Native Instruments Guitar Rig VST PC

Playing & writing music for 24 years
Toured the U.S.A.
Music Degree.
Studio owner

Intel dual core 2.4 GHZ, 4gb RAM
Nuendo 2.0, RME Multiface
API, Avalon, Neve preamps
AKG, Shure, ADK, Blue mics
Mesa Boogie, Bogner, Fender amps
Gibson, Brian Moore, Parker, Ibanez guitars

This is easy if you are familiar with computer audio

Not completely useless, but not even close to great. If you have real amps and real mics and real mic pres and know how to mic a 4x12 - this software will not compare. It's ok to use it as a "pre-production demo" but for real air-moving TONE, sorry, no score. Modeling always sounds small if you A/B it to a well-recorded amp. No exceptions. You will not see any of the big boys trading in their prized amp collections for Guitar Rig, no matter what the salesman at GC tells you.

It works. If you have a nice sound card that is properly configured, the latency is not noticeable.

I play the guitar since 1987.

Pretty intuitive interface.

Effects sound is very nice.
Plenty of effects and cabnets/mike emulation.
Problems to deal with built-in soundcards (must have external sound interface to avoid feedback). Maybe NI could put some feedback supressor algorithm to fix it.

Just one important missing effect: an intelligent pitch shifter and/or intelligent harmonizer.
A polyphonic pitch-to-midi converter would be very useful to control vst synths with the gutar, too.

Been playing guitar and recording for 25 years.
I have worked in music shops and owned just about every top valve amp possible
currently own Diezil vh4 ,Mesa boogie triaxis and 2-90 power amp
Vox ac30 ac10 Fender twin ,deluxe, 64 black face etc etc
Not trying to blow any trumpets but from the above i hope you can tell i think i know what a good valve amp should sound like

Easy rack drag and drop usage

Sounds great directly a/b models and the real deals
and by the time the the real deals have been eq.d and compresed
there's not alot in it.
New 2ms latency on fast computer improves feel
totally usable

Worth every penny once you trust in what your hearing

I've been playing guitar since 1996 and recording since 2000. I use the version 2 software and it really kicks ass! I use it as a plug-in for cubase sx 3.1 and the standalone version. I make several kinds of music funkrock, jazz and metal. I use Windows and i own a e-mu 1820m soundsystem.

This software is very easy to use just click on your mouse and you got what you like. Both the standalone as the plug-in version.

I tried recordings with line 6 (podxt) and miking my fender amp but this sounds a million times better. It's really great and i don't really like plug-ins but this is uncompromised software.

It was worth every euro i spend on it. There is no plug-in for guitar better than this. I compare it with many software but this is a class on his own. I own a great pc so it does not kill the cpu.

I have played guitar for over 15 years. I have owned and played out with a lot of different tube amps (Marshall JCM 900, Mesa Boogie Dual Rec, Mesa Mark II, Fender Twin, Fender Princeton, Fender Deville, etc) and done some recording using a guitar POD.
I currently have a demo version of Guitar Rig 2 and do a lot of recording with ACID - basically use loops to lay drum tracks and record tracks over it live. I also use Guitar Rig in small sessions at my house through a cheap EMU 0404 and a home built 1.2Gig AMD computer with about 1.5 gigs RAM.

Very easy - the presets are not my favorite but to me, serve as a starting point of the features and interface. I have a value pro-sumer sound card I got under 100 bucks and have had no problems. I sometimes need to re-boot to get rid of clicks but that is due to my set-up and not the software.

The tone I can get out this is simply amazing. I would never have thought that I could get digital to sound good live. I use the guitar pod to boost the signal to compensate for the low input of my sound card. I borrowed a good pre-amp and was very happy with that (better than the pod).

I think that software is over priced and that is why I have not bought it. But this is the real deal and worth it if you really think that you want digital recording of guitar tracks.

I've been using Computer and outboard DSP solution since around 1990. I play, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, etc. I intended to use this unit for live performance in Jazz and Rock trios and quartets. My intended computer is a p4 2.66 512 meg HP Pavillion running XP home edition sp2. I mostly use Mackie HR-824s abd Genesis monitors and mackie mixers.

