IK Multimedia Blueboard

Started by mbenigni, October 15, 2013, 07:32:09 AM

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Elantric

#50
http://www.kemper-amps.com/forum/index.php/Thread/14767-iRig-Blue-Board-as-a-Kemper-foot-controller/
iRig Blue Board as a Kemper foot controller.
May 31st 2014
Yes, believe it or not it works. There are pros and cons...
I've been using my Pod HD500 as a controller with much success so far. It does everything you need however it's a bit much to lug around. Especially the traveling I do. Tonight I'm taking the red eye LA to Boston for a one nighter at the Berklee Performance center.

How does it work?
You need a iRig Blue Board, an iPhone or iPad running the BlueBoard and MidiBridge app. A compatible midi interface. I have a maudio midisport 1X1
The MidiBridge app was key to making this work.

Pros:
1. Very compact light weight. Fits in your gig bag.
2. No cables. The BlueBoard is Bluetooth and battery powered.
3. BlueBoard has 2 exp pedal inputs, cc # editable.
4. Can do program change and/or control change.

Cons:
1. Only 4 buttons, but it has 32 banks. You'll need a strategy for more control.
I'm going to try a Boss FS6 into exp input 1 for stomp on/off and I'll try a exp pedal for vol + wha in exp 2.
2. There is a very slight delay compared to the pod hd. It doesn't bug me so far.

One thing to know if you want to try this.
The BlueBoard app default sends midi to all channels. Change it to ch 1 or whatever. When the Kemper and app is set to omni you'll get 16 PC at once, not good.

I need more time with this setup to perfect it.

Emilio

mbenigni

This was my plan when I first bought the blueboard. Unfortunately the iRig Pro doesn't have a midi out. :/

Toby Krebs

Curious about FS6 into Blueboard for stomp on/ off etc...expression pedal does not work well with it.

Elantric

#53
QuoteCurious about FS6 into Blueboard for stomp on/ off etc...expression pedal does not work well with it.


AFAIK - BlueBoard's two External jacks only support two Expression Pedals "EXT 1, EXT 2"




Hopefully at 2015 Winter NAMM  - more Bluetooth Pedal Board competition unfolds !

Elantric

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/B00BIPL9JW/R1TF3TTCIVCC5G/ref=mw_dp_cr?cursor=2&sort=rd
QuoteI bought the iRig blueboard knowing that I could use it immediately with my Macbook as it says in their website that Mac OS X 10.7 OR LATER is required so I assumed that the new Yosemite 10.10.1 would be compatible. A warning or a simple note in their website that for now the latest OS X is incompatible would have been very helpful. Now I have a useless equipment sitting in my house, and IK Multimedia telling me the update will be available SOON is pretty vague and very unprofessional. I do hope they could resolve this issue immediately as I know the iRig blueboard is a very good equipment as long as it would work without issues with my Mac. Also, a simple apology in their website to the users who bought and will buy this equipment with the same situation as me would be nice.

BEWARE! INCOMPATIBLE WITH OS X YOSEMITE

supernicd

As much as I don't like giving money to IKM, I'm actually considering one of these, as I'm not really aware of anything comparable on the market.  Have there been any updates to improve these since the last posts?  Are people that own them generally happy with them?  Do they generally work with non-IKM apps?
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

Elantric

#56
Latest Bluboard updates have improved the latency, and if you use Amplitube - you can use the Blueboard for the new Amplitube Looper rather effectively

But the MIDI CC# implementation is poor  - it can not be configured for momentary - only latched
and you can't use more than one Blueboard  - I was going to buy two, set up one Blueboard for Patch changes, and a 2nd Blueboard for Stomp boxes -

Its OK for the 1st generation Bluetooth MIDI pedal,but today I'm working on using a Quicco Sound M1.i and an old XT Live as a wireless MIDI Controller solution for my iPad
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=11231.0


supernicd

Thanks for the thoughts.  I don't intend for this to become a stage rig for me.  Looking mostly for something that is very small and portable.  The bluetooth feature is nice since I could connect it at the same time as my Focusrite iTrack Dock is connected.  Planning to use it for things like controlling guitar MFX apps (e.g. Bias FX), sending CCs to synthesizer paramters, and perhaps controlling loopers (e.g. Loopy HD).

