New guitar amp sim out

[Ruphus]

http://www.nativeinstruments.de/index.php?guitarrig_us

Curious to what first users might report. ( Could DL the demo and check, but am lazy, will do if any guinea pigs are squeaking.)


Ruphus

[Ruphus]

err Steve Jobs seems to like it http://www.nativeinstruments.de/index.php?wwdc_us

[BevvyB]

Instant classic

Buy buy buy

For those on a budget

BUY BUY BUY


Really awesome...and I'm only on preset 20

Bev

[Ruphus]

I can imagine that. While not particularly best friend of that company across the street for their penny pincher mentality me thinks that they have a good hand at sonics. That´s at least what I learned from their Kontakt sampler. Sounds great and having pretty expensive samples in the shelve I dig their smooth and gentle pianos and acoustic bass coming with Kontakt.

You´re making me curious ... Does it sound remarkably better than POD II or Samplitube?

Ruphus

[flexoffset]

The demo is quite handy, and can serve to answer many questions. They have been generous with the demo functionality.

That being said, I think the distortions sound like skunk sh*t ... muddy, gooey, etc, but are about as warm as a really really cold ice cube.
All the overdriven amps sound like an '80s distortion box (Yamaha REX-50 ... don't ask why I know this) going direct into the board. ...turn the knob a little and you get 'fizzed' out. I couldn't discern much character from any of the overdriven sounds beyond some obvious EQ curves being applied.
The Pod XT sounds much better if one compares between them.

The clean sounds and effects, however, are friggin fantastic... better than or equal to the Pod XT.

... but don't take my word for it. Give it a shot and see what you think.

[BevvyB]

What he said

Still, it's essential. I haven't spent this much time 'noodling around' since I was in a guitar shop

For sweetening and effecting your already-recorded guitars...absolutely great

And for anything else you want to throw at it - terrific!

All in all, regardless of it being 'for guitar' - I would say that having this plug in could seriously improve your chances of getting your guitars to have 'more movement' and 'space', ESPECIALLY if you're on a budget - however, most of the effects do not sound budget AT ALL

And yes, the 'proper distortion' is a bit lacking...but there had to be something - if they manage to come out with some better distortions this would be an almost flawless product -

- considering how much a bunch of pedals would cost

DISCLAIMER

I haven't used this in a track yet so I have no idea how well it will sit, and I haven't tried mixing it into a whole song, wall of guitars or anything, so I really have no idea if it's 'useful' as opposed to 'fun'. I guess that will be the true test. However, just plugging in and playing its a good laugh, and it's definitely a cut above the norm for this kind of thing.

[Ruphus]

Wonderful feedback, guys, thanks a ton. I´m pretty sure to know now what´s relevant about it. Sounds like like bad distortion, but the mic/amp simulation to work great with it. I love space.

Aware that I´ll yet have to try the demo, and will; ... two more questions while at it:

Can one bypass its inbuild DI?

I´m not so experienced with amps while been planning to get me a little good sounding tube one. 450 bucks for the Guitar Rig seems fair considered the hardware coming with it ( at least if it is that solid build as they claim ), but would you think it a better idea than getting an amp for that or little more cash and feed it either directly or through POD II / Samplitube?

Greets,

Ruphus

PS: Just read your disclaimer, Bevvy. So true, experience in the mix would be best. Shall try when through with current project.

[flexoffset]

Ruphus, I think you can bypass it. There's selections for other audio input options.
They have things called 'tapedecks' that you can use to open audio, loops, etc and have processed, too.

The one sticking point I've found is I can get rid of the original guitar sounds.
For example, the demo has a clean guitar sound and I can add 10 distortion boxes, but still clearly hear the clean guitar. . . and I haven't found a way to turn down the 'source' guitar.

The longer I use my Pod XT, the more I want to get my Fenders and Marshall back out.
I'm becoming more and more disheartened by the tones I can't get . . . however, you are aware the Pod XT has the following features on the way probably by end of summer ...

...hint ... they're adding a few of the Vetta II amps.

http://line6.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb....c&f=3&t=007158

an excerpt....

- 4 band semi-parametric Post-EQ savable per-patch
- ALL studio mode cabinets & mics have been completely redone
- 128 preset Channel Memory locations (previously, there were only 64)
- 4 additional Line 6 original amp models + 2 additional cab models (including “L6 Treadplate” – an alternate version of the “Treadplate Dual” amp model that is more like the popular one in the POD 2.0)
- The generic always-available compressor was replaced with a model of a vintage studio compressor (modeled for Bass PODxt)
- A UI change turns 3 of the “soft edit buttons” into Gate, EQ and Manual Mode shortcuts/status indicators
- Assignable minimum setting for attached volume pedal controller
- “Bank Up/Down” mode on connected foot controller no longer times out

We’ll be releasing a couple of support software updates at the same time as the new PODxt Flash Memory as well:

- A new intelligent updater utility called “Line 6 Monkey.” Connect your Line 6 device via USB to an Internet connected computer (Windows or OSX) and the Monkey will automatically survey and display the Line 6 software you have installed in your computer and your connected device. It will also tell you if ANY updates are available (drivers, flash memory, USB firmware, drivers, Line 6 Edit, GuitarPort, etc.) and then either install the updates or open the relevant installer.
- Mac OSX Audio/MIDI drivers (yay!)

