Guitar rig and floopr pedal thoughts

After using this for a while in recording and live performances I have some thoughts I'll share:


- I wish the sounds were more even in volume and could easily be made to be evened out. I spend to much time messing with them trying to get an even volume across patches

- Consider that if you want to use this live you'll often need to switch from rhythm to lead. Give us a quick and easy option of going up +db on the pedal and allow us to edit that amount. Bam, problem solved for someone playing lead guitar instantly. I have to work this into EVERY patch. Very tedious.

- USB connection on board concerns me. This isn't a usb printer port I'd plug in once and never ever have to unplug it. I play live and I'm plugging, and unplugging, plugging, and unplugging, plugging, and unplugging, plugging, and unplugging, plugging, and unplugging, plugging, and unplugging.... you get the point. Practice at home, recording at home, rehearsal with the band, set up and tear down for gigs you name it. This jack 1st needs to be more heavy duty and 2nd you need a back up option in case (my big fear) it one days stops working.

- I know the tuner on the software can be made big which is cool but sometimes for outdoor gigs you can't see your laptop screen well. Put a back lit tuner on the board also. Consider it like the Boss TU3 or TU12. Cheaper tuners you can't see outside that aren't back lit.

- Consider an option to dump your sounds onto the board and not even need a laptop. Boy would I LOVE that. I am so afraid of computer connections I have to always bring a backup. I have strongly considered pod xt live or vox tonelab le because of my fears of connection and also so I'd have 1 less thing to setup all the time. Who has time to mess around with a laptop? Let me program on it and then dump to a sd card and connect tot he foot pedal and go and leave the laptop at home. Imagine how much Line 6 floor pod and tonelab business you'd steal doing that! Also, you'd eliminate those guitarists fear of playing with a laptop or who don't own one to travel with. Sales go up!

- computer interface, as mentioned above I mention my fear of connection only because so many times I've had issues especially with gr4. I forget to click connect (as it needs it every once in a while only) or lap top issues, sometimes I have to re-connect it via the interface etc. it's just so temperamental. Again especially since gr4.

- XLR connections. I'm am blown away floor pedals like vox, line 6 etc. and GR do not include XLR outs. We need to run into the house system most the time so why go 1/4" Why not go balanced and XLR and I can jump right into the snake which is always xlr

- ground lifts When using this with a laptop your going to get a hum. I could not find a direct box that would take it away. The ONLY thing I could find that worked was this: http://www.dcmusicstore.com/Hum-Eliminator

This needs built into the unit. Again, 1 less thing to bring on a gig & anyone playing live "must" have it.

God bless,
Dave Byers
www.writingsongs.com/davebyers
www.soundclick.com/davebyers
www.christiansongwriting.org
www.writingsongs.com
www.dcmusicstore.com
www.the316band.com

 

Use the master FX section if you want a global 6dB boost. Use any component, probably the volume pedal or EQ, and assign it once. It'll give you boost on all your presets.

 

here are some workarounds. I do agree with you on a lot of the things you would like to see in a footpedal upgrade. Until then, consider the following:

- USB Port breaking: get a short length (6") adapter that STAYS IN the RK USB port, and leave it plugged in, so rather than constantly plugging/un-plugging to the chasis USB, you are plugging into an adapter that can be replaced when necessary. In addition, if you can mount the RK pedal into a nice carrying case or flight case, that will help make sure the connector extension isn't flopping around during transport. The point being, BATTEN THE HATCHES. Lock down your USB and audio connections into a patch bay attached to your pedal board, and replacement of damaged interface connectors is much more manageable.

- Tuners: well, it's been a long standing problem to see tuners in an outdoor environment. Guitar Rig on a laptop isn't alone here, and who knows if ANY manufacturer will solve this problem effectively at a reasonable price.

