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STOP!!
Okay, now that I have your attention...
Normally I start a Pro Review with a photo tour, and we'll get to that soon enough. But first, I have to dispel a major misconception about the iPB-10 programmable pedalboard.
When I've mentioned it to people and opined that I think the concept is really clever, they often say "Well yeah, but I'm not about to take my iPad to the gig in a stompbox. The thing wouldn't last 10 minutes. I think it's a really dumb idea."
STOP!!
So here's the deal: The iPB-10 is a multieffects that you program with an iPad. You can sit at home and come up with the pedal of your dreams - well, 100 pedalboards of your dreams, to be exact - load up the iPB-10 hardware with the pedalboards, then take it to the gig while the iPad sits at home. I actually think DigiTech hasn't really quite gotten this point across, but hey, that's why Pro Reviews exist - to get deep into a piece of gear, and really explain what it's all about.
Think of it like an iPod: You fill it with tunes using your computer, but then you take the iPod with you - you don't have to drag the computer along with you. Same principle here.
Now, if you want to insert the iPad into the iPB-10 and take it with you to a more iPad-friendly environment like a studio, you can do that as well, and tweak your setup on the fly using the iPad. However, after working with it for a bit, the iPad is actually quite well protected in a recessed well, and a large metal bar surrounding it on three out of four sides. It would be pretty hard to stomp on the iPad accidentally, and if you do choose to leave it in place while gigging, it makes for an excellent overview of what's happening in your pedalboard.
So to steal a line from Burger King..."have it your way." Leave the iPad in, or take out it before going to the gig. You don't lose your sounds, only the ability to edit them, and the ability to get a summary of what's going on your pedalboard at a glance. Then again, how many guitar players are going to stop in the middle of a solo and say "Y'know, I think a Marshall sound might work better here..."
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let's proceed.
Okay, now that I have your attention...
Normally I start a Pro Review with a photo tour, and we'll get to that soon enough. But first, I have to dispel a major misconception about the iPB-10 programmable pedalboard.
When I've mentioned it to people and opined that I think the concept is really clever, they often say "Well yeah, but I'm not about to take my iPad to the gig in a stompbox. The thing wouldn't last 10 minutes. I think it's a really dumb idea."
STOP!!
So here's the deal: The iPB-10 is a multieffects that you program with an iPad. You can sit at home and come up with the pedal of your dreams - well, 100 pedalboards of your dreams, to be exact - load up the iPB-10 hardware with the pedalboards, then take it to the gig while the iPad sits at home. I actually think DigiTech hasn't really quite gotten this point across, but hey, that's why Pro Reviews exist - to get deep into a piece of gear, and really explain what it's all about.
Think of it like an iPod: You fill it with tunes using your computer, but then you take the iPod with you - you don't have to drag the computer along with you. Same principle here.
Now, if you want to insert the iPad into the iPB-10 and take it with you to a more iPad-friendly environment like a studio, you can do that as well, and tweak your setup on the fly using the iPad. However, after working with it for a bit, the iPad is actually quite well protected in a recessed well, and a large metal bar surrounding it on three out of four sides. It would be pretty hard to stomp on the iPad accidentally, and if you do choose to leave it in place while gigging, it makes for an excellent overview of what's happening in your pedalboard.
So to steal a line from Burger King..."have it your way." Leave the iPad in, or take out it before going to the gig. You don't lose your sounds, only the ability to edit them, and the ability to get a summary of what's going on your pedalboard at a glance. Then again, how many guitar players are going to stop in the middle of a solo and say "Y'know, I think a Marshall sound might work better here..."
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let's proceed.
There are now eight music videos posted on my YouTube channel, including a cover of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," which joins "Little Pieces", "Black Market Daydreams," and "When the Grid Goes Down" (complete with disturbing video 
)
)
Here's what the iPB-10 looks like when you take it out of the box. Power is provided by a "wall wart" with multiple removeable/replacing plugs that snap into place, so you can use it internationally.
That's not a real iPad in there, but the Quick Start guide. And it is quick - once you've dowloaded the free iPB-Nexus program from the Apple app store and loaded it into your iPad, you can start the process of creating your own pedalboards.
However, out of the box, the hardware "dock" already comes loaded with presets. Remember (this is the last time I'll say it, I promise) you don't need to have the iPad docked in order to call up sounds.
Looking closer, it's built to DigiTech's usual build quality standards. They've been making Things That Sit on the Floor And Get Stomped for so long, they've got the recipe down. Or maybe they just have an aversion to things coming back for repairs. Either way, this is a substantial piece of gear with metal construction, a serious pedal with the right amount of resistance (it doesn't feel flimsy, and holds it position when moved), and footswitches that give a reassuring, positive click when you hit them.