A note about the new cabs/mics: We found that each time we created cabs for a new product or update, we learned something and made little improvements with each iteration. We decided to fold in some of the improvements made for GuitarPort 2.0, Flextone III’s latest update, HD147 and Vetta II to PODxt for this release. As a result, we’ve got a set of clearer, more “in your face” cabs for this release.

While it’s a definite improvement, it will noticeably change the sound of all of your presets. We strongly believe you can get to a better place with the new cabs (remember that you have a new EQ to help shape the sound now as well). Of course, we’ve updated the factory presets, but you’ll likely need to do some tweaking on patches you created in older versions of firmware.

...so I'm holding on to my little Pod XT for a while if it improves the sound any.
It's supposed to give a heavier 'chunk chunk chugga chunk' with heavy-handed mutes that's all the rage nowadays.

[BevvyB]

Like all of this stuff, the appearance of another 'tool' is always welcome

I like what the Pod can do, and I know what it can't do. I use it, and don't use it.

This thing from NI is great because it's going into places other plug ins haven't really managed yet, so from that perspective its helping in an area that has yet to reach its full potential. It does stuff that no other 'all in one' plug in does, and does some of it very well indeed.

So it's a useful addition to the arsenal and one I can see myself using and turning to, in the same way that sometimes I plug in my pod, then go 'nope, not today' and then put my mic in front of my cab...

Saying that, lets not forget why these things are also useful

1. Time saving on jobs
2. More options for enhancing and sweetening already well recorded 'proper' guitars
3. As its a plug, don't have to use it on guitars only
4. Automation
5. Great for quick song demos, inspiration etc
6. Can be abused

The fact it actually has a rather useable tuner is cool too. The emagic one sucks.

I have no idea how much CPU drain this thing is as I haven't checked. It wasn't too happy playing below 24ms latency on my old mac. I have no idea if the code takes advantage of G5 blah blah blah

Bev

[Ruphus]

Thanks a bunch Flex, I like your "'chunk chunk chugga chunk' with heavy-handed mutes", he he he.

Good that I don´t have budget at present, maybe a couple more months are good to wait.

- And the li´l amp idea, could it eventually be a ... better one? ( I tend to assume so, .. but if e.g. the G-Rig was so good at simulating mic and amp ( space ) that it came close to real amp miking, it would provide much more variety [ duh!] .. )


Ruphus

[flexoffset]

I have no idea how much CPU drain this thing is as I haven't checked.

Bevvy, I've seen it shave a good bit of hair off the chest of my venerable Dual 867 G4 Mac.

[Ruphus]

Thanks for the points, Bev!

Ruphus

[wynsmth]

I tried it the other night. Looks cool, lots of options. I was playing through the Metric Halo ULN2 so there was no latency which made it actually usefull except for 1 thing. The sounds are terrible. Sorry to say that as I was hoping it would sound at least good enough to use on demos but not even close.

[shipshape]

We checked the full version out today and it is kinda lame IMHO...it reminds me of the Zoom, some of the clean sounds are ok but the rest of the sounds are pretty horrid.

[BevvyB]

shame

I thought the demo was leading somewhere interesting

[Football]

I have been using the demo of this for a few days.

I think this requires a lot of time and tweaking and shouldn't be completely written off so fast.

I am wondering if Mike hasn't spent enough time with it and thought it was bad based mostly on the presets.

The Presets SUCK.

Personally I found the exact opposite to be true (for me) of what he stated. I think the "Fender" emulation sucks big time for clean sounds (I didn't like the clean sounds from any of the Guitar rig amps) but found that I was very happy with the Heavy and slightly broken up sounds.

I think the Ac-30 with the treble booster is great.

On each amp is an expert mode also that you can use to tweak far further as well.

Here is my idea:

I am wondering if someone can give me song examples of sounds they don't think Guitar Rig can emulate or just describe a sound in general and I will post short clips of Guitar Rig emulating these sounds as best as I can.

No, I don't work for Native Instruments and have absolutely no affiliation with them whatsoever (other than my friend complaining that customer support sucks at NI).

If anyone is interested I will do this on down time (so sometimes it might take me a minute to get to this)

At least this way we can all comment on the same sounds we are hearing coming from Guitar Rig. Of course all opinions still may vary but isn't that the fun part?

By the way, making a quick MP3 is easy but doe someone know a eeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaasssssssssyyyyyyyy way for me to post them?

[flexoffset]

Cool idea.

I'd be interested to see if it could duplicate any of these tones. Just pick whichever you'd like.
I know there are live recordings of several of these tunes, but I'm strictly talking about the album versions.

