How To Install Guitar Rig 4

Later on and so many years of waiting, Guitar Rig half dozen by Native Instruments has finally released.

Fifty-fifty if y'all haven't used Guitar Rig v earlier, you've probably heard about it. GR5 was one of the best guitar effects plugins for years. As a big fan of Guitar Rig five, I was thrilled to finally get to endeavor out Guitar Rig 6.

In this review, I will explain the basics of Guitar Rig 6 and give you lot a adept idea of whether it will conform you lot or non.

Subsequently you read this review, bank check out my Ultimate Guide to Guitar Plugins for some recommendations on some of the best guitar plugins available.

Get the Almost out of Guitar Rig half dozen

If you lot want to become the well-nigh out of Guitar Rig six or any other guitar amp and effects plugins, check out my Guitar Effects Course.

The course covers all the types of effects you may use every bit a guitarist, including how the guild you chain your effects together impacts your tone.

Learn how to set up unlike types of tones and how each type of effect works. While the course isn't a tutorial on how to use Guitar Rig half-dozen, it teaches you principles you tin use with any real or virtual effects.

Check out the Guitar Effects Course hither.

Guitar Rig half dozen Features

The best way to sympathise what Guitar Rig 6 is all about is to walk through how to use it. Guitar Rig 6 shines when y'all encounter how good the interface and routing options are to apply.

Before I walk through how to employ Guitar Rig 6, hither is a snapshot of some of Guitar Rig 6's chief features:

• Drag and driblet interface with a vertically stacked rig
• 21 amp models with matching cabinets
• 68 furnishings models, tools, and modifiers
• Standalone version and 64-bit VST, AU, AAX plugins

If you accept used Guitar Rig 5, the first thing you'll notice when yous load version 6 is the updated interface:

Guitar Rig 6 keeps the master layout and ideas from previous versions but gives information technology a modernistic look. The correct console displays your rig and the left panel displays presets and components.

Guitar Rig has always been different than other guitar amp and effects plugins in that you build your rig by stacking components vertically as shown above. Guitar Rig 6 keeps this interface and I'thousand glad to see information technology has remained unchanged.

At that place's a lot of features I could talk about, but instead of talking nigh the number of amps and models like you tin easily check on the Guitar Rig website, I'll walk through how you use the plugin.

How to Apply Guitar Rig vi

To give you lot an idea of whether Guitar Rig 6 is for you or non, I'll walk through the main features and how to use it.

Plugin or Standalone

Guitar Rig six can be installed equally a VST plugin, AAX plugin, and as a standalone application.

If you install it as a plugin, you can open information technology in any DAW to use for your recordings (learn almost the All-time DAWs for Guitar hither).

If yous run Guitar Rig as a standalone application, you lot tin can fix upwards your audio interface under the preferences section past clicking the upper left logo, and so File > Preferences > Audio (Ctrl + ',' shortcut).

Here you can select your interface, set upwards the sample rate, fix latency problems, and set up your inputs and outputs.

Acquire near all of these settings and how to connect your guitar to a PC in this guide.

Presets View

The presets view on the left console is a great way to larn what Guitar Rig vi has to offer.

There are a ridiculous number of presets, but y'all tin can easily narrow your search downward with the handy filters.

For case, yous can showtime by selecting Guitar as your Input source (Guitar Rig has been popular over the years with non-guitarists), then narrow the presets down further by selecting the type of event you want, genre, or overall blazon of tone.

I always used Guitar Rig five for wild effects, so when I showtime installed Guitar Rig half-dozen, I immediately searched for presets under the 'Experimental' genre.

If you're new to Guitar Rig, I recommend starting here to hear the wide range of tones and effects Guitar Rig 6 can produce outside of typical guitar amp tones.

If yous find a preset you like, right-click information technology in the list and you can save it to one of the color-codes:

You can add presets to more than one color favorite and hands bring up those favorites by clicking the color dots on the top of the panel.

