Waves GTR3

The GTR3 software is very easy to use. It is intuitive if you are familiar with guitar effects/amp chains. There are decent presets included to get you started if you aren't experienced at creating your own tones. Compared to other amp sims, I think the presets in GTR3 are actually a lot better than the presets in NI Guitar Rig, Amplitube, Pod Farm, etc.
One thing that was a little strange for me was the dual amps in the full version of the plug-in. They come set up with two amps (one panned left, and one panned right). Most of the time when I am working on a tone, my preference is to only use one amp. It was a little frustrating to have to disable one amp everything I opened the software, but I guess it is just a matter of preference.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

One thing that I like about the software is that it comes with "lite" versions as separate plug-ins. This can be useful when you don't have use for the entire toolrack, but just want to add a single amp or an effects box. This can be done to save CPU processing when working on a full mix.
The other main benefit of having the different versions of the plug-in is for tracking. A big problem when tracking guitars is latency when the computer needs to process the signal, so it plays back the audio with a slight delay. Most DAWs give you the option to decrease the latency with the trade-off of decreased processing power for decreased latency. Therefore, I like to use the "lite" versions of the plug-ins during tracking with low latency. Then I switch to the full versions of the plug-in during mixing when I want to add more effects, dual amps, etc.

OVERALL OPINION

The Waves GTR3 is an amplifier simulator (and effects too) plug-in to be used in a DAW. It includes models of guitar amps ranging from 'clean' to 'high-gain.' Many of the classic guitar amps are included (fender, vox, marshall), although it is a little difficult to tell some times which amps are which. Other amp sims are more obvious about which amp you are using, but just change the name due to licencing. In Waves GTR3, it is harder to tell, but it is more about finding one that sounds good rather than picking a particular amp. There are some unique amps included that aren't included with other amp sims. I think this is probably due to the partnership between PRS and Waves for this product. Nonetheless, there are some cool sounding amps that you won't find elsewhere.
The effects are decent. Waves is best known for their general effects (eq, compressors, etc) and less known for amp sims in particular, so I had high expectations for what they would include in this effects package. I would have liked to see some better effects like an 1176 compressor model or SSL eq model inside GTR3, similar to how Native Instruments has these effects as options to be used inside Guitar Rig.

The Waves GTR3 is a package of amps, cabs and stomps. You can change microphone settings add fX and sync to BPM (for effects). There are just so many things that can be done with this plug in, I have been using it for months now and I have always been a fan of Waves plug ins so I knew what I was going to get before I even installed it.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Installing these plug ins on my Macbook was very easy, I do suggest having a good amount of RAM and a tleast be running 10.5 or higher (OSX). There are a total of 25 guitar amps, 7 bass amps, 26 stomps and 29 cabs in the GTR3 bundle. The presets are professionally done and I barely have to do any tweaking with them because they sound great just as they are. Though I do like to work with Guitar Rig better than GTR3, but the presets in GTR3 are better than the standard presets that come with Guitar Rig. I just like Guitar Rig better because of the set up and layout/interface. I just think it is easier to work with because of the flow of the amps and adding effects.

OVERALL OPINION

I have used GTR3 as a stand alone version too, but I prefer to use it as a plug in with Pro Tools and Cubase. I love using these amps on different sound just to create cool effects; I have done some drums with them and even put them on synths before just to test out the waters. There are a lot of presets and effects to play with in this bundle and I highly recommend it.
For the price of this package, you are getting a lot of value out of it. It installs easy and is ready to go right way with minimal troubleshooting or learning. It does come with a manual but I didn’t even have to look at it. This package of amps was created by award winning guitarist and the sound is incredible.

Very easy to use (you need an iLok to get the license)

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

My setup: Macbook core 2 duo 1.83GHz 2Gb ram, running leopard
It works great

I use it with a Presonus Audiobox with a buffer of 64 samples and it never crashes.

OVERALL OPINION

This plug-in is incredibly realistic, I haven't heard anything better (and I have tried almost everything there is: guitar rig, revalver, amplitube, pod farm)
It gives me the impression that I'm playing with a real tube amp, the crunch sounds are truly wonderful!

At this price point, it's really worth it.

I'll do my next gigs with my mac and a midi pedalboard.

I should preface this entire review by saying that I'm mostly a heavy metal guitarist. Because of that, my opinion on what a good modeler should sound like might be a bit different than yours. Waves GTR3 is modeling software that Waves has released in order to help break into the modeling market. The software is meant to model various amps such as Vox, Mesa/Boogie, Fender, Marshall and more. The biggest issue I found is that it really doesn't sound that great compared to other, less expensive modelers out there. In fact, my favorite modeling plugins are free, so these are quite expensive in my eyes. The overall interface is easy to get used to, and it's pretty logical how everything works. Setting up effects is simple enough, selecting different mics and cabs is a piece of cake, and laying down riffs is no problem at all. The issue occurs in the actual tone of these modelers. They sound very fake and plastic-like. Because of that, it makes playing with them a bit of a challenge. When you're constantly fighting to get a good tone and feel, playing can be a real challenge. Granted, I've only used this plugin at a friend's recording studio, I just couldn't get used to it for heavy metal and lead work. I generally find it's more geared towards those who are playing on the softer side, so it could simply be that it's not suited towards my style of music.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

The plugin looks pretty decent, so there's no issue there. There's an issue with it working only in 32 bit in Logic, but Logic has a built-in converter that'll automatically launch it in 32 bit so you don't have to convert the entire program to run it. It's basically acting like a wrapper to run it in 32 bit instead of 64 bit. It's easy to get everything configured in the DAW as you can just enable it in an empty bus and go from there. I never noticed it being a huge memory hog, so no issues there, either. Granted, I haven't used it for a very long time, but I tried to get used to it for a few days and couldn't get anything useful out of it.

OVERALL OPINION

If you're looking for a good modeler out there, look for the free VSTs. There are lots of guys who emulate 5150s, Engls, Rectos and other amps that are much better and more lifelike than these. You'll need some sort of impulse application and impulses, but those things can be had for free. I'm talking about the legal free, not the illegal piracy free, too. It might be worth checking out if you're more of a classic rock guy, but I just couldn't get it to work out for me.