News

IK Multimedia: StompIO

This is pretty cool. Just got a press release in from IK Multimedia about their new StompIO Guitar / Bass system. It is a hardware system that controls their software Amplitude software...it has a 'class-A' Direct Input, stereo outputs, 10 foot switches, an expression controller for bends or wah type action (and inputs for 5 more expression controllers if you really want to get crazy with the modulations) and includes five of the Amplitude 2 based softwares including the cool as hell Hendrix 'emulator' (they provide the electronics, you provide the talent...yeah...you probably STILL won't sound like Jimi, but who doesn't want to try!)

This sort of stuff always seems to excite me...I am a keyboardist, but I pretend to make a fool out of myself on guitar. I keep a several pedals around including my Vai signature Bad Horsey (that I conned Morley into selling me the first unit out to the public -- Serial #13 baby!), my Big Muff, an original Whammy Pedal (sounds so much better than than the II) and the original SansAmp (the sound of DI industrial guitar). Oddly, I end up plugging this stuff into my Kurzweil K2600 more than I ever do my Tele (or even the nasty, silly looking Warlock that I seem to only pull out when I need to impress sleazy college freshman women with the few metal riffs I can *ALMOST* pull off...ok, it is assumed they are only humoring the old guy).

One of these days, the pedals are going to go the way of my grand piano and I'm going to realize that I can get a better sound out of software than I ever would with the fragile electronics I hold dear.

Press Release:

January 2008, Modena, Italy – IK Multimedia is proud to announce that the highly anticipated StompIO™, advanced USB floor controller + audio interface + modeling software bundle, is finally shipping! For the first time, this revolutionary guitar/bass FX system gives you full control over all “Powered by AmpliTube®” software/plug-ins with the same feeling of a traditional hardware floor processor - no need to even look at the computer screen or touch the mouse – making this hardware/software combination one of the most powerful FX modeling systems ever made.

StompIO comes fully stocked with 5 full software packages: AmpliTube 2, Ampeg® SVX, AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix™, AmpliTube Metal (only for previously registered AmpliTube 2 users) and AmpliTube X-GEAR (that’s over $1,200/€990 worth of software included), totaling over 150 different highly-sought-after modern and vintage gear models with 30 awards won combined. The only limit to what you can do with the StompIO to achieve a superior, truly unique custom tone is now your imagination.

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Read more over at IK Multimedia StompIO website.