The missing Guitar Rig 2 thread

[klagga]

I´ve done searches both in the KVR forums and with Google, and I can´t believe there aren´t more reviews and user opinions over NI Guitar rig 2 and the Rig Kontrol 2. There is an extremely long thread of the Amplitube 2, but since that´s still vaporware, let´s concern ourselves a bit over what already exist, OK?

I´m contemplating getting a Pod XT Live hardware amp *OR* the NI Guitar Rig 2 (including the Rig Kontrol 2).

I would use one of these contenders together with a Music XPC (PC) optimized for music production, RME Hammerfall HDSP9632 soundcard and Cubase SX3.

I will get the GR2 demo and test it myself, but most of my questions have to do with the control unit Rig Kontrol 2, which where I live isn´t possible to demo before purchase.

1. I want to be able to – after I´ve recorded me playing a guitar track – go back and do adjustments, change mic positions, effects and even amps, etc, without having to record me playing the guitar again. (To record both a processed guitar signal and a dry unprocessed guitar signal at the same time to SX3 and then go back and change effects, mics etc.) I know this isn´t possible to do with Pod XT Live. Is it possible with Guitar Rig 2, with or without Rig Kontrol 2?

2. The reviewer in SOS had complaints of latencyproblems when playing the guitar through the Rig Kontrol 2 (which acts as a USB 2.0 soundcard). Anyone of you experienced that?

3. I already have a RME Hammerfall HDSP9632 soundcard. Would you suppose there would be conflicts between that soundcard and the built-in soundcard of the Rig Kontrol 2?

4. I take it everything in GR2 is automated. Every change I do on the fly when recording – with or without the Rig Kontrol 2 – is recorded as midi signals in SX3. Correct?

5. Can I plug in my guitar into another amp with a *separate* path into my RME soundcard (for example my Mini-Me) and still use the Rig Kontrol to control the sound coming from the guitar?

6. Anybody using the unbalanced extra instrument inputs of the Rig kontrol 2? Any problems?

7. Some have complained over bugs in GR2, that it´s unstable. Mostly I´ve gathered that has to do with bad Mac-drivers. PC-owners, like myself, aren´t affected. Correct?

8. I´ve heard that Spectrasonics Trilogy and Amplitube work well together. Has anyone tried to use Trilogy together with the bass amps and effects of GR2?

9. How are the effects (delay, chorus, etc) in Guitar rig 2? Better than the ones in SX3? Better than the ones in NI Kontakt 2?

10. All in all, do you think I really would get something done with Guitar Rig 2, or would there be the usual headaches with NI beta software (bugs, unstable drivers, etc)? In other words, do Guitar Rig 2 work as advertised?

11. Guitar Rig 2 compared with Pod XT Live, which one is the more stable system?

A long list of questions, I know, but I think they are relevant for many people. Anyone sharing some experience would be much appreciated.

[Bitstreem]

Hi klagga,

I can't answer your question, but I'm under the impression that NI is having a few problems getting enough GR2s and updates out on the market; the Norwegian distributor told me this is because they (NI) underestimated the number of sales of GR2 in the States, and now deliveries to Europe are delayed. This might explain why many users haven't got it yet and thus haven't been able to test/review it.

Of course, I might be totally off on this, so huge disclaimer and all that.

Cheers,

Arne S.

[flametop]

I have only started with GR2 in the past couple of weeks. But i'll answer what I can.

1. I want to be able to – after I´ve recorded me playing a guitar track – go back and do adjustments, change mic positions, effects and even amps, etc, without having to record me playing the guitar again. (To record both a processed guitar signal and a dry unprocessed guitar signal at the same time to SX3 and then go back and change effects, mics etc.) I know this isn´t possible to do with Pod XT Live. Is it possible with Guitar Rig 2, with or without Rig Kontrol 2?

Yes. GR2 is well suited to this task. The 'direct' input from the rig control can be recorded and then passed through the GR2 modeling software.

2. The reviewer in SOS had complaints of latencyproblems when playing the guitar through the Rig Kontrol 2 (which acts as a USB 2.0 soundcard). Anyone of you experienced that?

