There’s nothing quite like the glow of tubes burning hot in a heavy, smoky tube amplifier for making an electric guitar sing and scream. But when you want the sweet sound of six-string Nirvana to go, Native Instruments’ slick new Guitar Rig Mobile offers a cool combination of a tiny hardware interface and the stripped-down power of their potent Guitar Rig software studio for just around a hundred bucks--and it’s got plenty of big audio bang to fuel your rock ’n’ roll dreams.
Guitar Rig Mobile consists of a diminutive hardware interface that’s powered from its included USB 2.0 cable, but forget about using it on a Mac with a USB 1.1 connector, because it won’t work. Just a tad larger than an iPod classic, the interface has 1/4-inch input and stereo output jacks for connecting your guitar and a set of headphones or an amplifier. We were also successful hooking up a keyboard instead of a guitar, but don’t try this with a powered microphone. No biggie, though--it’s called Guitar Rig, after all, so we assume you’ll primarily be using it with an axe.
Small package, big audio.
There are volume control knobs on the sides for both input and output levels, perfect for matching it with different types of guitars and speakers, though we should also mention that you don’t need to use the interface output to hear your playing. It works just fine with your Mac’s internal audio-out as well. There are LED indicators for both input and output levels, which glow green when the signal is good and red when there’s clipping, a helpful touch. Other than that, there are no other controls on the box, which translates to less stuff that can break in the long haul. The build quality is OK, but it’s all plastic, and we were rather surprised at the lack of an included carrying pouch of any kind. Little rubber pads on the bottom keep the box steady on a flat surface, but we’d probably slap some Velcro on this thing for live performance.
The audio quality of the interface is stellar. It uses the same Cirrus Logic converters as the other Native Instruments hardware products and can be set to sample at up to 192KHz and 24-bit, if you want to wring the absolute best audio quality out of your session. On our 2.1GHz MacBook Pro, we found very little delay in the signal, so no worries about using the Guitar Rig Mobile for either live or studio work. In either scenario, it’s a champ.
Turn your Mac into an effects pedal.
The bundled software consists of Guitar Rig LE, which includes three different modeled amps and about a dozen effects units, covering all the basics that you’d expect and need for most musical styles. When you consider that a single effects pedal such as the Electro-Harmonix Memory Man Delay—one of the effects perfectly replicated in the software—costs more than the price for the entire Guitar Rig Mobile hardware and software combo, you start to get a good idea of the value offered in this dynamite package, and all the effects sound really good, to boot. There are 80 presets that cover a wide range of tonal styles and effects combinations, and, of course, you can save your own concoctions for quick retrieval.
Compact form factor. Excellent audio quality. Great value. Universal binary.
No carrying pouch. Hardware isn't as durable as we'd like.
cwarkentin
August 26, 2009 at 10:55am
David (if I may): I appreciate your insights and the short conversation we've had here. Your Guitar Rig Mobile article caught me at the beginning of my "learning curve" as a hobbyist/amateur electric guitar player, and by now both the article and your follow-up comments have proven more helpful to me than I originally recognized. I also found your "Plug In, Amp Up" article very informative and helpful. I look forward to exploring some of the resources you mention therein, and will recommend that article to other folks. Since posting my original comment, above, I have also purchased a good USB audio interface for $99 -- the E-MU 0202 USB. Among other features, it sports 24-bit/192kHz A/D and D/A converters and two Class-A preamps. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you that, since hooking up my new interface, I've experienced a rather dramatic improvement in sound quality! That said, despite my final decision to purchase the E-MU, I won't dispute the "good value" of the Guitar Rig Mobile setup. I'm presently trying to learn more about "impulse responses" (IRs) and how they are used in virtual guitar amps. Along those lines, you (and perhaps some MacLife readers) might be interested in checking out Studio Devil's Amp Modeler Pro and Mellowmuse's Mellowhead Guitar Sim. Thank you, and keep up the good work!
dbiedny
August 13, 2009 at 3:03pm
So you agree that, for $100, it's hard to beat the Guitar Rig Mobile interface. Heck, a $100 "Rolls Royce" is a great deal, in my book, and the fact is that the software is icing on the cake. Anyone using something like GarageBand should know all about the universe of Audio Units plugins that work with it - as I wrote about in this feature:
http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/plug_amp
Lots of cool software tone modifiers to run your guitar signal through, no lack of tonal colors and options.
