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"iloud"


ColonelForbin
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On my lunch break today, I was unwrapping all the new gear that Sweetwater just sent me, and among the various goodies (Sweetwater lives by the name - they literally send you packets of candy!), there was an ad for this thing called "iLoud". I think the AMPLIFi sits along these lines of product, but the AMPLIFi definitely has more going on, both in terms of power, and the use of an actual Celestion speaker. Though it's interesting that IK Multimedia call it:

 

"The first studio-quality bluetooth speaker designed for musicians like YOU!"

 

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/iloud/

 

iLoud image

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The candy that came with my Amplifi was stale....leftovers from Halloween?  (my birthday)  I took a picture of it while unboxing.

 

Hey, you're a Sweetwater guy...you think they'd do a swap of my Amplifi 150 for the HD500X?  It's the same money.  I'd be okay paying S&H.

 

I did A LOT of forum reading, Googling and Youtubing research before I got the Amplifi 150.  I thought this had to be it, I clean up the living room of the mixer, cables, RP500, cables, two amps (stereo) and cables.  Did I mention there were cables?  All for this one "box" that would do it all with an iPad.

 

While it was on a FedEx truck from Fort Wayne to my place I continued forum reading.  Then came across your post about the Dream Rig and how the HD500X is the center piece.  Then did more research on the HD500X itself.  Holy Crap.  I want.  I want to swap.

 

The iLoud -- for another $100 one can get the Amplifi 75.  I thought about it, but something about using an iPad for effects seemed wrong to me at the time.  Whoops.  Now I have an Amplifi :-)

 

 - T

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Similar to the Istomp http://digitech.com/en-US/products/istomp. The pricing scheme seems to be to buy this cheap fx pedal and then use the app store to load tones on it. Line six could benefit from a tone catalogue on their own section of the Apple App Store, but I am worried that we'll lose the ability to exchange free custom tones.

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The iStomp was $150 and the effects were a buck or two per. MF blew em out for $40-50 bucks, and Digi made the effects free. No one knows why........Oh, and I ended up with a THR 10 for my battery powered needs. Those PCM tones sound pretty good to me.

 

BTW, the THR5 was a toy......Couldn't even get a decent clean at a decent volume, and the 5 presets on the 10 are pretty cool. So the THR for desktop and mobile, the Amplifi for bluetooth and play along, and the 11R for recording and tieing it all together. And then there are all the iPad modeling apps...... The only tube amp that interests me now would be a Tweaker head instead of the 5e3.

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The iStomp was $150 and the effects were a buck or two per. MF blew em out for $40-50 bucks, and Digi made the effects free. No one knows why.....

 

As I recall, Digitech gave away all their effects free of charge as a "mea culpa" to their users and customers. Following an IOS upgrade, the iStomps quit working with the iPhones until Digitech upgraded software from their end. As can be expected, this pissed off a lot of customers. To regain customer confidence and to extend their apologies, Digitech for a limited time gave away all but one of their effects free of charge. Around the same time, MF was selling the pedals for $39 each.  It meant you could buy three pedals for less than the previous cost of one pedal and get all forty or so downloadable pedals for free! Quite a fantastic deal for sure.  AE

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Regarding a swap, I would suggest contacting your Sweetwater rep.  I am sure they would be willing to work something out.

 

You would need to keep in mind that SW would not be able to re-sell your equipment as new, so they might not be willing to do an even swap.

 

I would also suggest researching how much it would cost to sell through eBay

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Hey, you're a Sweetwater guy...you think they'd do a swap of my Amplifi 150 for the HD500X?  It's the same money.  I'd be okay paying S&H.

 

While it was on a FedEx truck from Fort Wayne to my place I continued forum reading.  Then came across your post about the Dream Rig and how the HD500X is the center piece.  Then did more research on the HD500X itself.  Holy Crap.  I want.  I want to swap.

