GuitarJack 2: audio recording on-the-go with iPad, iPhone, iPod touch

Sonoma Wire Works has just announced an update to its GuitarJack interface. Named the GuitarJack 2, this hardware will let you record far more than just guitars onto your Apple mobile device.

Key features include a 1/4-inch input with configurable modes, a 1/8-inch stereo output with increased drive for headphones, and a 1/8-inch stereo input.

Two inputs mean it’s possible, with the right apps, to record two sound sources at once.

What You Can Do with GuitarJack

• Connect a wide range of instruments, microphones, and other audio hardware to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch via 1/4 inch instrument and 1/8 inch stereo mic/line inputs.
• Record in stereo, or simultaneously record your voice and instrument on separate tracks using GuitarJack with Apps like FourTrack and StudioTrack.
• Jam to the GuitarTone amps and effects App and the song tool (coming soon) in FourTrack and StudioTrack. These Apps are optimized to sound best with GuitarJack. More GuitarTone amps and effects enabled free while GuitarJack is connected. Also works well with most third party audio apps.
• Enhance the sound of your guitar with Taylor EQ, optimized for use with Taylor guitars and GuitarJack.
  Listen to music using the stereo output on GuitarJack, engineered to sound better than the line out on your iOS device.

Hardware Features

• 1/4 inch (6.5 mm) instrument input – nickel-plated solid brass Switchcraft (10,000 MTBF) jack
• 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) stereo mic/line input – (no phantom power is provided)
• 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) stereo headphone/line output with increased drive for headphones
• Dock connector designed for use without removing most cases
• Device powered for ultimate portability – requires no batteries or power adapter
• GuitarJack Model 2 includes a 24-bit AD/DA Converter, however only 16-bit audio playback and recording is currently possible until a firmware update becomes available. More about 24-bit
• Sleek and rugged aluminum shell

Software Features

(Control Panel in GuitarTone, FourTrack, StudioTrack & TaylorEQ)

• Level Control: 60 dB of continuous level control
• Input Modes:
  - Instrument (1/4 inch) – mono – Pad, Lo-Z or Hi-Z mode
  - Mic/Line (1/8 inch) – mono, dual-mono or stereo – Pad, Normal or Boost mode
  - Both inputs – Mic/Line input on the left channel and Instrument on the right channel
• Included Software:
  - GuitarTone and TaylorEQ are available free
  GuitarJack enables additional amps and effects in GuitarTone, FourTrack and StudioTrack while connected ($19.98 value)

Tech Specs

Line/Headphone Output

• One 1/8″ (3.5mm) stereo unbalanced output
• Continuously variable gain
• Responds to iPod volume up/down buttons
• Specifications:
  • Maximum output level (into 16ohms): 1.23Vrms (95mW)
  • Maximum output level (into 10kohms): 1.30Vrms (+4.5dBu)
  • Frequency response (20Hz to 20kHz): +0.02/-0.20dB
  • Noise level (RMS, A-weighted): -95dB
  • Dynamic range (RMS, A-weighted): 95dB
  • THD (600mVrms into 10kohms): 0.0025% (-92dB)
  • THD (0dBV into 10kohms): 0.0036% (-89dB)
  • THD (0dBV into 32ohms): 0.026%
  • Stereo crosstalk (100Hz to 10kHz): -70dB

Line/Mic Inputs:

• One 1/8″ (3.5mm) stereo unbalanced input
• Selectable pad
• Continuously variable gain
• Specifications:
  • Minimum input impedance: 4.7kohm
  • Maximum input level (pad on, line-input): 6.5Vrms (+18dBu)
  • Minimum input level (boost on, full scale mic): 7.5mVrms (-40dBu)
  • Frequency response (40Hz to 20kHz): +0.06/-0.65dB
  • Noise level (RMS, A-weighted): -88dB
  • Dynamic range (RMS, A-weighted): 88dB
  • THD (-3dBFS): 0.05% (-66dB)
  • Stereo crosstalk (1kHz): -86dB

Instrument Input:

• One 1/4″ (6.5mm) mono unbalanced input
• Selectable pad
• Selectable impedance
• Continuously variable gain
• Specifications:
  • Input impedance: 470kohm
  • Maximum instrument input level (Lo-Z Pad): 6.5Vrms (+18dBu)
  • Maximum instrument input level (Hi-Z, 1% THD): 700mVrms
  • Maximum instrument input level (Hi-Z, 10% THD): 1.5Vrms
  • Maximum instrument input level (Hi-Z, 20% THD): 2.5Vrms

Device connection

• Apple 30-pin dock connector
• iPhone 4 – Made for iPhone certified
• iPad 2 and iPad – Made for iPad certified
• iPod touch (2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation) – Made for iPod certified