I really like this interface. The install is clean, but you can not get any support until you register the install with NI. This makes it tough to try to find the optimal computer based on trial and error. The manual is just OK but fine for the main functions.

Basic sounds are fine but the glitch noises are really a problem. As mentioned above I am trying to use this application and the GR II floorboard/interface for live performance. My computer is a p4 2.66 512 meg HP Pavillion running XP home edition sp2. No other applicatins running. Nice sounds but constant fear of a crack or crunch at any time, but especially with reverbs and echos.

Very cool, but not usable and not recommended for anything other than a toy. I will install it next on my 2 - 1.25 gig processor 1 gig Mac G4. It's the one where I run Protools and Waves GTR (TDM) flawlessly. My guess is that NI GR II will sound and work fine there. But, I can't haul that rig around with me and the Waves GTR works fine. So, having i work well on my Mac does not do me any good. Ultimately I am going to have to authorize the GR II on the HP so I can get some support. Maybe a gig of memory will solve the glitch problem. Stay tuned ...

Rock producer, 15 years.

The interface is pretty good, drag and drop with well thought out control interface.

Same vile copy protection that persecutes the honest, and doesn't do anything to stop crackers.
Don't count on an easy re-install.

Just used the Guitar rig on a session for a week.
I tried most of the modules bit only spent time with a few, so this is a selective review.
Guitar was recorded into a summit valve pre, into appogee converters. Amek desk, Adam and dynaudio monitors.

Modelling or ("dynamic") convolution seems to provoke resonances that do not occur in real-life amp use, the response of a modeller being a snapshot of an amp/cab under specific circumstances. low notes can boom or lose body as the natural non-linear mechanisms which damp these resonances/notches are absent.

Touch sensitivity is important to me, and whilst the guitar rigs dynamics are ok for hi preamp gain sounds, which compress/clip the hell out of the signal, the power-amp drive feel is fairly flat, Maybe better than the pod2, but still firmly in the "modelling" bracket.

My favourite amp is represented here, though I havn't yet heard a single modeller come close, I still havn't: The Plexi is flabby in the low end, and the brightness is fizzy and unfocussed. When it's tight, it's cold, and when it's warmer, it's woofy.
This is actually one of the worst Plexi models I've heard.

The twin is quite good, the attack of the notes is quite bouncy and the compression convincing, on higher gain settings, it can lose a little authenticity, I get the feeling that the gain structures in all the models here suffer from the same underlying fizz.

Forget the fuzz. The whole deal with a fuzzface is that it will react to the volume knob of the guitar, offering sounds from highly dynamic, shimmeringly clean right through to fat even-harmonic squish. This box only does a woolly squish.

The closed-cabs didn't have the woodiness and complex comb filtered effect I look for when recording. Getting that 4*12 thump is tough too, though the ability to select and shift around multiple mic selections goes *some* way to setting up the classic roomy, slightly phased sounds. I've been doing the same with my own cab impulse responses.
I fear whoever collected the impulses of the cabs doesn't know some of the production mic/preamp tricks to use on each individual cab type.

Overall I thought the guitar rig was disapointing. Some nice interface ideas, but with the same flat lack of liveliness that is inherent in so many models.
Still, models are selling, and while they sell, there's no need to make them better - well, maybe for the upgrade.(!?)

NOTE : THIS is for Guitar RIG 2.

I have been making music for 15 years or so. You can listen at soundclick.com Michael Angel. Most of the songs were recorded using Line 6 xt or guitarport. I am writing the review for Guitar Rig 2.
I downloaded the demo and am using through Behringer "the Truth" monitors (an AWESOME set of powered monitors, by the way). I plugged into my guitarport and the software automatically recognized by guitar and I was off and playing with guitar rig.

The interface is Incredible ! It is drag and drop easy (in any order !)
Any combination of any effects, amps (can have more than 1 running on same or different channels -- The sansamp and the Mesa together is heaviest sound on planet. You can just drag the effects around in different orders which blew me away. The Sound is PHENOMENAL. When I plugged in my les paul it sounded better than any modeler I've tried or used. The Crunch and distorted sounds allowed for the full chords to be heard. The line 6 you really have to tweak to get the best sounds. EVERY Sound I tried sounded Great w/out tweaking anything.

