Guitar Rig’s big selling point has always been its expansive sonic remit, which makes it a popular choice among synth-toting electronic producers as well as guitarists – the truckload of colourful onboard effects modules takes it beyond the conventions of traditional guitar tone shaping and out into broader sound design territory. Bringing the de rigueur acronym to the party, NI’s new Intelligent Circuit Modelling (ICM) applies machine learning to amp simulation, and the three models that take advantage of it (one bass and two guitar amps) don’t disappoint in their sound and response. Released at the tail end of 2020, the long overdue Guitar Rig 6 introduced a beautiful new GUI, greatly improved workflow and a wealth of effects modules from NI’s Komplete catalogue, including the superb Crush Pack, Mod Pack, Solid Mix Series and Vintage Compressors bundles, as well as the Replika delay, Rammfire amp and more. While it’s often said that AmpliTube holds the amp sim crown in terms of modelling authenticity, when it comes to pure creativity, Guitar Rig pulls ahead. Check out Mark Thompson’s in-depth review for more. With its incredible collection of virtual gear and stunning sound, AmpliTube 5 is a joyous tonal playground for any guitarist or bass player. There’s even a looper and multitrack recorder built in for capturing ideas in the standalone version. Version 5’s new Volumetric Impulse Response (VIR) technology takes cabinet emulation to unrivalled heights of realism, engaging over 600 impulse responses per speaker for true ‘3D’ mic positioning and the new mixer and configurable signal path give you total freedom to build and tweak your own rigs entirely from scratch.

The fifth version of IK’S blockbuster package is available in various versions, topping out at the flagship AmpliTube 5 Max, which nets a whopping 400 modelled amps, cabs, stompboxes, rack effects and microphones, including “officially certified” amps by Fender, Marshall, Vox, Mesa/Boogie, Orange, ENGL and many more.

Alongside NI’s Guitar Rig (see below), AmpliTube is probably the best known software guitar processing suite on the market – and with good reason.

Bias guitar amp software