V. Basic Question!

Get that song on tape! Errr... disk?
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timiscott
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V. Basic Question!

Post by timiscott » Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:53 am

Hi all, I use an iRig HD into a DAW and I was wondering if it's worth getting a better interface. Is the Scarlett better?

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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by postchrist » Thu Oct 17, 2019 11:02 pm

what is it you’re looking to do? and what about the irig isn’t working for you?
lying dog-faced pony soldier.

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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by timiscott » Thu Oct 17, 2019 11:52 pm

With the iRig, I often struggle to get that crisp, sharp tone that characterises the Jazzmaster (it's an AV 65) - it gets close, but not quite there. I'm sure the modelling amps on Garageband have limitations but people said not to bother spending money on alternatives unless it was a Kemper. Was wondering if a different interface might help.

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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by jorri » Fri Oct 18, 2019 3:49 am

Could be a hundred different things. Raising the pickups might get a crisper tone.
The hi-z inputs will perhaps have different impedance that affects this for sure. No experience with i rig nor garageband, but it looks immensely cheap, thats not to say there is anything wrong with it.

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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by Larry Mal » Fri Oct 18, 2019 4:28 am

I will say that the preamps in the Scarlett are probably much, much better than whatever is in the iRig. You are talking about how many decibels of clean gain a preamp has, and I'm sure the Scarlett very much outperforms the iRig there, you also want to consider the noise floor and I am again sure that the iRig is very modest compared to the Scarlett.

I also wonder if the iRig passes along 24 bits and anything over 44.1k in sampling- you know what, I'll look into the specs when I get time today and verify what I think I already know.

Also, while I never really love any guitar modelling stuff, there is a lot of it that is much, much better that the stock Logic stuff. IK Multimedia Amplitube stuff is a lot better, I also kind of like the Waves GTR, the Native Instruments Guitar Rig is also decent.

I never use the Logic stuff. It always sounds much flatter than the other stuff to me. All of it is what it is, though, they indicate that you'll have a world of sounds at your disposal but really most of it isn't all that great.

At the moment I am kind of enjoying the Amplitube stuff, though. I have the Ampeg bass package- the first one- and I can get a very good bass sound out of that. I also bought the Fender amp package- the first one- and get decent sounds out of that.

I never understand why amp sims feel they have to include amp noise to their products, though.

But yeah- get the Scarlett, it's better than the iRig.
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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by timiscott » Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:22 am

Thanks - that's all really useful. I've been sitting in amplitude but never really used it, so I'll give it a try. It also seems like time to move up from the iRig too. Really appreciate the advice.

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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by Larry Mal » Fri Oct 18, 2019 6:42 am

Amplitube is pretty deep, actually. I've been spending more time with it trying to learn it a little better and it's got a lot of cool stuff to it. Pay attention to the virtual studio environment where you can select different "microphones" and cabinets and positions and such.

It's still just a virtual amp sim, and I always have criticisms with those. But it's capable of some pretty cool stuff.

I looked up the iRig Pro, by the way, which does offer 24 bit, as well as pretty high sampling rates (up to 96k in at least some cases).

Still, I cannot imagine that a particularly good preamp and digital converter is in those machines. The Scarlett will be a step up- those are actually pretty good for the money.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by postchrist » Fri Oct 18, 2019 7:36 am

sounds like the scarlett will work just fine for your purposes.. grab a solo on the cheap! used mine for 6 years i think? and still do very occasionally just for the convenience.
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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by timiscott » Tue Oct 22, 2019 2:21 am

Thank you so much - it's great to be able to access real expertise. I love this forum.

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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by timiscott » Mon Apr 27, 2020 1:26 am

In the end, I did take the advice here and bought a Scarlett Solo. Everything just sounds soooo much better now! Thanks again for the info.

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Re: V. Basic Question!

Post by somanytoys » Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:46 am

Never used one of those Scarletts, but read good things about them. Glad it all worked out well.
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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