Why don't you just mic a cab?

Guitarfreak wrote: Why don't you just mic a cab?

Want it for silent recording. All my stuff is crammed in a tiny room. I do most of my recording at night when everyone is asleep. So I want the best possible sound without mic and cab.

In my experience, GTR is good.

What are you not happy with?

I prefer Amplitube over Guitar Rig. Guitar rig sounds too digital and solid state when it comes to using it for rhythm guitars. Doesn't offer enough punch and realism. For leads it's great.

I'm thinking a pre amp might be the solution. been looking at the Mesa Recording amp and some ENGL. Just seeing if anyone else has tried them

This might be a little unorthodox, but...

You have a pretty nice preamp.
Why not get a decent DI box (good to have anyways), run it into the 610, then use one of the emulators on that track?
I would think the 610 might make enough of a difference to help with the "sterility" and "boxiness" you are encountering.
If not, you own a nice DI box. If it's passive, you can even use it in reverse.

Otherwise, I would check out the SansAmp stuff. I had a bass player bring one of those things in, and it was pretty awesome sounding.

the LA-610 IS a really nice DI box!!!
i use it with GR3 and am really really happy with the sounds... not digital sounding at all. i close my eyes and swear its a real amp (or any number or real, really nice amps). there are infinite ways to tweak your sound to find the magic, and i find very small adjustments and combinations of adjustments can yield HUGE differences. have you messed with the advanced amp features (bias, response, sag etc. etc)? have you pressed the HQ button in the top right corner? i find that NONE of the presets work well with my guitar, pickups, style etc, but that they are a good starting point...

Have you considered building a isolated speaker cabinet? I know there are some commercial ones out there too but I bet you could build a decent one for fairly cheap.

Here's a couple of links:

http://grendelsound.com/deadroom.htm

http://www.beaverbottoms.com/PRODUCTS.HTM

http://www.jlhproducts.com/axetrak/

Just a thought. I don't think any of these are completely silent but it might be quiet enough in conjunction with a power soak.

i was inspired to post a few examples, using the same equipment as you (002, LA-610, PT LE 7.4, GR 3), but i got a little carried away and made a song instead. i would normally roll the low and mid lows off the rhythm guitars but i left them fat. anyway, you might not like the sounds, but i don't think they sound 'digital'...
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7675669