The non-ability to configure it to send momentary CCs is  bit troubling.  My main concern though is obsoletion through failure of IK to update the firmware etc.

Is there a way to switch it between patch change and CC mode without touching the app?

The Quicco Sound M1.i and Pod XT live looks like an intereting way to go, but would be a much larger footprint than I'm looking for in this use case.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

Elantric

#58
Quote
Is there a way to switch it between patch change and CC mode without touching the app?

Sadly No

QuoteLooking mostly for something that is very small and portable.  I could connect [with] my Focusrite iTrack Dock

http://us.focusrite.com/ios-audio-interfaces/itrack-dock#

Focusrite iTrack Dock includes a built in USB Host port on rear.


Id look at the Logidy UMI-3 + M-Audio EXP-1 Expression Pedal and connect it directly to the Focusrite iTrack Dock's USB Host port
http://www.logidy.com/?pid=1


or

ICON G-Board
http://djworx.com/review-icon-i-creativ-and-g-board-midi-controllers/

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/998958-REG/icon_digital_usa_g_board_black_g_board_mini_usb.html



or KMI SoftStep 2


More info here
https://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=141706

supernicd

Thanks, these are good suggestions.  One limitation of the iTrack Dock's MIDI USB port is that (I believe) it can only support one simulaneous device.  At least the Focusrite web site says that USB hubs are not supported.  So any of these solutions would limit my ability to have a keyboard connected at the same time - woulld work well for guitar control though.

That's why the Blueboard's bluetooth over MIDI seemed ideal.  Since it doesn't appear to be anyone's favorite device though, maybe I'm just better holding off to see what else comes to market in this space.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

Magiamusical

For those who have a iMac Mid 2011 that doesn't have USB 4 you can install a IOGEAR Bluetooth 4.0 USB Micro Adapter and it recognizes the IK Blueboard. The only thing I had to do was to turn off the onboard Bluetooth. Now learning to program the Blueboard.
Godin LGXT, Les Paul Studio w/GK3, JTV89F w/GK3, GR-55

Elantric


mbenigni

#62
Quote from: SuperNiCd on May 31, 2015, 10:46:49 AM
That's why the Blueboard's bluetooth over MIDI seemed ideal.  Since it doesn't appear to be anyone's favorite device though, maybe I'm just better holding off to see what else comes to market in this space.

For what it's worth, I like my Blueboard well enough.  I recently started using a SonicPort VX instead of my trusty iRig Pro, because I needed a convenient mic input - and as a result lost the iRig's h/w MIDI input.  That led to my taking the Blueboard out of mothballs and getting accustomed to it again, and it's actually working out well so far.  Latency is much less of an issue than I expected - in fact I don't really notice it at all.  The only downsides are the limitations in configurability, e.g. inability to mix PC and CC modes, no way to specify toggle vs. momentary, no way to assign ranges to expression pedals (I ALWAYS need inverted ranges for something!), etc.  And I'm not crazy about having to leave an extra app running in the background - I wish the Blueboard were instead programmed semi-permanently with an iOS editor.  Also, those little rubber pedals don't provide much in the way of tactile feedback.

But taking it for what it is, it works solidly, and it's very, very convenient.  Here's a picture of mine with a Hotone Soul Press and 6" TRS connector - very compact.  And the second picture is of my accidentally color-coordinated practice/ go-rig:  SonicPort VX and iPad on a mic stand, Blueboard and Soul Press on the floor.



whippinpost91850

Mark, which amp/effects software did you end up using, on your iPad, for your to go rig? Paul

mbenigni

#64
Quote from: whippinpost91850 on June 02, 2015, 10:22:00 AM
Mark, which amp/effects software did you end up using, on your iPad, for your to go rig? Paul