It's a fleck strange saving favorites to colors, but it works well enough as an easy sorting arrangement. Information technology would have been prissy to be able to rename the colors to something else.

Components View

If you want to build your own presets, first with the components view on the left panel.

Go File > New (Ctrl + Due north) to set up a blank rig.

You can drag any component in any club you want from the left console to the right to outset building your rig.

For case, you could start by selecting the Amplifiers and dragging one to the right console along with a matched chiffonier.

The pattern and names of each of the components are clearly based on real-earth hardware. For example, the 'Citrus' is clearly based on Orangish, Atomic number 82 800 based on Marshall, etc.

I similar this arroyo of edifice upwards your rig because it makes information technology easier to combine this plugin with other plugins.

For case, if you already use a plugin such equally BIAS AMP for your amp tones, you lot can build up rigs in Guitar Rig six purely for extra effects.

Alternatively, you can build consummate rigs with amp and cabinet simulation straight in Guitar Rig 6.

Of course, you can practice this with other plugins by disabling the amps or cabinets, but Guitar Rig 6 makes information technology easier to ready custom rigs.

Here are some screenshots of the various types of amps and effects models:

If you're familiar with existent guitar gear, you might recognize what some of these components are based on the icons and names.

Rack Tools

The toolbar above the components on the right console includes handy tools such every bit a tuner, metronome, macros, master volume control, global furnishings, and 'tape' recorders.

You can enable or disable any of these tools by clicking the icons highlighted in greenish below:

My favorite tools are the pre and mail tape recorders. These can exist handy tools for songwriting, tweaking presets, practicing riffs or licks, or as a fashion to jam with a loop.

The 'pre' tapedeck allows y'all to record sound from Guitar Rig 6's input and the post tapedeck records from the end of your point chain (all of this can be customized).

Here are some things you lot tin practice with these tools:

• Create a loop and trim information technology for a perfect loop start and stop
• Tweak your presets while listening to playback of a recording
• Speed upwards or deadening downward a recording without changing the pitch
• Save recordings as audio with or without your furnishings applied
• Transpose your audio recordings
• Import audio clips to use effects (handy when you're using the standalone version of Guitar Rig vi)

I regularly used this feature in Guitar Rig 5 to quickly salvage whatever song ideas I came up with as well as create some atmospheric loops to jam over.

This was a big feature I was missing in other plugins such as Line 6 Helix, so I'chiliad glad to take information technology back.

Rig View

The right console is where you lot build up your rigs.

I suggest starting out in Guitar Rig 6 by building basic rigs such as placing a Tubescreamer (the 'Skreamer' component) in front of an amp. This will get you lot used to the interface before you dive into more advanced routing options.

Click the icon highlighted in the below screenshot to bring up extra parameters for whatever component you may want to tweak.

These extra options are peachy when you want to tweak an outcome or amp far more than what the default options show.

For example, here's the difference between the basic 'Phaser nine' component and the parameters yous can control with the extra settings:

Being able to command the number of notches, or dial in a specific frequency or mix gives y'all then much more control over your tones.

Experiment with these options for individual components to get used to the various sounds each component can produce.

Presets for each component tin can be establish on the bottom correct (usually shows 'INIT' as the default).

Handy Tools

What separates Guitar Rig vi from other similar guitar plugins is the advanced routing options and how useful they can be in tweaking your tone.

Y'all're able to easily create guitar tones that would be difficult to attain in other plugins.

In the Tools section of the components view, you'll come across these options:

Dragging one of these tools into your rig allows you to easily road your amp and effects components in impressive ways.

For example, the 'Crossover' tool allows you to dissever your audio point and route different effects or amps to either the lower frequencies or the higher frequencies.

So you could add an effect pedal such as a phaser to the college frequencies, then add a reverb to the lower frequencies. That fashion yous get a crispy phaser effect combined with a soft reverb that leaves plenty of room in the mix.

If y'all haven't tried something similar this before, it'south amazing.

