Wed, January 25, 2012 at 9:02 AM If you have already invested in IK Multimedia's iRig device and you've had the same problem we have managing devices and cables dangling off your iPad, you may be interested to hear about the new iKlip Studio.
;)
The recently announced iKlip Studio
Announced at this year's Winter NAMM and priced at a very reasonable $29.99, this adjustable iPad stand also folds flat for storage and importantly incorporates a little holder for your iRig, which then clips onto the back of the iKlip Studio.
;)
Rear view of iKlip Studio with iRig mount
We haven't seen it in the flesh yet but it looks fairly sturdy and we think it's a great idea that will potentially solve one of our main annoyances about using the iRig with our iPad.
Here's a little taster video from IK Multimedia about the iKlip Studio's general features - let us know what you think in the comments:
IK Multimedia, Phil, Studio, guitar, iKlip, iRig, recording | in Accessories, Audio, GarageBand, Music Tue, January 24, 2012 at 7:40 PM Shortly after we discussed the possibility of the next iPad getting a significant boost in camera quality, Ricky Cadden got in contact to tell us about an exciting project that he and his team recently completed.
Ricky Cadden is a mobile technology expert and currently manages RadioShack’s presence on various social media outlets. Knowing Ricky as we do, we were not too surprised to find out that he had made the decision to capture video coverage of CES 2012 using the iPad 2, aided by the Movie Mount from Makayama, iRig Mic from IK Multimedia and various other accessories. It's not that Ricky's default position is reaching for Apple kit, far from it in fact, but rather that Ricky is quick to spot advantages in using new mobile technology.
So what advantages did shooting footage with the iPad 2 bring? Ricky states:
"...we used the Apple iPad 2 to shoot every second of our videos. That’s right, the iPad 2. Of course, we also had some additional gadgets helping out, including a unique sound setup that allowed us to use a total of 3 different microphones and a custom-made tripod mount for our iPads from Makayama.
Aside from some post-production that included adding graphics and soundtrack, the footage you saw in all of our CES coverage is pretty much exactly as it came through the iPad 2. The iPhone 4S’s 1080p video capture might have been slightly better, but the iPad 2 allowed us a larger display on which to preview footage and line up the shot on the show floor.
The results, as I’m sure you’ll agree, were impressive. All of our videos were posted in full 720p, and the sound turned out great, considering there were 150,000+ people milling around us and booths blasting their own sounds. The iPad 2 had plenty of storage and the connectivity options to upload straight from the floor – in many cases, we had the final cut of one video before we even finished shooting the next."
Ricky mentions that their iPad 2 rig caused quite a stir, with attendees often taking photos of their rig rather than the exhibit that the iPad 2 was filming! It seems that Ricky and his team were the only ones using the iPad 2 to provide professional level video coverage. That surprises us a little as the iPad 2's extended depth of field camera, large display and capacious battery life, combined with iMovie and the obvious connectivity advantages, make it a great choice for covering just such an event.
We watched some of the CES footage a few days before we were informed that it had been shot with an iPad 2, and as a testament to the quality of the footage, we didn't notice anything unusual about it. It's not the highest quality footage by any means, but it certainly seems good enough for 90% of the shots.
You can watch all the RadioShack CES footage here. Ricky has also posted his thoughts on the experience on his own personal blog.
If you want to dip your toes in the iPad video production waters, we can wholeheartedly recommend that you pick up a copy of the free video capture app that Makayama provide for use with the Movie Mount, it offers a level of control that is not present in the default camera app. iMovie is an essential purchase too. You might remember that we considered the Handstand iPad 2 case to be a pretty good substitute for a full-on rig in these situations.
App Store Link: Movie Mount and iMovie
CES, HandStand, IK Multimedia, James, Makayama, Movie Mount, RadioShack, Ricky Cadden, iRig Mic | in Comment, Demo, News, Tech Tips, Video Tue, January 24, 2012 at 9:31 AM Mon, January 23, 2012 at 3:59 PM Some have said that Apple's designs, both hardware and software, are so complete that it's almost impossible for competitors to come up with anything new without infringing on their patents. This smart eBook interface prototype from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) shows that competing against Apple's innovation is certainly not impossible. Many of the ideas on show are some of the most innovatitve we've seen in a long while.
We hope to see this technology implemented on the iPad (and other eBook readers) in some shape or form shortly.
James, KAIST, eBook | in Books, Competition, Demo, Learning, Magazine, Publishing, iBooks Mon, January 23, 2012 at 9:50 AM It is probably very wrong to get so excited about an iPad accessory before we have even seen it, but we felt the same way about the iO Dock from Alesis and their new AmpDock, designed specifically for guitar and bass players, has got us in a stupor again.
