"Cannot find AmpliTubeXGEAR" - how to enable in VST Manager?

[MrNeutron]

Hi all,

New user here. Notion 3 install has not been pretty so far, and I'm still having problems employing AmpliTubeXGEAR.

Let's go through what I've done:
1. Installed Notion 3 (DVD 1) on my 32-bit Win7 machine.
2. Installed AmpliTube and Notion 2 sounds (DVD 2).
3. Authorized Notion 3.
4. Authorized AmpliTube X-GEAR by opening the AmpliTube X-GEAR.exe file, because I couldn't do it via Notion 3.

Despite authorizing AmpliTube it's still not showing up in Notion 3. When I follow the manual's guidance to open Notion 3 and choose the "Rock Band" template then click the Mixer button, but there's no "Insert 1" button under E. Guitar in the mixer--instead the button reads "AmplTbXG/!\" with an exclamation mark bang warning icon.

When I click on the "AmplTbXG/!\" button I receive the following error in a dialog box:

==========
Plug-ins/Instruments missing or disabled

Cannot find AmpliTubeXGEAR. Make sure AmpliTubeXGEAR is installed, and enabled in the VST Manager. You can also chose to ignore this warning, or remove AmpliTubeXGEAR from the mixer.

Cannot find AmpliTubeXGEAR. Make sure AmpliTubeXGEAR is installed, and enabled in the VST Manager. You can also chose to ignore this warning, or remove AmpliTubeXGEAR from the mixer.
==========

(Yes, the error text is repeated.)

Well, AmpliTubeXGEAR is most definitely installed. I then go Score > Setup > VST Manager. The VST Manager dialog box is empty. I click Browse and go to the AmpliTube X-GEAR folder. Where are the VST Plugins? How do I enable AmpliTubeXGEAR in the VST Manager?

I've already done one complete reinstall after cleaning my Windows registry file. Hopefully someone can help me rectify what's been a pretty lousy install/setup/user experience thus far.

Cheers,
Mike

[MrNeutron]

All right, figured this out (at last). Load the AmpliTubeXGEAR.dll file in VST Manager! Naturally there's nothing in any documenation about that exact procedure or file. Finally I've got guitar sounds other than the vanilla electric, which is crucial--Notion 3 is to be my "upgrade" over Guitar Pro 6.

[Surfwhammy]

All right, figured this out (at last). Load the AmpliTubeXGEAR.dll file in VST Manager! Naturally there's nothing in any documenation about that exact procedure or file. Finally I've got guitar sounds other than the vanilla electric, which is crucial--Notion 3 is to be my "upgrade" over Guitar Pro 6.

Great!

Now that you have registered the IK Multimedia product(s), you should have an IK Multimedia User Account, and you can visit the IK Multimedia website and examine your IK Multimedia User Area after you login . . .

[NOTE: If you have not registered your IK Multimedia products, then you need to register them, since registering the products with IK Multimedia has useful benefits . . . ]

For AmpliTube X-Gear the current version is 1.5.1 (for both Mac OS X and Windows), but there also is a free version of AmpliTube 3, and there is a free version of SampleTank. AmpliTube X-Gear qualifies you for crossgrade pricing on IK Multimedia products, which is helpful, since this maps to lower prices. Also, you might have a few JAM Points, which are credits that can be applied to purchases at the IK Multimedia Store . . .

[NOTE: AmpliTube 3 Custom Shop FREE comes with 24 models including a digital chromatic tuner, 9 stomps, 4 amps, 5 cabs, 3 mics, and 2 rack effects, but it is designed primarily to make it easy to purchase specific amplifier, loudspeaker, and effect pedal emulations. Some of the Custom Shop emulations are nice, but the smarter strategy is to wait until IK Multimedia has one of their "group buy" extravaganzas where they discount everything and add more stuff as a bonus depending on the number of people who participate in the "group buy" . . . ]

AmpliTube Custom Shop FREE (IK Multimedia)

[NOTE: SampleTank FREE is useful, and it comes with 500MB of sampled instruments, including some synthesizers, which are downloaded separately. Also, there is a new Authorization Manager, so it needs to be downloaded and installed, as well, hence there actually are three separate downloads (Authorization Manager, SampleTank FREE (program), and SampleTank FREE Sounds (sampled instruments), and SampleTank works nicely with NOTION 3 . . . ]

SampleTank FREE (IK Multimedia)

And when I refer to "IK Multimedia product(s)", I also am referring to CSR Classic Studio Reverb, where one of the four reverb units probably is included with the NOTION 3 package, and it is a very nice reverb unit, although the NOTION 3 native reverb is very nice, as well . . .

