This is a straight "Class Compliant" USB interface. It's not made for IOS, so you need the CCK (Camera Conversion Kit, Apple's 30-pin to USB dongle).
Still, if you're on a budget, and if you don't mind carrying the CCK and using a piece of velcro or gaffer's tape to stop the CCK from randomly disconnecting itself, this a great way to get both your A/D and D/A conversion done outside of an iPhone or iPad.
At least in North America, ART products are widely available, and at our typical street prices, the cost of this AND the CCK is still less than an Apogee Jam. It uses standard USB cables (no weird proprietary connectors, like the Jam and the iTrack), and it's built for live work, with a rugged metal housing.
Like the Jam (and unlike the iRiff, Guitar Jack and iRig), this box will work with a laptop, as well as IOS devices. For apps that give you problems with latency when recording, it also has "direct monitoring", allowing you to listen to the input signal without any delay.
The noise levels and mic preamps aren't quite as good as the Jam, but they're still "CD quality", and you get two inputs for the price of one. Add in the fact that it has balanced in and outs and lots of headroom at both ends, plus phantom power and enough gain for condenser mics, and you've got a good value proposition going.
Because it can be run off a 9V battery, the ART can also be used away from AC power, just like the Apogee.
This is one of my biggest complaints about other bus-powered Class Compliant interfaces, like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2/8i6, Mackie Blackjack, Alesis IO4/IO2, etc. By the time you get a small AC adapter, a USB hub, 2 USB cables, the CCK, and the interface hooked up, the plug-and-play aspect of IOS audio is pretty much forgotten...
Great points, Steve. I'm learning lots on this thread!
Sorry I'm hogging so much bandwidth today, but I just wanted to give a shoutout for Amplitube's laptop version.
Amplitube 3 comes with a REALLY good-sounding solid state bass amp model in the trial version, as well as useful mix-and-match tube guitar preamp and output stages.
You can build a variety of clean and dirty tones from the basic package, without any in-app purchases. It seems very solid and reliable, and if you bought a dual-purpose IOS/USB interface like the ART, iTrack or Jam, then you already have all the needed hardware, powered off your computer's USB bus.
I haven't started investigating it yet, but there appears to be a free version that includes licenses for the plug-in version. If that's true, you could potentially be up and running in Mainstage with some good bass amp and effects modelling, for a total cost of $30 for Mainstage...
Sorry I'm hogging so much bandwidth today, but I just wanted to give a shoutout for Amplitube's laptop version.
Amplitube 3 comes with a REALLY good-sounding solid state bass amp model in the trial version, as well as useful mix-and-match tube guitar preamp and output stages.
You can build a variety of clean and dirty tones from the basic package, without any in-app purchases. It seems very solid and reliable, and if you bought a dual-purpose IOS/USB interface like the ART, iTrack or Jam, then you already have all the needed hardware, powered off your computer's USB bus.
I haven't started investigating it yet, but there appears to be a free version that includes licenses for the plug-in version. If that's true, you could potentially be up and running in Mainstage with some good bass amp and effects modelling, for a total cost of $30 for Mainstage...
Me, Paul and Adam came into a kind of a "bar fight" with IK multimedia... , so right now I'll avoid buying anything from them. I will used what I paid for though.
Anyway Steve thanks a lot for all of good technical information! As I said you are "a tiny bit" picky, but you knows your stuff
This is a straight "Class Compliant" USB interface. It's not made for IOS, so you need the CCK (Camera Conversion Kit, Apple's 30-pin to USB dongle).
Still, if you're on a budget, and if you don't mind carrying the CCK and using a piece of velcro or gaffer's tape to stop the CCK from randomly disconnecting itself, this a great way to get both your A/D and D/A conversion done outside of an iPhone or iPad.
At least in North America, ART products are widely available, and at our typical street prices, the cost of this AND the CCK is still less than an Apogee Jam. It uses standard USB cables (no weird proprietary connectors, like the Jam and the iTrack), and it's built for live work, with a rugged metal housing.
Like the Jam (and unlike the iRiff, Guitar Jack and iRig), this box will work with a laptop, as well as IOS devices. For apps that give you problems with latency when recording, it also has "direct monitoring", allowing you to listen to the input signal without any delay.
The noise levels and mic preamps aren't quite as good as the Jam, but they're still "CD quality", and you get two inputs for the price of one. Add in the fact that it has balanced in and outs and lots of headroom at both ends, plus phantom power and enough gain for condenser mics, and you've got a good value proposition going.
Because it can be run off a 9V battery, the ART can also be used away from AC power, just like the Apogee.
