Apex Amp User Guide & DSP Manual

Apex Amp is a commercial-grade, high-performance virtual guitar amplifier and rig processing plugin designed for macOS and Windows (VST3, AU, AAX, Standalone). Its defining feature is a built-in AI Assistant that automatically maps plain-text tone requests to complex, 293-parameter rig configurations.

AI Connection Hub Setup

Apex Amp's AI Assistant connects seamlessly to cloud AI services or 100% offline local inference servers running on your machine.

1. Google Gemini Setup (Recommended & 100% Free)

Google Gemini provides exceptionally fast tone generation with a generous free tier.

Visit https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey and log in with any Google account.
Click "Create API Key" and copy your key string (AIzaSy...).
Open Apex Amp, click the AI Gear / Config icon to open the AI Connection Hub.
Select Google Gemini, paste your key into the API Key field, and click Test Connection.
Click Save & Close.

2. Anthropic Claude Setup

Sign in to https://console.anthropic.com/ and navigate to API Keys.
Create a key (sk-ant-api03-...), copy it, and paste it into the Anthropic Claude card.
Select claude-3-5-sonnet-latest or claude-3-5-haiku-latest.

3. OpenAI & Custom Compatible Endpoints (OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Groq)

Apex Amp supports direct OpenAI keys as well as custom base URLs for third-party aggregators and reverse proxies.

Direct OpenAI: Set Base URL to https://api.openai.com and enter your sk-proj-... API key.
OpenRouter: Set Base URL to https://openrouter.ai/api/v1, enter your OpenRouter key, select Custom Model..., and type your model ID (e.g. anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet).
DeepSeek: Set Base URL to https://api.deepseek.com/v1 and enter your key.

4. Offline Local LLMs (Ollama / LM Studio)

For 100% offline privacy inside your DAW:

Install Ollama (https://ollama.com) and run ollama run llama3 in terminal.
In Apex Amp's AI Connection Hub, select Local LLM and leave Base URL as http://localhost:11434.
Click Test Connection. Apex Amp will dynamically discover your locally installed models!

DSP Signal Chain Architecture

The audio path inside Apex Amp follows a strict, zero-latency pro-studio signal chain:

Master Input -> Input Trim -> DI Looper -> NoiseGate -> PPT Pickup Profiler 
  -> PitchShifter / Synth Workstation -> Dynamics (Comp/Wah) -> Pre-Rig Overdrive 
  -> 8-Stage Preamp (Bias Smoothing & HPF) -> PowerAmp Simulator (Sag, Bias, Res)
  -> Dynamic Cabinet Studio (Axis/Proximity Dual Mics) -> Post-Amp Modulation
  -> Stereo Suite (M/S, Widener, Side Air) -> Studio Delay & Ambience Reverb -> Master Limiter

Preset Management

Apex Amp includes 124 factory Voicing Presets across 10 curated categories (Clean, Crunch, Heavy, Lead, Ambient, Synth, Fuzz, Vintage, Acoustic, Experimental). The manual preset bar operates completely independently of the AI Assistant, giving you sole authority over saved user snapshots.

Licensing & 7-Day Free Trial

Apex Amp provides a 100% unrestricted 7-day free trial (168 hours). Licenses can be purchased via Lemon Squeezy and activated instantly using your license key. An offline Developer Master Key is supported for workstation environments.

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