iO Dock brings it all together

If you're a musician and own an I Pad this is a MUST HAVE ! ! I have many music apps on my I Pad and having the iO Dock allows me to connect to my console and utilize all those apps in songs created in my studio. I can't even imagine not have one since I've now used one.

Love it!

It is exactly what I had hoped for: a way to turn my iPad into a portable recording device. Just having this thing has unlocked a new level of creativity in me that I didn't even know existed. I've written two new songs in short order, after a long dry spell, using only the smart instruments that come with GarageBand. I can't wait to see what happens when I start plugging in a real guitar and vocal mic!

The iO Dock is really easy and straightforward to use. I do recommend doing the firmware upgrade. You can find info about that in Sweetwater's support page, or at the Alesis website. The upgrade cleared up a couple of little ghostly type things that were going wrong with GB.

Also, do you really need to go buy a new MIDI controller? I bought a couple of MIDI cables and plugged in an old Yamaha PSR-series portable keyboard that we had sitting around for our kids to bang on and it works great.

Alesis has a winner on their hands with this device. And you definitely want to buy yours from Sweetwater, because their service and support are better than any other online dealer I've ever used.

Sweet

I love that I can be both mobile and fun

Alesia iODock - WOW!

I'm a podcaster, and use a PreSonus Firepod as my audio/MIDI interface. After a nice long wait, my iODock arrived today. I'm happy to say, this thing is really cool. I have FL Studio, Music Studio, and GarageBand. Plugging my MIDI controller into the MIDI In, I was able to control the virtual instruments in each app, and record some keys. Plugging my MOTIF XS-Rack into the iODocks MIDI out, I was able to play sequences from both FL Studio & Music Studio (GarageBand like the Mac version can only record MIDI, they will not send MIDI to external devices....FAIL on Apple).

I also was able to plug in my XLR mic with phantom power & record audio using GarageBand. Everything works great, I think my PreSonus Firepod is going on EBay, I just don't need it anymore. Thank you Andrew!!

ioDock

Would have rated the ioDock higher if more apps supported the 30pin format and pre.

Works great, very convenient set up. I use is for midi keyboards and to access synths in iPad. Headphone out is great for allowing drummer to sync to sequenced loops. Great product!

Works great for VO!!!

I bought the I/O dock to use with twisted wave app to be able to do VO work on the go when I travel. The dock works great with my condenser mics and the iPad fits snug in the dock. If you use the IPAD 2 you will need to get the free adapter that slides in behind the dock and snaps In place. I also like that it charges up your iPad too! This worked perfectly for my applications.. Great for VO! Love that if has phantom power switch!

Alesis IO Dock is a very sweet deal !!!

I recieved my Alesis IO the other day and I'm not sure how I managed without it, it is simple to set up and a pleasure to use. I do a lot of VO work and already I have been able to book extra work because I have been able to go to the talent and "so quickly" and " so easily". ( not my words, clients comments) get a quality result.

Delivers as Promised

The Alesis IO Dock for iPad is an excellent tool for casual recording or as a portable front end for more serious ventures. The Return on Investment is excellent. Just the ability to add high quality microphones to the iPad is worth the price

Quick review of the I/O Dock

Alesis I/O dock arrived on my doorstep today! Sweetwater shipped yesterday. Thanks Matt, you guys rock!

Well, after a short 6 month wait for Alesis to release it (I placed my order with Sweetwater in January!) it finally arrived today.

I'll try to give a few quick impressions:

The box is huge, and the dock is well packed. Includes power supply, a really skimpy manual...basically a quickstart guide that briefly explains the buttons, knobs, ins and outs, and so on.
Quality of parts looks pretty good really, the knobs seem firm and solid, and turn kinda hydraulically. The 3 selection switches are a solid metallic post style and engage pretty well, and the on/off switch is the snap in and out type, it feels better than a lot I've tried. The connections are plastic but are fairly robust. I've seen similar plastic ¼ inch jacks on amps, though these seem a little more rugged than some..

