Positive Grid offers the Bias FX 2 LE ($40 value) guitar effects processor as a FREE download until April 30th, 2022.
Bias FX 2 LE is an extensive guitar FX emulator based on Positive Grid’s flagship Bias FX 2 software. The limited-edition plugin is available for free in celebration of Guitar Month.
To get your free copy of Bias FX 2 LE, visit the promo page linked at the bottom and sign up with your email address. You will receive a BIAS FX 2 LE redeem code.
Bias FX 2 LE hosts a limited selection of virtual guitar amps, effects units, and other bells and whistles ideal for guitar tone junkies that like to explore a large range of musical styles
The latest version of Bias FX 2 (full version) features an improved guitar simulation engine that captures the incoming guitar signal and matches it with a series of sampled tones recorded through studio equipment most of us could only dream of using. Guitar emulations include a variety of Stratocasters, the famous Gibson Les Paul, and a Gretsch Electromatic.
The main interface allows guitarists to build a performance or recording chain much like they would a conventional studio setup. Users can customize the order of their signal flow and bypass any stage of their chain if they wish to.
Here is a brief guide to the primary effects processors on hand within the Bias FX 2 interface (full version):
- Amplifier Engines – This panel opens up an array of amplifier emulators. There are amp emulations from all major eras of music, and several tone options from acoustic and bass to bright and high-gain presets to choose from;
- Rack Gear Emulations – Possibly one of the most exciting sections of this plugin, the rack gear plays host to some effects units that may not be traditionally used for guitar playing. While there are some great generic compressors and modulation units such as a Tri Chorus, the Drum Delay and Rotary Speaker generate some fascinating textures;
- Guitar Effects Pedal – This panel may biome the most utilized area of the Bias FX plugin, and with good reason. There are some incredibly accurate representations of Eq, compressors, and spatial effects such as reverb and delay on hand for users to enjoy;
- Cabinet/Mic Control- The cabinet and mic control section is best reserved for guitarists with a more in-depth knowledge of guitar recording techniques. These geniuses will know just how to adjust the mic placement and cabinet settings for precise tonal shaping.
We’ve only just scratched the Bias FX 2 plugin’s surface, and we’ve already discovered an abundance of fun and helpful guitar tools that can make playing a recording an absolute dream.
However, the LE edition comes with limited functionality: “Included are 3 amps plus 6 effects – the authentic-sounding ’77 Silvertone (Clean), ’69 Plexiglas (Crunch), and ’92 Treadplate (High Gain) amplifiers. It also includes a range of great-sounding effect pedals for users to expand their effects arsenal: a Treble Boost, 6 band EQ, an 808 OD stomp box, a Chorus, plus digital delay and reverb pedals.”
You can currently get the lightweight-edition Bias FX 2 LE plugin for free via Positive Grid. It comes with a limited set of features compared to the full software, but it’s still a capable guitar FX suite for your DAW.
Bias FX 2 LE is available in VST2, AU, and AAX plugin hosts on Windows (8 or later) and macOS (Sierra 10.12 to Big Sur 11.6.1).
Download: Bias FX 2 LE (free until April 30th, 2022)
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12 Comments
Jamie M.
ondrowning in freebies this april!
Simbarashe
onWaiting on Waves and Oveloud to do something real fast cause as it stands they are falling fast
Steev
onFirst impressions – like with the other Positive Grid stuff I’ve used – is not that great. Select “ASIO” as the driver type in the standalone version – the list of devices fails to update, and it’s still the list of Windows devices. You need to close the audio settings and reopen the window for the drop-down to populate. So the first thing you’re confronted with is a glaring bug.
Then it turns out you don’t get access to any of the presets with the LE. But creating your own is made unappealing by shrinking the area where you chain together the components to the size of a stamp. It’s tiny and requires scrolling (using a scroll bar, not the mouse wheel) to use. Whichever genius at Positive Grid decided that they’d limit the window size to a quarter of the screen needs to go. Once again, the workflow/UX is so poor that I can’t actually see myself using this when I’ve to so many other options available.
I wonder if this one at least loads the previous settings when you reload a project; their older offerings didn’t, but I do believe that was fixed at some point. But if this was meant to entice people to spend more money on the paid offerings, it did the opposite for me.The default preset that loaded up sounded alright though, but it seems that they’ve still not learnt how to create software that actually makes you want to use it.
Garry
onI installed both the VST and stand alone app on my Mac yesterday and haven’t seen those problems. Regarding the window size, I just changed the option for Window size under ‘Settings’ to Responsive – that gave me an app window that covers more than half the screen. It’s very comfortable for text size.
On presets, I have (generally) 3-4 presets available for each style (pop, blues. Rock, etc). To my ears they’re good and easily better than the lite versions of Guitar Rig 6, or Amplitude. The 77 Silvertone amp is gorgeous with my Seymour Duncan P90’s… Easily the most realistic amp simulation I have used to date. But of course your mileage may vary!
I haven’t found making my own presets an issue – certainly easier than, say, Nembrini and Audio Assaults amp sims. (this may simply be, of course, because I changed that window option) I made several presents – basic clean, clean with light chorus, a few Edge-style delay presets and was part way through some lead presets when I closed the app. When I opened it today I was presented with exactly the spot I had left off – and I hadn’t saved my work.
Obviously the whole point of the product from Positive Grid’s perspective is a ‘sell-up’ platform and I get that. They just want us to buy more toys or upgrade to the full version – and this goes for all the companies that make lite versions available to the market. But, as provided, it does enough for me.
PureFire
onSoundevice Digital – Autoformer is free at the monent from United Plugins:
unitedplugins.com/Autoformer
Michal Ochedowski
onAwesome news! Thank you.
Wing Yee
onPresets are good. Enough to give user what to expect if they upgrade. But the GUI window size…okay in Cakewalk but only 2/3 can be view in Reaper. I haven’t tried it in other DAWs. Anyone have the same issue?
Garry
onI’m on a Mac with Reaper 6.43 and I’m not seeing any issues. As per my post above – try changing the option under Settings for Window Size to Responsive.
Wing Yee
onSettings is on the missing 1/3 view in Reaper I can only access that in Cakewalk. I’m not sure but I think the plugin is missing some Microsoft C++ Visual stuff to correctly show the GUI. I might need to contact support for this.
Garry
onAh… That’s a showstopper then…
Looking at the Positive Grid Forum, your problem has already been reported but has no responses (Feb 27th)
https://forum.positivegrid.com/topic/6445/bias-fx-2-ui-cut-off-in-reaper
You may want to try bumping it. The Forums give the impression that PG are besieged – it isn’t a pretty site.
Peter Dillon-Parkin
onStill trying it out. I downloaded it to try it out. I like the fact that it deals well with incoming audio. The amps are ok, but nothing really strikes me as being good enough to warrant buying the full package. I’ll continue to fiddle, and perhaps it will win me over, but I suspect not.
xeng vue
onok