From the disturbed makers of Metal Amp Room comes Softube Bass Amp Room, an amp sim plugin with fewer references to gory death, but a wider application of musical styles.

Far from being some sort of virtual Amp Plantation where an infinite number of head / cabinet combinations can be grafted on to one another, Bass Amp Room provides one amplifier and three cabinets choices. What the plug lacks in seeming choices, however, it more than makes up for with a pragmatic design and -- more importantly -- seriously awesome tone.

The plugin window itself is also very user friendly. At the top of the control panel you have the controls for the "Custom Softube 100" bass head. With controls for normal and master volume, as well as a simple three band EQ, this straightforward amp sim is capable of tones ranging from deep reggae to over-driven punk bass to anything in between.

After that you've got the visual representation of your virtual cabinet selection: an 8x10 ("The Classic"), a 4x10 ("The Rocker") and an open-back 1x12 cabinet ("The Odd Bird"). Here's where you dictate mic placement using an intuitive click-and-drag interface. Also available is the option to bypass the Bass Amp Room cabs and rout the amplifier signal through any other of Softube's "Amp Room"-series plugins' cabinets.

This smartly-designed plug terminates its virtual signal path in a D.I. preamp stage and direct / mic'd blend mixer before the overall output volume. By including direct-injection simulation, the Bass Amp Room saved on virtual tracks and, it follows, CPU usage.

Bass amp room can be downloaded and purchased directly from Softube for $199 US, provided you've got an iLok. There's also a demo version available, but that, again, requires the iLok.