List Price: $129.99
Sale Price: $77.49
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- Includes AmpliTube 2 Live plug-in and standalone.
- Low-latency ASIO and CoreAudio drivers.
- Headphone/Amp/Powered Speaker OUT.
- High-quality direct Guitar/Bass IN.
- Compact 1/4" jack to USB audio interface cable.
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This is a rather convoluted review, because it involves a long back story.I bought this thing early this year (2007) after being burned by the M-Audio Fast Track USB device. The M-Audio thing, I was told, wouldn't work with XP Media Center Edition. So, before I bought this Stealth Plug, I called them and specifically asked if it would work with XP MCE and the sales people assured me it would.
So I get it home and guess what? It didn't work! I went round and round with their tech support and never got a definitive answer of what was wrong.
Jump forward eight months to November. I wiped out my hard drive and installed XP Pro so I could use music hardware and software that I couldn't under MCE. Anxious to actually hear my Stealth Plug through the Amplitube software that came with it, I installed it and guess what? It did exactly the same thing as before!
I contacted Tech Support and got nothing at all from them. I called, left messages and nothing. Pissed off now, I did some deep research. That is when I found out that this product does NOT work with Windows, at least not like it's supposed to. It was only because of a review posted in December 2007 that I found out that though Amplitube is supposed to be able to be played stand-alone, the only way to get it to play through a PC is to plug your computer speakers into the headphone output of the plug, or run a patch cord from the headphone output to the microphone input of your sound card!
What kind of crap is that? How can it be stand-alone when it won't play through the sound card without a patch cord? Of course, it took a lot of tweaking to get it to sound right in my sound card since the headphone to microphone impedances are not quite a match. I haven't tried plugging directly into my speakers yet, but don't like reaching around behind the computer and messing with the jacks all the time.
It turns out, the ONLY way to configure Amplitube so it will work, is with the ASIO Stealth plug as the input AND output. There is no option to make the input the Stealth, and the output your internal sound card. Supposedly, Windows will not allow that. Is that dumb or what?
I was at Guitar center the other day, and the guy told me he heard rumors that IK was coming out with a major fix for this problem sometime in January, yet it that's true, nobody is saying anything about it at IK Multimedia.
So, what does it sound like? Well, after much tweaking to get a clean sound out of my sound card, I was able to play around with Amplitube. It has clean American, British, and Bass amps. The simulations are pretty good and you can tweak the knobs and get different sounds. There is also a variety of stomp boxes including distortion (of which there's enough already just from the sound card), phaser, phlanger, etc. The stomp box that doesn't make much sense to me is the wah. How are you supposed to play and manipulate the wah pedal with the mouse at the same time? There is auto-wah, but that gives little control.
So, it seems this system is designed for MAC's because in the PC world, Mr. Gates and crew do not allow multiple ASIO sound devices.
As I was typing this, I finally got a return call from IK Multimedia! The service tech confirmed the problem with the PC. He also said there is no fix coming because the problem is a Windows problem and they have no control over it.
So, this is not just a plug and play device like it's implied. And nowhere in the instructions does it say you have to run the headphone jack directly to your speakers or the microphone input of the sound card. Or, if it does, it is not very well stated. Tonight, I'm going to go back and read the instructions again, just to make sure.
Though there is a workaround for the PC, this thing should be advertised as a MAC device, as far as I'm concerned. Yes, you can get it to work, and Amplitube does a good amp simulation, but it is NOT just plug and play. After I try recording with it, I'll edit this review with the results. This device has a lot of potential, it just doesn't live up to it, yet...
Buy IK Multimedia StealthPlug + AmpliTube 2 Live Now
First off, the StealthPlug requires the correct drivers to function properly. You have to take into consideration wether you are using a 32-bit or a 64-bit system. I tried installing the drivers that came in the cd, and the installation kept failing under a Windows 7 64-bit system. After reading the documentation I went ahead and completed the registration for the product, which allowed me to enter the user area in their website (ikmultemedia.com) and download the most recent updates for the product. They offer updates to make the StealthPlug compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7 operating systems in both 32 and 64 bit configurations.It is essential that you complete the registration for the product in order to view and download the most recent updates. Once you get the correct drivers it's smooth sailing. The product is amazing considering what you get for the price. I was able to get the StealthPlug/Amplitude 2 combo for 65 USD (Included shipping). Like another user mentioned, there is a slight static hiss from the input line, but with minor tweaking you can produce a clean sound. Overall I am happy with the sound this produces, especially when using it with my Ovation Acoustic/Electric guitar. For those having problems with the product, I recommend reading all support material first before leaving negative feedback. The product works and sounds amazing.
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I bought this as part of the Jimi Hendrix kit in October 2009. The stealth plug driver installation doesn't work and the product installation aborts. The IK Multimedia web site suggests going to their download section to download a 64 bit driver. Guess, what you can download product brochures and all sorts of other useless documentation but no drivers. It you want to make any contact with them, there are about twenty fields to fill out. If you are considering this product, I suggest you do a Google search on it first with search terms such as "stealth" "install" "Windows 7" or Vista for that matter. You'll likely bring back a lot of tales of woe around this product if your search yields the same results that mine did. I found a whole raft of problems people were having with this product in about 10 minutes on google. It's a shame that the tech support people at IK Multimedia don't do the same and fix up their product installation process or provide more support and better access on their web site. I've got the Line 6 Guitar Port which actually works and is a great product. This stealth plug and the Jimi Hendrix Amplitude pack looked very promising. It's a shame that it's a total disaster.Want IK Multimedia StealthPlug + AmpliTube 2 Live Discount?
I planned on using this equipment instead of carrying around an amp while traveling. The stealthplug itself works fine. Has a little hiss to it. But the software that comes with it does not work. I have tried several whys to fix it including tech support. The drivers do not seem to be Vista compatable. In short, if you are wanting to use the effects advertised, be wary.
Fortunately, I'd read the other reviews here and knew the install was going to be a bit more involved than just a quick driver download. I set up my account with IK and downloaded Amplitube 3 and SampleTank 2.5 and the updated
drivers. These work fine.
Tracktion 2 refuses to co-operate with registration as does SampleTank 2LE--only one serial number was provided, which went for Amplitube 2. Good thing I knew about Reaper.
The unit itself does well, a little noisy, but I'm using a Telecaster, lol.