Here's what that would wait like in Guitar Rig six:

Yous can run into from the in a higher place screenshot that you lot can drag any components y'all desire into either the 'Low' or 'High' sections and those components will only apply to the depression or higher frequencies of your bespeak.

Then at the bottom section, you can combine the two at any frequency you want. Y'all tin even adjust the mix between the 2 and punch in the perfect tone.

This actually is a bang-up tool to play with. In that location are so many different ways y'all tin can employ this tool to create unique sounding tones.

For example, you could add a long delay to the lower frequencies while calculation a fast delay to the higher frequencies.

Or you could run one amp on the lower frequencies to create a tight and punchy bass tone, then another amp on the higher frequencies for a heavily saturated bulldoze tone as shown below:

If you play in low tunings or extended-range guitars, something like this tin give you so much more control over your tone and tighten upward your lower finish.

These tools are handy when you want to create extreme experimental furnishings, just they're also ridiculously handy for shaping a normal guitar tone.

Once you start learning to use tools like the Split Mix, Container, or Crossover, you may find it hard to get back to other plugins that lack these routing options.

Modifiers

In addition to the above routing tools, yous have a few unlike modifiers which can be used to requite you interesting control over your furnishings and tones.

These modifiers can seem confusing if you haven't used anything like this before. Sequencers, LFOs, and envelopes are common in synthesizer plugins, but not in guitar plugins.

This is partly why Guitar Rig 5 has been then popular with non-guitarists over the years. If you're interested in taking your guitar tones to new places, you'll want to experiment with these modifiers.

The style these modifiers work is that you lot can utilise them to command whatsoever parameter you want in any effect or amp in your rig.

As a simple example, permit's say y'all want to experiment with changing the amount of gain a distortion effect creates.

Yous add your distortion effect, so add one of these modifiers. In this instance, I'll testify how you lot tin use an analog sequencer to control the distortion's proceeds level.

Merely drag the icon on the left of the modifier over the superlative of the parameter you want to control:

What this means is that the distortion level volition be controlled by this analog sequencer. As y'all can encounter in the higher up screenshot, there are a serial of sliders that will change the controlled parameter over time. Y'all can command the tempo and how many steps as yous like.

If yous tried to practice this, you would hear the distortion plow up and down in time with the sequencer. Hither are a few screenshots of this in activeness:

Discover that the distortion knob now has a blue marker to testify that the sequencer is controlling information technology. Y'all can see that the sliders control what the knob is set up to over time.

Controlling a distortion's proceeds using a sequencer may not seem useful, but once you get used to using modifiers, yous'll see how they open up new doors to creating tone.

Here are some examples of things yous can do with these sequencers:

• Slowly sweep the depth of a phaser or reverb to create lush swells
• Create delays that rise and autumn to the beat of a vocal
• Alter the amount of fuzz based on your guitar's volume
• Create an auto-wah to rock back and along set to a set rhythm
• Add together a pitch-shifted harmony that cuts in and out to the beat

Modifiers are another feature that once you start using them, y'all'll find it difficult to go back to other plugins that don't take them (although you can use a DAW's automation tools to create these effects).

Playing around with presets that utilize modifiers is a great way to learn how y'all can use them to become interesting sounds out of different amp or furnishings components.

Guitar Rig 6 Sound Quality

In the early on days of guitar plugins, there would always be an obvious increment in quality equally you would upgrade from Guitar Rig 2 to Guitar Rig 3 or from AmpliTube 2 to AmpliTube three.

Modeling technology has come so far that we've reached the point where the quality increases in newer versions are far less obvious.

At this indicate, judging the quality of an amp and effects modeling plugin is less about the actual quality improvements and more about perceived quality. It'due south more about what feels real.

I spent some time comparing Guitar Rig 6 to other guitar plugins to build upwards a general sense of which ones I preferred.

