Sonic Reality

idragosani · Post by **idragosani** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:03 pm

Anyone here used StompIO? IK Multimedia made me an offer I couldn't refuse so I took the plunge and bought one (I already have Amplitube 2 and Ampeg SVX). Are there issues with latency? I've seen some amp modelers used with MIDI pedalboards and there is always a lag between switching patches in a live situation. The only one that I didn't see an issue with was Line 6 POD XT Live. I'd like to use this thing in a live situation, probably playing through a stereo Mesa Boogie 50/50 power amp (using the StompIO as a pre-amp). Just wanted to see what other people's experiences are with it.

sockofgold · Post by **sockofgold** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:30 pm

Here you go:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... ht=stompio

Two HUGE reviews from myself and Paul from ManyTone. Should be more than what you need/want to know.

NTR · Post by **NTR** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 3:06 am

idragosani wrote:Anyone here used StompIO? IK Multimedia made me an offer I couldn't refuse so I took the plunge and bought one (I already have Amplitube 2 and Ampeg SVX). Are there issues with latency? I've seen some amp modelers used with MIDI pedalboards and there is always a lag between switching patches in a live situation. The only one that I didn't see an issue with was Line 6 POD XT Live. I'd like to use this thing in a live situation, probably playing through a stereo Mesa Boogie 50/50 power amp (using the StompIO as a pre-amp). Just wanted to see what other people's experiences are with it.

Was this an email offer? I just had an offer as well, however, they want to phone me. No price was specified in the email.

I am interested, but a little suspicious.

Vaughn

politcat · Post by **politcat** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 7:40 am

I got the email offer and responded, they wanted to call me too. I don't get this [edit]approach, why don't they just lower the price, period?!

ha! better?

Squids · Post by **Squids** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 2:54 am

You guys crack me up sometimes. Suspicious? A scheme? Haha. It's called SALES and good that they're offering a personalized deal just for you. That's your invitation to grind a little. Maybe there's justification for it to be cheaper for you because you bought more than one AmpliTube product already or something. Perhaps that's why you got the email. Either way there's no harm in seeing what kind of deal you can get. Go for it. Good luck.

You gotta remember that most companies have salesmen and their job is to sell. Maybe they're on commission. Who knows? Maybe they have quota to fill or they have an internal sales contest or they are given permission under certain circumstances by their boss or manager to give extra money off if a customer qualifies somehow... perhaps by what they already own or maybe even just being lucky by being at the right place at the right time. As a consumer myself I've been in those situations many times and I know a good deal when I see one. Sometimes I take the bait if I could be persuaded to buy a product that looks interesting. If you're even curious about Stomp IO then you might as well see what's up.

By the way, I have a Stomp IO myself and I really love it. I even use it on vintage keyboards like Wurlitzers and Rhodes. The latency is about as good as it gets for an audio interface. The sound of the analog input is on par with our ProTools HD system. I think they use a similar A to D and there's discrete analog circuitry before that. Solid. Great piece! You can control just about every parameter in all of the powered by AT products and with X-Gear being able to mix and match all of the pedals and amp components is a dream come true for me. I even sent a bunch of my pedals to Italy for IK's engineers to model... which reminds me (I need to get those back! Even though the model of my CE-1 is really nice... and my Fuzzface, Vox Wah and Phase 100 etc. I love pedals).

You can also buy Stomp IO from www.esoundz.com But since we buy it from IK we don't want to price match this special offer so whatever you get, if its good then congrats and enjoy! I recommend this piece. There is nothing like it. 6 expression pedal inputs can control any parameter!!! Just think about the real time performance control you can DO with that! One set to overdrive, another volume pedal, another wah, another doing some kind of rate control on a phaser or flanger, another throwing a Memory Man style delay... endless fun. You don't even need to have a monitor screen. You can just hook it up to a CPU and it'll run like a floor processor. I don't know... this is so cool I don't see how a guitarist, bassist or even keyboardist (rock keyboardist at least) could resist! More and more bands are touring with it too these days. Dave Matthews Band. A couple others I heard about recently too. Makes sense. A lot cheaper than a Bradshaw rig and easier to maintain and way more powerful. Most guitar gear (really good guitar gear) costs thousands of dollars. I wanted to pick up a vintage Hiwatt head but found out it was over $3,000. Yikes. Oh well. I WANT it but I don't know about spending THAT much right now on one amp sound... even though I really like it (Floyd). So, if you can get Stomp IO for under a grand then... well, that's pretty affordable for guitar gear.

The sheer variety, accuracy of models and control you have with Stomp IO and the PBAT products... IMO it is a must-have. I am not even saying that as a "salesmen". Go buy it from someone else. Get it from IK or from your favorite store. That's not why I am saying all of this. I am saying it because I really do believe that if you are at least a little bit computer-music oriented then this is a great piece to have in your set up as long as you have a budget for quality guitar gear.

