Electrum

Name: Electrum
Price: 39 USD
Author: United Plugins

by United Plugins · Amp Sim · Guitar amp and pedalboard suite

Not rated yet

Electrum from Muramasa (sold by United Plugins) is a guitar amp suite with five amplifiers, over 300 cabinet simulations, distortion pedals and a full effects chain.

It also has a poly tuner, 18 reverbs, modulation, delay and a 7-band EQ, for $168.

Best for: Guitars. Genres: Rock & Indie, Metal, Pop, Jazz, Acoustic & Classical.

Keywords: electric guitar, clean, match EQ, utility, beginner-friendly, creative, drag-and-drop routing, drums, flat UI, heavy, inspired by, reference & monitoring, simple, spacious, spectral, synths, tracking, vocals.

What it does

Electrum is a Muramasa guitar amp and pedalboard plugin, sold by United Plugins, that puts a whole rig on one screen. The developer calls it "the all-in-one single-screen guitar solution": every module is visible at once, with no menus to dig through.

Five amps: generic designs named Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red and Black that rise in gain, from clean Fender-like tones to very heavy. They share controls for gain, EQ, Emphasis, Tight mode, power amp drive, PSU Sag, Luster and Corrosion.
Cabinets: over 300 cabinet options from 16 cabinet types with 21 alterations each, with resonance and ambience settings and virtual mic distance. They are modelled rather than built from impulse responses.
Drive pedals: three distortion pedals with shared controls, aimed at rock and metal.
Modulation and delay: a multi-modulation pedal that blends chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo and sweeper, plus a double-tap delay with sync, modulation and saturation.
Reverb, EQ and doubler: 18 reverb algorithms (Hall, Room, Plate, Cathedral, Shimmer, Ethereal and more) with damping and ducking, a 7-band EQ with high- and low-pass filters, and an automatic double-tracking Doubler.
Analysis tools: a spectral polyphonic tuner, EQ matching against a reference track and Smart Input Level for gain staging.
Workflow: drag-and-drop module order, presets for the whole rig and for each section, 3D or flat interface styles, click-free bypass and a sleep mode that saves CPU.

The license includes the lighter Electrum Core edition. Processing is 64-bit at any sample rate including 192 kHz. There is a fully working 15-day trial, and updates are free for life.

Source: United Plugins product page

When to use it

Electrum is the better pick when you want a complete guitar chain on one screen at a mid-range price. Compared with AmpliTube 5 MAX and Guitar Rig 7 Pro, it has far fewer amps and no licensed models, but nothing is hidden in menus and it adds a doubler and EQ matching. Compared with Neural DSP's Archetype: Nolly X, it is less focused on one artist's tones and covers clean, modulated and ambient sounds as well as high gain. Unlike Neural Amp Modeler, it does not load captures of real amps, so its five generic amps are all you get.

Best for: re-amping DI guitar for recordings and demos, especially effected clean parts and overdriven rock, plus creative use on synths, drums and vocals.
Genres: rock, metal, pop, ambient and jazz.
Look elsewhere if: you want famous amp models, captures or spring reverb; AmpliTube 5 MAX or Neural Amp Modeler go further. For subtle bluesy break-up, Sound On Sound found it needed careful use of drive.
Tip: use Smart Input Level first to set gain staging, then pick the amp; keep amp drive and pedal distortion low if you want a mild overdrive.

What producers say

Reviewers found it flexible and easy to use, with a few gaps for blues players and reverb fans.

Sound On Sound (Paul White, 2021) praised the always-visible pedals, the cabinet range, the multi-modulation pedal and the Shimmer and Infinite reverbs. It found it best for "effected clean sounds or overtly overdriven rock" and missed parallel signal chains.
Mix (Mike Levine) called it "a powerful and flexible tool for bringing your DI guitar tracks to life", singling out the Doubler and modulation module.
Criticisms: no spring reverb ("an odd omission" for Mix), cabinet presets that don't state speaker types, and EQ matching that needs an isolated guitar reference.

Where to buy

Plugin Boutique: $39 (regular $163)
Best Service: $121.36
AudioDeluxe: $149
PluginFox: $160
United Plugins: $168

Tutorials and reviews

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