Here'south my quick summary of my perceived sound quality of each plugin:

• Guitar Rig 6: the amps felt natural and there were but a couple I didn't enjoy jamming with. It didn't accept me long to tweak any amp to get to the point where I was happy with the tone. The effects were flawless and many of them had a spark that was defective in some other plugins
• AmpliTube iv: information technology took me longer to dial in amp tones that I was happy with and there were fewer amp models that I enjoyed using. The range of effects felt more limited merely I was happy with most of the furnishings
• BIAS FX ii: I really enjoyed jamming with the amp models and getting each 1 to a tone I was happy with was easy. The effects all sounded great and felt natural
• Line 6 Helix Native: most of the amps felt fine, but I just didn't have the aforementioned enthusiasm about them while jamming. The furnishings were fine and natural sounding

I know this is all very vague, but that's kind of my point. Information technology's really difficult to blast downwardly the differences in quality between these plugins. When comparison Guitar Rig vi and AmpliTube 4, I did experience that AmpliTube 4 was starting to experience a fleck aged (AmpliTube 5 is coming out in late 2022).

What surprised me is when I compared Guitar Rig 6 and Line 6 Helix Native. In that location'southward no uncertainty that Line half-dozen uses excellent modeling engineering science in its Helix range. They probably have the largest R&D budget and accept invested the most in their modeling technology. But it didn't feel as skilful compared to Guitar Rig 6.

The lesser line is I had more fun jamming in Guitar Rig 6 than any other plugin. BIAS FX two would be a close 2d, followed by AmpliTube 4.

Now information technology's highly likely another guitarist would exam all four plugins and come up with the reverse conclusion. Tone and perceived quality are subjective, so don't rely on anybody else'south judgment of which plugin sounds best.

If you don't have any guitar modeling plugins at the moment and are trying to decide which to invest in, try out the demos and complimentary versions and run into what feels best. You lot may agree with me or you lot may experience completely unlike. That's the bespeak I'm trying to make – the technology has reached the betoken where information technology's no longer nigh quality and all virtually what feels right.

Guitar Rig 6 Review Summary

The above data should requite you lot a good thought of what it'south like to use Guitar Rig 6.

Overall, I'm thrilled that Native Instruments finally updated Guitar Rig later on and so many years of neglect.

For some guitarists, it's likewise lilliputian, too late.

Only for me, it'due south a welcome upgrade. It keeps all of the features I loved in Guitar Rig five and gave everything a nice smooth.

I would take hated Guitar Rig 6 if they moved abroad from the interface used in previous versions. That's a big part of what makes Guitar Rig stand out compared to other plugins.

The sound quality of the amps and effects are great. Some guitarists may adopt other plugins, but I have been having a lot of fun jamming with all of the dissimilar amps and effects.

Should You lot Upgrade from Guitar Rig 5?

If you have Guitar Rig v, the large question is whether yous should upgrade or not. Guitar Rig half-dozen adds a lot of polish to Guitar Rig v, only information technology may not be a big enough upgrade for you. GR6 simply adds in a pocket-sized number of new amps and effects, and so if you're happy with your current range of amps and effects, y'all may not see a need to upgrade.

For me, I was more than happy to upgrade to get a cleaner interface and a bit more than polish on what was an old and neglected plugin.

Who is Guitar Rig 6 for?

Recording guitarists: fifty-fifty if y'all currently use another plugin such every bit AmpliTube or BIAS FX, you may observe that Guitar Rig half dozen fills in a lot of gaps. The wide range of effects Guitar Rig 6 tin produce is incredible. Yous're able to hands add in furnishings to your recordings that aren't available in other plugins. You tin can continue to use your preferred amp models in other plugins and add together in effects as you lot similar.

Wanting extreme furnishings: Guitar Rig half dozen really shines when you want to try something a bit different than traditional guitar tones. Y'all can create lush reverb washes, psychedelic delays, or extreme atmospheric pads controlled with your guitar.