 

Yeah, I have been going with Sweetwater for everything now; their 2 year warranty pretty much sells it for me everytime. I had been getting some gear from Zzounds because I liked the 8 payment plan, but now I just go with Sweetwater because ,well a two year warranty! They are also cool about giving honest feedback. I had called there to place an order for some studio monitors that I was jazzed up on, but not 100% certain were right for me. The guy literally talked to me for like half an hour, an in the process I talked myself out of what would have been a rather expensive 'impulse buy'..

 

As for them exchanging the AMPLIFi for an HD500x - when did you buy the AMPLIFi? It sounds like it was more than 45 days ago? If you are within that 45 day return period, you are all good. If not, definitely give them a call, and see what they can do. Beyond that, like someone else had mentioned, the AMPLIFi is still a new piece of gear, so you should have no trouble selling it on craigslist, eBay, etc for pretty close to what you paid for it. They may be able to work a deal with you with you covering shipping, and possibly a restocking fee? Not sure..

 

And as for the HD500x being the core of the DreamRig, yup, it sure is! I am pretty excited to plug my HD500 into the two L2t speakers, and A/B it against the Eleven Rack. My DT25 is at the drummers house where we rehearse, and I can say it's one heck of a nice little tube amp. Bogner + Line6 is a formidable union of gear.

 

Good Luck!

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Yeah, I have been going with Sweetwater for everything now; their 2 year warranty pretty much sells it for me everytime. I had been getting some gear from Zzounds because I liked the 8 payment plan, but now I just go with Sweetwater because ,well a two year warranty!

 

And as for the HD500x being the core of the DreamRig, yup, it sure is! I am pretty excited to plug my HD500 into the two L2t speakers, and A/B it against the Eleven Rack. My DT25 is at the drummers house where we rehearse, and I can say it's one heck of a nice little tube amp. Bogner + Line6 is a formidable union of gear.

 

Thank you for the reply!  SW does have a 24 month 0% card.  That's what I'm coasting on now.  They had 36 months option last week...I almost got a DT25 and cabinet.  Maybe next spring a DT25.  Variax JTV89F in 2015.

 

I'm going to do the swap.  Already talked to my rep.  Making final decision Friday.  I totally get what the Amplifi is, does and the target market (which I'm included in) and what they have created is something very sweet and fantastic and does what I was looking for.  I just happened to learn about the HD500X _after_ purchasing the Amplifi and want it so very badly.  I do need to ask a few more questions, but will do that in the appropriate forum.

 

Dream Rig -- each piece all connected via one cable.  Love it.

 

 - Tony

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The issue is Amplitube....hard to get a metal tone, not enough effects and tweaks. Limited and expensive, as you have to buy each pedal, amp, etc. Mobile POD is a better choice...add a powered speaker (out the headphone jack of your iPad or iPhone and you're there).

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I have had more issues with shipping from Sweetwater than with any other online music retailer. I live in Washington, and we are one of a few states that it's required to collect sales tax on online purchases. MF and a few others charge the sales tax, but Sweetwater doesn't for some reason. I will only buy from them now on a big-ticket item because their shipping has screwed me several times.

 

Plus, the turnover rate of sales engineers is irritating. I think I'm on my 4th one. They are like GameStop employees but sell music gear instead.

 

On the plus side, my kids love to see their packages on the porch because it means CANDY!

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Yep, I grabbed two during the last blowout. One is in my FX loop on my Pod for an acoustic simulator and the other I use in front for whatever I need. It's currently set up as tremolo. I'm very happy with them both for $80 total.

 

As I recall, Digitech gave away all their effects free of charge as a "mea culpa" to their users and customers. Following an IOS upgrade, the iStomps quit working with the iPhones until Digitech upgraded software from their end. As can be expected, this pissed off a lot of customers. To regain customer confidence and to extend their apologies, Digitech for a limited time gave away all but one of their effects free of charge. Around the same time, MF was selling the pedals for $39 each. It meant you could buy three pedals for less than the previous cost of one pedal and get all forty or so downloadable pedals for free! Quite a fantastic deal for sure. AE

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I have the iLoud - I like it because its battery powered. The guitar interface leaves something to be desired. It works in the "old" way, through the i-devices microphone/headphone jack. I prefer the IOS interfaces that work through the lightning/30 pin connector as they tend to be cleaner (Line6 did this right with their interface.)