;)
Basically a slightly cut down version of their iO Dock, Alesis have made the AmpDock more robust for live use. AmpDock features an enclosing cover on the fourth side so that you iPad isn't exposed on the top edge, as it was on the iO Dock.
There's also a handy little kickstand on the back to angle the AmpDock when it is sat on top of your amp and to allow clearance of the amp's handle. If you have ever tried balancing your iPad on top of your amp you'll know how useful and reassuring this feature will be.
But the main thing that got us excited was the inclusion of a pedalboard controller in the $299 price!
This is a great boon and means that, for the iPad-owning musician, AmpDock is ready to rock (or not, depending on your guitar style) out of the box without any further expenditure.
More details and specs below, after the teaser video from Alesis:
AmpDock Key Features
AmpDock Specs:
Fri, January 20, 2012 at 7:55 PM We mentioned IK Multimedia's new iRig MIC cast when it was announced at CES last week, but this is the first video we have seen of it in action.
What do you think?
IK Multimedia, MIC Cast, Phil, Podcasting, iRig | in Accessories, Audio Fri, January 20, 2012 at 12:05 PM ;){kind=logo}
After surprisingly little begging on our part, the nice people at Sonoma Wire Works in California agreed to send one of their GuitarJack 2 review models over to the UK for us to take a look at.
Of course, we agreed to let you know what we thought of it in return, and as always we have written our review just as we found it, in 'real world' situations we would use the device in, so here goes.
Overview
We expect by now you already know what the GuitarJack 2 is, but its main purpose is to provide you with the best sounding, cleanest audio input into your iOS device, specifically the iPhone 4, iPad 2, iPad, and iPod touch (not 1st gen.).
Here's a little video showing the GuitarJack 2 in action:
First Impressions - Construction
Our first observation? This thing is built like a tank!
All the other interfaces we've laid our hands on have been made of plastic of some sort. They seemed fairly substantial but one was certainly flimsy enough that if it were left on the floor it would not withstand the impact from a misplaced boot.
GuitarJack 2, on the other hand, has an aluminium shell and a heft to it that makes us think it could easily withstand a stomping from our 'gig boots' (we haven't tried it because we do have to send it back). It is a big chunk of made-in-America metal.
This solid shell is backed up by the very welcome metal jack sockets for a ¼" guitar/instrument cable, an ⅛" headphone jack (with increased drive for monitoring with headphones) and on the other side an ⅛" stereo microphone/line in.
The ¼" input is a solid brass Switchcraft jack, which we think is a good thing. In fact it is so solid that removing our guitar cable from this jack often involved inadvertently disconnecting the GuitarJack 2 from the device's dock connector.
About the Dock Connector
The one thing that we have found with most dock connecting devices, including Apple's own Camera Connection Kit, is that it is very easy to knock the 30 pin connector loose and it remains a problem in a busy recording setup even with GuitarJack 2.
;)
Proxima Dock Extender Cable bought for under £5This connector issue also means that GuitarJack is not best hung off your device with cables connected to each jack, whether in portrait or landscape mode. The weight is liable to pull the interface away from the dock.
Sonoma have obviously thought about this though and you will find four little rubber feet on the bottom of the unit which give it some grip on a desk surface when your device is laid flat on its back, as in the product shot with the iPad (above) and iPhone (below).
They also suggest using a dock extender cable, even offering a $26 one for sale on their site, but we managed to pick one up on Amazon (UK) for under £5 (pictured above) that has full charging and syncing capabilities. It is this cable that we used when recording all the samples below and it never came loose.
Some info and hardware specs
Before we get into how the GuitarJack 2 sounds, here are a few specs from Sonoma Wire Works for the techies in our audience:
Software Features
(Control Panel in GuitarTone, FourTrack, StudioTrack & TaylorEQ)
GuitarJack 2 Control Panel in FourTrackLevel Control: 60 dB of continuous level control
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;)
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We will be taking a look at the software integration in a future post. For this review we will be concentrating on the GuitarJack 2 hardware and its sound.
So what does it sound like?
We know, by now you're probably thinking, "This is all very good, but what does it actually sound like?", so let's get to that.
For a device costing this much, it better be good right?
Well, we have to say, it is!
GuitarJack 2 is by far the cleanest audio input device we have tested. Noise is non-existent in all but the highest of gain settings and even then you have to turn the volume up very high to know it's there.
Audio from a microphone is clear and totally devoid of noise. Sound recorded from another audio device (in our test the audio from an iPad's headphone socket) sounds just as good.