NTR · Post by **NTR** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 6:04 am

Thanks for the input Squids. I think I will see what the offer is all about.

bnmoore · Post by **bnmoore** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 6:22 am

Squids wrote:...IMO it is a must-have. I am not even saying that as a "salesmen". Go buy it from someone else. Get it from IK or from your favorite store. That's not why I am saying all of this. I am saying it because I really do believe that if you are at least a little bit computer-music oriented then this is a great piece to have in your set up as long as you have a budget for quality guitar gear.

I got mine from someone else before there was an upgrade version. I agree that it's a must have. I wound up with a few extra licenses but it's all good.

idragosani · Post by **idragosani** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:40 am

Squids, thanks for the input. IKM gave me an amazing deal, especially after I told the guy about all of my other stuff (Philharmonik, ST, etc). It's definitely worth at least hearing their offer. And believe me, it will be hard to resist.

idragosani · Post by **idragosani** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:56 pm

One thing I have been thinking would would great to use with Stomp IO in a live setting is a rackmount server that I can install right into my rack cabinet with my power amp, so I have no need to carry around a laptop or whatever to gigs. A server is built for fast I/O more than anything else, and with a fast hardrive and a wad of memory, that's really all you'd need. Not to mention that a server is designed to run headless (although you can hook up a console & keyboard if necessary). And server hardware is cheap, since it doesn't have a soundcard or top of the line video that desktops or laptops have. Much cheaper than, too, than a Receptor

Squids · Post by **Squids** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:59 pm

Sounds like a cool idea. Those 1 rack space mac servers looked cool. Although what's cheaper than a server is a MiniMac. That will work! I've done it. You can also rack that but we're talking what? $500? Hmmmmm.

At that price you could have two (one for a back up).

That said, we just got the Total Workstation Receptor in the office and it is sweeeeeet! I think I might use that live for keys. But, for guitar if you have the stomp io its really cool but you don't need the interface part or the controls so it is more flexible to use JUST a CPU of some kind. Good thinking.

If you guys do end up picking up Stomp IOs (which again, I and others really do recommend) then let's all talk about different ways that we use it - especially LIVE. That's be interesting discussion and since there are a lot of computers and operating system variations, set up differences it would be good to know which set ups people are liking and why. This way people can pick up good tips from each other which is a nice thing about this forum. We can do that here... even talk about Speedtrainer and running AmpliGrooves too (so there is some relevance to SR in there a bit!!! haha). Curious though if anyone is running loops or program music in there live. Maybe special fx. It can be pretty cool that Speedtrainer!

idragosani · Post by **idragosani** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:06 pm

I'm not a Mac user, but there are equivalents in the non-Mac world (I hesitate to say PC world these days since Macs are Intel-based now). Dell has these little Studio machines that are about $400 or so that look pretty tasty -- they are also very small, like a miniMac.

My ultimate plan (which will probably need 2 separate CPUs) is to use the new Shadow quickmount MIDI guitar interfaces and use both Stomp IO for traditional guitar stuff and the MIDI interface for controlling Philharmonik, SampleTank, etc.

Here is the Quickmount interface:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=300106

Doesn't come with the rack module most MIDI guitar interfaces have, just the pickup and the little keypad controller.

politcat · Post by **politcat** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:44 pm

i'm most interested in how stompIO is used live

idragosani · Post by **idragosani** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:39 pm

politcat wrote:i'm most interested in how stompIO is used live

Welp, I should be getting mine in the next few days, I will post my findings on using it as part of a live rig. My plan is to use the stereo outs into a Mesa Boogie 50/50 tube power amp into a pair of 2x12 cabinets. I used a PODxt Live in this fashion a few years ago and it sounded *awesome*. I am looking forward to experimenting with the Stomp IO, as StompIO + Amplitube + X-Gear offers far more capabilities than the PODxt Live, from what I can tell.

buscemi · Post by **buscemi** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:33 pm

Well, if any of these IK salesman go to KVR, I believe that I own every IK product except ARC and StompIO so where's my offer

Oops, just double-checked and I don't have StealthPlug or Miroslav - but I'll have the latter in time.

I'm wondering if getting a Receptor, and using the StompIO after installing the Amplitube/XGear products on it (if possible at all) would work? That would be a KILLER setup. If you could also plug keyboards into it, I'd love to just get a Receptor Pro, install all the IK stuff on it, add the StompIO if possible and have a guitar/key rig ready to roll for studio and the road.

cosmicgirlee99 · Post by **cosmicgirlee99** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:34 pm

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.

politcat wrote:i'm most interested in how stompIO is used live

Hi, I'm the PR manager for IK, nice to meet you!

Even though it's *my job* to tell you that IK products are the absolute best in the world, I don't really think people listen to advertising spambots....lol.

People listen to other musicians. So here is a link to the Dave Matthews Band video interview that I did with Stefan "Fonzy" Lessard about using StompIO on stage with Ampeg SVX, and "powered by AmpliTube" software.

Fonzy has a lot to say in the video:

Or you can read it if you prefer (transcription):

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/NewsDisplay.php?Id=1872 (http://www.ikmultimedia.com/NewsDisplay.php?Id=1872)

Enjoy!

Ciao,

Starr