What's New

in AmpliTube 4
User Manual

Overview
AmpliTube 4 is here! This major upgrade to the worlds most powerful guitar and bass
tone studio for Mac/PC will take you to a new level of hyper-realism and customization of
tone that you never thought possible. AmpliTube 4 works as a standalone application and
as a plug-in for your favorite DAW. AmpliTube recreates the entire guitar/bass signal chain
from instrument to recording device, and it does so in a very realistic and intuitive way.
But it also does it in ways you never dreamed possible.

Table of Contents
New Gear Models

Effects Loop module

Routing enhancement

UltraTuner

3D Cab Room

12

8-Track Recorder/DAW

18

Looper

21

System Requirements

23

New Gear Models

British Collection Models

AmpliTube 4 welcomes 5 new classic amplifier models to the mix representing some of
the best British tones from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Each amplifier has been modeled from
scratch to represent a different aspect of the powerful and classic British amplifier design.
Theres the Brit 8000 (based on the JCM800), Brit 9000 (based on the JCM900), Red Pig
(based on the Marshall Major), Brit Silver (based on the Silver Jubilee) and Brit Valve-Pre
(based on the JMP-1).
Note: See the AmpliTube 4 Deluxe Gear Models for further information

Acoustic Simulator
AmpliTube 4 ushers in a new Acoustic Sim pedal that turns your electric guitar into a
hyper-realistic acoustic guitar. It delivers stunning realism and an amazing playing
experience that can be tweaked with the onboard controls. You can choose from and
even blend 3 acoustic body styles and 3 types of guitar tops to sound like a wide range of
acoustic guitars. Now with AmpliTube 4 youll always have great acoustic sounds at your
disposal.
Note: See the AmpliTube 4 Deluxe Gear Models for further information

Effects Loop

New in AmpliTube 4 is an additional slot in the signal chain located right after the amplifier
pre-amp section but before the power stage. Most of you will recognize this slot as the
effects loop or insert. This allows you to add in up to 4 daisy-chained effects for signal
processing before hitting the power section.

Routing enhancement
Any stomp box or rack effect can now be placed into any effects slot. This means that
stomp boxes can be used in the post rack section, and rack effects can be used in any
stomp box slot on any pedalboard or in the effects loop section. This opens the door for
even more for creative tweaking and innovative sonic sculpting possibilities.
Loading a Stomp in the Rack section
To load a Stomp in the Rack section, click stomp in the rack menu and select the desired
Stomp model.

A special routing Rack will be loaded which will behave like the selected Stomp model.

Click the EDIT button to view and change the Stomp parameters.

Loading a Rack in the Stomp section

To load a Rack in the Stomp section, click Rack in the Stomp menu and select the
desired Rack model.

A special routing Stomp will be loaded which will behave like the selected Rack model.

Click the EDIT button to view and change the Rack parameters.

UltraTuner

Also stock in AmpliTube 4 is an upgraded tuner section with IKs patented UltraTuner
technology. Its an essential piece of gear that will always make you sound good!
To access UltraTuner, go to the Tuner section in the main chain and select UltraTuner from
the bottom left selector.

UltraTuner utilizes a highly-responsive, patented tuner engine that makes it the most
accurate instrument tuner and calibration tool available. It is precise to a 1/100 th of a cent
far beyond human perception of pitch. This fast response makes tuning a mechanical
instrument like guitar or bass a breeze. UltraTuners precision also makes it the perfect
app tuner for calibrating electronic instruments like vintage synths. It can also be a useful
tool for luthiers and guitar techs, helping them to perfectly set up an instrument.
Main Display
The upper section offers a unique, simple interface thats very easy to see even in lowlight conditions. It features a graduated flat and sharp display to indicate degrees from
pitch. The letter in the center shows the detected note. When the note is in tune, the
central large LED turns green.

Wave Display
In the bottom right display, UltraTuner provides a wave visualization that gives feedback
of the pitch deviation as a simple right/left motion of the real waveform of your instrument.
A flat note will move the waveform to the left, while a sharp note will move it to the
right. A dead-center-pitched note is represented by a still waveform.
Pitch-Tracking Display
The pitch-tracking visualization placed in the bottom left display allows players to monitor
pitch over time. This is especially useful in the studio for monitoring pitch of nonchromatic instruments like vocals, violin and brass over time. Its also very useful for vocal
and instrument pitch training.