For years I used Guitar Rig v for inspiration when coming up with songs. If y'all want to get artistic with guitar furnishings, Guitar Rig 6 is the perfect playground for experimenting.

Who isn't Guitar Rig six for?

Other plugin users: If yous already have a guitar amp and effects plugin you're happy with, you lot may not discover enough reasons to buy Guitar Rig half dozen. If y'all're happy with the tones you lot've congenital upward in AmpliTube, Helix Native, or BIAS FX, you lot may or may non adopt Guitar Rig 6.

Helix owners: if you ain a Helix pedal, you may prefer ownership Helix Native instead and salve yourself coin. While I prefer Guitar Rig half dozen over Helix Native, there's a lot of benefits in having both the plugin and the physical pedal.

Guitar Rig 6 vs Other Plugins

As I explained in a higher place, information technology'south hard to compare the sound quality of these plugins and give you a hard respond on which one is best. But information technology is like shooting fish in a barrel to compare the interface, range of effects and amps, and how piece of cake the plugins are to use.

And so hither's a quick comparison of the different plugins to give yous an idea of how I felt while using them.

Guitar Rig half dozen vs Guitar Rig 5

I accept used Guitar Rig five for years because it has a bang-up interface, an splendid range of effects, and amazing routing options. Merely in terms of sound quality, Guitar Rig 5 uses nighttime ages technology.

I was thrilled to come across that Guitar Rig vi takes all of what I loved about Guitar Rig 5 and gives it a good polish.

You can see in the beneath screenshots how Guitar Rig six uses the same overall interface with a cleaner look.

If you know how to use Guitar Rig v, you'll sideslip effortlessly into using Guitar Rig six.

I actually liked the interface in Guitar Rig 5, merely the clean and flat style in 6 is a definite comeback.

There volition be some guitarists who don't see a need to upgrade to version six. I can empathise that. Just for me, as much every bit I loved using Guitar Rig 5, the quality deviation betwixt information technology and newer alternatives made it hard to stick to.

Winner: Guitar Rig 6. Information technology keeps the core of what I loved with Guitar Rig 5 and gave it a practiced polish.

Guitar Rig six vs AmpliTube 4

I eventually used Guitar Rig 5 less and less when AmpliTube 4 came out. It provided an obvious jump in audio quality that made information technology hard to go back to Guitar Rig 5.

Now I get the feeling the same thing is happening with Guitar Rig 6 vs AmpliTube iv. AmpliTube 4 is fantastic, but for me, it can't compete with the great interface and routing options available in Guitar Rig 6.

With AmpliTube, you need to spring back and forth between different screens to run across your pedals, amp, cabinet, or rack effects:

With Guitar Rig 6, your signal concatenation is lined up in one view. While Guitar Rig has been using this interface for a very long fourth dimension, information technology feels modern in today's smartphone scrolling world.

The big aspect I'k non a fan of with AmpliTube 4 as I covered in my review is the different versions. Information technology's not fun to meet greyed out furnishings or amps you can't apply without buying them separately. This will benefit some guitarists, just I like buying a plugin once and having everything available.

With Guitar Rig six, when y'all buy the full version, you lot get everything. With AmpliTube 4, yous don't.

AmpliTube 5 is coming out by the end of 2022, so I'll update this section when I get to compare Guitar Rig 6 to AmpliTube v.

Winner: Guitar Rig 6. I similar that you lot get everything under one price, the meliorate interface, and the routing options.

Guitar Rig half dozen vs Line 6 Helix Native

I don't like the Helix Native interface.

It works as an interface when built into a pedal, but it just doesn't work well on a large computer screen. Sliders and minimalistic icons don't piece of work besides as virtual representations of actual amps and pedals.

Take a look at the below screenshot and effort to decipher what is in the rig and what the amp settings are:

If you lot take a Helix pedal, you'll learn this interface in a snap and feel at home. But using rows of sliders to set your guitar amp tone isn't intuitive.

