Covering technology means never being surprised, except when you are. Today we get the surprising announcement of iRig Pro, an all-in-one interface that my son described as ‘every iRig interface you’re reviewed stuffed into one small box’. That is about right, and at $149.99 I think they have a real winner with iRig Pro shipping later this month!
IK Multimedia is marketing iRig Pro based on three major strengths: Universal Inputs, Universal Compatibility, and Universal Apps.
- Universal Inputs: For me this is HUGE. In our house we have guitars, basses, multiple microphone types and a myriad of MIDI gear. Currently we use iRig HD, iRig PRE and iRig MIDI – but this will take the place of all of those in a single package not much bigger than any one of them! iRig Pro is powered by your iOS device or Mac, so no charging or changing batteries.
- Universal Compatibility: Another thing I love is the move by IK to include multiple cables to support Lightning and 30-pin connections and also USB for Mac. And because IK hardware supports Apple’s Core Audio and MIDI protocols, anything plugged into iRig Pro will appear in any iOS or Mac app that supports those protocols.
- Universal Apps: IK includes the base versions of all of their awesome iOS and Mac apps. iOS users get apps such as AmpliTube FREE, VocaLive FREE, SampleTank FREE and iGrand Piano FREE and iRig Recorder FREE. For the Mac there is AmpliTube Custom Shop; AmpliTube Metal; T-RackS Custom Shop; and SampleTank XT.
Overall this is an impressive array of capabilities stuffed into a small and portable package. Suddenly you don’t need to worry so much about what you are carrying with you – so long as you have your iPhone or iPad and iRig Pro you can interface with a guitar, microphone or any MIDI gear and jump right into making music!
Check out the introductory and hands-on video for iRig Pro:
You can get more info and pre-order iRig Pro from the IK Multimedia store!
And look forward to a review coming soon after the release of iRig Pro!