 

Initially I thought that everything went over bluetooth, but the iLoud has to be tethered to both the guitar  and iDevice. The bluetooth latency probably wouldnt work for the guitar signal. Its a bit pricey as a streaming speaker system, but the sound quality is good and it does have good volume.  I dislike the Amplitube pricing model - I calculated that it would cost $71 in software for the amp models (I added the fender models) Multi-track recording and tuner. Probably not an unreasonable price for a portable DAW, but expensive compared to what you get from Line6. So far I'm just playing with Amplitube free and looking at options.

 

I also have the blueboard, which is a bluetooth midi controller but I'm finding it to be lacking in tones.

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I have both

the iloud is great for portability, loudness and if you use amplitube on the ipad, every tone you could dream of

bluetooth works great with NO dropouts (and playing 192Khz files via an AK120)

Battery life is fantastic...negatives would be...it is a bit cheaply made (lots of plastic), but i could understand they put the money into the amps that drive it...it really sounds excellent

 

i opted for the amplify 150, super loud, super easy to work, great sounds, and pretty portable... also picked up an FBV express markII foot pedal (they should include this with the amp!) with compliments this product nicely

 

the biggest negative on this amp is the bluetooth droputs when playing music...very annoying...and second, the poor service via email...put in a support ticket a month ago and didn't even get a courtesy of a reply...frustrating, especially when the item was $500!

 

I did a firmware update, but dropouts still persist...does anyone else experience this?

 

Again, if I didn't pick up an iloud that plays via bluetooth flawlessly, i would have chalked it up to the fact I am playing hi-res files...

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I was checking out the iLoud for a while.. I ended up passing. And I agree that Amplitube is overpriced for what you get. Personally, I use BIAS and Ampkit+ via Audiobus.. Sometimes just Ampkit+. I also have JamUp Pro. I dropped a good $150-$175 in guitar modeling apps. I bought the software instruments in GarageBand, as well. There really isn't a tone that I can't get. If I were doing it over, I'd probably skip JamUp Pro and the $30 in add-ones that I bought and dropped the cash into more of the expansions in Ampkit+. BIAS is more in depth than the HD series as far as the amp modeling goes.. But that's all it does, is model amps. Any how, I just use a pair of cans with my portable DAW (iPad rig). I only use it for on the fly recording and when I'm on lengthy trips. Either way, I won't be in an acoustically pleasant environment, so headphones will sound better.

 

FWIW, Positive Grid just released a new app (the company that made BIAS and JamUp Pro) for mixing/mastering. It's $20.. I'm probably going to buy it.. It looks promising.

 

Also, I thought I might add. I have one of them Blueboards from IK.. It works with JamUp Pro and Ampkit+.. I've used my iPad rig live, before.. It works reasonably well. I even dropped a few pedals between my guitar and the interface.. An MXR DynaComp and a modded DS-1.. Sounded pretty damn good. Used my 4 switches on the Blueboard for post FX Loop effects. The whole rig (besides my monitor) fit in my gig bag. This is my backup rig to my 500x. Just found the right clean amp model (ended up using one in BIAS, then using Audiobus to use Ampkit+ for FX for after the amp). Shut the cover on the iPad and tucked it away in the gig bag with the cables running to it.. And kept the gig bag out of harms way.. Didn't even have to think about the iPad through the night.

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For those who have one, how good is the sound quality on the iLoud? I tested a Yamaha THR 10 in my local guitar shop next to an Amplifi 75 and there was no competition for sound quality just used as phone/laptop speakers (THR 10 lacking in bass punch or detail, too mid-rangey). Downside is I'm looking for the kind of desk-top form factor that the THR10 / iLoud has, but just not confident that you can get really great sounds from a unit that small. Other option would be a pair of studio monitors, but just too much hassle to set up.

 

Obviously, an Amplifi 50 would be ideal...

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I need 3 amps. The Tweaker for bigger jams, etc., the Amplifi for streaming,playing along for practice and small jams, and the THR10 by the PC in the office for practicing and a grabngo with batteries.

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