I couldn't wait to check out some sounds, so without the iPad connected, I started running through the sounds. Those familiar with DigiTech gear won't find too many surprises; like the gear itself, they've been tweaking effects for a long time, and yes, they sound really good. Granted it's the customizable aspect that makes this cool, but it's pretty darn good out of the box.
As to cost, it's pretty reasonable - $749.95 list, but it streets for $499.95. That kind of surprised me, actually...although I guess that the iPad does some of the "heavy lifting" the electronics in a device like this would normally have to provide. So when you take the iPad into account obviously the package cost is a lot more, but then again, if you already have an iPad you actually get some cost savings because that kind of circuitry doesn't have to be duplicated in the "dock."
Here's what it looks like with the iPad in place. You can see the editor for the Recto patch, and we'll be getting to know the editor a lot better in future posts.
So how do you get the iPad in and out? That's next.
That's not a real iPad in there, but the Quick Start guide. And it is quick - once you've dowloaded the free iPB-Nexus program from the Apple app store and loaded it into your iPad, you can start the process of creating your own pedalboards.
However, out of the box, the hardware "dock" already comes loaded with presets. Remember (this is the last time I'll say it, I promise) you don't need to have the iPad docked in order to call up sounds.
Looking closer, it's built to DigiTech's usual build quality standards. They've been making Things That Sit on the Floor And Get Stomped for so long, they've got the recipe down. Or maybe they just have an aversion to things coming back for repairs. Either way, this is a substantial piece of gear with metal construction, a serious pedal with the right amount of resistance (it doesn't feel flimsy, and holds it position when moved), and footswitches that give a reassuring, positive click when you hit them.
I couldn't wait to check out some sounds, so without the iPad connected, I started running through the sounds. Those familiar with DigiTech gear won't find too many surprises; like the gear itself, they've been tweaking effects for a long time, and yes, they sound really good. Granted it's the customizable aspect that makes this cool, but it's pretty darn good out of the box.
As to cost, it's pretty reasonable - $749.95 list, but it streets for $499.95. That kind of surprised me, actually...although I guess that the iPad does some of the "heavy lifting" the electronics in a device like this would normally have to provide. So when you take the iPad into account obviously the package cost is a lot more, but then again, if you already have an iPad you actually get some cost savings because that kind of circuitry doesn't have to be duplicated in the "dock."
Here's what it looks like with the iPad in place. You can see the editor for the Recto patch, and we'll be getting to know the editor a lot better in future posts.
So how do you get the iPad in and out? That's next.
There are now eight music videos posted on my YouTube channel, including a cover of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," which joins "Little Pieces", "Black Market Daydreams," and "When the Grid Goes Down" (complete with disturbing video )
)
Referring to this shot of the rear, there are two buttons (circled in red) that when pressed, release the arm that holds the iPad in place. The cable that connects to the iPad sits in a recessed area (circled in blue).
This side view shows how substantial the arm is. It's also really easy to see the tray that holds the iPad. There's an extra tray included so the iPB-10 accommodates different iPads.
This side view shows how substantial the arm is. It's also really easy to see the tray that holds the iPad. There's an extra tray included so the iPB-10 accommodates different iPads.
There are now eight music videos posted on my YouTube channel, including a cover of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," which joins "Little Pieces", "Black Market Daydreams," and "When the Grid Goes Down" (complete with disturbing video )
)
First, here's an overall view of the back panel to give context with the rest of the iPB-10.
Now let's look at the I/O in detail, starting from the rear panel right and going left.
The power button and AC adapter input connectors probably don't need explanation. The USB 2.0 port provides an interface for recording directly into a DAW; it streams two channels to the computer simultaneously with receiving two channels from the DAW for monitoring what's been recorded. It runs at 44.1kHz and offers 24-bit resolution.
As to the rear panel footswitch jack, I haven't figured out what it's for yet, and I can't find a reference to it in the documentation. So either I'll figure it out, or someone from DigiTech will weigh in and let me know what's happening with it.
The headphone jack is an 1/8th-inch type--I'd prefer a 1/4" jack for studio-type headphones, although it seems these days most headphones come with adapters so they can be used with 1/8th-inch or 1/4-inch jacks. However, on the plus side there's a physical output level control. I think it's crucial for any piece of gear with a mostly virtual interface to have a way to get to the volume quickly so you don't have to go through menus or other hoops to set the levels.
Now let's move over to the left side of the panel.
There's actually quite a bit of flexibility going on here.
The XLR outs are ideal for feeding a mixer, and include non-defeatable cabinet emulation (what DigiTech calls "speaker compensation"). The 1/4" outs can feed amps or mixers; note the switch that optimizes these for amps for mixers.
Moving more to the left, there's a Stomp Box send/return loop that lets you put an external hardware device into the iPB-10 signal chain. This also has an associated footswitch on the top of the unit so you can bypass or enable it.
