweet. I just moved from windows to linux after almost 35 years. couldn't find any amp sims to rival neural dsp gojira and couldnt get it to work for the life of me, using wine and bottles, but ya ToneLib, killer thanks for the link.

[bulevardi]

There's an experimental VST plugin available for Mod Duo at the moment, if you can get it installed, certainly worth giving a look at that too:
viewtopic.php?t=26735&start=15

[dan_flash]

There's an experimental VST plugin available for Mod Duo at the moment, if you can get it installed, certainly worth giving a look at that too:
viewtopic.php?t=26735&start=15

Modep. It's really really good in my humble opinion.

I got a second hand Pi 5, put Patchbox OS on it (Blokas Labs have great user documentation and a forum so it's easily done), a second hand USB interface and a MIDI foot controller and set everything up as a headless pedalboard / amp / cab sim.

A fair few of the gizmos are found in Guitarix but there's so much interesting stuff that sounds ace. Worth looking into if you like that type of thing.

[jmantra623]

Guitarix VST https://github.com/brummer10/guitarix.vst) and Ratatoullie (https://github.com/brummer10/Ratatouille.lv2) are the ones I use

[Mcgiver699]

Guitar ML has some nice guitar amps too plus their own version of NAM. My favorite is Epoch Amp for those bluesy edge of break up kind of tones.

https://guitarml.com/