Guitar Rig
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Guitar suite
GUITAR RIG is a complete solution for the modern guitarist – on the stage, in the rehearsal space, at home, and in the studio. GUITAR RIG combines highly advanced software and a sturdy hardware foot controller: "Rig Kontrol". The GUITAR RIG software offers first-class emulations of classic and modern amplifiers, cabinets, microphones, and effects, letting guitarists easily create any guitar set-up imaginable.
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I'm conflicted about rating the software, becuase when it works, it is fantastic. there is nothing on the market that comes close.
i purchased the original GR and had great luck with it. it installed easily, worked great. i played out live with it and had great results.
but after waiting many, many months to get a universal binary release, i still don't have it working. they were completely unresponsive to their customers during the 10 plus months we had to wait for universal binary. toward the end, they started finally responding on the forums saying very simply, "please be patient." at this point, they had missed their own promised deadlines over 5 times without telling anyone. they would just quietly change the due date on an obscure page of their site.
i purchased the software only upgrade thinking i could use the original hardware controller. after a couple months of trying to get it to work, and reading a novel worth of forum posts, i finally broke down and just bought the full 2nd version with the new controller.
then i got into the same situation RegHater had. I installed it, and it didnt work. dug around and found out that there were upgrades. So i had to install several updates, each one requiring a reboot. also i had to authenticate (which i didn't want to do until i got my refund for the software only version). after all that, it still didnt work.
their offices close at 5, so i couldnt get support except through a web form.
the instructions do not do a good job of explaining the differences between GR1 and GR2, which are fundamental in nature. No one from NI answers the forums. their software is counterintuitive to install, time consuming to setup, the instructions are extremely limited with no troubleshooting or explanation of what to do when it doesnt work. and i can guarantee there will be a time when it doesnt work.
other than that the software is great, when it works. the sound is incredible. i just hate the fact that NI is the company behind it.
2.2.1 is out now, but bypass still doesn't work with Digital Performer 5.1.1.
If you go to their website and log in, if shows version 2.2.0 was released January 25th 2007....I don't get it.
This plug in has become more stable and responsive, but still has some challenges including the inability to bypass it using the normal bypass button in Digital Performer...
Hmmm,
This product has amazing potential, but I'm a little concerned about a few glitches, the hardware, and the company's militant stance against their customers. (Even their voicemail (which I got during business hours Friday afternoon) sounds impatient and grouchy) For the $500 list price, you can get some pretty good dedicated hardware products that may be more usable/dependable in a live situation. If you already have a high speed computer, audio interface, some good monitors and use DAW software this is a purchase to consider... Time will tell if they make it worth it.
I'm once of those guys who owns several thousands of dollars worth of pro audio software, and I hate it when these companies make you jump through hoops to use the software you've bought. (My $600+ investment in Bitheadz Unity Session is now toast since they're out of business) On the other hand Mark of the Unicorn has made Digital Performer very reasonably simple to authorize and reinstall if needed.
When you buy Guitar Rig you have 30 days to try it out (which could be nice), but it ships with an old version of the software 1.0, and you can't download the update without registering... Once you register there's no going back... and it appears from the strong language on the CD that you can't even sell it if you ever want to....
Initial Observations: The Hardware Controller doesn't come with an A/C adapter which I think it short sighted for a $500 product. C'Mon, give the customer a $10? item with his investment. There is only one light on the controller (showing that your 9V battery is ok for now) There needs to be some kind of display showing the patch name and or number... (The 9V battery connector wires were too short and hooked through the battery holder which made getting the battery in near impossible)....
The controller itself is too little to be totally useful and while it seems to be indestructible, it's seems overkill making it really heavy. (Aren't we going for light and efficient here?) OK, so you get past these first few things and hook it up. (I personally think using audio for a control signal is a bit old fashioned)
Installation went well, but again, you can't even download the current version of the product without registering (see above)
Using it: Well the tone and the ability to edit it is nothing short of pretty amazing, and I think that's the saving grace of this product.
Using it live will be a challenge because there's a pause, glitch, or slow fade, when changing from 1 preset to another. Hope this gets fixed sometime soon. The lack of any display on the foot controller means you're going to be looking at your computer screen to see what sound you're selecting.
Yes, the sound and editing capabilities are amazing making this a nice addition to the studio, but what about live?