Dimensions (std/metric)

• Length 2.46″/62.5mm (including 30 pin connector)
• Width 2.08″/53mm
• Height 0.62″/15.8mm
• Weight 2.25oz/65g

Materials

• Case
  • 6061 Aluminum
  • Black nickel plated with stainless steel side panels
  • Laser etched logo
• 1/4″ connector
  • Switchcraft
  • Nickel plated Brass
  • 10,000 insertion MTBF (with switchcraft plug)
• Electronics
  • RoHS certified components

Product page

djay: David Guetta Edition launched in App Store

There are plenty of mobile DJ applications coming to the market particularly for Apple’s popular iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.

Now DJ David Guetta has put his unique sound on an app. djay – David Guetta Edition is packed with his own beats and sounds.

This special edition of djay features an all-new, stunning Live Sampler, and contains exclusive David Guetta bonus material including twelve signature synth samples and drum beats, and five of Guetta’s electro tracks from the deluxe editions of his new album NOTHING BUT THE BEAT:

• Lunar
• Little Bad Girl Instrumental
• Sunshine
• Glasgow
• Paris

A hyper-realistic touchscreen interface and ultra-low latency converge to offer you a true professional mixing experience, right in the palm of your hand. You can perform, record mixes on-the-go, and remix live using the Sampler to trigger original David Guetta sounds in-sync with the music, hours of fun! Or simply enable Automix mode and let djay mix your favourite iPod playlist at your next party – auto-magically.

With unprecedented ease-of-use, innovative multi-touch mixing features, and a wide range of David Guetta bonus material, djay – David Guetta Edition gives you all the tools you need, offering a unique experience for beginners and professionals alike—all in your pocket.

Features

• Direct access to iPod library
• Integrated David Guetta section with 5 bonus tracks
• Live Sampler with 12 exclusive David Guetta signature sounds (6 synths + 6 drum beats)
• Hyper-realistic low-latency turntable interface
• Exclusive portrait (single deck) and landscape modes
• Automix mode with automatic transition control (Fade, Backspin, Reverse, Brake, and Random)
• Automatic beat and tempo matching (BPM sync)
• Looping (Auto, Manual, and Bounce)
• Cue Point Trigger
• Live Recording
• Seamless AirPlay integration (wirelessly transmit your mix to Apple TV or AirPort Express base station)
• Pre-Cueing (with optional headphone adapter)
• Full visual waveform
• High-quality scratching
• Mixer, tempo, and EQ controls
• Pitch-Bend
• Beat-synchronized scrubbing
• Support for all major audio formats including MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF (no support for DRM protected songs)
• Fully optimized for iOS multitasking and background operation

Supported Hardware (optional):

• Griffin DJ Cable (adaptor for Pre-Cueing with headphones)
• Numark iDJ Live (MIDI controller for a tactile turntable-like experience)

Get more information at the official web site or download from the iTunes Store.

Alchemy Mobile comes to iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad

The award-winning Alchemy software comes to an Apple device near you, as Camel Audio announces an iOS version is now available to download from the App Store.

Here’s a run down of the main features:

Touch Remote for Alchemy on Mac/PC

With the Pro Upgrade ($19.99/€15.99/£13.99), you can remotely control Alchemy or the free Alchemy Player on your desktop computer. This is the first iPhone App to offer a dedicated touch remote feature for a desktop synth! Easy one touch access to the remix pad and preset selection means you’ll spend more time getting inspired and less time reaching for your mouse.

Create Your Own Sounds with the Remix Pad

Discover an almost limitless palette of sounds using the unique remix pad to morph between sound variations. 16 controls including cutoff, resonance, ADSR and effects parameters are specially selected for each preset to make tweaking sounds to fit your music easier than ever.

External MIDI or Built In Keyboard

The Alchemy Mobile interface was designed with ease of use in mind. You can play the mini keyboard built into the app, which features scalable key size and one touch major and minor keys so even the clumsiest fingers can play along with friends. You can also plug in an external Core MIDI keyboard.

Copy/Paste and Loop Player

Using Alchemy with other apps like NanoStudio and Garageband is easy, thanks to the included loop player. Simply paste a loop from your sequencer into Alchemy Player, hit record, and play in your killer bass part, and then paste the resulting loop back into the sequencer. Alchemy Player is the first iPhone app to feature exposé, which makes switching between pages a breeze.

