IK Multimedia iRig/AmpliTube Review

The Short Version

IK Multimedia’s iRig is a handy, lightweight interface connecting your guitar to your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. It also features a jack for a set of headphones. Besides this piece of equipment, you don’t need any hardware that you don’t already have (a guitar cable and a pair of headphones and hopefully an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad). The interface works amazingly with IK’s AmpliTube software for these devices as well and creates a headphone amp that will rival any other headphone amp and in some cases even practice amps. You’ll have a great time rocking out and the people around you won’t have to know just how hard you’re rocking.

If you have one of these devices, I can’t recommend it enough.

The Longer Version

The Hardware

The iRig is a simple interface with one end plugging into your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad and a place to connect your headphones, the other featuring a place to plug in your guitar. It’s sturdy, lightweight, doesn’t require batteries and it amazes me with how hi-fi this $40.00 connector is. You can hear if you have a substandard cable, something that’s easily blamed on other things if you were to play a normal amp (perhaps you use compact fluorescent light bulbs or you’re playing near a monitor or neon, or it’s the second Wednesday of the month, etc).

The best part about it being lightweight is that it won’t drag your device off your leg or make it difficult to secure your device or if you’re like me, won’t pull your device to an angle that makes the screen invisible.

I use Castiv’s Guitar Sidekick to cradle my phone beyond the nut on the headstock so I can see what I’m playing if I happen to be using an app that features TAB or chords, or in this case, it’s probably the most handy thing in the world for changing amps, pedals, cabs, speakers, or just tweaking the settings of what you’re using in IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube app.

The Software

Which brings us to the equally important part that is the software. If you have bad software but a great interface, your interface’s quality is kind of moot, just like if you have great software but a bad interface. They go hand in hand and I’m stoked to see that IK paid just as much attention to the software as it did the hardware.

So what is included in the software? Well, that depends on how much you want to spend. There’s a free version which features one amp (Marshall inspired from the looks of the faceplate), two effects (delay and a noise filter), two microphones and a slew of cabs.

I recommend everyone with a device that can support this app to go ahead and download the free version, even if they don’t own an iRig. It’s important to take a look and see what you think of the software and IK is giving you a great opportunity to dip your toes in before diving in. I downloaded the free version and loved the beautiful looks and ease of use so much that I skipped the next tier and went for the full $20.00 version which features everything.

That is the most expensive app I’ve ever bought, but I’m glad I did. There are some amps that I don’t use all that much (like the bass amp) and some effects that I don’t use (flanger, phazer, etc) but I’m glad they’re there because they may come in handy one day if I ever get bitten by the Van Halen bug.

The full software features five amps which are pretty easy to figure out what they were inspired by not only by their faceplates, but by their names. See if you can guess what they are:

Clean

Crunch

Lead

Metal

Bass

I will say, I’m not familiar with basses or bass amps so I don’t know what IK was inspired by when it comes to that one, but I had a pretty good grip on what the other ones were leaning toward and this is a good thing because it makes using the whole app easier. If you know what amp they were going for, it’s easier to decide which to use when you want, say, a Marshall-ish crunch. It’s just one more instance where ease of use is well-implemented.

And how do these amps sound? In a word: Amazing. I’ve owned plenty of small amps, battery powered amps and headphone amplifiers and this is the best. I like this more than I like the modern Fender Champ which is quite a bit more expensive. It sounds crazy to say but there’s an organic tone to this beast of a software package and it’s great! It boggles the mind because 1) It’s coming out of a pair of headphones, not a 4X12 cab, 2) No tubes, and 3) It’s being made by your PHONE. Yet the tone from the amps is amazing and the effects are just as on-par. The only effect that I keep off is the noise filter because I hear some slight degradation in tone, maybe making it a little darker, and I prefer the more alive tone and I’m willing to deal with any extraneous noise.

Speaking of effects, this package includes a wah which has controls that read “off, on, auto and tilt. The tilt feature means you can tilt your device and rock the wah. I asked IK what exactly they were seeing when they put this feature in considering that your hands are probably both tied up at the moment when you’re playing and they responded that they didn’t really know.

I like this. It’s encouraging when a company puts something cool out that they don’t have a dedicated use for and let the user use their creativity to come up with a way to utilize it if they’re so inclined.

And I’m inclined.

Like I said, I use the Castiv Guitar Sidekick and because the phone is perched on my headstock, I was able to dip the neck down and raise it up and rock the wah that way, similar to a B Bender. That’s just further proof that you need this device cradle for your practice time.

The other standout effect is the fuzz and it demonstrates just how much the software lets your guitar’s controls and tone shine through. With the fuzz cranked all the way up (the way I like my fuzz) and playing my Tele, I was able to go from the bassy Big Muff kind of tone to the higher-pitched transistor sounding fuzz that I associate with Jack White and all that by switch from neck pickup to bridge pickup and that’s ALL. No messing with the tone knob on my guitar or the “pedal.” Just the flick of a switch.

Honestly, with a lot of amps I leave my tone controls wide open (or bypassed in the case of my Gretsch) because I don’t hear that much of a difference or if I do, I don’t find it particularly usable. That doesn’t apply here. I was switching like a madman finding great jazz tones, that crazy just-less-than-ice pick chicken picking tone, a pretty raucous rockabilly tone, a cool classic rock tone and my guitar seemed more versatile and fun to play and considering the software is so easy to use, I was having a blast playing and in what seemed like the blink of an eye I realized that couple of hours had gone by.

My only concern was that the free distortion "pedal" that you get for registering the product kept on closing the app and when I reopen it, it still says I need to register even though I received email notification that my account has been registered. This doesn't really bother me though because it seems like ti would be an easy fix and the next time you open up your app store it would let you know there's an update to download.

In Summary

The iRig should be looked at like a ticket to the best portable amp in the world to date (at least the best that I’ve tried) and if you have one of the devices that support it, you should download the free version and take a look at it and if it strikes you as worth-while, invest in the full version. All told, sixty bucks for a pocket amp with a connector that can be kept in your guitar case or gig bag is not a bad deal at all, especially considering the tones you can achieve. Add in another $30.00 for the Castiv Guitar Sidekick so you can adjust any settings easily even while standing and you’re still well below what most practice amps cost, have access to a ton of tones, amps and effects AND not annoy any neighbors or relatives as you stumble through learning something new.

For more information, check out this site.

-Pappy