Still kind of a work in progress.  I really want the core of this rig to be Bias Amps/Bias FX, since it's the easiest package to make sound good, and I dig the UI.  But it's still got some major bugs, and the MIDI implementation is rather limited.  For these reasons, I find myself circling back to Yonac Tonestack.  I hate most of Yonac's presets, but when I work with the components (of which there are a very generous variety) I get excellent results, and reliably low latency.  Moreover, Yonac has really extensive MIDI learn mapping.  One trick I discovered last night is that I can use Yonac's ABY split, mute the amp (or some other effect) in one channel, and then use the mixer's balance control to achieve an inverted volume pedal.  This is really important with the Blueboard and iOS apps, where MIDI implementation is usually streamlined to a CC assignment or learn function, and there's no way to invert a MIDI CC range.  Right now, Yonac set up in this way is the easiest way for me to be able to crossfade between a guitar tone and another app generating synths or whatever.  (Crossfading like this is one of those things I consider to be bread-and-butter, but between the hoops I have to jump through to pull it off, typically, and the fact that no one else is complaining, I seem to be the only one...)  But, by contrast, Yonac's UI drives me bonkers.  You can't have everything I guess. 

So anyway, my iPad task bar, which used to have stuff like facebook, email, etc. now has all the apps I'd launch in a typical music-head session, left-to-right:  Blueboard, Audiobus (slightly less flaky than Inter-app Audio on average), JamOrigin MIDI Guitar, SampleTank, BiasFX, and Cubasis.  But Yonac is a contender to replace BiasFX.  Another variation, when I really feel like getting my hands dirty, is to just launch AudioBus, Bias Amps, and something with interesting reverbs, e.g. R0verb, or FluxFX.  (Just rediscovered the latter, left over from beta testing, and might just have to buy myself a copy.)

Still waiting for the Kemper to return from the repair depot.  There hasn't been any further discussion re: the MIDI enhancements I requested, so unless I plug it in and the vast improvement in tone makes me pee myself  :o I'll probably stay the course and sell it.

Elantric

#65
Last week I was able to visit Thomas Nordegg, and we ran thru many of IOS Amps sims last week, on my iPad AIR 128GB +Line6 SonicPort VX.

Thomas Nordegg was only familiar with BIAS and JamUp Pro, be we ran through others at low volume feeding  Line6 SonicPort VX Left Out into small 2007 era 15 watt Vox Pathfinder Guitar Amp. 

The following IOS apps sounded good, many had better clean dynamic response:

Agile Partner's AmpKit+    - with Peavey Revalver technology integrated in
http://agilepartners.com/apps/ampkit/

QuoteKEY FEATURES
All AmpKit gear is precision-modeled based on actual circuit diagrams of highly-sought-after, real-world products
Thunderously accurate high gain amps and effects, no other app comes close for hard rock and metal tone
Enjoy total effects freedom: add up 32 pedals per setup on newer iOS devices, place pedals anywhere in the effects chain, and even repeat the same pedal several times such as multiple delays or phasers
Mix and match amps, cabinets and mics for virtually unlimited tone permutations
Background Audio: AmpKit can run in the background, great for using with other guitar apps like GuitarToolkit and TabToolkit
Sophisticated recording capabilities with mixing and non-destructive re-amping; easily share your recordings via Copy-Paste, SoundCloud and email
A massive collection of presets: 156 in total, with easy setup sharing via email
World-class bass amplification: official, feature-rich Trace Elliot and Ashdown® models, plus additional models of Fender® and Ampeg® bass amps
Gorgeous look and feel with full Retina graphics, simple and fun to use with convenience features like Favorites, QuickJump, and Setup Locking
Jam along to your iTunes music library or upload your own backing tracks
Works with virtually all headset and dock guitar interfaces
Ultra-low latency, virtually undetectable
Tuner and Metronome featuring technology used in GuitarToolkit


Line-6 Mobile POD ( wins my award for most improved IOS amp sim of 2015)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mobile-pod-guitar-amps-effects/id475002772?mt=8


QuoteLine 6 Mobile POD® puts the world's best amplifiers and cabs in the palm of your hand. Featuring legendary guitar amps and effects, Mobile POD® is the ultimate guitar tone app. Now it's compatible with all major core audio interfaces—including Line 6® Sonic Port™ VX, Sonic Port™—so you can dial up amazing POD tones with the hardware you already own.

Mobile POD® also supports Apple's Inter-App Audio feature, so you can record POD tones into GarageBand® and other music apps and recording apps.

PLEASE READ BEFORE DOWNLOADING: This app requires an in-app purchase to activate compatibility with Core Audio interfaces. Or you can connect your Line 6® Sonic Port™ VX, Sonic Port™ and use the app for free. To check out Mobile POD® without a Line 6 device, or completing the in-app purchase, download the app then use the four looping guitar riffs to explore the included amps and effects—and tweak them in real time.