Some of the IK Multimedia stuff is a bit cumbersome to register, but this tends to be the case with everything, really, and you can get help at the IK Multimedia FORUM once you register and have a User ID or whatever . . .

In some respects, the most important thing to know about IK Multimedia is that they have virtually absurd "group buy" extravaganza sales every so often where they discount stuff by as much as 75 percent, and they have "special offers" on individual products every so often, as well, where for a few days last week they decided to sell SampleTron for $29.99 (US) rather than the usual MSRP of $229.99 (US) . . .

[NOTE: The IK Multimedia marketing and sales folks at times are lunatics, but the strategy of having absurd discount promotions makes sense over the long run, because it increases their happy customer base, so the smart strategy is (a) to make a list of stuff that you like and then (b) to be patient until it appears in an absurd discount promotion . . . ]

Special Offers (IK Multimedia)

You can check the IK Multimedia FORUM (News and Announcements, Special Offers sections), where they announce discounts and special offers . . .

I have all the IK Multimedia computer products, including a Stealth Pedal rig, but I do everything on a Mac Pro (Apple), hence cannot be much help with installing stuff on a Windows computer, but I can help with tips on how to use stuff once you get it installed, and I really like IK Multimedia stuff, because it sounds good, and it works, and there are folks who participate in the IK Multimedia FORUM and know about installing IK Multimedia products on Windows computers . . .

Lots of FUN!

P. S. The most absurd discount promotion IK Multimedia has had over the past few years was their 15 Year Anniversary "group buy" extravaganza, which had a virtual festival of rules and stuff that took me about a week to understand, but once I discovered the algorithm, it mapped to someone who had no IK Multimedia products being able to get everything they sold at the time for computers, which at MSRP mapped approximately to $5,000 (US) of stuff, for $750 (US), where the key was to purchase two specific hardware products, one at a time, and then to do a crossgrade to one of the software-only products, since the first hardware product qualified subsequent purchases for crossgrade pricing, and all the free bonus stuff was restricted to "downloadable only" stuff, where hardware products have to be shipped, hence the first two purchases were the ARC System and the AmpliTube Pedal (which was a bundle type of thing that combined AmpliTube 3 with the Stealth Pedal), and part of the strategy involved paying the full price for one of the products, even though it qualified for crossgrade pricing, since the free bonus stuff was based in part on the MSRP of qualifying products, which was the "illogical" part of the algorithm, but by paying a little bit more for one product (approximately $50 [US]), it mapped to getting perhaps $2,500 of free stuff . . .

I thought it was hilarious, and I am not certain that the IK Multimedia marketing and sales folk actually realized what they had done, since it took me about a week to find the specific path through the maze and to reduce it to a step-by-step algorithm, but they confirmed in the IK Multimedia FORUM that the path was there; that the algorithm was correct; and that it mapped approximately to an 85 percent discount on their entire computer-based product line for those folks who initially had no IK Multimedia products . . .

At the time, I already had a few IK Multimedia products, so I used the path to get everything else, but the biggest savings happened for folks who initially had no IK Multimedia products, really . . .

Really!

P. P. S. The key bit of information is that doing digital music production is expensive in terms of hardware and software costs, no matter how you do it, so it is very important to be patient; to get on vendor mailing lists; and to time your purchases so that you get everything on discount whenever possible, which nearly always is possible, because nearly all the various companies have discount promotions every so often, and in the US it also is an excellent idea to check the Musician's Friend "Stupid Deal of the Day" regularly, which is the way I got Sonik Synth 2 (IK Multimedia) for an absurdly discounted price . . .