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iRig, Alessis Jam, Line 6 Sonic Port? Something to travel with.


Uncle Thor's Hamer

Question

Who has experience with an IOS device for plugging a guitar into an iPad (or iPod)?

I travel a lot and want to be able to play along with recordings with headphones, either using iTunes or any other free app. My current setup is a guitar and an iPod plugged into a Korg Pandora headphone amp (with lots of effects etc). There is some kind of impedance mismatch between the iPod and Pandora, resulting in lots of static.

The iRig HD looks like a good solution. Plug in the guitar to the iRig, plug it into either the iPod or iPad. Plug headphones into the iPad/iPod Play along with songs stored on the iPod/iPad using the free Amplitube app or iTunes or Garageband.

There seem to be several competitor products, though I am not certain they do exactly what I'm looking for, which is primary to play along with songs stored on the iPad/iPod.

Your experiences and suggestions welcome.

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I had the SonicPort, and it was excellent for my needs. Other interfaces do more, and as you can see there are many choices.

The SonicPort came with both a 30pin and a Lightning cable, accepts an auxiliary input alongside the guitar, and has a headphone jack and a stereo 1/4" output.

I used it mostly with JamUp, playing over backing tracks or along with other tunes in my iTunes library. The app loads anything in your library and lets you adjust pitch, speed, volume, etc. It also has a multitrack recorder (2 channels by default, but you can purchase an expansion to use eight). I would load the backing track into the first track, then record the guitar into the second track. Naturally it also has all the standard features one would expect (tuner, metronome...), and to my ears the modeled amps and effects sounded great. The app is quite inexpensive for what it does, and it worked perfectly with the SonicPort.

The SonicPort also gives you free access to Line 6's Mobile POD app, which is also quite good. I preferred the JC120 preset on Mobile Pod and thought that maybe some of the amps felt more 'real,' but i spent most of my time in JamUp.

The SonicPort is only for iOS devices, so you wouldn't be able to use it as a computer interface. I liked the SonicPort and didn't need to spend any more for a more sophisticated interface. If you have more complex needs, it may not do what you want.

Edited to add that I tend to practice with some moderately difficult to drive Beyerdynamic DT880 headphones, and the SonicPort provided sufficient volume.

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I have the original irig and it works ok. The new irig hd has good reviews. I still use the irig but when i bought a new computer interface I bought one that would also work with the ipad when Iwantbetter sound quality. The irig is good enough for just practice and travel jamming.

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IRig HD works pretty nice. It's almost noiseless.

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I tried the AmpKit when it came out and another one that I can't remember now, but they both had huge noise issues. The newer ones that utilize the line in/out on the 30 pin and lightning connectors are way better. I have the sonic port and I like it. I've also tried many of the apps. The Line6 one is pretty good as is the AmpKit app and Amplitube. I think I like the AmpKit App the best, though. You can also use the IK BlueBoard for footswitching, so it can be something to gig with if you choose. I haven't tried that though.

The AmpKit hardware has an out to charge your iPhone/iPad while you use it, which is a nice feature.

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I use an iLoud from IK with jamup it's a small portable speaker with an irig circuit built in. Footprint of the iloud in about the same as the ipad. It has inbuilt rechargeable batteries so is truly portable. It's great when I have to make the long journey from the bedroom to the living room on weekends (I'm up early with the dog so I get a good two hours in before the rest of the family wake up :))

Great piece of kit and jamup is the best out there I believe.

Geoff

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I was interested in the iloud also. I am curioius what you think of it. I have a $100 in Jam points that I could use to discount the iloud but I decided to get this: instead. Expedition Express from Samson. I listened to the iLoud once and it sounded pretty good but they guy at Guitar center didn't have much to play through it and I didn't have my iPod. The other thing that turned me away was the irig circuit. They have the irig hd now and I would prefer an iLoud with the irig hd built in rather than the older irig.

The Expedition Express gave me similiar sound plus a three channel mixer with both xlr and standard inputs and also has the bluetooth connectivity. It is bigger but not so big that I can't use it for many of the same things and I can plug my ipad right in and use the irig I already have plus connect a good mic and rock out.

so far very happy. I think I'll copy this over to a NGD post.

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Geoff, how is the iLoud? Is the sound full? How loud does it actually get?

Well its advertised as "Studio Quality" and I must say its sounds pretty good to me. It all depends on what you throw at it with Jamup. Up to now I would recommend it no problem. For a bedroom/Living room its plenty loud enough. Regarding the circuitry not being the iRIG HD I cant comment as I've never heard the HD version. To me its perfect for my situation as I dont gig and just play at home.

Geoff

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I'm fine with the iRig and iPad into Garageband. I'm traveling currently, and in my room now in Vegas I have a guitar cable, USB cable, and Scarlett USB interface that I tun into my work Mac. Hard to go 5 nights without working on some song ideas!

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I've used an Apogee Jam for at least a year now with an iPad and have had zero issues. Great for travelling, and I even recorded a complete song for my wife's photo company on it. I've got a Macbook for work now, and I can plug the Jam into that instead of the iPad.

I recommended it to a fellow bass player buddy, and he just could not keep it from distorting, so he ended up returning the Jam. Not sure if his basses are all too hot, or if he got a dud.

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