Queen - We Will Rock You - Guitar Solo
Collective Soul - All Your Weight - riff
Ozzy - No More Tears - the harmonics and overall meaty sound
Rush - Tom Sawyer
Iggy Pop - Lust For Life
Rob Zombie - Dragula
Free - Alright Now
Joe Walsh - Funk#49
Van Halen - Ain't Talkin' About Love,
... and Panama,
... and Summer Nights

... the only one I bet the Guitar Rig can duplicate would be Steely Dan's 'Reelin' in the years" 'cause that's pretty much what all the distortions sound like. I'm not ragging Steely Dan ... I like them .. but the guitar tone on that songs sucks ass.

[Ruphus]

Someone help Football to upload ( I can´t in the moment.)

Ruphus

[BevvyB]

To post mps you just upload them like any other file where it says 'attach file'

[Football]

I will do my best to emulate some of these songs, however I am not listening to the orginals and trying to get anything exact. I am just trying to show some examples of various settings that I think are workable in a pro studio.

I don't know the name of this Rush song, but here is the intro.

This is the NI Spring Reverb which doesn't sound wonderful on this but at least here is something quick.

Thanks for teaching me how to upload here.

[flexoffset]

It's Limelight. and it sounds pretty good, actually... better than I'd have thought it could.

[Football]

This one is slightly broken up.

I'll get to more of those earlier requests when I can.

I'll try to do one of the Van Halen songs next.


By the way, this is about 1MB in size. Is that going to clog the server up?

[Football]

You Shook Me

[Football]

This is a much heavier sound.

Seems workable to me.

By the way, these sounds are a 1973 Strat with Noiseless Pickups (that I should get rid of soon)

[rynugz007]

Im with football on this one. This is a really cool plug imo, even the overdriven sounds. You just need to spend time with it. The cab/mic section plays a big role, i found the "air knob" to work better at lower settings. Also the expert modes (variac,sag,response) on the amps are very cool too. Im still a big fan of Amplitube though.

AC30 with treble booster is one of my faves too. Everytime i mess with a modeling amp or modeling plug-in, the first tone i try to recreate is the U2 sound and i must say guitar rig gets pretty close. So theres one for ya football, see if you can tackle "where the streets have no name".

[Ruphus]

Hi Football,

I´m a bit late, cause whenver wanting to listen to mp3s I need to patch around from device to device. ( Seem not to use patchbay anymore.)

So, just listened to it and I think it sounds good. Don´t know about originals except of "You Shook Me" which didn´t sound exactly the same to me, but couldn´t judge too much cause I believe the original situation to be less upfront ( maybe delay, or reverb without early reflections? ) Would need to compare side by side, but could be it all in all to sound more immediate than the POD II.

I think though to try the amp route ( have iso cabine ). Possibly, plugins will gain yet much more density by higher resolution / upsampling /and maybe 64 bit emulations with more sheets in their layers ( natural variety ) would already give it the plasticity of a mic before the cone or on stage, but yet there is something missing.
This is not to say that there couldn´t be pleasent results with well tweaked and placed emulations, nor that I wouldn´t use them.

I thought the metalish sound as most realistic of the patterns.

Most of all though thank you very much for making the efforts and presenting these examples for us to hear. Great help to get an impression of a new product out there

Ruphus

[DClarkson2004]

I'm not a guitar-player, but I'd like to go into
the 'things' that guitar-rig just can't give you,
compared to the real world:
How about:

John Sykes' guitars on the 'still of the night' track,
including the rest of the guitars of the '1987'-album
from Whitesnake. (Rectifier coliseum)

Eddie van Halen's solo lead and rhythm guitars on 'beat it'.

Everything Muddy Waters ever recorded.

The guitarsound of Evanescence (randall?)

[brado32]

well, I was inspired by this thread to go out and try the demo of this..

Cant get it to work.. I am trying to open as an RTAS in Pro Tools and it tells me the demo is expired (just got it today ) ?? The stand alone program opens fine, but I have no way of getting audio into it ..

Has anyone tried the RTAS version withing PT??

thanks

-Brad

[flexoffset]

Thanks for putting those sounds up.

The heavy metal one sounds best of all of them.

The bluesy one still has a harshness on the high end a sort of fake sound and muddiness when you do the two-finger chords (clawhammer-style riffs) sort of.

The AC/DC amp tone sounded too tight in my opinion. It didn't have the grit and marbly sound as I would describe it.

I think I could probably pick out the Guitar Rig processing if it was used on a CD somewhere. ... probably much like those who could probably identify a Pod a mile away.

It's not a bad thing necessarily . . . . . it's just not for me. IMHO.

Thanks for the efforts.

[halcyo]

Maybe I'm just not 'guitarist' enough to know what sounds good, but I think that metalish example is a horrible rendition of the capabilities of Guitar Rig.

Yes, the preset distortions suck, but check this out. With very little tweaking you can do some cool things. Check out the preset called "Live Double"

Now it sounds pretty muddy. Go down to the 'gratifier' and turn up the treble to about 3 o'clock. Now go down to the first cabinet/mic box and change it to an on axis sm57 with the 'custom 2x12 cabinet'

Mess a bit more with the plexi, and I think it is a kick ass guitar sound in my opinion!

halcyo