I did a lot of research before getting the art and all points made were exactly why I purchased it. I needed a Mac interface too so with the CCK extra and a 9volt power supply (which I already had) it was exactly what I needed..... I need to take a picture of my setup when it's all together tomorrow night at run through..... Btw I've never had a problem with it disconnecting randomly lol.
What I do is I have my bass and a 20 foot cable.....run to the art which sits on the floor next to a music stand and my direct box. I stand up behind the music stand. I play by ear so I never have anything on the stand but my iPad. The stand is lifted up just enough for easy reach of the screen on the iPad while playing (just in case of a tweak or a quick tuning). The USB cable is around 3 feet long which is plenty long enough to run from the floor to the iPad. The art is on the ground next to my DI box so with a 6 inch patch cable I run from the left monitor out to the direct box. Any walking around I do (which is barely any) the guitar cable has about 17 feet of slack before it moves the interface.
I have never run across the stage unless the pastor breaks out the "handling snakes"
__________________
The Official Fender Bassman Club #13 - The Praise and Worship Band Bassists Club # 1103 - Official Virtual Ampeg Portaflex Club #1010101-01
I did a lot of research before getting the art and all points made were exactly why I purchased it.
...I need to take a picture of my setup when it's all together tomorrow night at run through..... Btw I've never had a problem with it disconnecting randomly lol.
The CCK is larger than current 30 pin conectors, presumably because it was designed for the first gen iPad. I have a thin, stiff gel jacket on my iPad 2, and I had to trim the opening to make it fit. It may be partly due to slight interference with the case, but my CCK is annoyingly easy to dislodge.
When this happens, I lose audio, often have to restart the app, and in some cases, get a wicked blast of feedback when it lets go. As others have commented, this can be prevented with some sort of adhesive strip on the back.
In comparison, the Jam has a locking connector, and continues to function even if a stiff guitar cable causes it to flop off the edge of my music stand.
In comparison, the Jam has a locking connector, and continues to function even if a stiff guitar cable causes it to flop off the edge of my music stand.
Ooooo that's a nice feature. I didnt know it had a locking connection. For 30 bucks that should be on the apple CCK. After all it's just an adapter smaller than a matchbox.
I think if I pulled on it hard enough to pull the iPad off the stand I might want it to come unconnected
__________________
The Official Fender Bassman Club #13 - The Praise and Worship Band Bassists Club # 1103 - Official Virtual Ampeg Portaflex Club #1010101-01
Wow, the Audiobus is GREAT and so is the Multitrak DAW with the Jamup (on my iPad Mini and iOS 6.01)! I'm really impressed even though it is my first time with the DAW software which contains A LOT of option. Soundcloud exporting? YES, WAV/ OGG AAC? YES, 44.1/ 48/ 96kHz sampling? YES
In addition it seem to me like the tone in Jamup is now even better then the latest release from two week ago.
Now I'm removing Amplitube iOS form my iPad mini, I need space for the Jamup + Audiobus + DAW. Simple as that, now need for Amplitube iOS!
The AT iOS will stay on my iPad 1 as the iPad 1 wil struggle with this trio bundle and multitasking.
Guys, I feel that we have obtained now a wicked package! Great tone in Jamup, decent amount of bass gear. Derek is talking about his wish for Markbass and Hartke and the possibility of running two distortion effects together, a bass pedal pack.
And with the Audiobus and Multitrack DAW this package kick AT iOS HARD!
So here it is, a short Journey/ The Police medley with my own "outro". The outro is on the Hiwat 103, the rest on the SVT BL.
Wow, the Audiobus is GREAT and so is the Multitrak DAW with the Jamup (on my iPad Mini and iOS 6.01)! I'm really impressed even though it is my first time with the DAW software which contains A LOT of option. Soundcloud exporting? YES, WAV/ OGG AAC? YES, 44.1/ 48/ 96kHz sampling? YES
In addition it seem to me like the tone in Jamup is now even better then the latest release from two week ago.
Now I'm removing Amplitube iOS form my iPad mini, I need space for the Jamup + Audiobus + DAW. Simple as that, now need for Amplitube iOS!
The AT iOS will stay on my iPad 1 as the iPad 1 wil struggle with this trio bundle and multitasking.
Guys, I feel that we have obtained now a wicked package! Great tone in Jamup, decent amount of bass gear. Derek is talking about his wish for Markbass and Hartke and the possibility of running two distortion effects together, a bass pedal pack.
And with the Audiobus and Multitrack DAW this package kick AT iOS HARD!
So here it is, a short Journey/ The Police medley with my own "outro". The outro is on the Hiwat 103, the rest on the SVT BL.
Guy, you have no idea how happy I am hearing your clip!! This is EXACTLY what I was hoping to hear!! I'm seriously freaking out over how GOOD that sounded!!