The Amp/Loop sent/return jacks are intended for amps with effects loop, and basically lets you use an amp's "front end" preamp/tone stack as another effect. The iPB-10 send jack patches to the amp's input, with the amp's effects loop send returning into the iPB-10 via the iPB-10 return jack. The iPB-10 output then goes into the amp's loop FX return. So, your signal flow is guitar > amp preamp > iPB-10 > amp power amp/cab. Like the Stomp loop, the Amp loop also has an associated bypass/enable footswitch on the top of the unit (you can see the Amp and Stomp footswitches to the left of the iPad bay in post #1).
Finally, there's an input jack (of course) for your guitar, and two ground lift switches for troubleshooting potential ground loop problems.
The bottom line is that the iPB-10 is clearly designed to fit into a variety of contexts, from direct feeds into mixers, recorders, or PA systems, to plugging into a guitar amp, or providing effects for an amp's loop.
Now let's look at the I/O in detail, starting from the rear panel right and going left.
The power button and AC adapter input connectors probably don't need explanation. The USB 2.0 port provides an interface for recording directly into a DAW; it streams two channels to the computer simultaneously with receiving two channels from the DAW for monitoring what's been recorded. It runs at 44.1kHz and offers 24-bit resolution.
As to the rear panel footswitch jack, I haven't figured out what it's for yet, and I can't find a reference to it in the documentation. So either I'll figure it out, or someone from DigiTech will weigh in and let me know what's happening with it.
The headphone jack is an 1/8th-inch type--I'd prefer a 1/4" jack for studio-type headphones, although it seems these days most headphones come with adapters so they can be used with 1/8th-inch or 1/4-inch jacks. However, on the plus side there's a physical output level control. I think it's crucial for any piece of gear with a mostly virtual interface to have a way to get to the volume quickly so you don't have to go through menus or other hoops to set the levels.
Now let's move over to the left side of the panel.
There's actually quite a bit of flexibility going on here.
The XLR outs are ideal for feeding a mixer, and include non-defeatable cabinet emulation (what DigiTech calls "speaker compensation"). The 1/4" outs can feed amps or mixers; note the switch that optimizes these for amps for mixers.
Moving more to the left, there's a Stomp Box send/return loop that lets you put an external hardware device into the iPB-10 signal chain. This also has an associated footswitch on the top of the unit so you can bypass or enable it.
The Amp/Loop sent/return jacks are intended for amps with effects loop, and basically lets you use an amp's "front end" preamp/tone stack as another effect. The iPB-10 send jack patches to the amp's input, with the amp's effects loop send returning into the iPB-10 via the iPB-10 return jack. The iPB-10 output then goes into the amp's loop FX return. So, your signal flow is guitar > amp preamp > iPB-10 > amp power amp/cab. Like the Stomp loop, the Amp loop also has an associated bypass/enable footswitch on the top of the unit (you can see the Amp and Stomp footswitches to the left of the iPad bay in post #1).
Finally, there's an input jack (of course) for your guitar, and two ground lift switches for troubleshooting potential ground loop problems.
The bottom line is that the iPB-10 is clearly designed to fit into a variety of contexts, from direct feeds into mixers, recorders, or PA systems, to plugging into a guitar amp, or providing effects for an amp's loop.
There are now eight music videos posted on my YouTube channel, including a cover of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," which joins "Little Pieces", "Black Market Daydreams," and "When the Grid Goes Down" (complete with disturbing video )
)
Welcome, DigiTechRep! Manufacturer participation is always key to getting a good pro review going, and I already appreciate that you're giving us straightforward facts and not "marketing-speak." I think you've stated the differences compared to the RP1000 pretty succinctly, but I'd add one more thing: A lot of people already have iPads, so they've already paid for the computer part of the editing equation - but in a more convenient and portable format. I also think that your point (6) needs to be underlined - the user experience involved in doing drag-and drop-programming with an iPad is something else altogether.
There are now eight music videos posted on my YouTube channel, including a cover of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," which joins "Little Pieces", "Black Market Daydreams," and "When the Grid Goes Down" (complete with disturbing video )
)
Just as a side note to the people following the review - I know DigiTechRep's "secret identity" , and he's "one of us" in the sense of being a player and gear junkie. So, I've invited him to chime in whenever appropriate, and he may also have some cool tips for us as he's very familiar with the product.
, and he's "one of us" in the sense of being a player and gear junkie. So, I've invited him to chime in whenever appropriate, and he may also have some cool tips for us as he's very familiar with the product.
There are now eight music videos posted on my YouTube channel, including a cover of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," which joins "Little Pieces", "Black Market Daydreams," and "When the Grid Goes Down" (complete with disturbing video )
)
Originally Posted by Den
Help Desk