Most Powerful Synthesis Engine on iOS

Want to know why Alchemy Mobile has such amazing sounds which can change so drastically with a tap of the remix pad? The performance controls and remix pad are linked to the most powerful synthesis engine on iOS, which allows you to morph and change the sound in radical ways not possible with any other synth. Alchemy’s VA synth, sampler and granular and additive resynthesis, combined with almost unlimited modulation sources, effects and a flexible arpeggiator are used to power this expressive way of creating new sounds for your music.

Expandable with Sound Libraries

The free version of Alchemy Mobile includes 25 sounds, with a further 25 available when you register for free with Camel Audio. You can expand Alchemy Mobile with a wide range of sound libraries such as BigTone, Cinematic and Arp Dimensions from world class sound designers. The libraries each contain 50 sounds (400 variations) and are available as in-app purchases for $4.99/€3.99/£2.99.

Free Features

• Remix pad to morph between sound variations and create your own sound
• 16 performance controls so you can easily tweak sounds to fit your music
• Most powerful iOS synthesis engine with VA, sampler, granular and additive resynthesis
• External MIDI keyboard support
• Loop player with 25 drum loops included
• Copy and paste support for easy integration with sequencers
• iPad native version included
• Built in keyboard with scalable keys
• One touch major and minor chords
• 25 sounds with 25 more free when you register
• Add on sound libraries available as in-app purchases

Pro Features

• Remote control of Alchemy or free Alchemy Player on your desktop computer
• Free download of Mobile version (if available) of desktop sound libraries you own
• 125 sounds
• 50 loops

Here’s the iTunes link.

22 iPad Music Creation Apps

The iPad is a beautiful device for all kinds of music-making and synthesiser goodness. Here’s our selection of iPad-ready music creation and learning apps that we think you’ll like (and if you’re a Mac user who likes these, why not peruse our 35 piano, synth and sound apps from the Mac App Store too?):

Click on the title to go to the iTunes Store for more information.

ThumbJam – $6.99

Over 30 high-quality multi-sampled real instruments and hundreds of musical scales allow you to play a range of styles.

It’s endorsed by Jordan Rudess, and comes with two of his signature sounds.

TouchOSC – $4.99

For sending Open Sound Control (OSC) messages to other devices via Wi-Fi. Includes touch controls for faders, rotary controls, toggle buttons, XY pads, multi-faders, multi-toggles, LEDs and labels, with full multi-touch of up to five controls at once.

miniSynth PRO – $9.99

Grab hold of analog synthesis on your iPad with this completely revamped version of the original iPhone synth.

Fully-featured, professional grade virtual analog synth incorporating an improved version of the zero-latency “push-pull” Yonac keyboard algorithm.

A huge range of specs include dual subtractive / FM virtual-analogue polyphonic / monophonic synthesis, fully configurable FM filter or modulation based tone shaping, 16-bit quality stereo output, dual syncable oscillators, six optimised custom waveforms per oscillator, adjustable dual keyboards, BPM-based arpeggiator module, and so much more.

Korg iElectribe – $19.99

A faithful virtual recreation of Korg’s ELECTRIBE-R sound engine, featuring analog synth modelling, PCM samples, virtual valve force tube modelling, patterns and effects.

Pianist Pro – $9.99

The original iPhone piano now arrives in a pro version for the iPad, featuring full recording and overdub, standard MIDI output, MIDI to OSC, multiple instruments, pitch bend, modulation and swell pedal, arpeggiator and a drum machine.

Pocket Organ C3B3 – $2.99

Optimised for the larger iPad screen, play a simulation of the Hammond Organ using a virtual tonewheel system controlled by nine drawbars as per the real thing. Features include scrollable keyboard, transposition, rotary speaker effect, harmonic percussion effect, reverb, overdrive, vibrato, chorus, and glissando via the accelerometer.

SunVox – $4.99

Another iPad app endorsed by Jordan Rudess, SunVox is a small and fast multi-platform pattern-based (tracker) sequencer with modular synths. This means you can use it across different operating systems.

Features include a modular interface, optimised synth algorithms, Wi-Fi import and export, including WAV samples, various generators and a sampler, DC blocking filter, effects including delay, distortion and echo, a three-band equaliser, low-, high-, band-pass and notch filters, flanger, LFO, loop, reverb, a vocal filter and vibrato.

bleep!BOX – $9.99

A combination drum machine and synthesiser box with sounds generated in real time (not from samples).

Features include real-time processing, audio copying, classic x0x drum emulation, analog style 2-Osc synths, 10 parts, 50+ parameters, ringmod, FM, PhaseMod, Sync, Distortion, global delay FX, eight waveforms, tempo, swing, pattern length, saving of patches and patterns, step sequencing and recording, automation, song mode, and recording songs and patterns to WAV files.

