What's it Worth?: Bogren Digital Trivium Ampknob Bundle
Amp sims were once considered to be massively inferior to recording real-life amps, but now you can get just as good a sound out of them, and in much less time. With numerous amp sim plugins available it can be hard to know which are right for you.
Today we are talking about Bogren Digital's Trivium Ampknob bundle.
Is it worth owning? More importantly, is it worth your money?
But before we find out, if you don’t have your own home studio or you do and want to improve it, download the free Home Studio Starter guide HERE to find out everything your studio needs.
What is it?
Bogren Digital's Trivium Ampknob bundle is a collection of 3 amp sim plugins (Rhythm, Lead, and Bass) that have been designed by producer Jens Bogren in collaboration with Matt Heafy (Rhythm guitarist for Trivium), Corey Beaulieu (Lead guitarist for Trivium), and Paolo Gregoletto (Bassist for Trivium).
If you are not familiar with the Ampknob line of amp sims by Bogren Digital, they are designed to make it incredibly easy to achieve great, mix-ready sound with very few controls, and all without any additional processing.
If you are not familiar with Trivium, they are one of the biggest heavy metal bands around. They've developed a signature sound over the years by blending elements from many different genres of metal such as metalcore, heavy metal, thrash, and progressive metal.
If you've ever wanted to get Trivium's signature sound, these are the plugins you'll want. However, just because Trivium is a metal band doesn't mean these plugins are only meant for metal. They offer a wide range of tones that will work for all flavors of rock and metal.
The Trivium Ampknob bundle includes:
Ampknob - Trivium Rhythm
Designed for rhythm guitars, this Ampknob offers so much more than just heavy distorted tones. It has clean, crunch, and distortion channels along with 2 different, but great sounding, cabs. If you don't like how the included cabs sound, you can load your own IRs (impulse response) directly through the plug-in or disable the cab section altogether so you can use a different IR loader like GGD's Studio Cabs: Cali Oversized Edition.
Ampknob - Trivium Lead
Designed for lead guitars, this Ampknob is made to mix in perfectly with Trivium Rhythm, even in the densest of mixes. It has both a chorus/doubler effect and delay that sound great in mono, but even better in stereo. Only 1 cab is included but just like Trivium Rhythm, you can load your own IRs or disable the cab section to use a separate IR loader.
Bassknob - Trivium Bass
Designed for bass guitar, this Ampknob allows the bass guitar to fill in the low end nicely between the rhythm and lead guitars. It has an overdrive button for when you need a little more grit for the bass to stick out in the mix. Just like Trivium Lead, this only includes 1 cab and the ability to load your own IRs or disable the cab section.
Additional Features
In addition to what was already mentioned, all three include a built-in metronome, tuner, noise gate, and simple audio recorder. They also have stand-alone versions for when you just want to quickly play something.
How Do They Sound?
Trivium Rhythm
By far the most versatile of the 3 offerings since it has clean, crunch, and distorted tones.
Like the other Ampknob plugins, it's simple to use with very minimal controls. A bypass switch, channel selection switch, gain knob, and simple cab selector are all you get and all you need. It's buried in the settings but there's also an adjustment for the amount of reverb when using the clean channel.
Trivium Lead
The previously mentioned chorus/doubler effect and delay sound great. You can easily adjust the amount and depth of the chorus/doubler effect, which they called "Chorey" and the delay is as easy to adjust.
Honestly though, if you aren't buying the bundle, there isn't much reason to get this. You can achieve a very similar sound using Trivium Rhythm with a few other plugins. What makes this stand out though is how well and effortlessly it mixes with rhythm guitars using Trivium Rhythm.
Trivium Bass
Although the least adjustable out of the 3 plugins with just bypass and drive switches, and a gain knob, Bassknob - Trivium Bass really packs a punch. It makes your bass fit perfectly in, especially with rhythm guitars using Trivium Rhythm. There isn't really much more to say, it just works.
All Together
All three of the plugins sound great when used alone. However, where these plugins really shine is when they are used together in a mix.
Each plugin has built-in processing, so they seamlessly mix together without any additional work. This means they truly are "mix-ready". You can get amazing results in minutes with just a bass track, doubled rhythm guitar, and a lead, even at the default settings.
What's It Worth?
The normal price for the bundle is $147 but it does go on sale from time to time for $98 and when purchased individually, each plugin is $49.
At the sale price it's hard to not recommend picking up this bundle, especially if you play rock and metal. Even the full price of $147 is well worth it.
I picked up the bundle during one of the sales for $98 and have had no regrets in my purchase.
Final Verdict
Although they don't have all the extra features many other amp sims have, like being able to adjust more than just the gain of the amp, microphone placement, and post-processing, they are all very easy to use and sound amazing right out of the box.
As previously mentioned, Trivium Lead is the weakest of the three offerings when used by itself, but when used in a full mix with the others, it rounds out and completes the package.
The full asking price of $147 is more than reasonable for the quality and ease of use you get from all three plugins and if you can get them on sale for $98, you won't be disappointed.
Do you already have a favorite amp sim? Let me know what it is in the comments below!
-Anthony