Guitar Rig Alternatives

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:37 pm

spkey wrote:
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.

I gave my Digitech FX processor away to a friend who's starting out, couldn't even imagine selling it, he's loving it but it's crap for tone.

Amplitube vs Pod... you'll get varying opinions like a lot of gear debates. IMO Pods sound better and Guitar Rig is better than Amplitube but there are people who love Amplitube, like most things, go try one, find a store with a 30 day money back guarantee, the software stuff has trial periods.

even at 10mS of latency it drives me nuts to play through a computer, I'm not a shredder either, there's a loss of feel.

btw there's a cool device out there called a "Stealth Plug", USB sound card built into a guitar cord, handy for traveling light, like $100, comes with Amplitube.

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:39 pm

GR3 is brilliant...but your guitar signal needs a good DI box and enough power to make it shine...I used to put my guitars through a Presonus Tube Pre, and GR3 took a lot of work to make it sound good...now, I use my old Pod and I bypass all amp emulations, but now GR3 sounds really good.

As for alternatives, the only other ones I'd consider are Waves GTR and Studio Devil. The problem with Waves is the dongle and the price...it's very expensive. Also, some graphics cards just bluescreen with Live, and Waves and Live have never played well together...sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Studio Devil is fantastic, but no frills - it has a couple of GREAT emulations, and the distortion is among the best. But no effects of fancy patching. Then again, it's very CPU friendly.

bulo · Post by **bulo** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:39 pm

Studio Devil is apparently quite decent

Yes it is!
Far better than those impossible amplitube or guitar rig rigs...
Just simple and efficient.

acroberts · Post by **acroberts** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:26 pm

+1 on POD recommendations. Sometimes it's just nice to plug in and go without dragging out the lappy, starting the app, etc, etc.

For the price of Guitar Rig and the controller, you can buy a POD X3 and have an awesome sounding rig.

I have an XT Live and purchased a bundle which includes the amp VSTs for $99 - a limited time offer that'll probably come around again before long (offered 2 times this year already)

MartinOM28V · Post by **MartinOM28V** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:39 am

Waves GTR 3 makes me want to cry like a baby it's so good. Absolutely realistic tones, and the interface is a great bonus.

spkey · Post by **spkey** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:24 am

nebulae wrote:GR3 is brilliant...but your guitar signal needs a good DI box and enough power to make it shine...I used to put my guitars through a Presonus Tube Pre, and GR3 took a lot of work to make it sound good...now, I use my old Pod and I bypass all amp emulations, but now GR3 sounds really good.

What's the difference between a DI Box and a good soundcard then? I plug my guitar straight into my Presonus Firebox and I get a hot signal.

ewistrand · Post by **ewistrand** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:03 pm

spkey wrote:
nebulae wrote:GR3 is brilliant...but your guitar signal needs a good DI box and enough power to make it shine...I used to put my guitars through a Presonus Tube Pre, and GR3 took a lot of work to make it sound good...now, I use my old Pod and I bypass all amp emulations, but now GR3 sounds really good.
What's the difference between a DI Box and a good soundcard then? I plug my guitar straight into my Presonus Firebox and I get a hot signal.

The load your input's showing to your pickups. Passive pickups like to see a 1 MOhm or higher impedance at the input jack; your instrument ins on things like the Presonus is usually 300k. Hence, your guitar's going to sound thin and brittle.

If you have active pickups such as EMGs, the load isn't as critical.

ew

rbro · Post by **rbro** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:03 pm

Tone Deft wrote:
spkey wrote:
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.
I gave my Digitech FX processor away to a friend who's starting out, couldn't even imagine selling it, he's loving it but it's crap for tone.

Amplitube vs Pod... you'll get varying opinions like a lot of gear debates. IMO Pods sound better and Guitar Rig is better than Amplitube but there are people who love Amplitube, like most things, go try one, find a store with a 30 day money back guarantee, the software stuff has trial periods.

even at 10mS of latency it drives me nuts to play through a computer, I'm not a shredder either, there's a loss of feel.

btw there's a cool device out there called a "Stealth Plug", USB sound card built into a guitar cord, handy for traveling light, like $100, comes with Amplitube.

Yeah, the latency kills me as well. But I like being able to wail late at night without bugging the rest of my family and just the convenience in general of being able to plug in to some "device" and record direct without having to mike an amp or something.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:09 pm

who suggested anything that would have to be mic'ed?

rbro · Post by **rbro** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:12 pm

Tone Deft wrote:who suggested anything that would have to be mic'ed?

Nobody. I'm just saying that's how I've always recorded my guitar in the past, so anything that can approach the quality of a miked tube amp is good by me.

Arnold-Rimmer · Post by **Arnold-Rimmer** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:47 pm

I fully converted to software a few years ago now. Bit by bit I am selling off all my hardware and with no regrets.

I still have my Pod Pro (version 1), I have Guitar Rig 3 and Amplitube 2. I personally prefer Amplitube 2 for "standard" guitar sounds, though Guitar Rig 3 is good at freaky stuff. Both sound way better than my Pod Pro (hardware).
For me, software is the way to go for convenience and flexibility. I am a shredder and latency is not an issue with me and I don't even have a particularly fast computer.

Others will no doubt disagree with my philosophy. Demo the software and see if it is to your liking.

My 2 cents worth.

Moody · Post by **Moody** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:53 pm

FreeAmp, although as others have mentioned, latency will kill your feel for the music.

rbro · Post by **rbro** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:57 pm

Moody wrote:FreeAmp, although as others have mentioned, latency will kill your feel for the music.

So what's the solution to the latency problem other than having a faster computer? Is there anything that can offset the latency somehow? iow, does plugging it into some type of hardware device mitigate the latency issue in any way?

jamester · Post by **jamester** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:01 pm

Amplitube 2 for me, I much prefer it to GR2 (never upgraded to GR3).

Moody · Post by **Moody** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:12 pm

rbro wrote:
Moody wrote:FreeAmp, although as others have mentioned, latency will kill your feel for the music.
So what's the solution to the latency problem other than having a faster computer? Is there anything that can offset the latency somehow? iow, does plugging it into some type of hardware device mitigate the latency issue in any way?

Picking an interface that works well for you is probably the best place to start.