A POD in your Pad
The new Mobile In iOS guitar interface and Mobile POD app from Line 6 claims to put the POD sound library in your iPhone or iPad.
This interface connects to the 30-pin dock, which as I described in my DIY iOS interface project, is the higher-fidelity lower-noise way to get audio into your iPhone/iPad. This is because there is a high-quality 24-bit 48kHz D/A in the interface itself, and the signal is transferred digitally into the iDevice.
Again, my main concern with this type of device is that it hangs off the bottom of your iPhone/iPad on that delicate dock connector, with the guitar cable plugged into that. It makes me nervous that the inevitable kick-the-cord accident will brick your $600 iPad. Also, the iPhone/iPad can’t charge while this is plugged in, so you have to make sure you’re fully charged up.
At $79.99, this is cheaper than the other digital guitar interfaces (Apogee Jam, Sonoma GuitarJack, etc). The iOS app is free, but is tied to the hardware. You currently can’t use the app with another interface.
Intriguing, but I’m not rushing out immediately to get one. Are you?
December 4, 2011 @ 8:22 am
John –
This is really an incredible sight, I’ve started visiting it regularly and every time I do, despite the fact that I can’t read electrical schematics, I’m tempted to pull out my soldering iron and get to work. As to this offering from Line 6, you are dead on, I have a couple of Line 6 products that I really like and which seem well designed, but sticking this huge dongle, with an equally huge instrument cable, into your iPod/iPad seems like a pretty risky proposition.
December 6, 2011 @ 8:53 am
Hi Sam,
Nice to see you 🙂 I distinctly remember the year that the POD came out, and that little red crescent was EVERYWHERE, and like everyone- I wanted one (but never got one).
So I guess if you have an iPad, this $79 is the cheapest way to get those sounds, but yes, the dock-design just makes me nervous…
Do it! Break out the soldering iron! 🙂
-John
December 6, 2011 @ 6:30 am
Hi John,
I agree with Sam, your site is fantastic and has inspired me to finally overhaul my Epi Riviera. So needless to say the series on replacing the electronics of yours is priceless to me!
So what’s the difference between this device and something like the Peavey Ampkit or the iRig which retail for around $30?
Thanks,
Lee
December 6, 2011 @ 8:57 am
Hey Lee,
Congrats on the Riviera project! Glad to hear it went well.
The main difference is that these interfaces (Mobile In, Apogee Jam, Sonoma Guitarjack) plug into the 30-pin dock. The analog-to-digital conversion happens in the interface and the signal is transferring digitally into the ipad/iphone.
The less expensive interfaces like iRig, AmpKit, and my DIY interface all plug into the headphone/microphone jack. These depend on the A/D in the ipad, and there will be more noise and filtering in the resulting sound.
-John
December 15, 2011 @ 4:40 am
Hi John =D me again, hoping you can make another DIY project for this one. it will be a double thumbs up =D!! I wanna attach my keyboard to an IOS device hihi ^_^
December 15, 2011 @ 8:59 am
A DIY iPad MIDI interface like the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer would be an interesting challenge. But honestly, I have no plans to make any kind of interface with the 30-pin dock. It’d be a much bigger effort, and requires becoming a licensed apple MFi developer.
Unless you were going into serious production, it’d be cheaper in this case just to buy the thing! 🙂
-John