The iPad 1 fits pretty well, but I was surprised to see no soft material for the back of the iPad, just plastic. Mine slipped right in, and is in there pretty snuggly, and not too hard to remove (like that will ever happen!).

I plugged in the tiny wall wart, and hit the power button, and the iPad came to life, indicating charging was going on. First thing I did was fire up the Horizon synth. Sounds great through the headphones...I haven't got two ¼ inch cables to hook up to my M-Audio ProFire 2626 yet (hard to believe eh?), so all sounds were played through headphones.

One thing I'll note is that the headphone out (a ¼ inch stereo type, not the 1/8 we see a lot of on small stuff) had a LOT of headroom! As a matter of fact this kinda worries me, as I can see the headphone level pot living at the barely on position for the rest of it's life. And don't have very fancy headphones, they're not that sensitive for sure. Be careful when you first use this output!

Sound is really nice and smooth, a little less ultra high end than I get out of the ProFire, but nothing to complain about, sounds pretty analog to me...I don't see myself getting fatigued listening to the dock. I tried the Korg iElectribe, the Korg iMS-20, O-Generator, Nlog Pro, SunVox, ReBirth, NanoStudio, and BeatMaker apps, all sounded great.

I also hooked up my bass (Fender Jazz) to the PRS Jam Amp, AmpKit, DAW MultiTrack, GarageBand, and Meteor apps and noticed a HUGE improvement over the Peavey Ampkit Link, and the PRS cord, and a couple home made cords I've put together. Using the dock's direct switch to toggle back and forth between the app's sound and the direct sound was very interesting. You could see how each app changes the sound...some taking out the treble side, some the bass, but with the dock, all sounded much better, flatter.

What I found REALLY REALLY REALLY IRRITATING however, was the fact that the dock's input 1 and 2 jacks are Right and Left respectively and only. Normally this is a good idea, but I like to set up grooves in my apps and jam to them, and it bugs me to no end that the input 2 jack (which has the guitar/mic switch) isn't centered when the direct switch is used.

You have to use an app that has a configurable mono input to get a centered guitar jack function (and not use the direct switch) but it ticks me off that I can't jam along centered with all my apps with sequencers.

Sigh, I suspect I'll get used to it.

As for MIDI and USB, I did hook up my Alesis Q49 using the MIDI out and all the synth apps responded to the keys, and pitch and mod wheel. Haven't tried sending any other info, but I tend to just use keys and the wheels.

One thing I am extremely curious to check out is if the USB connection is both ways. The Alesis website says you can use it for getting stuff in and out, but it's a B connector (usually associated with output), and the item I'm most curious about is if my Akai EWI USB wind controller will work with the I/O dock. It uses a B connector for output of MIDI over USB, so maybe I'll have to spring for a B to B USB cable. Dunno, makes me nervous. But if I can use the iPad with the I/O Dock as a portable sound module...Jeepers! How cool is that?

Well, I'm gonna play around some more with it, and maybe get a couple more cables to integrate it with my system. Overall, this is a great tool, and of pretty good quality...Alesis could have skimped on some of the parts, but didn't, so I suspect it will take some knocks and still be functional.

iO Dock is pretty cool

Overall I really like this dock. I would have given it 5 stars but have had one minor problem. I upgraded the firmware as recommended when I got it. However, sometimes there will be some popping and snapping when recording. I have to power down the unit and start over and then the problem clears up. Upon looking at the Alesis support site I see I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. It only happens occasionally so it's not really a big deal.

I"m an old guy who can recall the days when you couldn't get near decent recording equipment without selling your left kidney. Now for a few hundred bucks you've got a completely portable multitrack unit that works like a charm.

Life is good.

Alesis IO Dock

I'm very happy with the Alesis IO Dock. It is suited for my particular situation. I don't have carry all that heavy recording equiptment around to record my ideas, when I'm away from home; love that part.

