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Got a GUITAR, daddio? Wanna plug it into iOS or Droid? Try the iRig 2

Dangle dongle for frustrated axemen

New look, new grumbles

Plugging in is simple enough and the iRig comes with a Velcro strap, the idea seems to be to have it tied up to a mic stand, presumably one that has the iKlip XPand smartphone holder also in place. But if you’re not ready to take the stage, then it has to be said that these phone interfaces aren’t the most user friendly.

Pick up the phone and you’ve a lump of plastic with up to four leads dangling from it. Move around and if your headphone lead is a bit on the short side then your phone is dragged along with the iRig weighed down further by the guitar lead. Although you can eventually get comfy with all this, it still catches you out now and again.

As for Samsung Android users, the handset needs to support the company’s Pro Audio technology. AmpliTube can used as a standalone app or as plugin with alongside the free Samsung Soundcamp music recording app, showcased at IFA last September.

Not long after iRig 2 hit the streets, the app had a revamp too, making it apparently feature exactly the same amp DSP used on the desktop versions. I tried the older app version on an iPhone 4S and the AmpliTube 4 Free on an iPhone 6 and couldn’t really tell the difference, truth be told. The interface changes are fairly minor, although the parameter slider strip – which was always on the right which made adjustments easier than the virtual knobs – has inexplicably disappeared.

IK Multimedia AmpliTube old and new user interface

Interface enhancements? The old app (left) makes adjustments and amp access a lot easier than the new app (right) that appears designed to encourage purchases

The new version also does its best to obfuscate the free amps and cabinets you have available. For instance, if you have also downloaded the separate AmpliTube Fender Free app, the amp and cabinet will also be available for use in the vanilla AmpliTube Free app, although it’s no longer so easy to discover. So combined, you end up with two amp heads, 4x12 and 1x12 cabinets with a couple of mic options and three pedals: noise filter, distortion and delay.

All the kit you have to pay for appears on the shelves tagged with a plus sign, the free stuff is unmarked. You could spend a fortune buying pedals, amps and cabinets. IK Multimedia offers various in-app purchase bundle deals, the daddy of them all costing £40 for 23 amps, 39 footpedals, an 8-track recorder with studio effects plus drum loops and more. But as someone who still has stomp boxes from the mid-1980s that refuse to die, do I really want to shell out £2.29 on a flanger?

More to the point, why aren’t there any free modulation effects? You can download Frontier Design’s iShred Live (that’s offered with Griffin Technology’s cheaper GuitarConnect cable) and use it with iRig and get a free Space Modulator and delay unit – the amp is rather basic though.

IK Multimedia AmpliTube Fender

Wot, no free modulation stomp effect? At least the Fender amp has vibrato

So what about the Marshall-esque amp on iRig 2? Unless you’re a grunge guitarist, you’re probably going to find it a bit full on and I think that’s the point. You might eventually tire of it and then be tempted to buy another amp. Even so, it's harmonically rich, very responsive and the controls including that Marshall Presence function are all present and correct.

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