Guitar tones are crisp, clear and well balanced. Even with high-gain, distortion loaded, fuzz-maven settings in AmpKit+, there was an obvious lack of feedback.
We ran plenty of sound tests and we recorded our general observations and a few samples for you to hear below.
Compared to Headphone jack input devices
Our main concern was how the GuitarJack 2 would sound in comparison to audio input devices that used the iOS device's headphone jack.
We have always been a bit disappointed with the noise levels present in audio interfaces connecting via the headphone jack.
To be honest, this may be less GuitarJack 2 versus iRig / AmpKit LiNK / JamUp Plug / iRig Mic, etc. than it is 'dock connecting audio devices' versus 'headphone jack connecting devices'.
The iPad/iPhone audio circuitry always generates noise in our experience and, as such, we think devices like iRig Mic, etc., will continually be at a disadvantage because of this.
But let's see what GuitarJack 2 sounded like with a guitar.
Guitar Input
We tried lots of different guitar apps and setups. GuitarJack 2 worked with everything we tried except Amplitube. IK Multimedia's apps just don't seem to detect an audio source via the dock connector, something we hope they rectify very soon.
We had been sent an A/B switch by Sonoma Wire Works too, which let's you input your guitar and split the output in two so that we could record on the iPad and iPhone at the same time. We used the amazing sounding AmpKit+ because it has both iPhone and iPad versions and we know it well.
A/B testing a guitar signal using AmpKit+ on iPad & iPhone
After trying lots of distortion laden settings and comparing the GuitarJack 2 with iRig, AmpKit LiNK and the JamUp Plug, the biggest difference was the lack of screeching feedback using the dock connected device as compared to the headphone jack devices.
But it was when we stripped everything down to the cleanest amp settings we could in the AmpKit+ app, took away the noise gate and matched the settings on both the iPhone and iPad, that we finally understood how clean the signal was from GuitarJack 2 in comparison.
Here's a few sample recordings so you can judge for yourself. We used our A/B setup shown above to record the same audio onto two devices simultaneously. We recommend listening with headphones for a better comparison and don't worry, Phil doesn't have to rely on his guitar playing to make a living!
First up, clean as we can get it, using AmpKit LiNK:
and now using GuitarJack 2
It is the audio hiss that you can clearly hear from the device connected to the headphone jack (in this case the AmpKit LiNK) that sealed it for us. The GuitarJack 2 is far superior and offers the cleanest signal we have heard so far, even without a Noise Gate pedal.
Feedback
This demo took us by surprise. When we were recording these we could only listen to one of the devices for monitoring (unless we wore two pairs of headphones, which seemed a bit weird).
So we chose to monitor our guitar through the GuitarJack 2 connected to the iPhone whilst recording. That sounded ok with this sample, noisier than we would normally use because of the high gain and lack of Noise Gate pedal, but acceptable:
Then later we listened to the version we had recorded via the AmpKit LiNK into the iPad. The feedback we heard here was not the nice tonal kind, but even using AmpKit's excellent re-amp feature afterward we had trouble dialling it out.
Here's how the same set-up, with the same 'Dynamically Dirty' preset, sounded through AmpKit LiNK, the headphone socket audio device that has arguably the best feedback prevention (warning: it's not very comfortable to listen to):
The difference is clear, we're sure you will agree. We haven't done anything with these sounds except trim the end bit off and export them from the apps used to record them.
Microphone input
As mentioned, GuitarJack 2 has an ⅛" stereo mic input with software controls to use mono, dual-mono or stereo input depending on whether or not you are using the ¼" input at the same.
When we used our old mono condenser mic (XLR to ¼" mono) we couldn't get it to work using both of the GuitarJack 2's inputs (for example vocals and guitar, or vocals and output from an iPad for video demos).
;)
Our old mic and XLR to stereo jack cableThe 'Both Inputs' mode on GuitarJack 2 seems to take the Right channel only from the stereo mic input and our mic was only showing up on the left.
After playing with lots of of step-down/mono/stereo adapter combinations we gave up and ordered an XLR to stereo ⅛" cable that is bridged, so the mono signal is split into a left and right channel output. This worked wonderfully.
So how did the microphone sound? We compared GuitarJack 2's input to the nearest headphone jack competitor we had, the iRig Mic from IK Multimedia. This device also has three hardware switchable sensitivity settings, as does GuitarJack 2 (via the software control panel).
We wanted to specifically show you what the noise levels were like on each setting. We strongly recommend you listen with headphones to more effectively hear the comparisons.