65 MODELS OF CLASSIC GUITAR AMPS AND EFFECTS

Leading guitarists depend on POD for amazing tone—and Mobile POD® brings these legendary sounds to your mobile device. Mix and match models to create your own unique sound, save your custom presets and then dial them up in an instant. With the Mobile POD® guitar app, you can jam, practice and record with an incredible collection of amps and cabs.

32 Guitar Amps based on*
• 1964 Fender® Deluxe Reverb®
• 1959 Fender® Bassman®
• 1960 Tweed Fender® Champ®
• 1965 Blackface Fender® Twin Reverb®
• 1968 Marshall® Plexi (100 watt)
• Marshall® JTM-45 meets Budda® Twinmaster
• Budda® Twinmaster head
• 1960 Vox® AC15
• 1985 Mesa/Boogie® Mark IIc+
• 1995 Mesa/Boogie® Dual Rectifier® Head
• Dumble® Overdrive Special (Drive Channel)
• 1989 Soldano® SLO Super Lead Overdrive
• 1987 Roland® JC-120 Jazz Chorus
...and more

16 Speaker Cabinets based on*
• 1960 Fender® Tweed Champ®
• 1964 Fender® Deluxe Reverb®
• 1965 Fender® Blackface Twin Reverb®
• 1959 Fender® Bassman®
• 1960 Vox® AC15
• 1995 Matchless Chieftain
• 1996 Marshall® (Celestion® Vintage 30s)
...and more

From classic reverb to blazing overdrive to surf-style tremolo, Mobile POD® will inspire your playing with 16 jaw-dropping effects. Choose from an amazing collection of delays, mods, filters, reverbs and more. You can even combine effects and create your own custom sounds. There's no need to lug around a bulky pedalboard—Mobile POD puts a world of amazing effects at your fingertips.

16 Stompbox and Rack Effects:
• Overdrive
• Compressor
• Tremolo
• Chorus
• Flanger
• Rotary
• Delay
• Room Reverb
• Spring Reverb
• 4-Band EQ
• Wah
...and more


----
Yonac ToneStack
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tonestack/id870269510?mt=8




QuoteWhat's New in Version 1.4
• Lots of AWESOME new features for the inStudio 8 track recorder:
— You can now use up to four FX for each track as inserts!
— Use inserts to add FX during mixing, or to conveniently and non-destructively re-amp your existing tracks
— You can use any unlocked effect, amp or cabinet in ToneStack as an insert
— The user friendly UI allows you to easily add, reorder and remove inserts: and to view an effect's controls, just double tap its box on inStudio
— inStudio also introduces two sends, each with its own inserts, as well a separate master output with its own inserts group. Each track comes with variable Send 1 and Send 2 levels
— In addition, unlocking inStudio gives you two exclusive production-minded FX: Studio EQ, a high quality 5-band stereo equalizer, and Studio Compressor, a classic stereo dynamic compressor.

• OnStage is revamped: you can now create performance groups to organize your existing presets into folders for different situations. Each performance group gives you 128 pads to link your presets. In addition, you can reorder presets and more!
• You can now control OnStage via MIDI! Just go to Settings -> MIDI and specify whether you want MIDI program changes to be routed to OnStage or to the Preset Manager
• ALL distortions, fuzzes and overdrives have been gone over and fine-tuned. The lows/mids response is way more natural and the tones are even ballsier and more realistic.
• Implemented 100% silent preset switching
• Fully updated for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
• Many other improvements

mbenigni

QuoteLine-6 Mobile POD ( wins my award for most improved IOS amp sim of 2015)

Interesting to hear this.  I launched it and played around briefly after receiving my SonicPort, and I was actually pretty impressed.  I wondered why this app hadn't gotten any attention here - maybe I got lucky having discovered it after the improvements.  I'll need to get back and spend more time with it.

whippinpost91850

Thanks for the in depth report on your iPad trip. Do you find huge switching delays in Yonik when switching presets, I think I remember Elantric mentioning this and I haven't had time to go back and check

mbenigni

Quote from: whippinpost91850 on June 02, 2015, 02:10:03 PM
Thanks for the in depth report on your iPad trip. Do you find huge switching delays in Yonik when switching presets, I think I remember Elantric mentioning this and I haven't had time to go back and check