On my main PC I have had no problems at all. It can handle the 6ms setting which I find ok. However, on my laptop the rig control 2 wont work well at all. I suspect this is due to it being an older laptop with a PCMIA USB2 card. If your PC came with USB2 ports it should be ok.

3. I already have a RME Hammerfall HDSP9632 soundcard. Would you suppose there would be conflicts between that soundcard and the built-in soundcard of the Rig Kontrol 2?

I have a pile of other sound devices in my main PC. It has not clashed with any of them (including the PodXT drivers)

4. I take it everything in GR2 is automated. Every change I do on the fly when recording – with or without the Rig Kontrol 2 – is recorded as midi signals in SX3. Correct?

By default I think it would all be recorded as Cunbase automation not MIDI data. I have yet to confirm that 100% of controls are automatable by Cubase but I suspect they are.

5. Can I plug in my guitar into another amp (for example my Mini-Me) and still use the Rig Kontrol to control the sound coming from the guitar?

Long as the output from the other amp is low enough not to overload the rig control inputs.

6. Anybody using the unbalanced extra instrument inputs of the Rig kontrol 2? Any problems?

I have not used them.

7. Some have complained over bugs in GR2, that it´s unstable. Mostly I´ve gathered that has to do with bad Mac-drivers. PC-owners, like myself, aren´t affected. Correct?

No problems at all on my PC.

8. I´ve heard that Spectrasonics Trilogy and Amplitube work well together. Has anyone tried to use Trilogy together with the bass amps and effects of GR2?

I dont have trilogy.

9. How are the effects (delay, chorus, etc) in Guitar rig 2? Better than the ones in SX3? Better than the ones in NI Kontakt 2?

Well, they are all primarily models of guitar effects. They are not 'general purpose' effects. They sound very good when used in context withing the GR2.

10. All in all, do you think I really would get something done with Guitar Rig 2, or would there be the usual headaches with NI beta softare (bugs, unstable drivers, etc)? In other words, do Guitar Rig 2 work as advertised?

As I said I have had no problems at all apart from with an old laptop.

11. Guitar Rig 2 compared with Pod XT Live, which one is the more stable system?

Well my PodXT has centainly crashed less times than my PC. But I dont think reliability is that bad compared to a hardware device.

A long list of questions, I know, but I think they are relevant for many people. Anyone sharing some experience would be much appreciated.

Hope my answers help in some way.

[lfm]

I had a POD XT Pro for a short while. They have what they call reamping, which is basically the ability use it as a realtime rackunit, and the recorded clean guitarsignal can be reprocessed later.

Doesn't Live have that?

But what PDO Pro does when you record wah using the internal stuff, I don't know. If that can be recorded on a midi track beside the audio stuff, and then let it run in realtime with reamping as well. Remains to be answered.

I have not tried guitarrig.

I think it's a good questin about whether the guitarrig drivers might create problems. I have a Hammerfall card and I think it only has ASIO drivers. I don't know if ASIO allows multiple sources.

Try NI support on that one.

[klagga]

Thanks guys, especially Flametop, I appreciate you all taking time answering the questions.

I had a POD XT Pro for a short while. They have what they call reamping, which is basically the ability use it as a realtime rackunit, and the recorded clean guitarsignal can be reprocessed later. Doesn't Live have that?

Yeah, I know about Pod XT Pro. No, Live doesn´t work like that, according to Line 6.

I think it's a good questin about whether the guitarrig drivers might create problems. I have a Hammerfall card and I think it only has ASIO drivers. I don't know if ASIO allows multiple sources. Try NI support on that one.

I will!

[klagga]

5. Can I plug in my guitar into another amp (for example my Mini-Me) and still use the Rig Kontrol to control the sound coming from the guitar?

Sorry, need to clarify: Can I plug in my guitar into another amp with a *separate* path into my RME soundcard (for example my Mini-Me) and still use the Rig Kontrol to control the sound coming from the guitar?

[flametop]

Yes, i can control GR2 from the rig control and route signal in via a separate I/O (Edirol FA101 in my case)

[Pouckypluysch]

I have Guitar Rig 2, but without a controller. So I can't answer all your questions. What I do know, is this:

1. I want to be able to – after I´ve recorded me playing a guitar track – go back and do adjustments, change mic positions, effects and even amps, etc, without having to record me playing the guitar again. (To record both a processed guitar signal and a dry unprocessed guitar signal at the same time to SX3 and then go back and change effects, mics etc.) I know this isn´t possible to do with Pod XT Live. Is it possible with Guitar Rig 2, with or without Rig Kontrol 2?

