Overview

A selected few guitar amps become legends by being a key sonic component of countless hit records and part of the signature tone of a myriad of revered guitarists.

Mesa Boogieโ€™s Dual Rectifierยฎ is one such amp. Unlike other legendary amp circuits, this amp is not only known for a single sound but rather an incredibly wide range of tones- from jazzy cleans to warm crunch to singing overdrive to high gain sounds. Brainworx has now lovingly recreated this legend in plugin form with the bx_megadual.

Not only is the tonal soul of the original captured, but so are all the features which give it such a wide sonic pallet. With three separate channels, eight tone modes, the ability to simulate reduced voltage to the output transformer (Variac) and more, the bx_megadual is perhaps the most versatile guitar amp plugin emulation on the market.

As anyone who regularly records electric guitars will tell you, getting a great tone with a real amp in the studio ainโ€™t easy. Itโ€™s a complicated process involving setting up expensive microphones, preamps and outboard gear and requires lots of experience, or at least a lot of trial and error.

The bx_megadual plugin includes 64 Impulse Responses (IRs), which include a dizzying array of guitar cabinets, high-end microphones and other studio gear. Dirk Ulrich (Owner/CEO of Brainworx) was a rock producer for 15 years before entering the plugin business, working with musicians from bands like Dream Theater, Toto, Michael Jacksonโ€™s band and many more. He produced these IRs at the Brainworx studio using 3 different MEGA cabinets, 9 different high-end vintage and modern microphones all running through his NEVE VXS72 console (1 out of 9 consoles of this type which exists), and using outboard EQ from Millennia, SPL and elysia.

The resulting tones, which would take tons of gear, time and expertise to achieve, can be selected from a simple menu inside the plugin.

The plugin version also includes some extremely useful features not found on the original amp including a noise gate, delay and power soak.

The bx_megadual plugin delivers the full range of tones found in the original amp- from sparkling cleans, to crunch, to soaring solo tones to full blown, high-gain metal sounds. Its versatility makes it an incredibly useful tool to any Producer/Musician who records electric guitars and a joy to play for any guitarist.

 

Mesa, Mesa Boogie and Dual Rectifier are registered trademarks of Mesa Engineering, Inc. bx_megadual was developed by Brainworx Music and Media GmbH based on its own modeling techniques. Mesa Engineering has not endorsed nor sponsored the bx_megadual in any manner, nor licensed any intellectual property for use in this product.

Features

  • Faithful reproduction of a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier guitar amp
  • 60+ impulse responses with multiple speaker cabinets recorded in a state of the art room with stellar gear
  • 3 Channels each featuring Independent Gain, Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence and Master Volume
  • The Bold/Spongy power switch emulates the original ampโ€™s built-in Variac to get the loose feel of a sagging output transformer, and the Rectifier Select switches between vacuum tube and solid-state circuitry
  • Delivers warm vintage Boogie tones and modern Rectifier metal mayhem
  • World-Class guitar sound right on your desktop via faithful recreation of a boutique tube amp

Audio Examples

Customer Reviews

  • Scalable Interface Now! :)

    โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†
    by Zhiguli 8
    Brainworx needs to update the interface on some of their older plugins. This one, which I like and use often, looks tiny on my monitor and the design of the knobs makes it hard to see their position.โ€ฆ Read More
  • Yaaaaasss

    โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…
    by Geoff Modulate
    OK. I've tried pretty much every guitar VST hoping to get that big thick Dual Rectifier tone and never found one that really came close...until this. THIS is the sound I am looking for.
    That'sโ€ฆ Read More
  • A real head turner.

    โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…
    by Diarm
    I was watching an interview with Michael Beinhorn and he mentioned that most of Superunknown used a dual rectifier, imagine my delight when I discovered that Brainwork had created an emulator.Read More
  • great clean tones

    โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…
    by Echo Garage
    I don't play Metal, and I don't use high gain sounds. so why did I buy this amp sim? cause it's so damn versatile! it's capable of very nice and different clean or slightly crunched sounds, and itsโ€ฆ Read More
  • Amazing Rectifier simulation!

    โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…
    by GS
    I owned the real thing, actually nowadays I own a Mark V... and I'm really fan of the real deal! Normaly in all my recordings I use real amps with real cabs loaded with celestion's models, bla, bla..โ€ฆ Read More

Specifications

Supported Plugin Formats
AAX DSP, AAX Native, AU, AAX AudioSuite, VST2, VST3

Supported Operating Systems
macOS 14 down to macOS 11
Windows 11 down to Windows 10

Mac
Intel, or Apple Silicon

PC
x64-compatible CPU

System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 ร— 900px or 1280 ร— 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM

Downloads

With the Installation Manager you can select, download & install all the Plugin Alliance products. Select any and all formats you need for your system! Mac & PC.