- Using Guitar Rig without the laptop has been discussed ad nauseum on other threads within this forum, but your idea of simply downloading the preset data on a memory card/stick is not realistic. Reference what Digidesign Eleven Rack has done - they use the computer for graphic interface only, while all of the audio functions stay within their rackmounted processor. Many people like this idea for Guitar Rig also, but it doesn't seem the NI is much interested in the dedicated hardware thing for their products.

- XLR Connections: again, just like your USB issue, creating a military grade carrying case with quality patch points built in will do the trick. Yes, the RK has BALANCED 1/4" connections, but I understand and agree that XLR would be preferable.

- Ground lift/hum: yes, this is quite elusive, and I've had troubles gigging and tracking down ground noise problems, but that's just the nature of the beast, especially in nightclubs and old buildings with dubious electrical schemes. In fact, I've had to remove the battery from my laptop in order to rid my sound of crackles and pops, believe it or not. I doubt that NI will take steps to implement a hum removal scheme for the RK pedal. Again, if NI were to consider producing a bona fide "hardware/software interface" for Guitar Rig, I'll bet the ground loop hum issue would be very easy to manage. JMO.

As a general statement, I agree with your sentiment that Guitar Rig and Rig Kontrol have missed an opportunity to capture the higher end market with the RK interface. Serious live players and studio professionals are willing to pay the $$ for higher quality and more comprehensive connectors, audio i/o, bells whistles, etc. For some reason, they don't consider themselves to be in the "hardware business", so we get what we get. It's too bad. :S

 

One thing I failed to mention is how much I love the sounds. Tried switching away a few times but then it hit me how much I liked the sounds. Couldn't go back to my tube amps go fiigure. I had a ton of tube amps etc. all inmy GR. Grr... your making it hard on me gr folks! lol!

Tweak this unit up and it'll solve all the worlds problems... well at least guitar players. ;-)


Dave

 

Follow-up post. Had a gig yesterday and today. Both outside. Wow, was it hot. Anyhow, both times the laptop was 95% unreadable. Ugh. Tough to even find programs to open, things to switch. Of course it wouldn't connect in the beginning. So I checked the mute which had to unmute (why?) then clicked connect still nothing, checked the input/output 0 all good so I waived the white flag and re-booted. Had to use my hum eliminator yesterday. Needed it today also but left it in the trailer from last nights bigger gig. love it. So I had to borrow someone elses amp all because my GR was to noisy through the system. This is using a les paul not something with single coils mind you.

So that pretty much was the straw breaking the camels back. A floor pedal alone means one less piece of equipment, no laptop noise, no issue of not being able to see the darn thing outside and no times of having to re-boot - kick the tires etc. when a lap top is having a bad day and won't connect etc.

I'll use GR in my studio but no longer live. But, I'm holding out hope for GR. I love your sounds but this thing needs some work if your intent is for people to gig with it - ESPECIALLY outdoors.

Just my input.

Dave

 

I've been using a digitech GNX4 for about 6 years. for the past 3, it's been unreliable. It would overheat and reset, the power connection would give out, the internal gain would drop, and the left output has developed a serious crackle. Despite GR's lack of reliability, it's become more reliable for me than my GNX4.

That said, GR still has a ways to go in its reliability and I think it mostly boils down to the USB drivers.

 

Ahh...nothing good in life necessarily comes without heartache. In the world of technical advances, and with all things audio, there is requisite tinkering and tinkering and tinkering...but when things finally fall into place and light dawns, that is when the payoff comes.

If GRig doesn't do it for you, I can understand why. Lord knows that IMO Native Instruments has NOT made transitioning the use of GRig for live use an easy one, and they have missed a HUGE opportunity there. However, eternal vigilance is necessary, and GRig CAN be made to work admirably well for live gigs.

Again, I can appreciate that many may not have the stomach for enduring the SNAFUs inherent to using computers for live applications, in which case, you're better off dropping $800 for a reputable all-in-one floorboard FX pedal.

Personally speaking, I NEVER EVER EVER take a piece of equipment to a live gig until I've performed my own (somewhat destructive) quality control havoc on the equipment, which usually takes a few months of home use and rehearsal use. Guitar Rig has, up to this point (knock wood) passed this test. It hasn't been easy or quick, but it DOES work, at least for me.

