Overview

Get the powerful tones and satisfying dynamics of the legendary Savage 120 studio amp head from ENGL, in your DAW.

The Savage 120 Amplifier embodies ENGL’s rich legacy of creating metal machines for delivering truly punishing tones, with clear dynamics and tremendous sonic variety.

It’s a long time studio favorite of artists like Exodus’ Gary Holt, Borgir, Evanescence, and even Brainworx’ own Dirk Ulrich, who has called it “one of the easiest amps to record with” and “THE recording amp for the hard-rocking musician.”

The Savage 120 set new standards in modern Rock music with its unique sound. With its remarkably fast attack and quick responsiveness to the player’s dynamic choices, the secret to the Savage’s success is in its midrange, which cuts through a mix without ever sounding harsh.

Although the ENGL Savage 120 was used in many famous Rock productions, make no mistake: this amp can deliver a HUGE variety of tones, ranging from crisp and clean, to crunchy, to heavy f***ing Metal.

This incredible tonal flexibility comes from the 4 channel layout of the amp, with a dedicated Clean channel, two separate Crunch channels, and a super-saturated Lead channel, all supported by two discrete EQs and a wide selection of additional features.

With punchy headroom and dynamics for days, this flexible 4-channel head is an ideal choice for the heart of a modern rock rig. And now, it’s available natively in your DAW. Developed by Brainworx, the ENGL Savage 120 Amplifier plugin is an exacting emulation of this beastly, standard-bearing tone monster.

Brainworx engineers recreated every feature and unique property of this amp with component-level modeling and then added their flagship FX Rack which provides extremely useful onboard effects like a noise gate, lo-fi delay, filtering, and internal power soak.

Probably the most notable feature on the FX rack is the ability to select recording chains—a standard feature on all Brainworx amps powered by more than 100 impulse responses captured with an array of boutique cabinets, microphones, and effects.

Features

  • 4 Channels: Clean, Crunch 1, Crunch 2 and Lead, assigned to two main channels
  • 2 separate 3-Band EQ for sculpting tones
  • 4 dedicated Gain pots with a separate volume control for each channel
  • Rough/Smooth mode selector for the Crunch 2 and Lead Channels
  • Sensitivity switch, Bright switch, Lead Boost, Contour switch, and Hi Balance control
  • FX Rack includes host-syncable lo-fi delay, noise gate, tight and smooth filters, power soak, pre and power amp bypass
  • 105 high-end Recording Chains to choose from
  • Scalable User Interface
  • Recording Chain ON / OFF Parameter
  • Recording Chain detailed Info

Audio Examples

Industry Reviews

  • Johan Lund

    Johan Lund

    As We Collapse, Man.Machine.Industry, Soundfraction Studios

    The ENGL Savage is a swiss army knife of amps! From pristine cleans to brutal chugs and everything in between. Top it off with 100 recording chains. There's no end to the tone possibilities!

  • Chris Broderick

    Chris Broderick

    In Flames, Megadeth, Jag Panzer

    The ENGL Savage 120 was the very first amp I really loved the tone of. I was on tour in 2000 with Jag Panzer, back before I was into modelers and this is the amp that led me to ENGL as an… Read More

  • Jen Majura

    Jen Majura

    Evanescence

    ENGL offers the perfect rock sound for my personal demands.

  • Josh Newell

    Josh Newell

    Producer, Engineer, Mixer (Linkin Park, Anthrax, Avril Lavigne)

    The ENGL plugin is a fantastic go-to if you’re looking to get full and thick heavy guitar sounds.

  • Evan K

    Evan K

    Enemy Inside, Mystic Prophecy

    The ENGL Savage has always been one of my favorite amplifiers. Brainworx did an amazing job not only by simulating the power and preamp sections but also by adding very usable cabinet and… Read More

Customer Reviews

  • Savage 120

    ★★★★☆
    by Ecko
    Good, but difficult to set up.
  • Engl Savage 120

    ★★★★★
    by Flyn Bryan
    I own several different amp vst's. from Brainworx as well as competitors. Time and time again I find my self back to the savage 120. It is hands down the best! I never need third party IRs! The bx… Read More
  • Great Amp Sim!

    ★★★★★
    by James
    I love this amp sim from Brainworx. Honestly it is one of my top amp sims currently, and beats out brands like Neural DSP for some songs where I want the specific characteristic of this amp. It has a… Read More
  • Engl Savage 120

    ★★★★★
    by Amand
    Unbelievable good. The best Amp in my collection-not only for Metal.
  • Masterpiece!

    ★★★★★
    by Faydit
    To be honest, I did not really like the two older Engl plugins very much, if compared with some other Brainworx amp simulations, they just sounded a little bit too sharp and harsh for my taste, but… 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 × 900px or 1280 × 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

Savage 120

ENGL Savage 120 Changelog

Version 1.3.1 (Oct 9, 2023)
- General: fixed CPU spikes on Mac OS

Version 1.3.0 (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 1.2 (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 1.1 (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 1.0 (Aug 11, 2020)
- Release version