UltraTuner Parameters
In the lower area of UltraTuner you will find:
ON button: enables/disables UltraTuner
MUTE button: Mutes the signal while you are tuning your guitar
FREQ Display: Shows the detected frequency
CENT Display: Shows the numerical amount of deviation from the closest note
REF Display: Lets you set the reference tuning frequency for note A4. (Typically 440Hz)
TRANSP: Lets you offset the detected note by a given amount of semitones
TEMP: Lets you set the desired temperament. Western fretted instruments like guitar and
bass usually follow Equal Temperament. Other instruments require different
temperaments. UltraTuner offers the following types:
Equal
Pythagorean
Just Major
1/4 Comma Mean Tone
Kirnberger III
Werckmeister III
Young
Kellner

10

ROOT: Lets you choose root key. In Equal Temperament no root key is necessary. For any
other temperament (Just Major is shown here), you should choose a root key.
Note: The engine of UltraTuner allows it to detect the beating effect, which often
happens on guitars with single-coil pickups. Such pickups have a strong magnetic pull
that interferes with the string vibration that generaties a parasitic frequency that mixes
with the strings natural frequency to create a warbling effect, also known as "stratitis"
among guitar techs.
We strongly recommend you exclusively play the string to be tuned and stop all the
others, because they, too, can introduce beating effects.

11

3D Cab Room
AmpliTube has always been about realism, and now that extreme commitment to
accuracy is a part of its completely redesigned cabinet section. The new Cab Room
feature is the most advanced cabinet section ever made, giving you a new level of
customization and flexibility never before seen in software or reality.

The cab room now has 5 distinct customization sections:

1 Cabinet selection with size adjustment where you can choose the speaker cabinet to
match to the amplifier.
2 Individual speaker selection where you can swap out individual speakers
3 Mic selection and placement for finding the speaker sweet spot"
4 Room selection where you select the recording environment
5 Mixer section that allows you to control and mix the levels of speaker mics, the room
ambience, the direct amp signal and the overall main mix. Never before has such a level
of control and customization been available for fine-tuning tones in the speaker section.

12

Cabinet selection

AmpliTube 4 provides amazing control features for fine-tuning and tone sculpting one of
the most important components in the signal chain: the speaker cabinet. First, it lets you
mix and match speaker cabinets with the amplifier youre using. Choose the cabinet
thats most commonly used with the amplifier, or select a completely different cabinet
from all of the available models.
In addition to cabinet selection, you can also change the physical size and depth of the
cabinet, thus adjusting the material resonance and response that naturally comes from
the speaker cabinet. This creative tool gives you another level of tonal flexibility
increase the size of the cabinet, and youll notice more natural bass response. Decrease
the size of the cab and the signal tightens up and the higher end becomes better
articulated. The size adjustment features adds one more level of hyper realism to your
signal chain.

13

Individual speaker selection

Want to hear what a Vintage 30 sounds like next to a Greenback? No need to get the drill
and soldering iron out. Now you can experiment with different speaker combinations to
sculpt the perfect cabinet sound all within the convenience of your personal recording
space. But what makes the new cab room even more realistic is the fact that it not only
picks up the tonal character of the individual speakers, but it replicates the harmonic and
physical interaction that occurs naturally between the speakers to create the most
realistic sounding environment available. In short, you can go hyper hyper real with
miking up a cabinet!
How to swap speakers:
Select the speaker you want to swap from the upper left miniature icon. It will highlight in
gold. Then select the speaker you want to use in that position from the bottom carousel.
The number of available speakers depends on the cabinet models you own. The speakers
that do not belong to any of the cabinets you own appear disabled in the carousel.
Note: Speaker swapping is available for 12" guitar speakers only.