If you use GR as a VST plugin, you can record a dry guitar track using any good soundcard. If your computer's latency is low enough (which should be the case if you have one built for music applications) you can monitor the signal through GR. That way, you can change the GR settings afterwards. It wouldn't seem handy to me to record a processed signal.

I use it this way with Cubase SX as VST host. If the Rig Control has high latency, you could consider using the Hammerfall input. Downside is that you would have to use a mic preamp for your guitar signal.

As far as I know, the Rig Control input works like any other soundcard, so it should be possible to use it the same way. I assume it's possible to record any controlling you perform with your Rig control in your VST host, either as midi-messages or as automation. That means that you can record pedal movements, even when recording a dry track, while monitoring the GR sound.

You can also record within GR itself, but I haven't tried that, so I couldn't tell if that leaves the same options.

3. I already have a RME Hammerfall HDSP9632 soundcard. Would you suppose there would be conflicts between that soundcard and the built-in soundcard of the Rig Kontrol 2?

I suppose not. In my case however, I would only have to choose to use either the Hammerfall or the Rig Control as an input, because Cubase doesn't let me use both at the same time.

5. Can I plug in my guitar into another amp with a *separate* path into my RME soundcard (for example my Mini-Me) and still use the Rig Kontrol to control the sound coming from the guitar?

Yes, that should be possible. Your Rig Control controls the parameters of the plugin, it doesn't process the sound.

7. Some have complained over bugs in GR2, that it´s unstable. Mostly I´ve gathered that has to do with bad Mac-drivers. PC-owners, like myself, aren´t affected. Correct?

I have no stability complaints whatsoever.

9. How are the effects (delay, chorus, etc) in Guitar rig 2? Better than the ones in SX3? Better than the ones in NI Kontakt 2?

I think the effects in SX3 are of good quality, but I would say that the effects in GR2 are way better designed for use with guitar signals (though I use GR2 on all types of signals). They have more character, and add a lot more colouring. I don't use Kontakt for fx processing, so I couldn't tell.

10. All in all, do you think I really would get something done with Guitar Rig 2, or would there be the usual headaches with NI beta softare (bugs, unstable drivers, etc)? In other words, do Guitar Rig 2 work as advertised?

I got GR2 as a bonus with Komplete 3, which I wanted to have mainly for the instruments. I ordered the package before I knew GR2 was included. But it turned out to be one of my favourite items within Komplete. I am really very happy whith it, so I dare to recommend it. I would personally prefer the VST compatibility of GR2, which POD XT doesn't have.

[Dominus]

I downloaded the demo of Guitar Rig 2, and I own a Line 6 Guitar Port. I've gotten much better sounds out of Guitar Port than I could out of GR2.. and I've owned a LOT of guitar amp emulators over the years.. (Zoom, Boss, Digitech, Pod, Pod Pro, Behringer V-Amp.) I would say download the demo to make sure you can make it sound the way you want to, and to test it's reamping capabilities. (I believe the demo lets you run for 30 mins before timing out.) All the capabilities in the world come second to tone in my book.

[strat59]

Is anyone out there with Guitar Rig 2 able to record controller data (like wah pedal) from the Rig Kontroller 2 into their Daw? It doesn't seem to work in Logic, and I'm beginning to get buyer's remorse for upgrading from ver.1...

[chrishurley]

(The PODXT doesn't fully support reamping. You still have to run a wire out it and back in. For a digital device, thats not a feature. That's a side-effect and an afterthought to be sure. )

I surely wasn't blown away by the demo of GR2- I was blown away with how bad it was, actually. Kudos to them for having a good demo version, though. I'd be *real* upset if I'd wasted $400 on it.

[putte]

.. i absolutely love GR2 for its soundesign abilities. there are amazing fx-presets to start with, and i also like the bass-presets.
though, when it comes to a pure guitar-sound i like i find myself using AT1 again quite often.

anyway, GR2 is a very powerful beast and i use it a lot.

putte