Version 1.2 of RiotFX has just been submitted to the AppStore. Phew!
It comes with a new chorus effect which I've been working on over the past couple of weeks. However, one of the most useful changes is that the sample rate and buffer size have been tweaked for the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3rd Gen. These devices pack significantly more processing power than earlier models, for which the previous version was tailored. So if you have one of these models, expect to hear around 50% increase in quality and 50% decrease in latency!
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Making a Guitar Cable
I've added a guide to the RiotMode website on how you can make a guitar cable for your iPhone and iPod Touch from off-the-shelf components.
The Guide has been featured on the Wired GadgetLab!
The Guide has been featured on the Wired GadgetLab!
Monday, 22 March 2010
Top Ten iPhone Apps for Real-time Alteration on Palm Sounds
RiotFX has been featured in Jonathan Wolf's Top Ten iPhone Apps for Real-time Alteration list on his Palm Sounds blog!
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Delay effect coming soon
Of all the feature requests I've received for RiotFX, adding a delay effect is by far the most wanted.
So I am currently developing a multi-tap delay for the next release, which I'm hoping to submit to apple in 2 to 3 weeks time.
I'll keep you updated!
So I am currently developing a multi-tap delay for the next release, which I'm hoping to submit to apple in 2 to 3 weeks time.
I'll keep you updated!
Saturday, 20 March 2010
RiotFX promo code give away!
Update: All codes have now gone. Thanks all!
My guitar effects app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, RiotFX, is now available on the AppStore!
RiotFX is a very low latency effects processor with 7 effects that you can order in your effects chain any way you like!
To celebrate the launch I'm giving away promo codes to the next 10 people who email me at contact@riotmode.com!
Please remember that promo codes can only be redeemed in the US AppStore.
My guitar effects app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, RiotFX, is now available on the AppStore!
RiotFX is a very low latency effects processor with 7 effects that you can order in your effects chain any way you like!
To celebrate the launch I'm giving away promo codes to the next 10 people who email me at contact@riotmode.com!
Please remember that promo codes can only be redeemed in the US AppStore.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Guitarbud™ Review
The recent news that PRS Cables have brought out a cable to attach your guitar to your iPhone and iPod Touch was good news for RiotMode. We have been working on our guitar multi-effects software, RiotFX, for quite some time in the hope that a commercially available cable or adapter would come to the market and allow users to jack their electric guitar directly into their phone.
Before Guitarbud™, the only ways to attach your guitar to your phone were through some pretty funky adapter arrangements, some homebrew soldering projects or a tinny headset microphone dangling near your guitar. None of these solutions where good enough in our view!
So down to the Guitarbud™. As far as I know, it’s the first product to market that addresses this problem, and it will make lots of people happy. But it does have shortcomings…
The cable is pretty much a basic breakout cable – splitting a 4-pole TRRS plug for the iPhone/iPod Touch into a ¼” mono plug and a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, and so its quite steep at $29.
Guitars aren’t supposed to be plugged directly into an iPhone or iPod Touch: The iPhone expects the presence of an electret microphone, with a constant DC resistance of about 3Kohm and with output levels much below that of guitar pickups. An electric guitar really needs to be plugged into a high impedance load. A good guitar amp will have a load impedance greater than 1Mohm, much more than that of the iPhone.
The upshot of this is that the guitar will overdrive your iPhone (which can be corrected by adjusting your guitars volume pot) and produce a ‘muddy’ sound due to the low impedance iPhone input acting as a lowpass filter. The aforementioned adjustment of the volume pot can also do funny things to the phone (remember it expects a constant DC resistance) – turning the volume pot to 0 (breaking the circuit) and then back up (remaking the circuit) can make your iPhone/iPod think that you’ve clicked the control button on your headset and cause it to start playing your iTunes collection!
Thankfully there is a solution to this problem: Inserting an inline impedance matcher between the Guitarbud™ and your guitar. Impedance matchers are used to plug a guitar directly into a mixing desk, and they do a good job here too. Unfortunately most have an XLR socket on the low-impedance side so you might need an XLR plug to mono jack adapter too.
Cross Talk
There is one other problem with the cable, and that is cross talk. Unfortunately, the cable used is quite thin and therefore I suspect that there is insufficient shielding to stop cross talk. You basically have a microphone wire carrying a small electrical signal running right next to headphone wires carrying a strong electrical signal for a couple of meters. When you turn your iPhone’s volume up the headphone wire induces a signal in the microphone wire and you get feedback – especially when using an application such as RiotFX, which has very low latency. Keep your volume down if you experience this!
RiotFX is available for purchase now on the AppStore for $4.99 in the US and £2.99 in the UK.
More information on RiotMode and RiotFX can be found on the RiotFX website.
More information on the PRS Guitarbud™ can be found here.
Before Guitarbud™, the only ways to attach your guitar to your phone were through some pretty funky adapter arrangements, some homebrew soldering projects or a tinny headset microphone dangling near your guitar. None of these solutions where good enough in our view!
So down to the Guitarbud™. As far as I know, it’s the first product to market that addresses this problem, and it will make lots of people happy. But it does have shortcomings…
The cable is pretty much a basic breakout cable – splitting a 4-pole TRRS plug for the iPhone/iPod Touch into a ¼” mono plug and a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, and so its quite steep at $29.
Guitars aren’t supposed to be plugged directly into an iPhone or iPod Touch: The iPhone expects the presence of an electret microphone, with a constant DC resistance of about 3Kohm and with output levels much below that of guitar pickups. An electric guitar really needs to be plugged into a high impedance load. A good guitar amp will have a load impedance greater than 1Mohm, much more than that of the iPhone.
The upshot of this is that the guitar will overdrive your iPhone (which can be corrected by adjusting your guitars volume pot) and produce a ‘muddy’ sound due to the low impedance iPhone input acting as a lowpass filter. The aforementioned adjustment of the volume pot can also do funny things to the phone (remember it expects a constant DC resistance) – turning the volume pot to 0 (breaking the circuit) and then back up (remaking the circuit) can make your iPhone/iPod think that you’ve clicked the control button on your headset and cause it to start playing your iTunes collection!
Thankfully there is a solution to this problem: Inserting an inline impedance matcher between the Guitarbud™ and your guitar. Impedance matchers are used to plug a guitar directly into a mixing desk, and they do a good job here too. Unfortunately most have an XLR socket on the low-impedance side so you might need an XLR plug to mono jack adapter too.
Cross Talk
There is one other problem with the cable, and that is cross talk. Unfortunately, the cable used is quite thin and therefore I suspect that there is insufficient shielding to stop cross talk. You basically have a microphone wire carrying a small electrical signal running right next to headphone wires carrying a strong electrical signal for a couple of meters. When you turn your iPhone’s volume up the headphone wire induces a signal in the microphone wire and you get feedback – especially when using an application such as RiotFX, which has very low latency. Keep your volume down if you experience this!
RiotFX is available for purchase now on the AppStore for $4.99 in the US and £2.99 in the UK.
More information on RiotMode and RiotFX can be found on the RiotFX website.
More information on the PRS Guitarbud™ can be found here.
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