ChangeLog

bx_megadual

Brainworx bx_megadual - Changelog

Version 1.12.1 (Oct 9, 2023)
- General: fixed CPU spikes on Mac OS

Version 1.12.0 (Aug 15, 2023)
- General: added native Apple Silicon compatibility for AAX
- General: added macOS Ventura support
- General: improved plugin loading time in the DAW
- General: fixed issue causing Logic to crash when closing the plugin UI
- General: improved font drawing behavior

Version 1.11 (Mar 15, 2022)
- General: added native Apple Silicon compatibility for VST3, VST2 and AU
- General: added macOS Monterey support
- General: added Windows 11 and Windows 10 21H1 support
- General: discontinued Windows 7 support
- General: discontinued macOS 10.9 and 10.11 support
- General: fixed metering behavior in block sizes of 2048 samples and higher

Version 1.10 (Mar 22, 2021)
- General: Compatibility with Logic on Apple Silicon devices via the Rosetta-2 layer
- General: Fixed possible artefacts when freezing or bouncing tracks in Pro Tools
- General: Fixed automation highlighting disappearing in Studio One
- General: Improved license dialog visibility in dark mode

Version 1.9 (May 27, 2020)
- General: Qualified for use with the Windows 10 May 2020 Update
- General: VST3: Fixed potential hangs in a DAW upon loading
- General: Fixed logical issues in undo / redo behavior
- General: Fixed UI resizing issues in Ableton Live on Windows
- General: Fixed audio processing initialization issues on amp and delay products

Version 1.8 (Nov 06, 2019)
- General: Qualified for use with macOS 10.15 Catalina
- General: Qualified for use with Windows 10 November 2019 Update
- General: Fixed plugin validation in Logic under macOS Catalina
- General: Fixed preset name restore in Logic when reopening a session
- General: Fixed opening authorization dialog triggering automation
- General: Improved instantiation times for plugins
- General: Improved license functionality and branding for subscription
- General: Removed 32-bit support on macOS and Windows
- Fixed channel 2 producing audio when the gain is at 0

Version 1.7 (Jul 10, 2019)
- General: macOS 10.14.5 Update compatibility
- General: Windows 10 1903 Update compatibility
- General: Fixed activation issue in Windows hosts set to non-English language (e.g. Cakewalk)
- General: AU: Fixed issue with increased CPU and memory on reopening UI
- General: VST3: Fixed issue with adapting to host knob mode, and now prioritizing linear
- General: VST3: Fixed issue with VST3 preset permissions
- General: VST3: Improved synchronization between parameter states and some UI functions, e.g. toolbar reset

Version 1.6 (Nov 16, 2018)
- General: macOS Mojave compatibility
- General: Windows October 2018 update compatibility
- General: adding Windows High DPI support for VST2/3 plugins
- General: Fixed potential crashes in Cubase and other VST2 / VST3 DAWs
- General: Fixed potential CPU spikes and audio dropouts
- General: Fixed rendering in Pro Tools on the start of a session
- General: Fixed missing presets in Wavelab and other VST3 DAWs
- General: Improving keyboard control, fixing issues with catched keys preventing it from passing through to DAW
- General: Fixed parallel use of host sessions (e.g. with Live)

Version 1.5 (May 24, 2018)
- General: Microsoft Windows Redstone 4 compatibility
- General: Added computer keyboard control for plugin parameters
- General: Fixed Mouse scroll wheel not working in Windows 8
- General: Fixed an issue where plugins will not validate or load after a certain amount of plugins have been loaded (Windows)
- General: Fixed visual GUI freezes when adjusting DAW parameters, meters, analyzers (Mac)
- General: Fixed possible issue with Pick Pack licenses
- General: Small licenser stability fix

Version 1.4 (Oct 23, 2017)
- General: Mac OS High Sierra compatibility
- General: Fixed possible crash on online activation (Mac OS High Sierra)
- General: Fixed Logic Pro X not validating AU plugins (Mac OS High Sierra)
- General: Fixed CPU spikes and crashes with Cubase (Windows)
- General: Fixed bug that could lead to "AAE -6 error" in ProTools (Windows)
- General: Fixed crash with FL Studio
- General: Fixed crash when cross-opening plugins in various hosts
- General: Fixed crash when using mixdown in Audition
- General: Fixed crash in Final Cut Pro
- General: Fixed delayed parameter handling and crackling issues in Cubase with VST3
- General: Fixed bug where plugin settings were not saved in Harrison Mixbus
- General: Fixed bug that led to AAE error -9317 in ProTools when instantiating plugin
- General: Fixed bug where plugins did not render properly when "x ray" option is enabled in Sonar
- General: Modifications to factory presets were lost when reopening session
- General: Fixed mouse wheel behaviour with second monitor setup (Windows)
- Some plugins: Value labels do not appear every time when clicking on parameter in UI
- General: Faster instantiation time for plugins (Windows)
- General: Adding support for automation highlighting in Presonus StudioOne

Version 1.3.1 (Dec 20, 2016)
- General: Mac OS Sierra compatibility
- General: Fixed automation issues in AU and AAX
- General: Fixed license dialog use of special characters
- General: Improved AU preset support
- General: Performance improvements

Version 1.3 (Apr 1, 2016)
- General: Major UI codebase update
- General: Fixed possible crash when authorizing plugin
- General: Added gain reduction meter support for StudioOne 3
- General: Installers show version info in Windows "Programs And Features"

Version 1.2 (Jan 18, 2016)
- General codebase update
- Fixed missing parameter highlighting in Pro Tools
- Removing RTAS format support

Version 1.1 (Jul 18, 2015)
- General codebase update
- Added AAX DSP support

Version 1.0 (Jun 22, 2015)
- Release version