Helix Native can produce some amazing tones, but I found myself having style more fun with Guitar Rig 6. I fully expected to prefer Helix Native, only I didn't.

I highly recommend comparing the demo of Helix Native and the demo of Guitar Rig six, because you lot may disagree with me and take more fun with Helix Native. I look nigh people will adopt Helix Native, just I didn't.

The other aspect worth mentioning is the cost.

If y'all ain a Helix pedal, you can buy Helix Native for $99. In that case, I would definitely recommend Helix Native as that is a bargain.

For everybody else, continue in mind that Helix Native is double the toll of Guitar Rig half-dozen.

Winner: Guitar Rig vi. Despite not liking Helix Native's interface, I fully expected to prefer it over Guitar Rig six. I didn't. I had way more fun jamming with Guitar Rig 6.

Guitar Rig 6 vs BIAS FX 2

All of the BIAS plugins are impressive in their quality as well as how easy they are to use.

Every bit I mentioned before, I don't similar the Helix Native interface as it isn't as intuitive as tweaking knobs on virtual amps and pedals.

That's exactly what I like about BIAS FX 2's interface. One look at the beneath screenshot and you know exactly what amps and furnishings are in your rig:

Equally a guitarist, if yous await at that light-green 'Screamer' pedal, yous know what it's based on. You know what the pedal's settings are and how to tweak them.

BIAS FX 2'south interface is clearly different than Guitar Rig 6'due south interface. I really like that you can utilise BIAS FX two in different ways to set up your rig.

The other view as well makes it crystal clear how your rig is gear up:

You lot can see you lot're able to split your indicate in a like way as I explained earlier in Guitar Rig 6. Out of all of the guitar plugins, I feel BIAS FX 2 does it the all-time with Guitar Rig 6 a shut second.

BIAS FX 2 focuses more on authentic guitar tones compared to Guitar Rig 6. Guitar Rig 6 can still create great sounding guitar tones, simply it also branches out into experimental and extreme non-guitar tones.

BIAS FX two as well does a improve job at managing presets. You can hands create your own user banks, which is far more than flexible than saving presets to colors as you practise in Guitar Rig 6.

At the moment, I see myself using a combination of BIAS FX 2 and Guitar Rig half-dozen as my principal guitar plugins. This may modify when I get to try out AmpliTube 5, but BIAS FX ii is a fantastic plugin.

Winner: BIAS FX ii. The interface and feel of the tones are fantastic. BIAS FX 2 is recommended for guitarists who just desire authentic guitar tones. Guitar Rig 6 is recommended for guitarists who want to experiment with a wider range of effects and tones.

Become the Most out of Guitar Rig vi

If you want to get the well-nigh out of Guitar Rig 6 or whatsoever other guitar amp and furnishings plugins, check out my Guitar Effects Course.

The course covers all the types of effects you may employ every bit a guitarist, including how the gild yous chain your effects together impacts your tone.

Learn how to ready different types of tones and how each blazon of outcome works. While the grade isn't a tutorial on how to use Guitar Rig 6, it teaches y'all principles you can use with whatever real or virtual effects.

Check out the Guitar Furnishings Course hither.

If y'all want to learn more about other guitar plugins, check out my Ultimate Guide to Guitar VST Plugins. I encompass all of the above plugins as well every bit other options and free plugins you might want to check out.

Here are some other related guides you lot might want to bank check out:

• How to Connect a Guitar to a PC
• Best DAWs for Guitar (includes tutorials for popular DAWs)
• Recording Guitar at Home
• AmpliTube 4 Review

Related Guides and Lessons:

Summary

Reviewer

Aaron Matthies

Review Date

2020-11-04

Reviewed Item

Guitar Rig 6

Writer Rating

four

Software Name

Guitar Rig half dozen

Software Name

Windows 10

Software Category

Music

Source: https://guitargearfinder.com/reviews/guitar-rig-6/

Posted by: piercehurse1967.blogspot.com

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