IK Multimedia offers some of the most popular software when it comes to guitar amplifiers and effects modelers. The company's crowning achievement is a program known as AmpliTube, which they've improved upon several times since its release a few years ago. Now, guitar players can not only choose from an array of amps, but have at their disposal literally dozens of stomp pedals, including tape echo, reverb, phaser and wah-wah. For the officially sponsored Fender AmpliTube, all of the pedal effects were modeled on Fender products, both vintage and new. IK Multimedia also offers an actual stomp pedal that musicians can use in real time with the software.
Native Instruments is another big name in music software. Aside from synth and sampling programs, the company has released a guitar amplifier and effects modeler called Guitar Rig. The program gives users a choice of more than 48 effects pedals, including more than 10 distortion effects and several reverb, delay and filtering effects. Users control these effects with a midi-synced stomp pedal called the Kontrol 3, which is capable of handling multiple effects simultaneously and has two guitar inputs.
Although Peavey Electronics is fairly new to software-based guitar amplification, the company has been building quality amps since 1965. What ReValver has going for it is that it offers guitar players all the famous Peavey amps and effects; most amp modeling software is designed by companies that have not obtained the right to use brand names. Along with 25 classic Peavey amps, ReValver offers 19 stomp box effects, including tremolo, reverb, delay and distortion.
The guitar effects modeling program Eleven is a product of Digidesign, which is famous for its Pro Tools multitracking software. Like Amplitube and Kontrol, the Eleven program allows users to choose among dozens of high-quality amplifiers, cabinets and effects pedals. What's different about Eleven is that the hardware comes in the form of a rack device, instead of a stomp pedal. Not only that, but the Eleven rack is actually a stand-alone device. You can use it with the software interface and, because of its internal memory, you can also use it on stage as an amp/effects modeler without a computer.