IK Multimedia has introduced the iRig PRO, a ‘universal digital mobile audio/MIDI interface’ for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac.
Pocket-sized, battery-powered and fully portable, iRig PRO is designed to give mobile musicians and songwriters an interface that can handle the widest variety of audio input signals. iRig PRO accepts virtually every type of audio and MIDI input. Users can plug in a dynamic or condenser microphone; a guitar, bass or other Hi-Z instrument; or any line-level source.
Additionally, iRig PRO is equipped with a MIDI input for keyboards, pads and controllers, making it a truly universal compact interface for recording and composing on the go or in the studio. Its audio and MIDI inputs can be used simultaneously, for example, to control guitar or vocal software with MIDI foot controllers or pedals, for switching presets or controlling effects levels.
Plus, iRig PRO comes with a suite of IK’s best music-creation apps like AmpliTube, VocaLive, SampleTank, iGrand and iRig Recorder, and is compatible with most audio and MIDI processing apps for the mobile musician. It also comes with a suite of apps for Mac users, including iRig PRO, AmpliTube, T-RackS and SampleTank.
Universal Inputs
iRig PRO features a 1/4″-XLR combo input connector for connection with standard XLR cables, 1/4″ mono line or instrument signal cables, and a switchable 48V phantom power supply for use with studio condenser microphones. It has a high-definition microphone-and-instrument preamp; a 24-bit A/D converter; a preamp gain control; plus LED indicators for device status, MIDI, phantom power and signal level.
iRig PRO is powered by the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, or USB, when used with instruments or a dynamic microphone. A 9V battery (included) provides phantom power to compatible microphones. iRig PRO also features a standard MIDI input for connection of MIDI devices like drum machines, controllers and MIDI keyboards.
Universal Compatibility
iRig PRO comes with three detachable cables, compatible with Lightning, 30-pin and USB connectors, respectively, allowing for digital connection to every model of iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac, out of the box, with no need for adapters. A MIDI cable with a standard MIDI jack is also provided to connect the widest variety of MIDI-compatible keyboards and controllers.
iRig PRO is class compliant and compatible with Core Audio and Core MIDI, so it can be used with any audio and MIDI processing apps for iOS and Mac OS, for true plug-and-play performance without additional hardware/software.
Universal Apps and Software Included
For iPhone and iPad users, iRig PRO comes with a suite of IK Multimedia’s most popular apps for mobile music creation on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, including AmpliTube FREE (the #1 app for guitar players) for guitarists and bass players, VocaLive FREE for singers, SampleTank FREE and iGrand Piano FREE for keyboard players and iRig Recorder FREE for recording engineers.
All these apps work with Audiobus integration. Additionally, AmpliTube gear and SampleTank sounds are available as free add-ons for iRig PRO users.
For Mac users, iRig PRO includes AmpliTube Custom Shop, the industry standard guitar-and-bass processing software; a free version of AmpliTube Metal; T-RackS Custom Shop, the mixing-and-mastering effect suite with a free version of T-RackS Classic; and SampleTank XT, a sound workstation that includes over 1GB of sounds. All these software titles are available both as plug-ins for the most popular digital audio workstations (including GarageBand), or as standalone applications for immediate plug and play.
Pricing and Availability
iRig PRO will ship in September from music and consumer electronics retailers worldwide for $149.99/119.99 Euro (exc. taxes). iRig PRO can now be ordered from the IK Online Store and select retailers.
If you’ve used iRig PRO, let us know what you think of it!
Does it not have stereo line inputs? Seems like that would be pretty useful.
Having any sort of outputs would also be useful. But I guess all the pros that buy this just use the iPad’s headphone jack…
No midi out!?
Yea, that’s a major boner on their part, as it seems like many people would want to output touch-screen data to MIDI out. But I guess they crunched the numbers. Arg.
No midi out?
That’s gonna make it difficult to use my little midi sequencer….
IK affirms that they don’t think any real musicians are making music on iOS. Constant ads in their iOS apps was bad enough. Now they release a “pro” interface with half a MIDI implementation. Seems odd, but I guess consistent with their approach to iOS.
IK’s products have a bad tendency to be a waste of money, therefore they won’t be getting mine…
For those of you interested in what this device is actually like and how it performs I produced a video review, unboxing and demo available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdMaGLfCtv0