Product Review : iRig

This product review is on the iRig. The iRig is a cool little device that hooks to your iPhone or iPod and lets you plug your guitar into it and do a vast array of cool things, from just jammin, to recording, to jammin with other people in an online jam session. This little thing is great.

Once you get yourself an iRig you will need to get an app that it works with. There are tons of them, so dont worry about not finding one. It basically works with anything such as garageband, amplitude, etc. I downloaded garageband. The rig itself has a female 1/4 inch jack input for you to plug your guitar into, has a 1/8 inch female input jack to hook your headphones (or run to another form of external monitor) and it has a male 1/8 jack out to hook to your phone or iPad. Once you hook up and open up your app it is really easy to get going. You get lots of choices of amps to choose from. You can have a Marshall, Vox, Fender, Mesa Boogie and any other type of amp right at your finger tips! You also, depending on your app, have a choice of any pedal under the sun! You can control the pedal just like you do a real pedal. You move the knobs and tweek it just like in real life. you can choose the order of your pedals too. If you got some good headphones, ex: the marshall ones from a previous entry, the sound will be pretty darn good. You can jam as loud as you want and not bother your wife, a sleeping baby, neighbors or mom and dad! That is a huge plus!

Some of the apps have some great features. In the one I have, garageband, you can get online and have jam sessions with people around the world. If you have a song idea you can record it at a moments notice. It also lets you do virtual drums, bass and about any other instrument too. that way you can have rough or even complete songs to take to your band mates. I use it to record chord progressions for my students. once its recorded its a breeze to email it or text it to some one.

The iRig is compatible with most any smart phone, iPad, tablet, etc. For less than $50 you got something that is awesome. Depending on the app you can do anything! Apps go from free to $20. The iRig is a great investment. A whole lot cheaper than a porta studio plus you get tons of features. Stop on down to Rock bottom and get one. You will love it.