I think i have a new favorite when it comes to virtual guitar amps. My first impression of Stark by Swedish Company Klevgrand was a bit reserved, because Stark looks very uncommon with its super clean and modern UI*.
But after i tried a few presets i quickly fell in love with this cpu-friendly guitar amp simulator. So i decided to film a showcase of some of the factory sounds:
Summary
What i like the most about Klevgrand Stark is how well it responds to pickup and volume changes. It can handle the bassy sound of the neck pickup much better than other amp simulators i have.
It also comes with a big variety of sounds. But many of the sounds in the Distorted Section are very questionable due to extreme levels of noise. At least you will need a noise gate to tame it.
So far i only tried the factory presets (some are really cool) and i can’t wait to create my own custom ones.
Lastly it’s important to mention that i got this nice vst plugin for free during Steinberg’s special offer event in April 2025.
Signal Chain
My Ibanez ➡️ Pre-Amp (clean sound, slightly crunchy, no effect, a pinch of compressor) ➡️ Interface ➡️ Cubase 14 Pro ➡️ Stark
*UI = User Interface