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Computers are an intrinsic part of modern music production, but there’s something slightly depressing about being hunched over your computer when playing an instrument. If you’re an electric guitarist, you’ll want to kick back, turn up the volume and see the valves in your amp glowing. Your neighbours might have other ideas, of course.
An iPhone, iPod touch or iPad can make the perfect practice amp. You can take it anywhere, plug in a guitar and headphones and be playing in a matter of seconds. If you want to play with other people, just plug your phone or tablet into rehearsal studio speakers or even a hi-fi. It’s much less hassle than carting a guitar amp and lots of effects pedals around. Best of all, you’re not limited to the sound of a single amp. The apps we cover this month can simulate a wide range of amps, speaker cabinets and effects for every conceivable guitar sound – all for about £15.
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The app isn’t the only purchase you’ll need to make, though. iPhones don’t come with quarter-inch jack sockets, so you’ll need some kind of adaptor to get your guitar signal into the device.
The cheapest kind are simple adaptors that don’t require a power supply and pipe the guitar signal in through the iOS device’s microphone input. The microphone input and headphone output is on a combined socket, so these adaptors also provide a duplicate headphone socket. The IK Multimedia iRig was the first of this kind of adaptor, and it’s still available for around £20. An updated iRig 2 has just been announced, which is expected to cost £30. It adds an input volume control and a quarter-inch jack output for connecting to a conventional amplifier. The cheapest example of this kind of adaptor that we’ve spotted is the Peavey AmpKit LiNK II, which is £10 from www.gear4music.com.
These interfaces get the job done, but it’s fair to say that iOS microphone inputs aren’t designed for guitars. There’s a lot of noise, especially when distortion and compression effects are applied. There’s also a risk of feedback even when the connected guitar’s volume is turned down, due to crosstalk between the microphone and headphone signals. The guitar amp apps do their best to tackle these problems using noise gates and feedback suppression algorithms. Overall, we’d say that these adaptors work well enough for private practice, but if you like lots of distortion and particularly if you might be playing to an audience with your iOS device, it’s best to go for something more capable.
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The next step up is an audio input that connects to the iOS device’s 30-pin or Lightning connector. These are essentially USB audio interfaces, with all the analogue circuitry and analogue-to-digital conversion taking place within the controlled confines of the interface. There are various interfaces specifically designed for electric guitars, such as the Line 6 Sonic Port (around £69), Pocketlabworks iRiffPort (£69), IK Multimedia iRig HD (£69) and Apogee JAM (£85).
The iRig HD and Apogee JAM both have a single guitar input, which means the iOS device’s headphone socket is still used as the output. That’s not much of a hindrance for use with headphones, as the quality of iOS headphone outputs is pretty good. However, minijack sockets are quite fragile, so we wouldn’t want to use it in a gig. Both of these interfaces come with 30-pin, Lightning and standard Type A USB cables, so they’ll work with any generation of iOS device, and Windows and Mac computers too.
The iRiffPort has its own headphone socket and line output, both on minijack sockets. However, it’s worth noting that this adaptor is only available with the older 30-pin iOS connector.
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The Line 6 Sonic Port is the best specified, with a quarter-inch socket for the guitar input and another serving as a line output to feed a guitar amp or PA system. There’s also an aux input and headphone output on stereo minijacks. The lack of an input volume control seems like a bit of an oversight, but it’s usually possible to turn down on the guitar to avoid overloading the input. Line 6 also throws in the Mobile POD app. The Sonic Port comes with both 30-pin and Lightning cables, but confusingly it only supports iOS devices dating back to the 4th generation iPad and iPhone 5, all of which use Lightning connectors.
Another option is to invest in something that can accommodate more than just electric guitars. We used the iRig Pro (£105), which adds an XLR microphone input with phantom power for studio microphones. It also has a MIDI input, although it’s worth noting that this is the old-fashioned 5-pin DIN connector rather than the standard USB cable that most modern MIDI keyboards use. Another option is the Line 6 Sonic Port VX (£135), which incorporates a stereo microphone and a stereo line output on dual quarter-inch jack sockets.
The only downside with these interfaces is that, because they’re powered by the dock connector, the iOS device can’t be charged at the same time. To get around this, consider the Alesis iO Dock II (£129), which is mains powered and includes a comprehensive set of inputs and outputs. It’s designed to hold an iPad securely and is probably the best option if you’re planning to take your app-powered guitar on the road.Thanks to technology, new gadgets, and mobile devices allow us to create our music wherever we are. For guitarists on the go who want to quickly record some awesome guitar riff they just came up with or just jam when they don’t have an amp handy, there are numerous ways to use smartphones as a guitar amp simulator.
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Either on vacation, or at a party with friends, or in the subway, or in those endless waits at the airport in which the hours sometimes pass slower than they should, you can simply plug your instrument into your phone and create your music. Gone are those years when you had to drag your heavy amp for a simple rehearsal at home or messy cable structures to put music with friends.
Whether it’s to create a direct digital recording via a handheld device or to take full advantage of the more advanced applications on offer, the smartphone-compatible interfaces are quickly becoming more and more popular among musicians.
For a long time, the power of any current mobile phone has allowed you to make it an effects processor, a perfect multitrack, even sound as if you were plugged into a large amplifier with all its power. The first thing you have to do is to connect the guitar to the mobile.
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First, you will need a middle-man, “the interface, ” between the guitar and the smartphone. Besides that, you will need some special cables and adapters according to the interface you are using. Finally, to have a better quality sound, you will need software on your smartphone to enhance the sound with some effects or adjust some levels. And you will need other software to make recordings or play with specially designed apps.
There are 3 main methods to achieve the connection. All have their different price and quality offers. Let’s take a closer look at all the methods and examine the hardware you will need to create your own portable studio.
The first option is to use an interface that connects to your smartphone’s charging port. This option is the most straightforward and preferred option to play guitar through smartphones. With a good USB interface, your sound quality will be extremely high.
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In the last decade, the only option for the guitar to smartphone connection was to use analog guitar interfaces, but in the last couple of years, another option with digital models came out. These interfaces offer better sound quality than the previous analog models because they transform the guitar signal into digital audio, keeping it in the digital domain as it transfers into your device. On the other hand, analog interfaces take the signal in through the analog headphone port, and it doesn’t get digitized until it gets into your smartphone.
With their 24-bit audio resolution, the digital interfaces match the exact resolution used in most professional computer recording hardware and software. This system allows your instruments to sound the same as the instrument’s sound goes into the mobile device and comes out without any added noise.
The IK Multimedia iRig HD 2 is the second version of IK’s quintessential digital adapter. One of the most popular, if not the most popular. It features a ¼” high impedance input, a preamp system in which we can adjust the gain, 32-bit 96 KHz A / DD / A converters, and an additional quarter-inch output in case if we want to plug it into an amplifier, for example. All this comes in contained dimensions of 1.5” x 3.9” x 8.3” (39 x 99 x 21 mm), making it a highly portable device.
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