Possible to use an iPad as your preamp/DI on a gig?

[Jarrett]

Are there any apps out now that can do this? Anyone gigging with an iPad like that?

[gumtownbassman]

This
\AmpliTube for iPhone

[GrowlerBox]

Most of these products have only headphone outs (or have no outputs at all), and I would be sceptical of their ability to drive a power amplifier.

The Alesis iO dock looks promising, although the provided specs are a little thin, especially with respect to output voltage. This seems to be the first pretty full-featured audio interface for the iPad, and I would guess there are more coming.

[amos]

I'm sure it's possible now, and in 2012 there will be a whole other slew of apps that will help for music production and performance, but in a live situation, do you really want your tone to be dependent on an ipad? I wouldn't. Running iLemur app is one thing, using it as a preamp/DI is a whole other kettle of fish IMO.

[JimmyM]

I don't even trust full sized computers on gigs. You think I'd trust one with reduced capability? No thank you.

[Jarrett]

What if it said Ampeg on it?

[DBCrocky]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I don't even trust full sized computers on gigs. You think I'd trust one with reduced capability? No thank you.

Agreed

[Merton]

Slightly OT, but we did a gig last year with a dep rhythm guitarist. He didn't want to do a rhythm guitar part in Jump so he learnt the entire synth part on his iPad and did that instead. (We are a two guitar band normally). Basically, he totally stole the show and it was amazing.

But, as a bass preamp? Nah, latency would concern me as well as sub-optimal A/D and D/A conversion adding noise

[bassman314]

Originally Posted by Merton

But, as a bass preamp? Nah, latency would concern me as well as sub-optimal A/D and D/A conversion adding noise

This.

[oinkbanana]

They're soon releasing a pedal to connect to your iphone, to use the iphones built in amp simulators & effects....
dawn of a new era!

keep your eyes peeled for the iRig Stomp. then into a DI and you're set!

& tehre's also the Digitech iStomp, but i'm not sure if your phone stays connected, or if you just upload presets from your phone.

[JimWasHere]

Originally Posted by Jarrett

What if it said Ampeg on it?

Bwahahaha!

That said, there's a lot of companies, especially ballet type shows, that are touring with an ipod-equipped stage manager of some sort. Not iphone or ipad, but ipod.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Jarrett

What if it said Ampeg on it?

Ha ha. Believe it or not, there are a couple of products Ampeg makes that I don't care for. The rest is stellar, IMHO, but even Ampeg can turn out a product occasionally that doesn't hit my buttons.

[gumtownbassman]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I don't even trust full sized computers on gigs. You think I'd trust one with reduced capability? No thank you.

+1
I second that, speaking from 1st hand experiance back in the 90's, no fun waiting for a PC to reboot during a song at a gig.
Next thing the damn machines will end up becoming self aware and take over your gig.
I only trust boxes with 1/4" or XLRs and you canstand on it without it breaking.

[seamonkey]

It sounds great - give one a try.
There are Millions of iPads, iPods, iPhones in existence and they do not have reliability issues. Apple is one of the most trusted product brands.
Latency is not an issue
You will be seeing more and more iPads on stage.
Androids too - eventually

Give it a try - it doesn't cost anything to try. Go find an Apple store.

They will be all over NAMM 2012

Even FOH mixers are sliding in iPads

[seamonkey]

Originally Posted by gumtownbassman

+1
I second that, speaking from 1st hand experiance back in the 90's, no fun waiting for a PC to reboot during a song at a gig.
Next thing the damn machines will end up becoming self aware and take over your gig.
I only trust boxes with 1/4" or XLRs and you canstand on it without it breaking.

90's right - have you heard of Moore's law? Do you realize things Nave progressed since the 90's?

Keyboards and Tube amps take longer to start up. These things boot in seconds, but you don't have to boot. Just don't turn it off.
Who turns off their iPhone?

Any computer can boot in seconds if you add an SSD
Or they can run days on sleep + battery. Things no longer freeze up like the 90's.

Oh - guess what they're doing to you. They are embedding "computers" into gear. Even bass heads. You don't know it if all you see is XLR's and 1/4". Be sure to look under the hood. You can't buy a TV or Car without an embedded CPU in it.

ooops I think I fell for your ploy

[seamonkey]

Don't buy an iPad right now.
iPad 3 are rumored to be shipping in March

They will be even better at similar prices. Reference Moore's Law

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by seamonkey

It sounds great - give one a try.
There are Millions of iPads, iPods, iPhones in existence and they do not have reliability issues. Apple is one of the most trusted product brands.
Latency is not an issue

For me, the issue isn't so much the iPad as the interface. Right now, I wouldn't trust the Alesis not to crap out, I gather the mic pres are not what they could be, and it's probably not really built for stage use. iRigs and the current Apogee offerings are even less so, and there is no robust way to get a good signal into a power amp from these units at this time. All that said, if Apogee came out with something like the iO dock I would give it a close look.

[JimmyM]

I will say that it gets increasingly difficult to tell the difference between digital on a good computer and analog. The handheld stuff ain't it, though. Now something like the AxeFx and maybe we can talk. Can't bring every amp in the world to every gig unless you're The Edge, and the AxeFx is pretty serious business with enough processing power to sound up there with analog. But I'm still going to bring analog and tube amps to my gigs regardless of how good it gets. How many sounds do you need?

[bassman314]

Originally Posted by seamonkey

90's right - have you heard of Moore's law? Do you realize things Nave progressed since the 90's?

Keyboards and Tube amps take longer to start up. These things boot in seconds, but you don't have to boot. Just don't turn it off.
Who turns off their iPhone?

Any computer can boot in seconds if you add an SSD
Or they can run days on sleep + battery. Things no longer freeze up like the 90's.

Oh - guess what they're doing to you. They are embedding "computers" into gear. Even bass heads. You don't know it if all you see is XLR's and 1/4". Be sure to look under the hood. You can't buy a TV or Car without an embedded CPU in it.

ooops I think I fell for your ploy

Latency is still an issue, even now. An iPad might boot in seconds, but it still might take 3 tenths of a second to process your signal. That puts you 3 tenths of a second behind the game.

I do video conferencing on a regular basis between 3 locations. We have high-end, brand-new state of the art equipment. When you are having a conversation, a delay between you and other participant is merely an annoyance. I wouldn't try to do a rehearsal or recording session using the technology, as we will never get together.

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I don't even trust full sized computers on gigs. You think I'd trust one with reduced capability? No thank you.

That is a modest understatement. Putting an iPad into the signal path is begging for trouble - batteries, lag, dropouts, latency, other audio getting triggered...the list goes on.

No thanks.