[mazafaka]

So you guys may have seen the coverage of AES and the fact that Native Instruments announced Guitar Rig 2, which includes a new foot controller (Rig Kontrol 2) and of course IK Multimedia fired back with Amplitube 2, and its own foot controller, the Stomp IO. Both programs and their accompanying hardware look pretty sweet. Does anyone have any first-hand experience with these new versions?

Guitar Rig 2 info: http://www.native-instruments.com/in...=guitarrig2_us
MSRP: $579 (Software + Rig Kontrol 2)
Release scheduled for November 2005

Updates and Upgrades
- GUITAR RIG 1 Update to GUITAR RIG 2 Software: $ 119
- GUITAR RIG 1 Upgrade to GUITAR RIG 2 Software and Rig Kontrol 2 Hardware: $ 449 Limited offer expiring 6 weeks after official GUITAR RIG 2 release: only available online, Rig Kontrol 1 must be sent in
- GUITAR RIG 2 Software Upgrade to Rig Kontrol 2 Hardware: $ 379

Amplitube 2 info:
http://www.amplitube.com/Main.html?AT2Overview

Introductory MSRP price of $399 for the full version and $249 for the upgrades, valid till the end of the year. After release the price will raise to $499 for the full version and $299 for the upgrades. All customers of AmpliTube 1 full or upgrade, AmpliTube 1 LE and AmpliTube Live are eligible for the upgrade to AmpliTube 2 at reduced prices. Customers having registered AmpliTube 1 full version from September 1, 2005, will receive a FREE upgrade to AmpliTube 2.

**obviously the "Stomp IO" will be priced separately though, and they haven't released pricing on that yet!**

[nitelightboy]

I know that Christian Olde Wolbers from Fear Factory uses one of the newer ones live and in the studio. I'll try and find which one as well as any reviews I come across. But I've heard from a friend that the new Guitar Rig is pretty bad ass, I just haven't had a chance to go and mess with it yet!

[mazafaka]

It seems like for that price range, they should include a more full-featured foot controller, similar to the Pod Xt Live. Also, it would seem that products like Pod XT Live or the Boss GT-8 offer as many models/amp effect combos as the software products, but are easier to take with you for playing live.

Then again, it's nice to record the guitar signal dry and add the effects on later, changing them when you feel like it, which you can't do with a POD or Boss footboard.

The Amplitube Stomp IO looks good, but doesn't have an expression pedal, although you can add one on. I'll be interested to see how much the combination price for Amplitube 2 with the Stomp IO is...

[Bastard Toadflax]

I've had a chance to play around with the demo version of Guitar Rig, and it was pretty sweet. I played it through a laptop and a huge home entertainment system, so it had a little latency problem, but the tone and the amount of things you could do to your sound was amazing. And that was just the demo version without the foot controller. I heard nothing of the version 2, but now that I have, I'm seriously debating on waiting for it.

[Jeff]

GR2 recommends 3Ghz/1gig RAM, a pretty stout system. Having a laptop that can run with that would be an expensive purchase, even if you go by the thought process that a Centrino setup that is 1Ghz lower is roughly equivalent (which in my testing is definitely not true at all).

So for many people, this could turn out to be a $2500 POD XT if they don't have a fast laptop.

EDIT

Now wait here just a sec.......I could have sworn that yesterday it said minimum 1.3Ghz P4/512MB, and recommended 3Ghz/1gig......Now this:

Originally Posted by NI Website, this morning

System Requirements
Mac OS X 10.3.x, G4 733 MHz, 512 MB RAM
Windows XP, Pentium 700 MHz / Athlon XP 1.33 GHz, 256 MB RAM
USB 2.0 Interface

Recommended System
Mac OS X 10.4.x, G4 1.25 GHz, 768 MB RAM
Windows XP, Pentium / Athlon XP 1.4 GHz, 512 MB RAM

WTF? Which is it?

[Jeff]

According to the NI forums, the latter (lower CPU requirements) are the real ones.

One guy has GR1.2 successfully running on a 933Mhz PIII. So that's cool. I am thinking of giving it another go, and if I like it, I'll get it. The rig controller 2 is really cool.

If www.academicsuperstore.com offers v.2 for the same price it did with v1.2 ($299) then it's a pretty damn good deal.

[mazafaka]

That $299 price was only right before GR2 got released. I checked into the academic price of GR1 and it was always about $50 off the retail price. Now, if for some reason they do offer it for $299 (academic) I will most certainly pick that bad boy up. Although, besides the colors, I prefer the Stomp IO controller, once you add an expression pedal....