On our 2Ghz Core 2 Duo Macbook, it took only a split second to switch between presets in Guitar Rig 3, which is impressive considering the processing demands and graphically rich interface.Īudio quality from the Guitar Rig foot control is professional grade, with a scalable input sample rate that ranges from 44-192kHz, at 16 or 24 bits over a Cirrus Logic A/D converter. Guitar Rig's emphasis on reproducing the recorded sound of a guitar lends the final result a polished feel that has a less dynamic character than simply cranking your amp in the garage.
To this end, Guitar Rig 3 includes settings for virtual microphone type and placement, which might baffle guitarists, but enthrall recording-savvy producers. This is an important distinction to make, because while the casual guitarist might find Guitar Rig 3 a suitable replacement for their practice amp, its intended purpose is to emulate what a guitar sounds like when recorded in a professional studio.
Guitar rig 2.0 pro#
Guitar Rig's main purpose is to act as an affordable (and often indistinguishable) pro audio tool for the complicated process of recording a guitar. Guitar Rig 3 takes advantage of several digital audio technologies, including impulse response, convolution reverb, DSP effects, and physical modeling, in order to recreate the character and qualities of speakers, tubes, and circuitry.
Guitar rig 2.0 software#
Native Instruments-a music software company that has built a reputation on its software emulations of grand pianos, vintage analog synthesizers, and acoustic drum kits-has applied some serious science behind creating the ultimate software for guitar nerds. The Guitar Rig 3 software allows for easy mapping of effect and preset parameters to the included foot controller hardware. Unlike traditional guitar effects, the Guitar Rig foot control doesn't require batteries, since it gets all the power it needs over USB. Knowing that an inadvertent tug to the USB cable could prove disastrous, Native Instruments is clever enough to include a metal hook above the USB jack that helps the cable stay put. The back edge of the Guitar Rig foot control acts as a USB 2.0 audio card for your computer, including two 1/4-inch inputs (with adjustable gain control and a line impedance switch), balanced stereo 1/4-inch outputs (switchable between high and low gain), a 1/4-inch stereo headphone output (with adjustable volume), two inputs for additional expression pedals, standard MIDI input and output jacks, and a USB connection. A large metal expression pedal takes up the right side of the Guitar Rig foot control, allowing you to smoothly control effects such as wah-wah and delay, or use as a volume control. The top of the Guitar Rig foot control features 8 stomp-worthy switches that can be assigned to any parameter within the software, such as effects, mute, tuner, tempo control, and advancing through presets.
Constructed primarily of black anodized metal, the Guitar Rig foot control is heavy enough to stay put and rugged enough to withstand some serious abuse. The rock-solid foot controller included with Guitar Rig 3 Kontrol Edition measures 15 inches wide, 9.5 inches deep, and 2.5 inches tall. Creating our own custom rig was as easy as dragging and dropping components from the list window into the rig window, and hitting save. To get around a licensing nightmare, presumably, Guitar Rig 3 uses thinly veiled names for their components that allude to their real world counterpart, such as Twang Reverb (for Fender Twin Reverb), Citrus (for Orange), and Gratifier (for Mesa Boogie Rectifier). An exhaustive list of components that includes 12 guitar amps, 17 speaker cabinets, 44 effects, and 9 microphones, made us feel like a kid in a candy shop. A search option allows you to find presets using attributes tags such as Bright, Dirty, Spacious, or Warm.Īfter getting a feel for what Guitar Rig 3 is capable of, we played around with creating our own custom setup. Each Guitar Rig 3 preset is categorized by genres such as classic rock, metal, or country and blues. Stepping through the more than 300 preset configurations offered in Guitar Rig 3 is like walking through rock and roll history. In general, there are three ways to take advantage of the Guitar Rig 3 software: browsing presets, creating custom rigs, and performance. Every nuance of a professional guitarist's signature sound has been accounted for-from the characteristics of overdriven tube amplifiers, to the diameter of the speaker cone.
When you plug your guitar into Guitar Rig 3 (by way of the bundled hardware), the software allows you to call up preconfigured or custom combinations of amplifiers, speaker cabinets, and effects.
Guitar rig 2.0 mac#
The Mac and PC-compatible software (which can be purchased separately from the hardware) is the heart of the Guitar Rig 3 Kontrol Edition system.