Archetype vs JP2C - Can You Tell Which is Real?

The Archetype:Petrucci amp sim sounds awesome. But how does it compare to Petrucci's signature Mesa Boogie JP2C. Let's find out.

Get the gear here:

Intro - 0:00
What is the Archetype: Petrucci? - 0:45
Test Method - 1:48
Sound Tests - 3:33
Final Thoughts - 7:46

[ManBunMetalHead]

Are amp sims ready to replace the real thing?

[davidegiancane]

They give both great tones but this comparison is not fair in my opinion because the cabs used are totally different and this component makes around the 75% of the sound. So you should use the same IR with both amps and then a comparison would be fair 😊

[bigdaddysprinkle]

Just found your videos recently and love em. Keep it up m8. I recently bought a evh iconic 40w combo amp to replace my katana artist mk2 and i am blown away at the sound difference between using real tubes vs just digital. Ill love tubes till the day i die

[xRaidn]

Awesome video man, super high quality production, and I guessed the amp wrong from the plugin lol

[DoppiaVoce]

Hi! Great review!
I had a Jp2c, but for 150€ you can have a terrific amount of features and high sound quality; at the end I run my neural Dsp into an audio interface, power amp and cabinet, it’s an hybrid method that works great! Jp2c with a cab it’s 4000€ here in Europe, then you have to add effects etc…
Cheers!

[JulesCalella]

Great comparison, the Archetype is very convincing. I actually bought it a few days ago, and while being able to blast a real amp would more fun sometimes, there are benefits to amp sims:
- Low volume for home recording any time of the day.
- Same recording setup if you want to breakup your sessions. With a real amp, if you're recording at home and you have to put away your mics between sessions, good luck getting it setup exactly the same.
- Adjust settings post recording.
- Less stuff to carry to a gig. Huge benefit if they have their own PA system.

Cons:
- Make sure your computer is up to date. Playing also requires waiting for your PC to boot up, which might be frustrating for some.
- More devices required (good PC, audio interface, speakers/monitors).
- Hope that it will run in future versions of your OS 🤞

It used to be choosing between the quality of the real amp or the convenience of a digital amp, but they sound similar enough that it's not a concern anymore. The benefits outweigh the downsides for me!

[johnevered]

I totally guessed that amp b was the JP2C for the rhythm just because of the midrange voicing but honestly the lead sounds were pretty indisguishable from each other!
I also got the 7 string stuff right but it was a total guess

[BlazinRiver]

I have been a Boogie man since the 90s...I have one of their hardest amps to dial in...Nomad 45 4X10...and it weighs a ton..and at 64 I am not into lugging it around anymore may be my new rig.

[fedrek]

After the first reveal of who was who, it was easy to find out where the real amplifier was. The real amp dialed to sound kind of nasal and also whistling on the high mids.

[Tootoo_music_production]

you can hear the fake amp easily but it still sounds like you could use it easily and no one would realize good job cheers

[luisdavidgarciarendonorozc]

OMG the $150 archetype sounded better than the real +$2000 thing

[ras]

Just looking at what your graphic eq settings were on the JP2C it was easy to tell (I’ve played Mk series amps since 2005 and have a JP2C). If I didn’t have that visual tell I would have guessed it was the other way around. You kind of bucked the super scooped mids everyone goes for with the JP2C so you have a slightly “boxy” more heavily projected tone where as the plug in has the more idealized mark series tone built into it. Great comparison.

[valentinoaccorsini]

The tone of the Neural products is very good, but the response of a real amp is very different.

[ceniam]

Couldn´t tell :(
I don´t know why I keep using amps for my recordings at this point 🤣

[rk]

Both sound good. But the real one was easy to make out, I think the sag in the low end gives it away.
Stupid question, did you mic up the Mesa or did you use the same IRs for both amps?

[sarahvlo]

The real amp sounds more "open" and therefore more "real" to me. The plug-in has this annoying "fizzy" quality to it which you can't get rid of, which is the giveaway.
I play both and I prefer the sound and feel of the JP2C of course. But the plug-in is so convenient.
I hope that one day plug-ins will sound and feel closer to real amps.

[IceBreakBottle]

Is it weird that I like the Archetype version over the real thing every time?

[jtrguitar]

Sounds like just some eq differences. The archtype was more scooped. that could be changed with a parametric eq.

[jorgecatalanl.]

JP2C Sounds 3.000+ bucks better than Archetype? I think NO. Thank you man!

[AceMcshred]

They sound completely different, but is there something wrong with me that I actually prefer the plugin? Haha