It is not very often that I am pleasantly surprised by the sound quality of an amp modelling software. To be honest I've never be pleasant about any amp modelling software at all. I guess some would call me a very "traditional" audio engineer, as I strongly believe that the real hardware can not be emulated. I do hold strong to that statement, to this day nothing pleases my ears more than plugging a Les Paul into a Marshall stack and throwing a couple mics in front of the cab. However, Guitar Rig 5 does a very good job of emulating classic guitar amps, and tones.

The thing I hate most about amp modelling software is the fact that more than half the time you can tell that it is not a real amp being played! It usually sounds thin and cheap. To be perfectly honest, a fifty dollar value amp probably sounds a hundred times better! Alright lets get to the features.

One of my favorite things about Guitar Rig 5 is all of the presets! You can choose from styles like ambient, classic rock, alternative, metal, pop, funk, you name it! In each style of music you will find presets that try to emulate many artists signature sound. I am personally a big fan of "Foo Monkey Ultra", which you can probably guess is a Foo Fighters emulation, and I am also rather fond of the "Kurt in Bloom" Preset, which for those of you who have lived under a rock for your whole life is a Nirvana preset. Both these presets and all the other presets do a very good job of representing the real deal. It is very hard for even a trained listener to be able to tell that this is an amp modelling software!

Guitar Rig 5 also comes with a tuning rack, tons of reverbs, delays, equalizers, amps, cabinets, and many more components that allow you to create a fully customizable sound. The cool thing about this is that you have all of this expensive gear at your finger tips but it costs nothing compared to the orginals and you get very solid results.

So in conclusion, I must say that Guitar Rig 5 is well worth the hundred dollars that it costs. You can add hundreds of new combinations to your arsenal of sounds! It is an incredibly built software that any guitar player or engineer will enjoy.