TONEX MAX

Name: TONEX MAX
Price: 281.11 USD
Author: IK Multimedia

by IK Multimedia · Amp Sim · AI capture platform

vst3s Score 8.6/10 · rated #7 of 10 amp sims

AI-driven tone modeling that captures real amps, cabs and pedals. The MAX edition includes 1,000 tone models, and the ToneNET community shares thousands more.

It gets realistic amp tone without locking you into one ecosystem.

Best for: Guitars, Bass. Genres: Rock & Indie, Metal, Pop.

Keywords: sampled hardware, AI/machine learning, electric guitar, bass, mixing, spring, tape.

What it does

TONEX is IK Multimedia's AI capture platform: play "Tone Models" of real amps, cabs and pedals, or capture your own gear. MAX is the largest edition.

AI Machine Modeling: models the sound of amps, cabinets, combos and most pedals.
Library: 1,250+ premium tone models in MAX, according to IK's current page.
Capture: the included Modeler app turns your own rig into tone models, with no limit on how many you make.
ToneNET: a community library of over 65,000 shared tone models.
Effects: 12 built in, including compressor, noise gate, chorus, phaser, rotary, tape and digital delay, and spring, room and plate reverbs.
Ecosystem: tone models also load in AmpliTube 5 and on IK's TONEX pedals.

Smaller editions are TONEX CS (free), SE and Standard.

Source: IK Multimedia product page

When to use it

TONEX sits between modellers and NAM. Unlike Helix Stadium Native or AmpliTube 5 MAX, its tones are captures of real gear at one setting rather than amps with working controls. Compared with NAM it's easier to use, comes with a large library and effects, and ties into IK's hardware, but it isn't free or open.

Best for: realistic tones from captured amps, capturing your own rig, and TONEX pedal owners.
Genres: rock, metal, blues and pop, wherever a real amp sound matters.
Look elsewhere if: you like to tweak an amp's controls freely; a capture holds one setting, and time-based effects can't be captured.

What producers say

Reviewers praise the realism and the price; capturing takes patience and extra gear.

Guitar World (Simon Fellows, 2023) found capturing "fast, easy and astonishingly accurate" and the software "immensely impressive".
Guitar.com (Darran Charles, 2023) called it the budget amp profiling software players had been waiting for, but a complex rig took about 90 minutes to capture.
Gripes: no capturing of delay, reverb or modulation, and the need for a re-amp box and mics to capture your own gear.

Where to buy

Best Service: $281.11
Sweetwater: $299.99
Plugin Boutique: $299.99

Tutorials and reviews

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