Guitar Rig Vs. Amplitube

Okay what we are going to have today is a shootout between the top amp modeling software. The only thing that matters when judging this software is ease of use, and also sound quality. These two things can be broken down and rated however in different categories. Keep in mind this is only my opinion. Highest total wins.





Guitar Rig 3
Sound Quality & Feel: 9
Gear Emulation: 9
Fatness: 7.5
Quality of Chords: 8
Expression: 10
Ease of Use: 8.5
Presets: 10
Knob Control & Feel: 8
Fun 9

Pros: The interface is nice. Drag & Drop eases creativity. There are many boxes that sound unique. Lots of presets. Country & Blues fans will be pleased I think. The metal section is also good. - Well the presets are just awesome! Better value for the money. Amps behave close enough to the real thing.
Cons: Doesn't have the heavy "fatness" aspect without tweaking. Presets might be harder to mix with, but I think that can be fixed with EQ.





Amplitube 2
Sound Quality & Feel: 7
Gear Emulation: 8
Fatness: 8.5
Quality of Chords: 9
Expression: 7.5
Ease of Use: 8.5
Presets: 7.5
Knob Control & Feel: 7.5
Fun: 8

Pros: Heavy Sounding, Uses Graphical Stomp Boxes
Cons: Many presets have an audible "grating" digital distortion which is loud and "jacked up." The presets for blues & country suck ass. No drag and drop stomp boxes.


Conclusion: Guitar Rig 3 Wins
I would say that both are very digital sounding in different ways. Amplitube is very upfront and has an audible digital tone to it if you listen close enough. Guitar Rig has a natural feel, and a "clean" cd-quality digital feel to it, and somehow retains the full expression of the amp emulations released by the guitar. If I had to compare the sound quality to keyboards, I would say that Amplitube is a Roland with the volume turned up too high and Guitar Rig is a Korg that finally got rid of the lame sounds.

If you absolutely need a totally overblown sound, that will work in your music, then get Amplitube. If you want to craft and create your own unique sounds, including metal, country, jazz, and get access to tons of different emulations/presets etc...then Guitar Rig is a better value and experience. Guitar Rig was more fun to play and I'm sure you can tweak it to work for your music - there are definitely enough different types of gear to do that inside! You will still be able to get that heavy metal sound in Guitar Rig 3.