amplitube

Amplitube vs Guitar Rig – a detailed comparison

Last Updated on January 4, 2024 by IDS Team



For any guitarist looking for an amp sim, the question of ‘Amplitube VS Guitar Rig’ inevitably will arise. 

 Guitar Rig and Amplitube are undoubtedly two of the most famous and popular guitar emulators available. They’re the best at what they do, but which one is actually THE BEST?

We have updated our article in light of the Compared to Amplitube 4, this one has been upgraded user experience department, being by far much more user friendly It now supports Retina-displays and the GUI is fully-scalable. 

In the new department you now have the option to do parallel effects, with the addition of the dry/wet control and a lot more devices to play with. Plus, a smaller, more recent update integrates Aplitube 5 with TONEX Capture technology, allowing you to upload custom amp and cab presets. 



We’ve also updated this based on Guitar Rig 7 – the first update in three years from Native Instruments for their Guitar Rig amp sim which sees plenty of new amps and exciting new FX geared at pushing guitar to its limit.

For those interested in an upgrade path from Amplitube 4 to 5, , explaining the differences and also listing the contents of the Amplitube 5 package.

And if you are interested in a music production laptop as well, we have an updated comparison article right here for you.

So, if you are wondering about the differences between Amplitube VS Guitar Rig, this article will break it down. , Here, we take a deep dive into their pros and cons, features, specs, and ultimately decide which platform offers the most benefits. Let’s begin with the most recent price- available by clicking these buttons:

To be fair, we will compare Amplitube 5 to the “PRO” version of Guitar Rig – because the free version is in a league of its own. Sadly there is no free entry point to Amplitube, so we have to have an apples-to-apples comparison.



For the lack of better words, the selection of amps, cabinets, and effects stacked into the Guitar Rig is absolutely incredible. Of course, its eclecticism and versatility mainly depends on which package you’ve opted for, but even the factory Guitar Rig 6 Player is better-rounded than the vast majority if boutique guitar emulators.

You’ll be able to choose between some of the iconic amps, such as Hot Plex, Citrus, Tweed Delight, Jazz Amp, Hot Solo+, and many others, although the bulk of these presets are reserved for Guitar Rig 6 Pro users.

What new additions are there?

THE NEWEST ADDITIONS (IN COMPARISON TO THE GUITAR RIG 5 PRO) ARE THE CHICAGO, BASS INVADER, AND THE FIRE BREATHER AMPS, ALL OF WHICH BRING BRAND-NEW AND HIGHLY UNIQUE FEATURES TO THE TABLE. 

Overall, Guitar Rig offers surprisingly authentic, great-sounding amps. We have a full review of Guitar Rig 6 available by clicking right here!

Furthermore, the Guitar Rig 7 update sees 4 new amps and a bundle of FX pedals. These are mostly geared towards rock and other guitar-based genres. Likewise, the pedals include classic FX such as tape wobble, noise machine, vintage vibrato, hardware distortion, and a new loop machine. Check out our review of Guitar Rig 7 right here.

Some reviewers have found these outstrip some of the classic FX on Guitar Rig 6, so bear this in mind if you want consistency of emulation across your amp sim.

Amplitube’s selection of amps is perfect for literally all kinds of music styles and subgenres. The Standard Amplitube 5 package has 34 devices while the MAX version has a whopping 107 items.

You’ll be able to use five British Stack amps, including Brit 8000 and Brit 9000, the Red Pig, Brit Valve, the Brit Silver, two American Tube amps, as well as a solid-state Bass preamp. The standard edition of Amplitube 5

If you want the full list of devices available, IK Multimedia has created We have a full and honest review of Amplitube 5, you can read it by clicking here!

These amps work wonders regardless of whether you’re looking for a poppy sound, a fuzzed jazzy tone, or a heavily distorted metal timbre. However, in a guitar rig 6 vs Amplitube comparison, Guitar Rig’s selection of amps is just slightly broader.

Guitar Rig 6 offers matched cabinets for their amps, which is generally pretty great. Furthermore, you’ll be able to make great use of the Control room cabinets & mics features if you’ve upgraded to Guitar Rig 6 Pro.

However, the downside here is that you won’t be able to mix and match ‘unmatched’ cabinets like you would with Amplitube.

What other great cabinet features does Guitar Rig have?

The new update (guitar rig 7) comes with four new amps: 

  • Super Fast 100 
  • Reverb Delight
  • AC Box XV 
  • Bass Rage 

However, guitar rig has a broad range of flexible cabinet capabilities in general, including: 

  • Mono and stereo 
  • Enough FX to model and build your own cabinet, plus compatibility with the sim’s existing cabinets 
  • Ability to use multiple amps and cabinets for a ‘wall of sound’ effects
  • Control room feature of ‘pro’ simulates the acoustics of a real recording studio 
  • Pedals for a variety of genres including Seattle fuzz (grunge), chainsaw (90s death metal), skreamer deluxe, and IVP stompbox.

