iRig Mix Review
iRig Mix Review
In the preâ€"App Store days, performing as a DJ for pals and parties meant hauling around turntables and mixing equipmentâ€"or at least a trunk full of expensive digital counterparts. Nowadays, anyone with an iPad or iPhone and an app like Djay can scratch and mash up tracks with ease using their own digital music library, though there’s a world of difference between swiping a touchscreen and having physical knobs and switches to twiddle while dishing out beats.
IK Multimedia’s iRig Mix finds the middle ground between those approaches, offering up a mobile mixer that connects to one or two iOS devices and offers finer control over the output via a cross-fader, independent cues for each channel, and other controls. With just one iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch connected, the signal can be split into dual mono signals, letting you mix two songs from a single device using the DJ Rig companion app.
The well-designed iRig even comes with all the cables you'll need.
Hook up a pair of iOS devices, however, and you’ll get the most out of the mixer, as each side can utilize dedicated volume, cue, bass, and treble controls in glorious stereo sound. Plus, you won’t be bound to the DJ Rig app, as other top disc-scratching apps can be used to call up and mix tracks. You’ll need to use DJ Rig to utilize the iRig Mix’s X-Sync function, however, which automatically beat-matches tunes from multiple sourcesâ€"like a portable disc player or other non-iOS device, which can plug in to the second headphone-jack-sized input on the mixer.
And the iRig Mix holds other options outside of disc jockeyingâ€"a guitar input lets axe shredders perform live using IK’s AmpliTube processing app, and singers can similarly utilize the VocaLive iOS app to add effects to vocal output. For musicians of all stripes who utilize iOS apps while playing and performing, the iRig Mix can be a very versatile on-the-go mixing option.
The unit itself is primarily made of white plastic, and though it pales in aesthetic design to any iOS device it’ll sit next to, the iRig Mix does seem solidly built considering the price; it should ably survive in a cluttered gear bag. Moreover, it comes with the essential cables for hooking up your iOS devices, connecting the iRig to external speakers, and plugging it in to the wall, laptop, or battery pack.
While functional, the DJ Rig app (available in free and $9.99 premium flavors) pales in comparison to genre leader Djay, and as of this writing version 1.0.3 does not run natively on the iPadâ€"curious, since the box and ads show a full-screen tablet version. And the app doesn’t aim to teach users the ins and outs of mixing with the peripheral, which seems like a missed opportunity here. You’ll have to find help elsewhere or just noodle around; the iRig Mix isn’t aimed at creating DJs, just enabling them.
The bottom line. The iRig Mix offers a stellar half step between touch-based disc spinning and wielding professional gear, while other iOS-inclined musicians can similarly benefit from this portable and reasonably priced mixer.
Comment