I've heard some modelers I've liked okay (well, one) but I wouldn't say they're close to a real amp quite yet.
I dissagree. I have a VOX Tonelab that sits right on the money in most instances. I think they might have been able to do a little better with it's direct tones, but through a good clean amp (I'm using a JC80) I find id to be pretty solid. Though, at that price it had better be...
Ah - I should clarify that I wasn't thinking of using them through amps when I made the above comment.
I've got some usable sounds out of modeler/amp combos as well - I'm just tired of the endless fiddling. It's such a refreshing joy to simply find the sound on the amp, record it and move on.
I guess, after a few years of endless experimenting with modelers, I'm going through an "anti-modeler" phase.
I played with the Vox in the store - and it didn't knock me out, but it was certainly better than the Line6 crapolla (we're talking standalone here), but I just couldn't imagine paying that much for a modeler. But this stuff is all very subjective - one man's garbage is another man's gold.
You got any clips with that thing, posty?
Chris