Wow- the debate rages on. Well, mostly, I'm an acoustic guitarist, but I used to play a lot more electric than I do now. That said, I record a lot of people, including some folks with some rather nice boutique amps. And I do have an iso box, not because I can't make noise, but because it reduces bleed in a small studio, if I'm doing the live studio thing. But I do play electric, and I played British invasion, The Beatles, The Who, and what have you for years. My belief is that modeling technology is a technology in its infancy, and like digital recording, it continues to improve.
It's weird, though- even after 7 years of doing it, I'm basically the only one. Do I use modelers?- Yes. Do I mike cabs? Yes. What makes me different is- I do it at the same time. First, I find a nice clean amp with no color, and no fan. Then I find a nice speaker designed for a broad spectrum of frequencies. Then I get one or more mics, and use a modeler to *move some air*. I usually select condensers, even small diaphagms, because I want to use something that responds to a little *less* moving air. I want to trick the preamp (and the listener) into believing that he's hearing a cranked up combo amp, but I want to do it at a much lower sound pressure level.
There's 2 basic setups I use more often than any others. First, I choose a modeler, either Pod Pro, Vamp 2, or occasionally even a pocket Pod. The line out goes to one of 2 basic signal chains. The first is a Carver PM125 power amp, bridged to 8 ohms, into a Fender 1X10 wedge monitor. The other is to an M-Audio SP5B and an SBX subwoofer. Then I mic the puppy(s) up. Usually the 1X10 gets mic'd up w/ an AKG C2000B at about 18" and an SM7b up close and personal. The studio monitors get mic'd with a B.L.U.E. Kiwi or a pair of Neumann KM184's. Occasionally, if I want a classic sort of sound, and I'm using a sim of a classic amp , I'll switch from studio to live mode, which disables the cab model, and jack the Carver into a 1X12 Marshall Cab with a Celestion vintage 30. Then I stick a cheap dynamic in front of it, SM57, D770, or D320B.
With broad spectrum speakers, like the wedge monitor, or the studio monitors, I can leave the cab model on, but the Marshall cab sounds like a 1X12 with a vintage 30 in it, and it does better with the cab model off. It is what it is, and its character will fight with the cab model, and neither one wins.
So what do I get this way? Does it sound exactly like the modeled amp? No. Does it sound like a DI recorded amp simulator? No. But it does sound *good*, if the settings are right, and the mics are in the sweet spot. In the end, I agree with both sides. You *can* get good tones out of an amp modeler, and for most applications, the sound of moving air hitting a microphone is a good thing, one that I have become used to hearing over many years. And sure, I might go DI for a scratch track if it's late at night, and I don't want to annoy my wife. But I just don't get why everybody seems to think that the only way to use an amp modeler is recording direct. Amp modelers and microphones *work fine together*.-Richie