Guitar Rig Alternatives

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
rbro
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Guitar Rig Alternatives

Post by rbro » Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:55 am

I bought GR2 (never upgraded to 3) with the RIg Kontrol pedal. It's always been kind of a squealing, resource hogging mess for me. I'd like to find something else. I also own an M-Audio Fast Track which I can use as an interface instead of the RK. What else is out there that's decent, hopefully better than Guitar Rig?

OvertoneZero
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Post by OvertoneZero » Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:03 am

I like Amplitube 2.. Fractal Audio Axe-FX is the pimp daddy hardware unit..

rbro
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Post by rbro » Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:05 am

OvertoneZero wrote:I like Amplitube 2.. Fractal Audio Axe-FX is the pimp daddy hardware unit..
Yeah, I think I'd like something that's just software based. I'm not planning to use it live for now and I was kinda disappointed in the Rig Kontrol.

spkey
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Post by spkey » Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:02 pm

I recently bought Amplitube Jimi Hendrix and Amplitube Metal and found them phenomenal. Only problem was the fact that they are not exactly as priced as advertised on their website :wink: Prices are exluding VAT and once you get VAT added on it you realise that you are only allowed to pay with VISA (not Switch) which in my case resulted in another £20 fee from my bank. As a result I bought a product that was priced on the website for £156 for £210.

Kaffein suggested Gearbox from Line6. They have a discount right now and sell it for $99 only and it has both guitar and bass amp simulations (pretty useful). http://line6.com/gearbox_plugin/

Waves does GTR3 http://www.waves.com/content.aspx?id=93 but I've never heard it.

Studio Devil is apparently quite decent http://www.studiodevil.com/products/ and they give one simulation for free while you got to pay for the full product.

FrettedSynth is not bad at all if you want to experiment with a free option :) http://frettedsynth.home.att.net/

dj superflat
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Post by dj superflat » Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:08 pm

vintage amp sounds great, though obviously very limited:

http://www.softube.se/sound_examples.php

siliconarc
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Post by siliconarc » Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:25 pm

iZotope Trash is the daddy

Tone Deft
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Post by Tone Deft » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:40 pm

hardware. get a Line 6 Pod or something similar. I couldn't stand having my guitar mojo controlled by a computer's limitations. not to mention the latency. I can play at ~4mS latency at 192kHz, but get a good sized set going and forget it (2GHz dual core 2Gb RAM PC).

you can get a pocket pod for like $100 and since the latest generation Pods came out prices on the older ones have dropped.

there's more out there than that, just wanted to give a shout out to hardware, software and guitars didn't jibe for me.
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cenglish222
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Post by cenglish222 » Tue Sep 16, 2008 6:02 pm

I gotta go with Tone on this one. I used to HATE Line 6 gear but after being a GR2 owner myself and experiencing the pain of getting it to record I'm now thinking that getting a POD would've been a decent issue and I hope to get one at somepoint. You're going to pay similar prices (if not cheaper) and you'll likely be more satisfied with how easy it is to use when recording.

On a different note, I haven't had many issues with noise when using GR2 (knock on wood, right?) -- you may need to look at your computer setup and make sure you're running with decent performance for what you're trying to do. Also, make sure you're constantly playing with the settings - it's annoying, but the input dial, the overall dial, the cab/mic module dial all play a role in the overall tone of GR.

Best of luck to ya!

CareyLetendre
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Post by CareyLetendre » Tue Sep 16, 2008 6:24 pm

Rock Amp Legends by Nomad Factory sounds fantastic.

Carey

As-One
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Post by As-One » Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:31 pm

yeah, I ended up putting down GR2 and went the hardware route as well. Waaaaaay to CPU heavy... I'm using a behringer V Amp2, like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goHho9YVX0o
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rbro
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Post by rbro » Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:40 pm

As-One wrote:yeah, I ended up putting down GR2 and went the hardware route as well. Waaaaaay to CPU heavy... I'm using a behringer V Amp2, like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goHho9YVX0o
Looks pretty cool. I have a bunch of stomp boxes and stuff, a Fulltone Fulldrive pedal and a Boss GT-6 (I think). I never thought about just plugging into that stuff and trying to go direct, but I suppose that's an option as well.

mdk
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Post by mdk » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:38 am

for sound Revalver 3 is the king although it can be a bit taxing on the CPU.

but if you have the power its worth trying it out.
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spkey
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Post by spkey » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:12 am

Tone Deft wrote:hardware. get a Line 6 Pod or something similar. I couldn't stand having my guitar mojo controlled by a computer's limitations. not to mention the latency. I can play at ~4mS latency at 192kHz, but get a good sized set going and forget it (2GHz dual core 2Gb RAM PC).

you can get a pocket pod for like $100 and since the latest generation Pods came out prices on the older ones have dropped.

there's more out there than that, just wanted to give a shout out to hardware, software and guitars didn't jibe for me.
But does it sound at least half as good as amplitube? I own one of those Digitech Multieffects processors and I think it sounds too digital and cheap. Presets are not good even as a starting point and it's also complex to operate. When I bought it I was told it was way better than the Line6 Pods so I don't really know much about them.

In terms of latency I never had any issues with Amplitube and I honestly think it sounds twice as good as my digitech processor plus you get all the non-destructive recording you wouldn't with hardware...

sp.

Meef Chaloin
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Post by Meef Chaloin » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:55 am

agree about the hardware thing...

however if you want software one of the best ive heard is Free Amp SE, i much prefer it to Amplitude

the new version they bought out isnt as good imo, try to get v1

cenglish222
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Post by cenglish222 » Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:27 pm

spkey wrote: But does it sound at least half as good as amplitube? I own one of those Digitech Multieffects processors and I think it sounds too digital and cheap. Presets are not good even as a starting point and it's also complex to operate. When I bought it I was told it was way better than the Line6 Pods so I don't really know much about them.

In terms of latency I never had any issues with Amplitube and I honestly think it sounds twice as good as my digitech processor plus you get all the non-destructive recording you wouldn't with hardware...

sp.
Before I got into the stompbox world for live shows I was a big multi FX guy. The only digitech multi FX that I've enjoyed was the BP 200, but I'm more of a minimalist when it comes to bass FX and even still I've had to use Hartke and Tech21 drivers to shape overall tone.

Otherwise, I can do without Digitech stuff because yeah - it sounds pretty cheap. My experience with the POD has been better, not sure I'm sold on the amp modeling - but you'll have that on lots of hardware stuff.

The Vox tonelab stuff can really wail -- if you're looking for something that's not overpriced, sounds great and can also be used in your stage rig (added bonus if you're a performer) - this might be the ticket as well.

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