I'm gonna add Loopy to my iPhone this weekend as well(Loopy HD for you ipad guys), and with Jamup (I'll be upgrading that, too) and Multitrack DAW on board, Amplitube can go bye-bye!!
Don't forget to post a link to that clip on the Audiobus forum. I'm sure they'll be interested.
Last edited by Rip Topaz : 12-11-2012 at 03:08 PM.
After thinking about the way that Audiobus configures things, it doesn't seem to me that AT could support it. Wouldn't there be conflicts between the effects section and the recorder, unless they separated them into two apps?
Duke, I'd like to know what you used as a recorder. (I haven't heard it yet; will do right after dinner).
Multitrack DAW.
It has lots of options such as compressor, para- EQ, reverb, delay etc. In addition there are several export options regarding quality and file type.
After thinking about the way that Audiobus configures things, it doesn't seem to me that AT could support it. Wouldn't there be conflicts between the effects section and the recorder, unless they separated them into two apps?
Yes I guess so, but then we never get any feedback from them about anything only the generic "lots of stuff is under planning" or "we are looking into several options".
Guy, you have no idea how happy I am hearing your clip!! This is EXACTLY what I was hoping to hear!! I'm seriously freaking out over how GOOD that sounded!!
I'm gonna add Loopy to my iPhone this weekend as well(Loopy HD for you ipad guys), and with Jamup (I'll be upgrading that, too) and Multitrack DAW on board, Amplitube can go bye-bye!!
Don't forget to post a link to that clip on the Audiobus forum. I'm sure they'll be interested.
I'll do that!
The Multitrack recorder DAW is much more advanced then the 8 track recorder in AT, Positive Grid really made some smart decisions about the direction of development in the software and partners.
That's for sure. The only thing that bugs me about Jamup is the name.
To me, it's exactly the opposite of Amplitube. Judging just by name alone, Jamup sounds like a practice toy. Needs a better name.
Of course, I'm only kidding. But it's seriously my ONLY issue with Jamup.
I can't wait to dig into Multitrack DAW. After seeing some of the videos, it should be pretty easy to figure out. I've got some ProTools experience, as well as Sonar, and the layout looks similar. Should be fun. Can't wait to see if I can crash it!!
Man, you guys aren't kidding, that does sound pretty sweet!
For any of you guys that have tried both the iRig connector and Jamup Plug, how do they compare? I read a review last night that included comments of how the Jamup connector is pretty quiet compared to the iRig. Thoughts? I wish I had the money to just drop on an Apogee Jam, but............
Multitrack DAW.
It has lots of options such as compressor, para- EQ, reverb, delay etc. In addition there are several export options regarding quality and file type.
Ah, I'm going to miss that...
I restarted my iPhone, put it in airplane mode, disabled WiFi, Bluetooth, and enabled "don't disturb".
Launched ADB... then I selected the mic input (which is really the 30-pin Jam). Then I selected JamUp XT... clicked on it to start it... and it did! So I selected one of my presets, clicked on the side ADB icon to go back, and then selected an output. I was given the option of selecting the headphone out, or MTD. I selected the headphone, and lo and behold, I was able to hear JamUp! I was so excited... then I replaced the output and selected.MTD... I started it... still sounding. Great! I must be close... Then I said, let me go back to JamUp to select another preset and adjust the sound a little...
No response.
Then the phone hung (irresponsive)...
Then... KABOOM!!!! With such force that even Rico would be proud. My phone crashed so bad it took it like a minute to "come to".
After this experiment I'll say that if you have an iPhone 4 with a single processor, you know "old generation" stuff, ADB is not going to run "not optimally".. it's not going to run, period. Or you'll be walking on eggshells all the time.
Well, I can still try to go out from JamUp/iPhone into my old laptop via Focusrite USB, into Reaper. I won't know what it sounds like since my speakers are horrible (and I'll come clean, I still don't know what I'm doing), but it's fun. At the very least I can tell my son (which is the whole reason why this "music adventure" for a deaf man started) that I met these cool dudes that are helping me sort out all of this stuff. When I told him about Duke who is in Norway my son almost tripped!
It's all good. Thx folks. Keep posting cool stuff; this is the future.
Man, you guys aren't kidding, that does sound pretty sweet!
For any of you guys that have tried both the iRig connector and Jamup Plug, how do they compare? I read a review last night that included comments of how the Jamup connector is pretty quiet compared to the iRig. Thoughts? I wish I had the money to just drop on an Apogee Jam, but............
5sg.
Any of the adapters that use the headphone jack are gonna be about the same. They're noisy, but if you tweak, you can get a very workable sound. I'm still using the Irig, but plan on upgrading to the Jam after the holidays (the kids have dibs on finances till after December 25).
The Jamup is dead silent compared to the Irig.