....user results may vary...

 

The continued chase for tone and less things to tote around and setup....


Got a tonelab st and wasn't thrilled with it. Thought of replacing my boss t 6 with a gt10 but didn't like reviews. Tried using a fender amp sim via boss fmb-1 or fdr-1 with the tonelab as well as after tonelab and no good. Tried a line 6 pod xt and liked it. Odd cause I rarely ever like a line 6 product live. I do sound a lot at festivals also so I get to setup lots of bands. I think people use way to much distortion often especially with pedals. So I didn't want to add a volume pedal and footswitch though. Thought of xt live. Wanted xlr outs (why don't all pedals have these?) and checked out the x3 live. Whoah! Awesome. xlr outs, and a big thing is on solo gigs I can plug my mic into it and my ipod which = no mixer needed. yea! Or my son can plug in with me at church even. Wow, this is cool and fewer things to set up! Seeing Lincoln Brewster's site how he talks of the x3 sold me though. I love his sounds and tone and seeing how I liked the xt pod I'm going for it.

GR I love ya, but I gotta go with less stuff (laptop, stand, hum eliminator) and less issues (GR laptop connection and any laptops own issues + outside gig viewable issues)

I'll continue to use GR recroding but if I can come close I'll use the x3 as it seems to be my live rig and having the recording rig and live rig the same is big time.

Dave

 

iamdave,

sounds like you're making a sound decision based on your needs. I've followed your posts, and it I'd say that you're making the right move at this point in time.

I think that within the next couple years, a software/hardware manufacturer will produce a product with a mature and comprehensive feature set, and at the same time allow for deep sound/control software programming, and also feature a footpedal interface that is full-featured and geared for the pro performer.

Personally IMO Fractal Audio is leading the way here, but they don't yet have a floorboard (still under development), and it costs quite a pretty penny. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. One would think that a company like Yamaha, Roland/Boss, et al with their deep pockets for research and development, would get in front of this and do for guitarists what the DX7 and D50 did for keyboard players in the 1980s. I feel like a broken record saying this, but NI seems to be ignoring this opportunity and going a different direction. Eventually someone will get this right. I'm not a betting man, but my gut feeling is that NI will not be the entity that paves the way for live performers.

 

NI's seems to be a popular business model among software companies: Stay far away from hardware. They'll venture into interfaces, but they wouldn't dare make their own sound processing machine - very similar to microsoft/google. Now, they could collaborate with a hardware company - they sort of did with Muse Research and the Receptor bundeled with Komplete. Whose to say they aren't trying to make a business deal right now? They'll keep us in the dark and reveal it someday as a huge surprise.

 

I'm not holding my breath. And even if NI does take the lead on this, I'll certainly be keeping in mind some of their "interesting" past policies and considerations when it comes to their existing users.

 

I've had the foot pedal a few days now. I think it's a brilliantly constructed piece of equipment. There is one thing though which is I find the the buttons can be a bit too close together. My feet aren't particularly wide but I find that I will sometimes hit 2 buttons rather than just the one I intended to hit. So for future additions to the pedal I'd like to see that the buttons were slightly further apart.

 

Loop Machine needs quantize function

The Loop Machine desperately needs a quantize function. There is always some latency in hitting the end point, and it is luck rather than skill that makes for a clean loop point. Boss and Digitech looping pedals all have a quantize function that Guitar Rig's looper desperately needs.
Please?

 

Between RK2 and RK3 it appeared they wanted to keep the board the same size. I wouldn't mind if the board was twice as long if it means having more control devices on it.

 

Hi Frank,

Maybe you've found it since, but this function is there. You need to expand the LoopMachine, which will show a Sync button. Press it, and now it will start/stop on beats.

Don't forget to activate the Metronome.

Cheers

 

http://line6.com/footcontrollers/fbvshortboardmkii.html try this, it's what i use