First, the iRig Mic:
And here's our inexpensive mono condenser mic connected to the ⅛" stereo socket on GuitarJack 2:
Hopefully the difference is obvious, especially on the high sensitivity setting used at the end of our audio. GuitarJack 2's noise-free audio is clearly evident here in the second example.
Further testing underway
We are still conducting various 'real world' tests with GuitarJack 2, especially using dual inputs for videos of the iPad in action recorded on the iPhone 4, as well as the GuitarTone software that only works with FourTrack currently, but hopefully with StudioTrack on the iPad very soon.
As soon as we have more to show you we will let you know.
Final thoughts
In our opinion, audio recorded via the GuitarJack 2 sounds better, cleaner, more dynamic and more reliably useable than that of any other audio interface we have used for iOS devices.
;)
Much of this is due to the fact that GuitarJack 2 interfaces with the dock connector. But just as much of the GuitarJack 2's performance comes from the way it has been professionally engineered and optimised to work with both the hardware and especially the compatible software.
If, like us, you could not normally justify the $199 RRP cost of the GuitarJack 2, you can get away with devices like the ones we have mentioned above that connect via the iOS device's headphone socket. For many purposes these would probably be enough and are a fraction of the cost.
If, though, you are serious about your sound, if you want the best possible start and quality of audio recording that you can reasonably expect on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, then we think you should sell something else and/or scrape together the pennies to buy yourself the GuitarJack 2.
We are sure you'll consider it a worthwhile investment in your music and other audio productions.
GuitarJack 2 was still available for a discounted price of $149 from Sonoma Wire Works direct, at the time of writing and its online and street price may be around the same when the deal finishes. A quick Google search has the price at a fairly uniform £139 here in the UK.
Further reading: iRig vs AmpKit LiNK - which is better? Part 1 of 2
Further reading: iRig vs AmpKit LiNK - which is better? Part 2 of 2
AmpKit Link, AmpKit+, GuitarJack 2, Instruments, Interface, Musical, Phil, Sonoma Wire Works, guitar, hardware, iRig, iRig Mic | in Audio, Music, Review Wed, January 18, 2012 at 4:25 PM Michael Ives is an artist who painted beautiful West African scenes whilst working as a teacher for the Peace Corp in that region over 30 years ago. More recently he has begun to recreate those paintings using Brushes on the iPad.
Michael has been kind enough to share his experience via a video tutorial. His passion, for the people of West Africa, the beauty of that region and the power of the iPad as an artistic tool is most evident.
We hope Michael can find the time to produce more of these tutorial videos, he certainly has a friendly style that makes us what to follow him on his journey.
More about Michael can be found on his official site.
App Store Link: Brushes
Further Reading: Brushes on iPad Creative
Wed, January 18, 2012 at 12:55 PM
Cards, Creativity, Greetings, LetterMPress, Phil, Type | in Art, Design, Fun, Tutorial Wed, January 18, 2012 at 12:40 PM You'll no doubt recall Vincent's last superb NanoStudio creation. Vincent's been busy, and we think he's surpassed himself this time.
Relaxation is a chilled, groove drenched track that will have you tapping your foot and throwing in the occasional body roll! Oh, it's also a great demonstration of the power of NanoStudio.
App Store Link: NanoStudio
James, NanoStudio, Vicent Vermeulen | in Music Tue, January 17, 2012 at 8:41 AM 
We've got something special for you in this week's pick of iOS created music. We mentioned last week One Like Son's upcoming third album, this one recorded entirely on an iPhone using iOS apps. Today the album is officially released and we were fortunate enough to be included in a pre-release listen.
What did we think? Gobsmackingly good! Really. We cannot believe that this album was entirely recorded and mastered on an iPhone. We've not heard anything better so far!
Take a listen for yourself, go and order the album (we did), or click on the 'Buy all' button in the playlist below, then take a look at some of the details we have included from the press release about the album:
Here's more detail from the press release about the apps used in making the album:
Using the GuitarJack and AmpKit LiNK hardware interface and apps such as AmpKit, FourTrack, Multitrack DAW, Pocket Organ, Moog’s Filtatron, ThumbJam and even Apple’s Garageband, the group produced an authentic rock record. Where most music composed on the iphone or ipad sounds like digital music, this record sounds like a live rock and roll band.
Here's a quote we definitely agree with from Sonoma Wire Works' Daniel Codella [bold text ours]:
One Like Son have produced a full blown rock record on the iPhone that sounds like it was recorded using thousands of dollars’ worth of gear. One Like Son have really set the bar for what can be done with an inexpensive mobile recording setup. Bravo!"