I WILL purchase one of these bad boys w/in the week. Think of it, $500 gives you 8 amps, hundreds of choices of wah pedals, overdrives, phasers, harmonizers, pitch shifters, choruses , reverbs that sound dead on. The foot controller is completely programmable w/ any parameter and it is simply drag & Click.

AWESOME --- TRY IT !!
NO tweaking neeeded for awesome sounds.
EVERY processor I have tried seems artificial and doesn't seem to have a
"true" amp sound. This does.
The ability to have two amps running simultaneosly is Way cool. I had multiple phasers panning left and right in clean while my leads were soaring. It's got loopers and even a freakin' built in dat machines for recording and importing music !! My live setup is going to be a laptop and the footcontroller period. You can save over 1 million programs if you want (only limited by HD space.) Secondly, I'll have another laptop w/ same settings as a backup. So, for live use I walk in w/ two laptops and a footcontroller. Setup time 10 minutes max.

I feel like I'm stealing this for only $500. I need to go to work for
Native since I so much believe in this product. It is by far and away
the best thing out since I've been playing guitar (and , I have tried a TON of stuff.)

Ok.Hago musica hace 15 a?os aproximadamente, como guitarrista. Estoy usando la demo de Guitar Rig 2.0. Lo estoy probando standalone y como plugin en Sonar 3. Como guitarrista me interesa todo software que emule hardware de efectos y amplificadores. Grabo mi musica en Pc, utilizo tarjeta Delta 44 y monitores profesionales.Mi musica va desde baladas a rock pesado, como banda y trabajos comerciales en tv y radio.

El interface es claro aunque muy lleno, pero con un poco de dedicacion es comprensible. La instalacion no da problemas.

Bueno. lo importante tiene que ver con el audio, y este programa lo hace bastante bien. Todos los programas que emulan amplis y efectos hasta la fecha, no han podido resolver el problema de la dinamica de la interpretacion, y Guitar Rig no es la excepcion. La latencia sigue siendo un problema a superar y si no tienes una tarjeta pro con buenos drivers asio, no se aprovecharan sus cualidades. Pero lo positivo de esto es que Guitar Rig es un gui?o al futuro para los guitarristas con poco dinero, y para practicar y grabar ideas es perfecto. En lo que se refiere a grabacion es preferible (por el momento), usar un ampli de calidad y unos buenos pedales, o, un procesador hardware que contenga todos ellos.

Con respecto a su precio,es decision de cada cual.Si te mueves en circuitos electronicos en donde no debas cargar equipo,es ideal (si posees un pc rapido y una buena interface de audio),para lograr ambientes especiales,ya que a veces los efectos software tienden a la caricatura. Si vas por la vertiente mas blues y rock,creo que no es recomendable y por el mismo precio puedes conseguir pedales.
Si posees un estudio, peque?o o grande, puede ser una gran herramienta.

I have played guitar for about 15 years. I have owned several amps and currently own a boss VF1 and Pod 2. Guitar Rig absolutely massacres both of these. I also cleans up any other software, Amplitube, Simulanalog guitar suite, Rock amp legends, Revalver, etc.
In all fairness, the most impressive 2nd place software would be Sumulanalog because it sounds quite good and is free. Amplitube and Rock Amp Legends are only toys. They may sound like an amp to someone who has never played guitar but certainly don't sound real to anyone who listens to guitar based music. Guitar Rig responds dynamically to a guitar player very similary to an amp. It seems to have a touch of high end sibilance but so does an SM 57 at the grill. With a bit of EQ and distortion tweaking it can be brought into line with any tone you're looking for. I think the reason for some of the poor reviews on various forums is due to people not optimizing or matching the impedance on their input to Guitar Rig. I first tried it as a DX plugin on a high vol DI guitar track though a tube preamp. I was not impressed. It sounded sloppy and severly overdriven. I finally set up my Sound card for a latency of 2 ms and played right into G. Rig. The sound is amazing. If G Rig is 90% of the sound of a well recorded real amp then POD 2 is 60%
That would put Amplitube at about 45%, Revalver at 50 % and Simulanalog at about 80%