The iO Dock Is A Great Tool

First, let me say that the Alesis brand is still clearly innovative. That said, this iO Dock seemed a perfect addition to my new iPad, and as a classical recording producer/engineer, also made a perfect back-up to my session recordings, albeit 2-track. The first one which arrived, however, had problems: the earphone preamp cut out then faded back in, the bottom got so hot it could not be touched, and the inputs would not let go of the TRS 1/4" plugs, which I actually broke in order to get them out.

The second iO Dock, sent immediately by Sweetwater as a replacement, was fine. The TRS were still "tight" but in and out a couple of times, and it was as it should be. No heated bottom, no cut-outs on the earphone monitor.

There are many apps available for the iPad to record on, and my associate and I downloaded several. I won't recommend any one because each has its own usefulness, some multi-channel (but no more than two channels at a time), but the one we chose, for $9.99, does the trick, and records a two track back-up from a stereo feed from the control room into a .wav formatted file easily, setting up much like Sound Forge or Pro Tools in a two track format. Sure does make taking the session file home or on the road to listen to and review as to which take was best at which point in the score. Also easy to e-mail these out to another person for review. Sound quality was exactly as one would expect, with a hi-res option, and listening back was pure joy on the iPad, either still in it's dock, or independent of it.

Let me just say I will be taking it to Venice with me in April where I will do some on-the-spot choral recordings using DPA and Schoeps mics directly into the unit, phantom powered by it, et al. It will be one of the easiest foreign gigs I've ever had, equipment-wise. If you want an easy and simple solution to a remote recording gig, this is it!

Great Hardware

Finally a way to open up the IPad music making possibilities. Simple and functional, every music making IPad owner should have one in the studio cabled up all the time. Just slide the IPad in and away you go, and with more App programmers stating their support the 30pin docking format soon, then all the more reason.

Alesis iO Dock

IO Dock is a good solution for musicians, but it has no USB port. These really dissapoint me. Bur the rest it's OK.

iPad iO Dock is great.

I am a music educator of students k thru 6th grade. One of the main reasons I bought the iO Dock was so that I could show the iPad images on a large video screen. That does not happen. Apparently Apple has editorial control over what will be seen on external video. I purchased some children's sing-along apps which I had hoped to show on the video. So far the only thing that makes it to video is youtube vids and Netflix. Thus the "4.0" rating.
HOWEVER:
The MIDI & audio interfaces are well worth the price.
I can't say enough about the convenience of connecting the iPad to MIDI and external sound reinforcement through the iO Dock.
THIS was worth the price alone. For that I give the iO Dock 5 stars.
Now if we could just get the developers of GarageBand to separate the MIDI channels into "poly" mode instead of "omni" I could use the iPad in live concerts.
The iO Dock has it's own power supply and charges the iPad battery in half the time it takes connecting it to the computer.
The iO Dock is just the thing (except for video) for interfacing the iPad with other devices. 5 Stars for that.

Sweet mobile interface

Pretty awesome. Perfect solution for mobile recording and recording practices. Wish i didn't have to plug it into the wall though.
Also wish it had an aditional usb port for powering my soft synth. If i didnt need to power outlets i could be truly mobile. The preamps are very smooth and having phantom power is sweet. For 200 bucks its a sweet accessory for your ipad.

Just got mine for recording guitar...

Excellent sound quality - I suspected it would be improved over the 1/8" inputs currently on the market and felt bang for buck, the mic inputs really were a winner. Have not tested all the features but wanted to note a few things for potential buyers:
- I bought this use the iPad as a guitar scratchpad. So far, it works with Garageband and Ampkit. Amplitude does NOT yet support input through the USB connector (which may also mean that Apogee's Jam doesn't work - I do not own that product however)

Otherwise, it's a great product!

Alesia iO Dock

Beware.. If you use an external keyboard midi notes will hang. firmware update helps but is still a real problem.