iRig Questions

Johnny N.

Johnny N.

Kick Henry Jackassowski
So my amp situation is I have Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 that believe it or not sounds really good for what I use it for. But being a 60 watt tube amp is really loud for the small room and maybe I just want a cooler amp. Either way I've been thinking about changing that out.

I have also started playing with some other guys, acoustic so far but they want to start playing electric too. The big tube amp would be a bear to haul back and forth and would be pretty overpowering with their small amps. So I've been thinking about a Katana 50 as a portable solution. At the same time, I really don't want to buy two amps.

So I had a gift card so I picked up an iRig 2 and was playing around with Amplitube and through my monitors it sounds pretty darn good. Enough so that I paid the few bucks to get a few more options and am considering the Fender package. I tried it through another blue tooth speaker and it sounded like crap but through my cheap monitors it does sound good. I even hooked up my Trio+ and played with that so everything came through the monitors and it was really cool. I'm starting to think it could be my portable amp solution. Just take my iPad with the iRig. The monitors are a little more involved to take with me but not terrible.

So first question is what other speaker options are there that are reasonable but could serve as my portable amp. I'm thinking a single powered monitor speaker but will I loose something by not having stereo? I see they have the iLoud speaker but that's probably more than I want to spend.

Also, will the iRig work with BiasFX? It looks like the iPad app is really cheap right now so I was thinking I could try that too and have a couple options. The way I play I only need to eventually find a few tones that do what I want but I hear the Bias stuff is good so at $4.99 it would be worth trying if it works with iRig.

That would mean I could solve my portability issue and I liked it enough to enjoy playing it at home so it could theoretically replace any amps. That said I will probably want to get another tube amp just because sometimes it is great to just plug in and play. That will be another thread though.

So for now, speaker options and Bias FX. Thanks in advance.
 
I have an iRig HD, and it works, but is a bit fussy and occasionally acts up (i.e. refuses to recognize a bluetooth speaker/headphones, etc.) I have the Fender pack and bought some of the additional Fender amps for it and like them pretty well, but actually find I use the default amps from Garageband almost as much. I currently haven't bought a lot of pedals, etc. and would probably need to be recording a lot more to induce me to do so. Right now, I mostly use it for quiet practice when the family are watching TV and I want to be with them but not bug them. It works well for me in that respect, and through my iPhone makes up the most compact rig imaginable.
 
Do you have the iRig that just plugs into the headphone jack, or the one that plugs into the lightning port? I have the one that plugs into the headphone jack, and I find that while it's fine for silent practicing, there's just enough latency that I don't think it would work for me as a live rig. I think that isn't a problem with the version that plugs into the lightning/usb jack.

For speaker options, it really comes down to budget, and if you need to keep up with a drummer at volume.

I've never used Bias, but have heard good things about it. I would imagine it works with an iRig.
 
speakerjones said:
Do you have the iRig that just plugs into the headphone jack, or the one that plugs into the lightning port? I have the one that plugs into the headphone jack, and I find that while it's fine for silent practicing, there's just enough latency that I don't think it would work for me as a live rig. I think that isn't a problem with the version that plugs into the lightning/usb jack.

For speaker options, it really comes down to budget, and if you need to keep up with a drummer at volume.

I've never used Bias, but have heard good things about it. I would imagine it works with an iRig.
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Its the headphone jack kind but I have any issue with latency at all. I did download Bias because I was curious and it did seem to sound very good but there is a terrible noise issue. Even if I put on the noise gate. Not sure what that is all about but I'll try again when I have a minute.
 
gtrjunior said:
Isn’t the Vypyr a 1x12 amp? That’s too much amp to bring back and forth?
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Yeah, it's not that I can't lift it but it does seem pretty heavy for a 12" combo. Heavy enough that I really don't want to lug it. That and it is way too much amp considering the other guys are using little 15 watt practice amps. Maybe mostly that I want something different but I have to justify it somehow. :(
 
I just use headphones with it. My iRig is really my practice device when learning tunes and difficult passages. As for the Efx, never bought any. Since you can have up to 3, I just stack to Distortions with one Delay. The distortions are set to a mild gain and if I need more, I turn both on.
 
Modern Saint said:
I just use headphones with it. My iRig is really my practice device when learning tunes and difficult passages. As for the Efx, never bought any. Since you can have up to 3, I just stack to Distortions with one Delay. The distortions are set to a mild gain and if I need more, I turn both on.
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Do you get a lot of hiss? I don't get as much with Amplitube as I do with Bias FX but it's still pretty bad. Obviously it is worse with higher gain options. I was just reading that it could be that I need to put my ipad in airplane mode so I'll try that when I get home. Other than that I'm not sure why it would be so bad. Maybe a bad cable from the speaker to the iRig?

I actually like some of the sounds I'm getting. If I can get the noise thing solved I could see it being my portable solution instead of buying a modeling or solid state amp, like a Katana and just saving for a new tube amp down the road. If the noise thing wont go away I'll probably just grab a Katana.
 
Johnny N. said:
Do you get a lot of hiss? I don't get as much with Amplitube as I do with Bias FX but it's still pretty bad. Obviously it is worse with higher gain options. I was just reading that it could be that I need to put my ipad in airplane mode so I'll try that when I get home. Other than that I'm not sure why it would be so bad. Maybe a bad cable from the speaker to the iRig?

I actually like some of the sounds I'm getting. If I can get the noise thing solved I could see it being my portable solution instead of buying a modeling or solid state amp, like a Katana and just saving for a new tube amp down the road. If the noise thing wont go away I'll probably just grab a Katana.
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I got more hiss out of my first iRig. I learned to cope with it by turning the gain down on the drives as well as the amp. Other things I have done was to roll all of my tone controls to midpoint which I already do with my real amps. And then roll the tone control on the distortion down some.
 
I got nothing. I’m not smart enough to use an iPad into a speaker. I can barely work and amp :grin:
 
I decided to take the iRig back and step up to the Apogee Jam. I figured if it didn't make enough difference I would just return it too and be done with my curiosity about these things. Three words, Night And Day. Most amps are completely silent and I get some noise on really high gain settings as you would expect.

I was actually going to go ahead and buy a Katana 50 while I was there as a Christmas present but I just can't fall in love with it. It sounds decent for sure, especially for a $200 amp. I wanted a light weight and cheap amp to take over to a friends house when we play, which isn't that often. I'm finding I get much better sound out of the Apogee and apps on my iPad so I decided I didn't need to spend money on both. If I go play at this dude's house I'll use the iPad and monitors. I'll keep playing my Peavey at home until it dies and by that time, if I have stuck to my commitment to get good enough to deserve it, I'll go get a super cool tube amp.
 
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