Ellatron HD – $5.99

Experience a virtual Mellotron synth on your iPad, featuring 27 voices, 16 banks of programmable chord buttons, ‘fat keys’ for better playability, save and restore of voice settings, and ready to take on the road. Jordan Rudess say’s “it’s pretty cool”.

Looptastic HD – $14.99

Create remixes and electronic compositions simply by dragging and dropping loops, using the built-in DJ mixer and adding effects with the touch pad.

Features include over 900 samples plus the ability to record your own, a dozen real time effects with X-Y touch pad, including Bit Crusher, Multimode Fingering, flanger, delay and glitchy repeater, time stretching, triple-zone mixer, scratch strip for triggering samples part-way through, importing of a range of audio sample file types, export in 16-bit AIFF, and sharing via SoundCloud.

GrooveMaker Hip-Hop for iPad – $9.99

The application for creating non-stop electronic, dance and hip-hop tracks in real-time.

Features include instantaneous control of eight stereo loop tracks, play, mix and randomise loops on the fly, combine studio-quality loops, manipulate loops in real time, arrange grooves with drag and drop, save and recall tracks and upload WAV files via Wi-Fi.

Nota HD – $5.99

Designed for pianists of all levels, Nota HD features piano chord and scale browser, piano and staff note locator, note quiz and reference library with over 100 symbols.

Raindrops for iPad – $1.99

Play music simply by touching the screen, either solo or over the Internet.

Synth – $0.99

Simply titled “Synth”, this cheaper app offers over 40 instruments, mod and pitch bend wheels, adjustable delay and distortion plus a built in sampler.

Bebot – Robot Synth – $1.99

Feature packed polyphonic musical synth with a unique multitouch control method — an onscreen animated robot character who moves and sings while you play.

Four synth modes, analog-sounding filters, versatile delay/loops, overdrive distortion, programmable scales, and full touchscreen control.

Music Studio – $14.99

A complete music production environment featuring dynamically configurable 85-key keyboard, 74 studio-recorded instruments, low-latency, high polyphony, real time effects, 128-track sequencer, note editing, quantising, transposition, repeat, move, velocity and so on, Wi-Fi transfer, MIDI import/export.

iSequence for iPad – $14.99

Music creation studio featuring eight-track sequencer, flexible mixer with DSP, real-time recording and control, 160 instruments, pattern editing, sampler, and wi-fi file sharing.

Electrify – $14.99

A virtual sample groovebox for iPad, designed to combine the best features of existing hardware grooveboxes and the ease of use of software applications.

Features include an eight-track sequencer with individual track lengths, two chainable effect buses with 8 effects, direct access to track parameters, step sequencer, pattern matrix, seven parameters editable per step, professional sample library, import of samples, sample editing, copy and paste to other iPad apps.

Mellotronics M3000 for iPad – $11.99

The only moxMatrix – $4.99

Turns iPad into a canvas for rhythm and melody, featuring a multicoloured, multitouch pulsating groovebox.

Features include tone matrix interface, loop creation, sampler, alternative scales, pattern storage and jam mode.

olsynth – $6.99

Classic monophonic synth with a clean and simple interface. Settings include dual oscillator with four waveforms, fine tune, modulation, filter, envelope volume and filter, and arpeggio.

TuneLab Piano Tuner

– $299.99

A highly specialised app designed for professional piano tuners. It can be calibrated to an accuracy of 0.02 cents, stores hundreds of tuning files for individual pianos, plus historical temperaments for period music, automatic note switching, plus a range of displays to aid in tuning.

Mac user? Don’t miss our 35 Piano, Synth and Sound Apps from the Mac App Store feature.

JR Hexaton Pro comes to iPhone: Jordan Rudess approved!

Developers continue to push the envelope for using the iPhone as a music creation device. JR Hexaton Pro is one of the latest rhythm generators/live performance apps available.

Pairing Amidio, makers of other hit iPhone apps such as Star Guitar and noise.io with legendary keyboard player Jordan Rudess (who demoed Yamaha’s Tenori-On last year) and you know you’re going to get something pretty special.

It’s pretty unique too, being the first drum machine / rhythm and loop generator built on a hexagonal playing surface. It also responds to the iPhone’s movements, making for some interesting live performance possibilities.

Amidio describes it:

“JR Hexatone Pro is something totally new. There’s nothing like it, it creates sonic textures based on absolutely unique principles. It can be called a 6-channel 6-directional step sequencer with variable step length and artificial intelligence of each channel. Given that you can easily load your custom samples, you can create anything, any kind of loops, for all music styles.

The best way to see what’s going on is to watch Jordan demo the app.

Alternatively, check out the factory presets here:

It’s available from the iTunes Store right now.