It’s been a while since I got stuck into the awesomeness that is iOS guitar playing and recording. Truth be told, it’s been a while since I did anything decent that was guitar related. I perhaps needed something to rekindle my interest. Luckily and coincidentally, IK Multimedia recently released AmpliTube Acoustic and a new interface called iRig Acoustic. The interface I can’t write about—on account of me not having one of them—but AmpliTube Acoustic I can write about—because I do have the free version of that.
So write about it I shall!
If you’re familiar with the existing iOS AmpliTube apps then the interface for AmpliTube Acoustic is dead easy to navigate. Even if you’re not familiar, I’d say that you wouldn’t have any trouble finding your way around. I personally find the AmpliTube interface to be one of the easiest to navigate from all of the options in the iOS guitar amplifier emulator realm.
One thing that is different about AmpliTube Acoustic is its initial setup. Keeping in mind that I was plugging in one of my electro-acoustic guitars using my iRig HD, I was impressed with how well the app recognised my guitar. The setup process then allowed for me to get the input levels perfectly right very easily. Screenshots below.
Tuning your instrument remains dead easy as does creating your own perfect sound. I love the reverb, flanger, chorus and delay that come with the free solid state amplifier. They all sound great when applied to my electro-acoustic guitar.
Of course I was not using the new iRig Acoustic as previously mentioned, so I did pickup on a few external noises when listening in through my headphones. What did help though was the very cool Feed Kill pedal. This pedal—mostly created for playing live on a stage environment—listens in to frequencies that may be causing interference and eliminates them. You can listen in to four such frequencies I believe. Very cool.
Of course the paid version comes with more options in regards to the pedals and amplifiers on offer. You can also purchase just the ones you’re interested in using in-app purchases from the free version. I must say the 12-string emulator is mighty tempting. Here’s hoping that with all the upcoming US holidays there is some kind of sale on soon.
As mentioned earlier, this is a familiar layout for AmpliTube iOS fans and users around the world. Therefore the recording screens all look very familiar—which is awesome. Eight tracks of recording pleasure included with the built-in drum tracks for those of us who have purchased such things.
It’s great to finally have a dedicated acoustic amplifier app that is at such a high standard. It’s certainly motivated me. The electro-acoustic is now staying out for a while. I couldn’t be happier.
Downloads:
AmpliTube Acoustic (free) on iTunes
AmpliTube Acoustic on iTunes