I quite like the iRig stuff, having bought a Stomp years ago, and more recently one of their micro amps. Works great, until you receive a phone call mid song :D
It's not "nifty", it's a PIECE OF JUNK. It doesn't work with anything except the proprietary software. I've been trying to get this to work with Neural Amp Modeler for weeks, and for far nada. Zip. Zilch. BUPKUS! The only time I even got any sound out of it was feedback. Either I'm doing something wrong or there's some sort of jailbreak this I haven't yet found. But seriously, I'm really regretting buying this thing. Oh yeah, and the tuner isn't very accurate. I still have to plug into my Korg CA 50 to get an accurate tuning.
I’ve owned several iRig products and they all worked pretty well, until they didn’t. I found the construction to be too cheap and flimsy to work as a gigging musician.
This about covers the basic issues with iRig HD X - everyone should be aware of before buying the overpriced product: 0. ‘hardware’ is way too expensive (you can get this chip and driver developed and sell it for 10x less money and still earn 50% of profit) 1. the ‘cs’ software versions have like 5 effects/amps (thus, likely you won’t find the basics that fit your need) 2. amplitube/tonex are there just as a money bait as they charge for every single effect/amp a lot more than the real thing (pointless) 3. amplitude/tonex UIs are extremely senseless (compare it to NI Guitar Rig which has its issues but is rolls-royce plus no money bait model that’s essentially just saying to you bluntly - you need to pay for this the stupid amounts that we’re asking,.. well no I don’t) 4. the ios driver is buggy, even though you have the CS amplitube/tonex it will just switch to free version by itself and start outputting the free version noise every 10 or so seconds (which is also another of the company’s stupid ideas) 5. the ios driver is buggy, the driver will shut down the sound from the app when you switch to another app even though you put into the mode that allows mixing (solutions are restart the phone, restart the app, reconnect the hardware, try resetting the settings, so in the end you spend more time fixing this than playing the instrument) 6. the ios driver is buggy, the other case is that the driver will leave the sound from the amplitube/tonex app but it will add the direct signal in the mix (which makes the sound unusable) when you switch to another app (solutions are restart the phone, restart the app, reconnect the hardware, try resetting the settings, so in the end you spend more time fixing this than playing the instrument) 7. rotating press button on hardware, first not what you’re used to press when playing instruments, they should have used something resembling the guitar switches and set one switch for each of the options plus volume control 8. what is missing is that you don’t have where to put the interface and the phone, you keep them on your lap or you need an additional chair for that and these keep falling when you move, and you waste time readjusting the headphones and cables all the time -> so the interface needs to be something that you can attach to your instrument and control it while you’re standing and playing (this is unimaginable at the moment), also along with your phone, or to have it in your pocket, or some kind of clothing item 9. you can’t use your regular Apple usb-c or lightning headphones, you need the old old ones with the mini-din connector 10. you can’t use your Apple bluetooth headphones as the sound lags so much that it is unusable 11. you can’t output the direct clean sound to your guitar to your real amp and listen in monitoring the modeled sound from the application on your head phones
I keep coming back to this comment, unsure what to say. There’s so much of what you’re saying that seems really quite unreasonable - unrealistic demands for a product that just isn’t right for you. I’m having a hard time imagining a product that would do what you want and be anywhere near this price. But appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Thank God, he is back. Wonderful to hear from you again, Jon. I already missed ya, ha ha.
Ah man. 7 months later I'm back again!
Informative and entertaining as always...thanks Jon.
My pleasure my treasure
I quite like the iRig stuff, having bought a Stomp years ago, and more recently one of their micro amps. Works great, until you receive a phone call mid song :D
Ha. Sounds like a Spinal Tap moment!
whats the latency like? I had the Irig HD but changed to the scarlet solo because the latency was not great.
I don't have a number for you - but it was certainly useable for me
What about latency while play and listen not while recording?
Pretty low, very usable
It's not "nifty", it's a PIECE OF JUNK. It doesn't work with anything except the proprietary software. I've been trying to get this to work with Neural Amp Modeler for weeks, and for far nada. Zip. Zilch. BUPKUS! The only time I even got any sound out of it was feedback.
Either I'm doing something wrong or there's some sort of jailbreak this I haven't yet found. But seriously, I'm really regretting buying this thing. Oh yeah, and the tuner isn't very accurate. I still have to plug into my Korg CA 50 to get an accurate tuning.
Fender micro mustang gathering dust? Yeah let me order this one too.
So Spotify will come thru the headphones when using this device? Also, can you stream both Spotify and your guitar for playalong video stuff?
Um, yeah if your system is set up with the iRig as the interface, that'll work
Why wouldn't you
I’ve owned several iRig products and they all worked pretty well, until they didn’t. I found the construction to be too cheap and flimsy to work as a gigging musician.
That's a shame. Yes, they're not exactly hardcore touring items
This about covers the basic issues with iRig HD X - everyone should be aware of before buying the overpriced product:
0. ‘hardware’ is way too expensive (you can get this chip and driver developed and sell it for 10x less money and still earn 50% of profit)
1. the ‘cs’ software versions have like 5 effects/amps (thus, likely you won’t find the basics that fit your need)
2. amplitube/tonex are there just as a money bait as they charge for every single effect/amp a lot more than the real thing (pointless)
3. amplitude/tonex UIs are extremely senseless (compare it to NI Guitar Rig which has its issues but is rolls-royce plus no money bait model that’s essentially just saying to you bluntly - you need to pay for this the stupid amounts that we’re asking,.. well no I don’t)
4. the ios driver is buggy, even though you have the CS amplitube/tonex it will just switch to free version by itself and start outputting the free version noise every 10 or so seconds (which is also another of the company’s stupid ideas)
5. the ios driver is buggy, the driver will shut down the sound from the app when you switch to another app even though you put into the mode that allows mixing (solutions are restart the phone, restart the app, reconnect the hardware, try resetting the settings, so in the end you spend more time fixing this than playing the instrument)
6. the ios driver is buggy, the other case is that the driver will leave the sound from the amplitube/tonex app but it will add the direct signal in the mix (which makes the sound unusable) when you switch to another app (solutions are restart the phone, restart the app, reconnect the hardware, try resetting the settings, so in the end you spend more time fixing this than playing the instrument)
7. rotating press button on hardware, first not what you’re used to press when playing instruments, they should have used something resembling the guitar switches and set one switch for each of the options plus volume control
8. what is missing is that you don’t have where to put the interface and the phone, you keep them on your lap or you need an additional chair for that and these keep falling when you move, and you waste time readjusting the headphones and cables all the time -> so the interface needs to be something that you can attach to your instrument and control it while you’re standing and playing (this is unimaginable at the moment), also along with your phone, or to have it in your pocket, or some kind of clothing item
9. you can’t use your regular Apple usb-c or lightning headphones, you need the old old ones with the mini-din connector
10. you can’t use your Apple bluetooth headphones as the sound lags so much that it is unusable
11. you can’t output the direct clean sound to your guitar to your real amp and listen in monitoring the modeled sound from the application on your head phones
I keep coming back to this comment, unsure what to say. There’s so much of what you’re saying that seems really quite unreasonable - unrealistic demands for a product that just isn’t right for you. I’m having a hard time imagining a product that would do what you want and be anywhere near this price. But appreciate you sharing your thoughts.