Valves or Tubes do have a different sound than Transistors. Audiophiles and Rock Guitarists are generally very loyal to the valve sound. Guitarists are not only looking for the "warmth" that the tubes have, but also the distortion characteristics (as well as the natural compression that results from a valve based rectifier).
One of the things in recent years that has truly been an advancement has been high quality digital modeling of valve based guitar amps. The proof of this is the popularity of the Line 6 Pod and the AmpFarm plugin for ProTools.
Basically, if AmpFarm can take a raw signal and add the character of a valve amp - then a plugin for iTunes should not be out of the realm of possibility.
Then again - in the end it's all just a matter of taste.
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Valves or Tubes do have a different sound than Transistors. Audiophiles and Rock Guitarists are generally very loyal to the valve sound. Guitarists are not only looking for the "warmth" that the tubes have, but also the distortion characteristics (as well as the natural compression that results from a valve based rectifier). One of the things in recent years that has truly been an advancement has been high quality digital modeling of valve based guitar amps. The proof of this is the popularity of the Line 6 Pod and the AmpFarm plugin for ProTools. Basically, if AmpFarm can take a raw signal and add the character of a valve amp - then a plugin for iTunes should not be out of the realm of possibility. Then again - in the end it's all just a matter of taste.