As far as cabinets go, , including six 4 by 12s (matching the amps), one 1 by 12 Open Vintage cab, a 2 by 12 Closed Vintage cab, and a 1 by 15 Bass Vintage cabinet.

While Guitar Rig had the upper hand in terms of the amp selection, Amplitube does a bit better job in the realm of cabinets, offering more than twice as many models and presets.

In a nutshell, this is more than you’ll need to capture the sonic essence of the recognizable sounds of guitar heroes with ease.

There are almost more guitar effects aboard the Guitar Rig 6 platform than can be counted, starting with:

  •  five delays (Twin, Delay Man, Psyche Delay, Quad Delay and Tape Echo), 12 Distortions (Fuzz, MeZone, Sledgehammer, Gain & Treble boosters, Cat, Demon, Skreamer and more), 
  • 10 Dynamic effects,
  • 5 EQs, 
  • 7 filters, 
  • 8 modulation effects, 
  • 3 Pitch effects, 
  • 9 reverbs,
  • three ‘Special’ effects (Resochord, Ring Modulator and Grain Delay).

Barely a dozen of these effects are available as factory presets, though,.In short, this means you need the Guitar Rig 6 Pro package. However, we have a full review of Guitar Rig 6 – including pro vs player and the pros and cons of each –  available by clicking right here!

Guitar Rig 7 Update:

The first update Guitar Rig has had in 3 years, Guitar Rig 7 brings new FX, most of which are more specialist, adding something extra to the classic sounds of Guitar Rig 6. 

Thus, if you want to really experiment or alternatively are after a specific sound, Guitar Rig may be the way to go.

The Amplitube simulator offers 10 different stompbox models, including choruses, flangers, delays, wahs, diode overdrives, volume pedals, graphic equalizers, compressors, tremolos, and acoustic simulators. With the new Amplitube 5 version you can run them in paralel with the dry/wet setting.

All of these effects are taken from actual analogue effect pedals and sound as original and authentic as can be. The same. We have a full and honest review of Amplitube 5, you can read it by clicking here!

The good and the bad of Guitar Rig 6

Basically, Guitar Rig 6 is free to download, which is a massive benefit in itself. However, the factory presets selection is modest, to say the very least, which means that it’s a pretty basic software with relatively poor versatility if you don’t upgrade to the ‘Pro’ version at some point.

Let’s discuss the positives and negatives of Guitar Rig 6 PRO:

Pros:

  • Decently affordable upgrade to Guitar Rig 6 free
  • Exceptional range of guitar amps
  • Quality analogue bass amp
  • Authentic sounding tools, models and presets
  • Unparalleled selection of effects
  • Decently easy to use, even by beginners

Cons:

  • The basic (free) package is not overly versatile
  • Difficult to mix and match cabinets
  • Almost no effect pedals and stompboxes to speak of in the free package

The good and the bad of Amplitube

Amplitube is decently approachable guitar software that packs a hefty selection of stompboxes, amplifiers, cabinets, speakers, microphones, effects, and rack units. With the new update to Amplitube 5, the user interface is extremely well built, scalable and looks great on Apple devices. We have a full and honest review of Amplitube 5, you can read it by clicking here!

Obviously, it’s more expensive than the (free) Guitar Rig 6, but it is well worth the buck considering how beginner-friendly and eclectic it is. Some of the highlighted advantages and disadvantages of Amplitube are:

Pros:

  • Highly intuitive interface
  • Excellent selection of stompbox effects, amplifiers, cabinets and microphones
  • Several rack effects and speakers
  • Onboard tuners
  • Constantly expanding roster of amps and effects
  • Great for beginners and seasoned veterans alike

Cons:

  • Not available for free, although demo can be downloaded free of charge

Conclusion

The specs, features, and UI were some of the most notable parameters we took into consideration when comparing the performance of Amplitube and Guitar Rig.

Even though these guitar simulator programs are completely different, they actually do have a lot in common. Both programs are laden with a myriad of top-quality amps and effects, and both actually sound extraordinarily great.

Be it as it may, Guitar Rig tends to do a bit better only because there is a free version to which Amplitube cannot compete. Overall, Guitar Rig offers surprisingly authentic, great-sounding amps. We have a full review of Guitar Rig 6 available by clicking right here!

Without cutting Amplitube’s worth short, it’s amazing software that has enormous potential to usurp Guitar Rig’s throne in near future.