Sorry, bit late here. I generally play my amp on the edge of breakup. So the idea, for those not familiar, is that when the guitar is played softly you get clean tone, played with a bit more aggression and you get breakup, or distortion but not a ton of it. Think like a blues tone, where you get just a little bit of fuzz/grit.
The feeling of this is significantly different in almost every emulated/simulated/modeled amp than reality. They can be close, but the "feel" of it on the guitar side is often quite different.
Generally speaking, I feel like I have more control over the sound and how it plays with a real tube amp over a modeled amp.
Does that help? I approached this as if you aren't a guitarist, but if you are, sorry for the boring bits that you already probably know.
The feeling of this is significantly different in almost every emulated/simulated/modeled amp than reality. They can be close, but the "feel" of it on the guitar side is often quite different.
Generally speaking, I feel like I have more control over the sound and how it plays with a real tube amp over a modeled amp.
Does that help? I approached this as if you aren't a guitarist, but if you are, sorry for the boring bits that you already probably know.