Guitarix

What Guitarix is

Guitarix is a free virtual guitar amplifier that processes sound through the JACK Audio Connection Kit. It takes mono input from a sound card through a main amp and rack section, which can be routed separately to create stereo output via JACK. The rack contains more than 25 built-in effect modules, including noise gate, flanger, phaser, and auto-wah. Users can add LADSPA and LV2 plugins; Guitarix is also available as an LV2 plugin suite for loading amps and plugins in a DAW. The project names Ardour and says Guitarix can connect to Rackarrack or another JACK-aware host. It can process synths and other sound generators as well as guitar signals. The maker says a properly set-up Linux system processes the signal in no more than 10 ms. Guitarix is a standalone app with an IR loader, licensed under GNU GPL version 2. It is available in most current Linux distributions; source can also be built for BSD and MacOSX. The listed platforms are Linux and macOS.

Who it suits

Guitarix suits Linux users who want a JACK-based virtual amp and rack effects, either as a standalone app or through its LV2 plugin suite. It can also suit people processing synths or other sound generators.

Limits

Installation from the development repository is not recommended for productive systems because it contains code under development.

Getting started

1. Visit the Guitarix website.
2. On Linux, look for Guitarix in a software center or package manager.
3. Set up a Linux system with JACK Audio Connection Kit for audio processing.
4. Connect guitar, synth, or another sound generator as the input.
5. For DAW use, load Guitarix's LV2 plugin suite.

Verdict

Guitarix offers a standalone JACK-based amp with built-in effects and support for LADSPA and LV2 plugins. Users considering a development-repository build should note that the project advises against using it on productive systems.