14

Mic selection and placement

Enjoy the most coveted recording microphones of all time. Now imagine being able to
choose and place those mics exactly where you want them right in the sweet spot
that truly evokes the emotions you want to express. Now you can. AmpliTube 4 comes
with 3 highly-coveted recording microphones, and there are an additional 15 mics
available in the AmpliTube Custom Shop. AmpliTube 4 gives you the choices and ability to
go hyper-real with your mic placement.
Select the target stand to edit with the "1" and "2" square buttons in the upper part of the
window above the speaker images, then select the desired microphone from the vertical
carousel on the right. Move the circles on the two speakers to set the desired mic
position.

15

Room selection

Want to record in the garage? How about in a hardwood studio room with a rug? A
cabinet isolation room? With AmpliTube 4, now you can. The Recording Room
selection tab lets you choose from 6 different ambient recording spaces.
Choose from a big live room, a venue stage, two studio rooms, an isolation booth or a
garage. You can also select which pair of room mics you want use, and then you can dial
in the amount of stereo room ambience to your liking.

16

Mixer section

AmpliTube 4 now has a dedicated mixing environment for the speaker cab room. Now
you can custom mix all of the audio components in one easy to use mixer speaker
mics, DI signal and room mics and control the entire volume level with the master fader.
Never before has it been so easy to get hyper-real!

17

8-Track Recorder/DAW
AmpliTube 4 also operates as a standalone guitar and bass tone studio AND as an ideacapturing 8-track recorder and DAW.

You can access the DAW section by clicking the DAW icon in the bottom left corner.

18

Track Controls
The Channel Strip on the left contains the controls to adjust and tweak the sound on a
selected individual track. The number in the upper left hand corner indicates which track
is currently selected.
A 3-band EQ section allows you to fine tune the EQ on each individual track just like on a
professional studio mixing console. Just below, you find the pan controls for placing the
track in the stereo field along with a console-style fader and its level meter for fine tuning
the volume level of the track.
The main individual track controls include solo, mute, record-arm, and the ability to
activate the AmpliTube signal chain with the FX button.
note: The real time monitoring is always active on the armed track.
Transport and Global Controls
The Transport and Global controls are located in the bottom bar:
REC
PLAY
BACKWARDS
LOOP ON/OFF
METRONOME ON/OFF
BPM
PITCH
PLAYBACK SPEED

(to change key of the whole project)

(to change the speed of the whole project)

MASTER VOLUME
Punch In/Out
Drag the cursor from right to left in the upper navigation bar to create a red Punch In-Out
section in the bar. Adjust the start and end points.
Loop
You can define loop start and end points by dragging the cursor from left to right in the
upper navigation bar. Youll notice a green area shows up when you do this. Once the
loop is defined, hit PLAY on the transport to begin playback of the loop. You can deactivate the loop region with the LOOP ON/OFF icon in the bottom bar
Clips editing
Access the editing commands by right clicking on the clip you want to edit. These
functions provide all the basic tools you need for working with audio regions.
Cut:
Click CUT to delete the clip and load it onto your clipboard where it can be pasted into
another track and/or position
19

Copy
Click COPY to copy the clip onto your clipboard where it can be pasted in another track
and/or position
Delete
Click DELETE to delete the selected clip
Split
Set the playhead at the desired split position, then select SPLIT to split the selected clip
at the playhead.
Paste
Set the playhead at the desired position, click on an empty space in the target track and
select PASTE. The audio material in your clipboard will be pasted from the playhead
position.

20

Looper
Access the AmpliTubes optional Looper feature by selecting LOOPER from the
AmpliTube standalone upper bar.

Looper gives you a convenient way to record and play up to 4 loops at a time. It's perfect
for when you want to experiment and come up with cool new ideas. Now you can create
your own accompaniment and play with all sorts of different melodies, leads and chord
progressions on the fly and at the touch of a button. The Looper section is totally
independent from the Recorder section.
The first thing youll notice about the Looper is you have 4 tracks. Theres no limit to how
long you can make your loops. The recording time is limited only by the amount of disk
space you have on your computer. However, note that the loop length for loops 2, 3 and 4
are set by the start and stop recording time for track 1.
Loop 1: the reference
There are two options to record the first loop: freely or with a metronome.
Free mode Click the record icon on the first loop to immediately start recording. Click the
red stop icon to close the loop, it will seamlessly start looping.
Metronome mode Enable the metronome by clicking the metronome icon in the center of
the bottom bar. Set the BPM by clicking on the BPM display on the right of the bottom
bar. Click the record icon on the first loop. A four-beat countdown will occur before the
recording starts.
Click the red stop icon to close the loop. The loop length will be rounded to the nearest
beat for a perfectly synched loop, and it will seamlessly start looping.