And this from Hamilton Feltman of Harmonic Dog [bold text ours]:
“One Like Son has gone off the deep end and produced an entire rock album, on a phone, and it sounds… amazing! The quality is outstanding, the production, superb. Five years ago, who would have guessed this would happen. On. a. phone.”
If you haven't listened to the album yet, do yourself a favour and give it a listen now (above) and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments below.
AmpKit Link, Filtatron, GuitarJack, MultiTrack DAW, One Like Son, Phil, Start the Show, ThumbJam, fourtrack, iOS, iPhone, musicians | in Audio, GarageBand, Music, News, Tune-in Tuesday Mon, January 16, 2012 at 1:26 PM ;)
The nice people at Positive Grid have sent us a note to say that JamUp Pro, the relatively new Guitar FX-app-on-the-block has just been updated to Version 1.3.
We loved this boutique looking and great sounding app when we reviewed it back in November last year.
What's New?
New in 1.3 are an "updated DSP engine, audio copy and paste, and 20+ new amps and effects available via in-app purchase.".
The new in-app purchases are obviously the big thing, but we are particularly excited to see support for ACP included in this update too.
If you're quick you can take advantage of a 50% discount on the new expansion packs, but for just one week only.
Go and grab your update.
App Store Link: JamUp Pro
Sun, January 15, 2012 at 11:10 PM Soul Calibur, the Dreamcast classic that sporned several successful sequels across many different consoles will arrive on the iPad on January 19. It's so good to see another Dreamcast classic ported over to the iPad. As we've mentioned before, the iPad is just about the perfect device for Dreamcast ports:
"There are good reasons why Shenmue would find a perfect home on the iPad.
1) The iPad shares much of its graphics hardware design with the Dreamcast. PowerVR the chip design division behind the graphics technology of the Dreamcast is the very same division responsible for the staggeringly good 3D performance of the iPad 2.
2) Shenmue and its sequel were designed to be played in chapters, translating nicely to Apple's 'in app' purchasing mechanism.
3) One of Shenmue's central gameplay concepts was QTE (Quick Time Event). While this was a little clumsy using the Dreamcast controller, it would be a natural fit for the iPad's multi-touch display.
4) Though most played Shenmue for Dreamcast on a standard CRT Television, Shenmue was optimised for a VGA, 1024 x 768, 4:3 aspect ratio display, that's astonishingly close to the iPad's display."
Shenmue is the game that we're really after. Come on Sega, give Ryo Hazuki one more chance to avenge his father!
Fri, January 13, 2012 at 4:00 PM Here's a superb iPad painting from Matthew Watkins that he recently added to our iPad Creative Flickr Group.
We love the final result with its futuristic styling, but we especially appreciate Matthew posting the Brushes video on Flickr too.
Unfortunately, Flickr video embeds still rely on the Flash player so we can't show it to you here, but you can watch the full Brushes video in Matthew's Flickr stream.
While you're there check out the rest of Matthew's iPad art, it is very impressive body of work.
Inside the creative process
We've said this before, but we are always fascinated to see the artist's creative process in action.
That's why we really love that the Brushes app enables the recording and exporting of these movies.
Our thanks again to Matthew for sharing this video and painting with the group.
Fri, January 13, 2012 at 2:02 PM 
We were quite surprised to find that Bob the Builder wasn't already on the iPad, he seems ubiquitous in a Parent's world.
He has made his debut now though in Bob the Builder: Muck's Train to Trouble app for kids developed by Big Play Studios for HIT Entertainment.
Here's their video trailer:
As you can see from the video above, the main activity is the narrated story based around building a Dinosaur Fun Park.
It is a very colourful affair, with each page of the story having some nice CGI animated scenes and interactive elements to keep the kids interested. For young readers, and those learning to read, the words are highlighted as they are read.
The voices are well done too and there are specific UK and US versions, so the localised version should be very familiar if your kids are Bob fans. The iPad even makes a special appearance in the story!
;)
Bob uses his iPad to set out his plan
The bit we especially liked though is when the kids could get creative in the painting section, including the brilliant 'magic paint' which colours the picture in as it was intended. There's also a few video clips from the same story which were popular here.
Using the 'Magic Paintbrush'
There is a hide and seek game based on the Dinosaur park, but that's all for games and it didn't really keep our kids entertained for very long. A few more game activities would definitely be welcome.
For $2.99 / £1.99 though, young Bob fans will be delighted with this app and there is easily enough fun and interaction to provide value for money.
App Store Link: Bob the Builder: Muck's Train to Trouble
Bob the Builder, Phil, iPad | in Books, Children's Books, Education, Fun, Games, Kids, Learning, Painting, Publishing 
