MusicRadar

• Review

Rock out!

Within Kontakt, full versions of the instruments are available in both 'DI' and 'Amped' forms, with 'full', 'sustain only' and 'muted' versions. The latter two are offered to dramatically decrease load times which will prove useful.

Once you've loaded an instrument, three tabs (or four for Amped models) let you get down to the nitty gritty of setting up your chosen guitar.

The most comprehensive of these is the Settings page, which contains a multitude of parameters in various categories, so that you can choose how the strings are tuned or will resonate, how wide vibrato will be for notes that exceed the automatic vibrato threshold or how quickly you want slides to perform to name but four parameters.

At both extremes of the keyboard range, a huge number of articulation possibilities are provided to help you effortlessly switch from sustains to mutes to bends to strums to slides to picks and so on.

Electri6ity's Effects

Choose an 'Amped' guitar and you'll find the instrument loads with its own 'Effects' tab within which you'll find three custom effects generators. The first is a multi-effects unit with phaser, flanger, chorus, reverb and delay algorithms, one of which can be selected to provide a series of parameter dials.

The second is a 'Screamer' pedal style distortion unit with tone controls, overdrive and amount dials while the final section provides amp modelling. There are seven 'modelling' types available including Modern, Metal, British and Classic, with three microphone positions available.

You can choose between Dry, Medium and Wet room treatments and independently bypass one or either of the Drive and Amp stages of the amp model you build.

The results are excellent and by no means a 'cheap add on' to the DI alternatives. We could see ourselves using this integrated solution rather than simply firing up Guitar Rig, Amplitube or Amp Designer as a default option.

Electri6ity is a phenomenal library and certainly represents the most comprehensively sampled and organised virtual guitar system we've seen to date. You'll need to commit to Electri6ity, as its almost overwhelming range of performance options take some learning.

The important thing, though, is that if you want a range of well-sampled guitars, powered by an engine that will let you use them to create 'photo real' performances, Electri6ity will step up and deliver, regardless of the musical style you prefer to play. A truly stunning library.

Listen to a few examples of what Electri6ity can do with our audio demos:

Tele DI Filter FX

Phased Strat

Rickenbacker Amped