irig Acoustic Stage - mic/pickup

daveww

It attaches firmly and very easily. No doesn't seem to get in the way of playing. Thanks for the comment not sure about the nice playing though ... I always get stupidly nervous when I record unless I do it a lot and I haven't recorded anything for ages. 

Strat_a_tat_tat

@daveww Thanks for the info.

No need for nerves... as I said, nice playing. :-)

Lewy

Some further observations after a louder test using a Tanglewood AER knock off acoustic combo (if it sounds ok with that, it generally sounds great through a PA).

- The feedback buster works but it doesn't take any prisoners. There's quite a lot of sonic collateral damage when it goes after the offending frequency so in practice you'd want to use normal feedback reduction techniques and use the button as a panic button if needed rather than relying on it from the off
- It's sensitive to how you play - if you calibrate it to soft playing with fingers and then switch to a pick, it can sound a bit honky
- Handling noise seems less than a normal clip on mic
- Once EQd and calibrated, it sounds very good. Better than a K&K or definitely any piezo
- But....you do need to EQ it properly which means you need to think about your use case(s). I wouldn't turn up to an open mic with this because I think there's a lot of potential to get a miserable sound at the hands of a disinterested house band member plugging you in and going straight to the bar. But if there's time to soundcheck properly it's a viable option and I do like the fact that the sound is so good for something you just clip on.

Strat_a_tat_tat

@Lewy ; Thanks for the info. Interesting that you regard it as being better than a K&K. K&K Pure Mini was my original plan. Maybe not, now though.

In my very limited experience, I find piezos harsh sounding... that's why I was interested in one of these.

Re. EQ adjustments, what were the main issues that resulted in the need for EQ adjustment?  Boomy-ness... tinny-ness?

Thanks.

Lewy

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

@Lewy ; Thanks for the info. Interesting that you regard it as being better than a K&K. K&K Pure Mini was my original plan. Maybe not, now though.

In my very limited experience, I find piezos harsh sounding... that's why I was interested in one of these.

Re. EQ adjustments, what were the main issues that resulted in the need for EQ adjustment?  Boomy-ness... tinny-ness?

Thanks.

Boomy and muddy were the issues that needed correction.

Regarding the comparison with K&K - it does sound better in terms of pure sound quality but I'd still go with a Pure Mini if I was going to be plugging in in a variety of scenarios and ease and quickness of getting a good sound was ever going to be a factor.

One other thing I detected - and I'm not 100% sure and need to play with it more - but for fast picking I felt some latency which would probably stop me using it for bluegrass, for example (and I'm not "quick" by any measure).

Strat_a_tat_tat

Lewy said:

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

@Lewy ; Thanks for the info. Interesting that you regard it as being better than a K&K. K&K Pure Mini was my original plan. Maybe not, now though.

In my very limited experience, I find piezos harsh sounding... that's why I was interested in one of these.

Re. EQ adjustments, what were the main issues that resulted in the need for EQ adjustment?  Boomy-ness... tinny-ness?

Thanks.

Boomy and muddy were the issues that needed correction.

Regarding the comparison with K&K - it does sound better in terms of pure sound quality but I'd still go with a Pure Mini if I was going to be plugging in in a variety of scenarios and ease and quickness of getting a good sound was ever going to be a factor.

One other thing I detected - and I'm not 100% sure and need to play with it more - but for fast picking I felt some latency which would probably stop me using it for bluegrass, for example (and I'm not "quick" by any measure).

Thanks again. Interesting info.

I'm off to see where I can get one.

daveww

Still messing around with it.  Haven't noticed any latency though @Stra_a_tat_tat is definitely right about the feedback eliminator taking no prisoners.  He's also right about calibration.  Better to do this with a pick even if you're playing finger style I think.  Tried through my fender blues junior and sounds better than expected but feedback was an issue a louder volumes.  Sounds a bit compressed in all conditions IMO but still nice.  My acoustic has a Fishman Presys mic/piezo blended pickup system but I never seem to be able to use the mic blended in live situations even with a feedback buster.  I want to try the aux lead into the guitar and experiment with blends from my onboard system.  Another possible down side is my feedback buster won't fit when the mic is clipped into place.  Might get chance to record some more messing about this weekend.

Lewy

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

Lewy said:

Strat_a_tat_tat said:

@Lewy ; Thanks for the info. Interesting that you regard it as being better than a K&K. K&K Pure Mini was my original plan. Maybe not, now though.

In my very limited experience, I find piezos harsh sounding... that's why I was interested in one of these.

Re. EQ adjustments, what were the main issues that resulted in the need for EQ adjustment?  Boomy-ness... tinny-ness?

Thanks.

Boomy and muddy were the issues that needed correction.

Regarding the comparison with K&K - it does sound better in terms of pure sound quality but I'd still go with a Pure Mini if I was going to be plugging in in a variety of scenarios and ease and quickness of getting a good sound was ever going to be a factor.

One other thing I detected - and I'm not 100% sure and need to play with it more - but for fast picking I felt some latency which would probably stop me using it for bluegrass, for example (and I'm not "quick" by any measure).

Thanks again. Interesting info.

I'm off to see where I can get one.

You can have mine for £65 plus insured shipping if you want (prob another £5 or £6). I've played with it some more, it's good for what it is and for the money but ultimately not for me.

mellowsun

Necro thread bump! I just got one of these for my electro-classical so I can blend the mic'd up sound with the undersaddle Fishman.

Now, live, I would just use the undersaddle plus the TC BodyRez as the iRig is very flimsy - agree with the downsides mentioned above by @sev112 ;;  surprising as it is marketed for stage use but I can't see it surviving many open mic sessions let alone a full gig.

But for recording this iRig is great! When calibrated I get a lovely woody but clear sound that really picks up the nuances of my left and right-hand technique way better than the undersaddle pickup does. With a touch of reverb it is really inspiring to play.

The signal is very weak though so needs to go through a preamp.

I'll put up some sound samples next week.