I can appreciate that you might want to spend an extra $100 on a better guitar, but what if you _already_ own a guitar? And, just for the record, even though I have more than a few instruments, I find myself turning more and more to my Line 6 Variax 300, which I picked up new for $299 (they were blowing out the red models), an insanely good deal. Guitar tone starts with the guitar and physical interface, so I don't think it makes any sense to skimp on either, and for $100, I contend that there is no better hardware interface than the GR Mobile.
cwarkentin
August 07, 2009 at 9:40am
You're correct, dbiedny. Using a cheap adapter is not an ideal setup. GTR Solo is also a bit pricey and (of course) is only "free" for a year, at which time trial users will have to pony up the cash or switch apps. But I'm just a hobbyist on a limited budget, who likes to noodle around on the guitar in his free time. For folks like me, it might be better to sink $100 into a better guitar and use a cheap adapter with GarageBand than to spend that $100 on Native Instruments Guitar Rig Mobile. That said, as you point out, the cheap adapter setup will inevitably prove inadequate for more serious-minded musicians! I've encountered the problems you mention, but so far these haven't been too troublesome. I know I'll eventually need to get a decent audio interface or hardware/software package, but when I do it probably won't be Guitar Rig Mobile. Admittedly, this interface is a humdinger and I'm not aware of anything else with such high quality "guts" for this price. But I don't need "Rolls Royce" hardware and the "LE" version of Guitar Rig is just too limited. Most likely, I'll end up with something that offers me more "bang for the buck" -- like the Lexicon Alpha (if I just need a USB interface) or the Line 6 GuitarPort (if I need a hardware/software package).
dbiedny
August 03, 2009 at 7:52am
So I have to disagree with you regarding the $3 Radio Shack adapter issue, like so many other guitar players looking to save some money, I tried that route years ago, as did a few of my friends, to discover the same problem that invariable crops up - the impedance of the mic pre circuitry in the audio input of a Mac is nowhere near that required for a Hi-Z instrument like an electric guitar. Attempting to compensate for the drop in volume in such a situation drives the noise floor through the roof, and trashes the guitar's natural tone. While I can't comment on the Waves GTR Solo software, I've never been thrilled with their licensing strategies, and their stuff has traditionally been fairly expensive (though they do make some nice-sounding plugs, I'll say that). If you know of some guitar-specific audio interfaces with Cirrus Logic A/D converter chips that cost less than the Guitar Rig, we'd all love to know about them, I've not heard of any such product. In my opinion, the Guitar Rig hardware is a really great deal for under $100, the software is the icing on the cake, and of course, you can stick any plugins you want in the chain (I adore running my PRS through the amazing Uhbik flanger and spectrum analyser from U-He, those things are just sick).
cwarkentin
July 30, 2009 at 2:49pm
Before you shell out the money for this setup, I'd recommend taking a look at Waves GTR Solo. (Google "Waves GTR Solo" for the product webpage.) GTR Solo doesn't include the interface, but it has many more features (amps, effects, presets, etc.) than Guitar Rig LE and Waves is giving away FREE 1-year licenses for GTR Solo! (The program retails for $140.) I simply plug my Schecter Omen 6 directly into my 2.4 GHz "white" MacBook (using a $3 adapter from Radio Shack), which works like a charm, and GTR Solo also functions wonderfully as a GarageBand plugin. (Use the drop-down menu in the "details" section of the Track Info window to access it.) You can always spring for a separate audio interface if you're looking to spend some money; there are plenty of decent choices out there for $100 or less. Finally, be warned that the Native Instruments licensing procedure can be a real headache -- forums are rife with complaints about the process. (It doesn't sound like the Mac|Life folks had problems with this, thankfully.)
