Ok. Just got a ipod touch 4th gen as a gift from my awesome lady. Started doing the research. There's a
lot more to be said on this issue.
Going to be brief because I need to go get some breakfast ?
Firstly, I'm not surprised Highway Chile was unimpressed. The original version was using amplitube's old models which are now obsolete essentially. The modelling quality of, for example, the iphone/ipod amplitube Fender is as good as the PC app which, as we've discussed before, may not give you the organic low end overdrive of the real thing, but is certainly great for making demos and practising.
But then the bad news. Turns out that the interfaces that connect through the headphone jack introduce noise and "feedback" (don't quite understand why feedback per se, but this is a real issue). Check this out. Irig, vs. a dock (30pin iphone/ipod base plug) connector:
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Turns out ikmultimedia aren't the only ones in this game. The best connector appears to be the guitarjack from sonoma wire works who also make the much loved 4 track recording app. Now this little guy does connect through the dock. It also has a built in line-level input (although only through an 1/8" jack so conventional mikes will need an adaptor).
http://www.sonomawireworks.com/guitarjack/
They are also bringing out their own guitar and effect modeller that will have the advantage of being compatible with their much more hi-fi input option, and will be able to move tracks more easily back and forth from recording apps than amplitube.
Then there's another modeller (that also works with guitarjack - amplitube did not, not sure if the new guitarjack for iphone 4/ipod touch 4th gen does yet): ampkit. This is just another option and clearly more flexible for use than amplitube.
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However. For me, the amplitube Fender still has more of what I want. The Fender amps. The amazing IKmultimedia spring reverb sim (better than any pedal out there) and their likewise brilliant tape echo sim. I don't want every effect under the sun (and I certainly have less than no interest in Marshall JCM900s). Now it seems the way to do this is to get the free amplitube Fender - which comes with a Deluxe Reverb (score!) and then individually buy the handful of extras I want - the '59 Bassman, and the tape echo. That'd be me for recording and practising guitar - without extraneous distracting crap - and probably still cheaper than any of the for-a-fee starter packages.
Question is - will I be able to use it with a 30pin dock connector for low-noise recording? The noise test (1st vid) suggests that this is possible somehow. I think though, what they did there was recorded through a dock connector and then reamped through amplitube. So no real time playing through that ☹
Anyway, here's the amplibube Fender review. Please ignore the fact that this fella has presumably never played a blackface Fender since he's awfully surprised that the models start to break up when the volume hits 3-5 ? It's otherwise an excellent review from someone using an iphone for almost all of his recording:
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I'm impressed by this whole scene. This is a going concern. These devices are amazingly powerful little computers and you can do a lot. Furthermore, the pricing model for apps is in another world compared to stand alone products (such as multi fx units, or standalone recorders). So while they may not be perfect, the cost is very low for a huge amount of functionality.
Edit: Speaking of which, another key reason I wanted an ipod touch is because I shoot a lot of film - often on old cameras without light meters, and the lightmeter app is peerless. They have even started using it on commercial film shoots. Because not only do I get to estimate my exposure setting, but having a built in camera, I can actually preview it. This means I can effectively get perfect exposures without fail, every time on a 40 year old twin-lens reflex camera with no meter. That would make the touch worth it even if it literally did nothing else at all.