21

Loops 2-3-4
Loops 2-3-4 will follow the length of loop 1. Just click the record icon on the available
loop to start recording on next first beat of loop 1. The recording automatically stops at
the end of loop 1 and starts looping with it.
AUTO Feature
When Auto is enabled, the loops record consecutively without the need to start the
recording manually, except for loop 1.
Loops management
Once recorded, the loop becomes green. Click it to mute / unmute the loop. The play icon
in the bottom bar lets you PLAY or STOP all the loops at the same time. You can clear,
clear all, export single loop and export the whole mix by right-clicking one of the loops
and then selecting the desired function.
Loops Parameters
Each loop has an individual level and pan control so you can adjust them in the mix.
Looper MIDI Control
You can activate each track with the click of the mouse or use a MIDI foot controller like
the iRig BlueBoard to control it. It is possible to associate MIDI messages from the MIDI
Control Change - Global association.

22

System Requirements
AmpliTube is a 64-bit Plug-in and requires a 64 bit CPU and Operating System.
Mac (64-bits)
Minimal: Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.7 or later.
Supported Plug-in formats (64-bit): Audio Units, VST 2, VST 3, AAX.
Windows (64-bits)
Minimal: Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2GB of RAM, Windows 7,
or Windows 8. Requires an ASIO compatible sound card.
Supported Plug-in formats (64-bit): VST 2, VST 3, AAX.

23

AmpliTube, AmpliTube Metal, AmpliTube X-GEAR, SVX, StompIO, StealthPedal, StealthPlug,

SpeedTrainer, DSM, VRM, are trademarks or registered trademarks property of IK Multimedia Production
Srl.
FENDER and all FENDER amplifiers, logos, and trade dress are the trademarks of FMIC and used herein under
license. All rights reserved.
MESA/Boogie is a registered trademark property of MESA/Boogie Limited Corporation.
ORANGE is a registered trademark of Orange Music Electronic Company Ltd.
SOLDANO is a registered trademark of Gremlin Inc. DBA Soldano Custom Amplification Corporation.
JET CITY AMPLIFICATION 333 is a registered trademark property of 333 Enterprises Incorporated DBA Jet City
Amplification Corporation.
CARVIN is a registered trademark of Carvin Corporation.
DR. Z AMPLIFICATION is a registered trademark of Dr. Z Amps, Inc.
GALLIEN-KRUEGER is a registered trademark of Gallien-Krueger Corporation.
THD is a trademark of THD Electronics Ltd.
SEYMOUR DUNCAN is a registered trademark of Carter Duncan Corporation.
T-REX ENGINEERING is a registered trademark of T-Rex Engineering ApS Corporation.
FULLTONE is a registered trademark property of Fulltone Musical Products, Inc.
Z.VEX is a registered trademark property of Zachary Vex.
ENGL is a registered trademark property of Edmund Engl.
WAMPLER PEDALS is a registered trademark property of Wampler Pedals Inc.
MORLEY is a registered trademark property of Sound Enhancement Products, Inc.
All other product names and images, trademarks and artists names are the property of their respective owners, which
are in no way associated or affiliated with IK Multimedia. Product names are used solely for the purpose of identifying
the specific products that were studied during IK Multimedias sound model development and for describing certain
types of tones produced with IK Multimedias digital modeling technology. Use of these names does not imply any
cooperation or endorsement.

www.amplitube.com

IK Multimedia Production, Via dellindustria 46, 41122, Modena, Italy.

Phone: +39-059-285496 - Fax: +39-059-2861671
IK Multimedia US LLC, 1153 Sawgrass Corporate Pkwy. Sunrise, FL 33323
Phone: (954) 846-9101 - Fax: (954) 846-9077
www.ikmultimedia.com
All specifications are subject to change without further notice.
Latest update: 2015/10/28

MNU-AT4CS-WN01

24