The future of Guitar Rig.....

Wouter De Muynck

Hello,

I initially contacted NI Support, but they referred me to the forum to express my doubts/concerns about the future of Guitar Rig:

· Guitar Rig 6 was released the 1th of October 2020 and apart from Win/Mac compatibility, bugfixes and 1 new fuzz effect, nothing exiting happened. Correct me if I’m wrong...

· An ICM fuzz effect was added in version 6.3... nice to see this addition, but I searched the forum and nobody was waiting/asking for this.... We have been asking frequently for other additions, like... again... the looper, which, for whatever mysterious reason, was kicked out of GR5 (although it was listed in the GR6 features list when announced) Currently I'm using both versions and this is far from convenient. A looper is common tool for guitar/bass players, don't understand the strategy from NI.

· Forum users are pointing out to your competitors or express their concerns.... moderators don’t even respond. 

· We’ve been asking for a roadmap without any feedback, although it is very clear for Traktor: https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/5305/traktor-pro-3-feature-roadmap

· For Reaktor they announced a new Beta Phase

· For Valves there was the Q&A concept with the creators

I have been a Guitar Rig user since the intial version and it is my main tool which includes fantastic effects like the Doppel Filter, Traktor Effects, etc... which I integrate within Maschine for switching scenes via a MIDI foot controller, it all works nice, but I have a strong feeling there is no focus on any inititiatives for this product, although it matches perfectly in the NI ecosystem...

I'm curious about your feedback, but please don’t come back with the standard answers.

Grtz,

Wouter

Gandi

@Wouter De Muynck , 

almost a year ago I asked a similar question.

Using GR6 in a studio certainly works well. Everything that has to do with standalone use has been neglected. GR6 Live? An absolute downgrade compared to the previous versions. 

I would be very happy to see a substantive exchange with GR buyers on the forum. If we subtract the messages from the bug support section, there is not much left in the forum. 

If that is so desired, one should simply say that. 

Wouter De Muynck

@Gandi,

I totally agree with your response. GR6 was in some aspects a downgrade when looking to live performance of just messing around at home. And as you mentioned there is close to zero exchange with GR6 buyers.

Whatever proposal you make, feature requests you enter or update you ask, they can't make any promises or will discuss it with the developers and that's were it ends. As a result the forum is mainly used for bugs/issues, GR5/Rig Kontrol questions, .... nothing exiting in regards to GR6. But on the other hand expansion packs, play series and new instrument are released faster then the speed of light to please the shareholders.

Gandi

Since your message here:

More than 8 posts about suspected bugs of GR6. Immediate, dedicated and qualified feedback from NI staff.

But again nothing to our concern. 😪

Wouter De Muynck

@Gandi

Sad but true... The homepage states: "Join our active forum of 40,000+ members for discussions and much more." Practise what you preach NI and have the decency to interact. As mentioned before non-communication is the worst possible scenario.

Disappointing to see how it evolves when I look into all the investments I've done in Native Instruments, starting in 2004 with Guitar Rig 1 and investing in every upgrade (including Rig Kontrol)

Gandi

Even more than the financial side, I find it sad how much time I have invested.

To really know a product - and especially software like GR - you need many hours. That's why I'm not so quick to change products.  

BobF3

I agree that the interface moved backwards from 5 to 6. Also would like to see more active dev, but honestly, I upgraded to 6 based on what it included at the time of purchase. Maybe I'm old and cynical, but I've seen too much vaporware over the years the to get miffed by it. It's almost expected these days.

The interface and bugs? I would be plenty happy if those were addressed - in a timely fashion, of course.

Gandi

@BobF3 sad enough, i have to agree with you. 

What is the argument against an exchange with regarding the further development? Why don't they tell us which customer groups are the primary focus of GR6?

There were enough wish lists for the further development of GR6. In essence, a replacement for the old live mode is missing. And the looper. 

Wouter De Muynck

@Gandi The same goes for me, my entire setup is based on Guitar Rig 6. A lot of time was spend to comprehend the software and to experiment with the various components. The controller of Guitar Rig 1, Rig Kontrol 2/3, ... I tossed them away, but stayed faithful to GR. I added Komplete x & Maschine to create a layering platform and added an AirStep controller + expression pedals (to mimic Rig Kontrol) which enables me to switch between scenes via Program Control changes. Via MIDI commands and the expression pedals I can use macro's and control faders within GR, and there is a MIDI sync between Maschine and GR to control time based effects... It all works, so I'm not at all looking for an alternative for GR, but I'm losing my patience...

Gandi

@Wouter De Muynck

Another 14 days have passed without a response. Only bug management takes a place.  

Wouter De Muynck

@Gandi Indeed, the sound of silence is the preferred way to go apparently. Strange strategy and not at all respectful towards the end-users (I'm an NI customer since 2002 and spend quite an amount of euro's on them), but it doesn't seem to matter. I also updated the support ticket a few days ago, again sound of silence....

Sssswordfish

I’m new here and new to guitar rig. I’ve been using Logic for years. I experimented with the IOS environment and while it shows lots of promise with all the AUV3 developers it’s not quite ready for my uses. So, now I downloaded a demo of GR6 and have been listening and looking and playing and I like what I see. The obvious alternative is IK Amplitude Max. GR6 is $200. IK is on sale for $100.

I’m finding this discussion very helpful in its not the $100 vs $200 that’s the stress point but the investment in making this your sound shaper. And, the future nurturing the of the product is almost more important than its current state. Based on NI’s lack of response I’m inclined to look elsewhere. Any suggestions as I’m eager to get started.

Kaiwan_NI

Hi @Wouter De Muynck thank you for taking the time to write this post. Just wanted to reassure you that we'll share your feedback with the Guitar Rig team. 🙏

Wouter De Muynck

@Kaiwan_NI Thanks for sharing, but I hope to get some to-the-point feedback…

Gandi

Hi @Kaiwan_NI

it would be opportune to share not only our feedback, but also the feedback from the NI team.

Let's get into some real communication. I would be very happy about that. 

Wouter De Muynck

@Sssswordfish Definitely take the time to look into GR6, it is a fantastic piece of software and the purpose of this post is to get some insights in what the future will bring and use this platform where it's build for: interaction/insights/discussions. I don't have an alternative in mind as I'm not interested in an alternative, I prefer to keep using GR6 as part of the NI eco-system, but we need to know where it's going in the long run.