Question for the guitarists among you...

[drapeta]

I'm a bass player and play guitar "on the side". I started with AmpliTube 3 and have now reached version 5. Now to my problem. I want to record a few metal riffs. Just rhythm, no solo. I haven't managed to create a sound that I want with any version of AmpliTube. So I've always made compromises with the guitar sound because I felt the "pressure" in the sound was missing. The sound is always washed out and it has no attack.
So I thought maybe it's my guitar.
So today I went to Thomann (I live nearby) to finally solve the problem and spent the whole day trying out guitars in conjunction with Profiler. These included Profilers from ToneX, Boss, Neural-DSP, Kemper...
I tested it like this: I put my fingers on the guitar strings with only light pressure and hit them hard with the pick. Only with the Kemper did I feel like energy was coming out. The attack went right into my stomach, which is what I was looking for. I don't know how to describe it. When I tried other profilers, the attack was always washed out, and the same was true of the ToneX. The only thing that convinced me was the Kemper player. It had the punch and the sound that I had been looking for for a long time. I bought a guitar anyway and thought I would try it out at home with AmpliTube. Nothing to be done. I just can't get the punch that the Kemper created in AmpliTube, no matter what I set.
Now the question: am I doing something wrong? I somehow have the feeling with AmpliTube that everything sounds the same and when I go through the presets the only difference is the different EQ curves that are applied. I hope you understand what I mean by punch and attack. I'm happy to be taught by professionals, but if I can't find a solution, I'll probably buy the Kemper, even if it's not cheap for a few riffs ;o).
Does anyone have any ideas what I could change to create more punch in AmpliTube?

Thanks in advance.

[thievedletter]

That hasn't been my experience at all.

I'm curious what level the input is, on your audio interface. I've found I get the best tones out of amp sims recording with the input volume basically all the way down. Maybe peaking around -12db. It sounds kind of counter intuitive, but it sounds better.

I would definitely not say there is any missing attack in ToneX or Amplitube.

[BLuzJW91]

Your experience is really 180 degrees off from my experience with the Kemper and the Tonex especially. I used a Kemper for 4 years. It was my all in one solution, but I had a problem getting the punch, which (to me) is a combination of high end sizzle and low end thump, for my tones. My Matchless profiles sounded good, but they lacked the punch and presence of a Matchless. Typically, I solved my issue with the Kemper by using a Timmy right into the input of the Kemper. With the Timmy set with low gain it seemed to put back into the Kemper some of the highs and lows that I felt were missing.

Then, I played Tonex Deluxe Reverb and TSR Matchless captures on my computer. No need for a Timmy at all. So, I purchased the Tonex pedal and traded my Kemper to an American Strat and a Hot Rod Deluxe (which I sold).

After seeing all the null tests people have done comparing Kemper, Tonex, Quad Cortex, and NAM I saw the issue I had with the Kemper. The Kemper biases its captures to the midrange and slopes away at the low and high frequencies. Maybe that's exactly what you like, but to me it was like a permanent tubescreamer was turned on for all the profiles.

[drapeta]

Thank you for the answers. I'll try the -12dB on the input of my Audioface. I always have the input as high as possible without it leading to clipping.
And maybe it really is the mentioned distortion in the midrange that I like. To be honest, I can't judge it because I haven't bought the Kemper (yet). But I did some research. On the Kemper player, it was the button on the right called "rig vol". As soon as I turned it up, I got the punch I'd been looking for for a long time. With other devices, including ToneX, I couldn't create this punch (I only listened to all devices with headphones). And certainly not in AmpliTube. I'm going to experiment a bit with the new guitar + AmpliTube today and if I don't get any results, I'll order the Kemper. Since I only record and don't play live (anymore), I would have preferred a software solution like AmpliTube because of "Total Recall". Even the salesman at Thomann recommended the ToneX, which he also uses live, but as I said, I couldn't get the punch out of that device, no matter which knob I turned. Thanks again for the answers.