I've mainly been using the Blueboard switches to turn effects on and off, but I'll test this for you and let you know.

mbenigni

#69
Paul, I did some testing with Blueboard patch changes in Yonac, and the results were... mixed.  What I found was the first time a patch was loaded after the app was launched, it would take a very long time - something on the order of 2 seconds.  But after it had been loaded once - and cached into RAM, presumably - it would load very quickly on subsequent footswitch events.  So you'd need to cycle through all of the patches you intended to use, i.e. the 4 or 5 in the current bank, before you began your performance.  Having done that, the patch changes were fast enough for my purposes - I'd guess like 200ms or so.  I find that wherever I need timbral changes to be more immediate than that, toggling an effect or two within a patch works better anyway.

Having said that... I spent that time with Yonac, then switched back to Bias, and it was like night and day.  I just vastly prefer Bias' tones, especially where high gain amps are concerned.  I like Yonac's effects and routing a lot, but good amp tones that I don't have to wrestle with too much are more important to me.  I was able to use Bias FX's IAA feature to get the Bias amp models I like combined with the Yonac crossfading trick, but that would be a lot of moving parts to manage in terms of loading apps, presets, etc.  So for now I'm back to Bias FX, and using MIDI Designer to split and modify MIDI messaging to disparate apps.  This, too, is more "moving parts" than I'd prefer, and with Blueboard, JamOrigin, and a SoftSynth thrown in for good measure, it's not really stable.  For live performance (should I ever get back around to that) I'll probably go back to the iRig Pro, a hardware MIDI interface and connection, and the MIDI Solutions Event Processor to split and invert MIDI messaging.  That eliminates the need for the Blueboard app and the MIDI Designer app, neither of which inspire much confidence IMO.

In other news:  I'm learning some hard lessons about running multiple apps with background audio enabled - namely that the support for this is unpredictable.  It can seem like two apps sum their audio just fine, and then you'll find that some other app or event (e.g. a MIDI message) will arbitrarily introduce noise.  As much as I hate running yet another app, turning off background audio and mixing via AudioBus often resolves.

Then, of course, I'll sometimes find that latency and/or noise spikes for no reason, and all I can do is close all open apps and start from scratch, and everything's fine again.  So far so maddening.  Moral of the story:  software = flexible, hardware = reliable.  But hopefully, if I shoot at this rig long enough, I'll make it bullet-proof.

supernicd

QuoteFor what it's worth, I like my Blueboard well enough.

Thanks for the additional review.  I'll give this some more thought.  It is kind of a unique product at this point.

Completely agree about the reliability of software based systems.  Seems like iOS on the whole is very stable and if you are going with a single app setup, it would probably work well, but once you start chaining things together, there's the potential for trouble. 

At one point, a decade or so ago, I was using almost exclusively software.  PC, VSTs, etc.  I've really come to appreciate a hardware approach for gig reliability since that time.  Of course they are all still digital and run software, but it was designed specifically for the purpose.  I do still bring an iPad and at this point use it for some keyboard tones, but I have a backup plan in hardware if something goes wrong.
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

mbenigni

QuoteAt one point, a decade or so ago, I was using almost exclusively software.  PC, VSTs, etc.  I've really come to appreciate a hardware approach for gig reliability since that time.

Yeah, I think we're on a similar trajectory there.  I generally find that a hybrid of hardware and software is the best way to get all the functionality (and reliability) that I want.  But the siren song of convenience keeps pulling me back to an iPad-only rig - with the vague hope that I'll learn my way through the minefield of fail-states and trust it (or trust myself with it LOL) eventually.

It's hard work being this profoundly lazy.   ;D

mbenigni

QuoteLast week I was able to visit Thomas Nordegg...

That must have been an interesting visit.  Wish I could have been a fly on the wall there.

Elantric

#73
QuoteThat must have been an interesting visit.  Wish I could have been a fly on the wall there.

We are currently collaborating on several R&D projects  - Our collective knowledge and resources yield mutual respect, and hopefully this effort can develop further with benefit for all


Capital Records Hollywood Basement Studio



Steve Vai's Medium gig FX board

mbenigni

Great photos - thanks for sharing.