Hey man - I got Synergy because of a lot of hype etc. Particularly the Fortin Cali module. I played it against the Fortin Cali plugin and the plugin was a little better.
Something about the Synergy modules, just lose some bass. But yeah there’s not a lot left to gain using a module vs. using QC.
But yeah don’t waste your money on Synergy - QC does it the same.
If you talk about getting an actual amp - I’d def say they sound better than QC but synergy modules ain’t it.
Thanks for the post! I really appreciate your first-hand experience with this. I keep going back and fourth on this. I was really impressed with Paul’s (Studio Rats) demo of the Mezzabarba Skill 30 and they sell that as a combo. Seems to cover a wide range of tines and I’ve been using his capture of that amp ever since. Still doesn’t have quite the feel and full richness of a real amp though. They make it as a combo, so maybe that plus a Fryette Power Station for the second amp (stereo) with a 1x12 would get me where I ned to go.
Yeah I bet that Mezzabarba sounds divine in the room!
In my experience the captures lose characteristics of the bottom end pretty easily but I’d also try eq’ing up the 125 or 250Hz to give it more dimension pre amp and then add a boost pedal to tighten it up and then in to the capture. It will still sound far from the real thing but somewhat closer.
If you have the cash for it - you can go for it! Mezzabarbas are expensive I believe. However def try a lot of eq tricks to get as close and see if the investment is worth it. It’s also pretty easy to switch channels and effects on multifx - so it is just less hassle. I think if it’s good enough for big bands - good enough for me 
. However to each their own since it’s so subjective.
On another note since you mentioned Fryette powerstation, you can try going in to the return of a tube amp. In my experience - it doesn’t sound as good and has that same “hollowness” to it if you’re using a multifx as pre-amp. Best result I got was out of the multifx was Laney FRFR - the cabs on those things are thick wood and beautifully bring out the full spectrum. York Audio has some great IRs you can try with it.
My current setup is plugins in to Laney FRFR at home or in to a Seymour Duncan power stage for live cab use. Not expensive but does the job live and super easy to setup with a cheap midi controller.
Thanks! I wasn’t aware of the York IRs but will check them out. Happy to save money if I can. I was considering a consult with Mason over at Tone Doctor. Not ‘cheap’ per say but at least I could get some experienced advise without spending thousands just to experiment and end up short of the goal.
I disagree. At the end of the day it comes down to using a proper coloured poweramp.
At this point I’m thinking of going on a bit of a different direction. Revv D20 and G20 for L/R power amps, but that gives me 2-3 flavors of preamp and built in Two Notes for the speaker modeling when I need to go silent. Not as flexible as the Synergy Preamps, but at a much lower price and more integrated.
That’s not bad at all! Amps sound pretty awesome. I hope you get try one out - so hard when no local GCs have anything relevant anymore.
If you want an actual tube amp, I would say definitely worth checking out SYN 20IR - I recently played it with SLO II module and it is close. Nothing like an actual SLO 30 but it sounds good enough. Just preamp though I think sounds same as QC (from a SYN 1/SYN 2) - I don’t think I regret getting the SYN 20IR.