Where do you think "sound" is going? Are we going back to basics or going digital?

It's hard to know whether any artist who's not filling stadiums would find the expense worth it. Remember that a tour has lots of stuff to accommodate besides guitar amps. The idea is to reduce the burden.

Whatever Knopfler's motivation might be is a guess that I suppose anyone could make, based on the assumption that 'so-and-so is a perfectionist, and therefore....' Might be right, might not.

Sorry, I didn't read the other posts above about the travel costs. I have my own reliable sources of information as to the actual cost involved. They can make or break the profitability of a tour.

Not that Les needs my confirmation, but I also got the same kind of info from a touring artist. One of the last times I saw Nita Strauss, we did the Q&A VIP thing, and someone asked her what rig she was playing through. It's a Boss floor unit that she uses (I had seen her demo that at a GC clinic some time before). The person who asked either made a face or comment of disapproval, and she said words to the effect of, "Hey, I'd rather be playing through a Marshall stack like I do with Alice Cooper, but this is my tour, so I'm responsible for the cartage to get the gear and get it to each show, plus paying all the costs for the crew and the band. I can't do that and make money, and if I don't make money, I can't tour at all."

No doubt there are some people who can hear the difference, but I'd bet it's a small minority. The question is can it get close enough to satisfy the person making the decision. At Experience one year, David Grissom was demoing the DGT and popped into single coil mode. He said, "I can do this to get that Strat sound. Is it the same as a real Strat? Nope - but it's close enough to make me happy."
 
Last year, I was really into my Kemper and all the wonderful possibilities it offered but as time went on, it was becoming more and more apparent to me that I really missed the feel that my old tube amps provided. And also, every profile that I called up in the Kemper was starting to sound the same with slightly different EQs. So I went and sold it and now I'm pretty much just using my trusty MT15 and crusty 6505+ so until the MT100 becomes available (or I find another Dual Rectifier or Archon for a decent price), I'm pretty much staying put with my tube amps.
 
For years I've been saying that tube amps have certain nonlinearities that appeal to the ear, and that digital can't match. Here's an interesting video made by Christian Henson, who is part of Spitfire Audio, a company that makes perhaps the world's finest digital sample libraries, who agrees about the analog domain (he calls the nonlinearities chaotic).

The video is well worth watching if you want a deep dive into all this analog vs digital stuff, despite the title. If you watch the whole thing, you'll find that he explains the differences in what we hear between digital, acoustic, and analog instruments much better than I ever could.

I don't think we hear all that differently; however, what we listen for is the thing that will differ between folks. Anyway, I think this might be interesting if anyone would like to hear from a very intelligent person who's well versed in this topic. Christian is also a working film and TV composer.

 
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What I believe is going to happen is tube will continue to be used in recording and small venue settings as the primary amp. Those are the setting were people are most likely to hear the difference. Modeling amps will take over all the large tours and larger venues, because the coast savings can't be ignored. Also those are the settings where it is least likely that the average fan can hear a difference, and the small differences don't matter. People in a large venue are looking for a larger experience then just the raw sound. Small venues and recording are much more intimate, and there people will be looking for the nuances.
 
Digital is the way for concert venue sounds, check out Meyer Sound they are the leading company in this area.

https://meyersound.com

And as most things Rock Concert related, stems from the Grateful Dead origins.

Meyer Sound also produced the first commercially available powered studio monitor. They were an absolute revelation when they were introduced.
 
For years I've been saying that tube amps have certain nonlinearities that appeal to the ear, and that digital can't match. Here's an interesting video made by Christian Henson, who is part of Spitfire Audio, a company that makes perhaps the world's finest digital sample libraries, who agrees about the analog domain (he calls the nonlinearities chaotic).

The video is well worth watching if you want a deep dive into all this analog vs digital stuff, despite the title. If you watch the whole thing, you'll find that he explains the differences in what we hear between digital, acoustic, and analog instruments much better than I ever could.

I don't think we hear all that differently; however, what we listen for is the thing that will differ between folks. Anyway, I think this might be interesting if anyone would like to hear from a very intelligent person who's well versed in this topic. Christian is also a working film and TV composer.


Arbroath is a stones throw from me!
 
Both, and lots of folks will utilize both. Music is art and there's no singular direction for it. Take the cajon for instance - even with all the electronic drum sets and midi triggers and auto-play drum plugins, some folks play their percussion on a dang box - and it can be rad!
 
The thing about amps and digital+powered cab, in the home at least, for me, is volume, the ability to sound good at lower volumes, at a lower end price point.

I like the variety of models in helix and the range of effects built in, but more often than not I use the same 2 or 3 presets ie don't fiddle about with it too much.

The Ox box type products are a really great development for traditional valve amps.

I think like others above, both are here to stay. Digital keeps getting better and software improvement drives more elegant products at lower prices, so market share should bias there over time.

Another avenue could be the design of new valves with lower voltages, these nano tubes are maybe the start of that.
 
Having had the Kemper for over a year it's my go to unit for the next 10 years. Maybe by then they will have something better but Kemper has been around since 2011 and it's still popular. The thing Kemper and other quality modelers prove is how important different amp tones are for good tone. In the past I had 1 or 2 amps that I would hope my guitar would sound good through. Now I have multiple great amp profiles to play through so I always get a good tone with my over 10 various guitars. I love playing at a normal volume like what someone would watch tv or play a stereo. I get such a good tone recording that I no longer have to re-record guitar parts to get a decent sound. It really sits in the mix well. I'm not buying amps or pedals anytime soon so that money will go into PRS guitars!
 
I listen to players like Plini and am flat-out amazed at what they can create using purely digital platforms. That said, I prefer using digital only for time-based effects and analog for everything else, and typically route my dry signal through a mixer. It’s just what my ears prefers to hear.

If I were touring the world, I’d have zero problem using a digital unit for the convenience and the portability. The gear has gotten really good but I’d likely need to hire an engineer to program it for me.
 
Having had the Kemper for over a year it's my go to unit for the next 10 years. Maybe by then they will have something better but Kemper has been around since 2011 and it's still popular. The thing Kemper and other quality modelers prove is how important different amp tones are for good tone. In the past I had 1 or 2 amps that I would hope my guitar would sound good through. Now I have multiple great amp profiles to play through so I always get a good tone with my over 10 various guitars. I love playing at a normal volume like what someone would watch tv or play a stereo. I get such a good tone recording that I no longer have to re-record guitar parts to get a decent sound. It really sits in the mix well. I'm not buying amps or pedals anytime soon so that money will go into PRS guitars!

The guitarist in my last band has a Kemper. Great tone. We just jammed again last week for the first time since February, and his rig sounded light years better than mine and the other guitarist that we jammed with. Slick, professional, no rough edges. Of course he has to spend a lot of time dialing in his sound with the menus, and it seems a bit high-maintenance... but his results are pretty fantastic.
 
The guitarist in my last band has a Kemper. Great tone. We just jammed again last week for the first time since February, and his rig sounded light years better than mine and the other guitarist that we jammed with. Slick, professional, no rough edges. Of course he has to spend a lot of time dialing in his sound with the menus, and it seems a bit high-maintenance... but his results are pretty fantastic.
It's really not high maintenance. I don't even use all that it does like profiling amps. I just use the presets and tweak them a bit then I just play them.
 
This is a good take on the 2

Checkout his channel, has PRS content too

 
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