Digital and Analog Approaches

Not every amp simulation is built the same, and the terms are often mixed up. Roughly, three approaches can be distinguished — useful for decoding product descriptions.

Fully digital modeling — The amp is reproduced in software (classic modeling or newer methods that "capture" the behavior of real amps). Enormous variety, editable in detail, with cabinet simulation (IRs, see mod-4) and effects in one device. Today's mainstream for flexibility.

Analog preamps / hybrid — Some devices use real analog circuits (sometimes even a small tube) for tone shaping and supplement them digitally. The goal is a piece of "analog behavior" with digital practicality. The line between the camps is fluid.

Software (plugins) — Amp simulation entirely as a program on the computer, with no dedicated hardware. You play through an audio interface into the DAW, the simulation runs as a plugin. Cheapest to get into, most flexible to expand, but dependent on the computer and interface latency.

Practical consequence — Hardware modelers are rugged, stage-ready and low-latency; software solutions are flexible and cheap but need a capable computer and a good interface.

None of these approaches is inherently superior — they differ in price, stage suitability, editing depth and how much "analog" behavior you expect. What counts is the result at the ear, not the method on the spec sheet.