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tarrtime « GR5 = Total Effects Suite »
Published on 12/06/12 at 11:15I am an owner of Komplete 8 Ultimate from Native Instruments. The first product I bought from Native Instruments was Guitar Rig 3. After several software upgrades, Guitar Rig 5 is no longer just for amp sim, it is designed to be a total effects suite including reverbs, console EQs, hardware compressors, etc. If you don't own K8U, then Guitar Rig can be expanded by purchasing more products from NI.
The software can be downloaded directly from the NI website and is authorized using the NI Service Center application.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
If you are interested in Guitar Rig for its amp simulation, there are some great things about it compared with other options (Pod Farm, Amplitube, TH2, Eleven, etc). I really like the new cabinets in GR5, which are a huge improvement from GR4. The amp selection is decent, but I find I like some of the quintessential amp models in other software better (JCM800, Plexi, Twin, Bassman). I think the AC30 model is really good in GR5 compared to other software. I can't compare to owning the real amp, but I like it better than most other amp sim models I have heard. The Ultrasonic amp is unique to GR5 and is great for a full range of guitar tones - from clean to heavy, and most importantly in the slightly overdriven range.
The big advantage of GR5 over other amp sim software is the quality of post-processing effects. NI and Softube paired up to model some great compressors, 1176, LA-2A, DBX-160. There are also models of a bunch of SSL stuff including EQs, and compressors. Nothing comparable to this really exists in software like Amplitube.
Guitar Rig 5 also has extremely flexible routing compared to other software. This opens up the possibility for some really unusual and creative processing.
OVERALL OPINION
Analog modeling has come a long way. With each version of Guitar Rig, Native Instruments has taken one step closer to getting a computer to sound like analog hardware. Although modeling may not sound exactly like the real thing, software also has some inherent advantages over hardware. With GR5, your processing options are mostly limited by how fast your computer can run, and not whether you can afford a JCM800, and a Plexi, and a 1176, and a SSL mix-bus compressor, and a hundred effects pedals. Software opens up a whole new world for the modern musician to be creative. GR5 is more than just amp simulation, it is a total effects suite. Another good thing is that NI has recently started releasing some of the effects from GR5 as individual plug-ins. For a while I neglected opening up GR5 if I wanted a LA-2A compressor, because I could just open up Waves CLA-2A. Now that I have the NI/Softube model as an individual plug-in, I was open it instead of the Waves plug-in because it has nice features like parallel compression built right in.
The software can be downloaded directly from the NI website and is authorized using the NI Service Center application.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
If you are interested in Guitar Rig for its amp simulation, there are some great things about it compared with other options (Pod Farm, Amplitube, TH2, Eleven, etc). I really like the new cabinets in GR5, which are a huge improvement from GR4. The amp selection is decent, but I find I like some of the quintessential amp models in other software better (JCM800, Plexi, Twin, Bassman). I think the AC30 model is really good in GR5 compared to other software. I can't compare to owning the real amp, but I like it better than most other amp sim models I have heard. The Ultrasonic amp is unique to GR5 and is great for a full range of guitar tones - from clean to heavy, and most importantly in the slightly overdriven range.
The big advantage of GR5 over other amp sim software is the quality of post-processing effects. NI and Softube paired up to model some great compressors, 1176, LA-2A, DBX-160. There are also models of a bunch of SSL stuff including EQs, and compressors. Nothing comparable to this really exists in software like Amplitube.
Guitar Rig 5 also has extremely flexible routing compared to other software. This opens up the possibility for some really unusual and creative processing.
OVERALL OPINION
Analog modeling has come a long way. With each version of Guitar Rig, Native Instruments has taken one step closer to getting a computer to sound like analog hardware. Although modeling may not sound exactly like the real thing, software also has some inherent advantages over hardware. With GR5, your processing options are mostly limited by how fast your computer can run, and not whether you can afford a JCM800, and a Plexi, and a 1176, and a SSL mix-bus compressor, and a hundred effects pedals. Software opens up a whole new world for the modern musician to be creative. GR5 is more than just amp simulation, it is a total effects suite. Another good thing is that NI has recently started releasing some of the effects from GR5 as individual plug-ins. For a while I neglected opening up GR5 if I wanted a LA-2A compressor, because I could just open up Waves CLA-2A. Now that I have the NI/Softube model as an individual plug-in, I was open it instead of the Waves plug-in because it has nice features like parallel compression built right in.