AmpliTube CS Reviews

The iRig itself is pretty cool for live streaming or recording to an iPhone, and AmpliTubeCS works ok for that, but the effects like overdrive and amp simulation on AmpliTubeCS are horrific. It sounds like you plugged into a $5 temu amp. They also limit you to only one amp, two or three effects, and everything else is “Buy Now”.
Also, it has some weird glitches. If you record into any app, when you play the audio back you have to close AmpliTubeCS from the background, or your phone will play the audio back at like 1% volume. Its weird.
I wouldn’t buy this thing for guitar effects or recording, only for a way to input a signal directly into an iPhone or iPad for live performances.

I bought the full version that includes all amps, which I believe costs $150. After a while it stopped working and IK Multimedia had me re-upload AmpliTubeCS . After that my purchase of the complete version was not recognized and I could not access all amps. IK support told me to re-purchase and they would populate for free. A bit skeptical, I did not want to take a chance on losing another $150, so I tried to buy a “SVT pack” for $25; it did not repopulate but instead charged me another $25. Stay away from AmpliTubeCS, unless you like to get ripped off AND have an app that does not work properly

The sounds really aren’t very good. The strobe tuner is the only thing I find useful in it. Also purchased the all-in bundle on sale at new years 2022 and it never activated on AmpliTubeCS . Other purchases stopped working and was give. The option in app to purchase them again. Kinda scammy but decided that it probably wasn’t even worth contacting the company anyways. Oh well.

Wont unlock version that came with i rig hdx . Tried everything and cant contact a person to help , tried calling and tech service wont take calls . Makes me want to return my irig and go with scarlet

I was trying to setup an iRig HD 2. But the interface in AmpliTubeCS doesn’t fit in my iPhone screen. The edges of AmpliTubeCS were cut off so menus were unusable. Very frustrating.

I purchased a number of stomp pedals and they are not showing up.

An app that comes with $150 piece of hardware should come with free basic software.

It’s not working, I plug my guitar but it’s barely any sound

So, I was thinking about getting the full version, thought I'd try the trial. They cleverly gate the distortion effect (sort of a big part of a guitar app) behind having to register for an account. I did. I went and checked their privacy settings and so on, made sure I wasn't signed up for any lists, and got my pedal. Then I got a promotional mailing from them. Sure, technically spam since I didn't sign up for it, but whatever, I'll just unsubscribe. Then I got another one a bit later. So... No, I'm not buying the full version, or buying any pedals from them. I am not okay with the "we will put you on a mailing list and not honor your unsubscribe" thing. Mailing lists need to be opt-in.

Sound's okay, I guess. The big win of AmpliTubeCS is the tuner. I guess if you wanted all the specialized pedals and stuff, this would be pretty nice, but also quite expensive. (Not, mind you, compared to actual music hardware, but compared to competing apps.)

But yes, I really would rate a product lower because I don't enjoy dealing with the company. Their model is that you have to have an account with them to get pedals, and pedals cost money, so if you want to use AmpliTubeCS, you're committing to a relationship with the company, and at that point, their bad mailing list management and support issues become a downside for AmpliTubeCS as a whole.

The Good:

- Tone is top-notch
- Good selection of models
- CPU-efficient

The Bad:

- Is not at feature parity with the VST version. Where’d all the reverb, delay, and other modules go for post-effects? Where’s the room mics? The DI? That’s some of the best parts!

- Crashes inexplicably. I’m not sure it’s reliable enough for stage work.

The Ugly:

- I was really confused by the licensing. I own MAX, should I have to buy the paid iOS app? Or can I just get CS and it will unlock everything?

- Support. IK Multimedia support is very slow to respond, if at all. When they do… it’s like they’re just trying to get the ticket closed and not actually help you.

The fact that I have to buy both versions is ridiculous! Same goes for the upgrades. The iRig is way over priced for something that feels like it might easily be broken and obviously only cost about $1.25 to make...a cheap plastic shell, a resistor, perhaps a capacitor and jacks....that's it! This is not a highly sophisticated piece of technology....yet it'll cost you over $40!! There are some things that are nice, but the sound is not exactly quality. Wish Line6 would come out with something similar. Nickel and dimeing the customer is not going to gain any friends...offer a pack of effects or include all of them with the full version.

Obviously you need to address the looping error and fix it ASAP...would be nice to see IK at least acknowledge the fact that it exists and are working towards a solution.

I have a feeling that I've been charged twice for the 4 track recorder...once on the free version and once for the paid version. What is with all the double charging IK?!?! Ill gladly update my review if it's not the case or you give owners of the iPhone version the iPad version as well.

Tried calling customer service with an issue and a couple questions. I got a recorded message on a loop saying to fill out the forms online and wait for them to contact me. I don’t spend time online and I’m not interested in filling out long forms and waiting days for a response. I felt with this issue with this company 2 years ago and go nowhere. Now I have another issue with something I downloaded in the past week and if I can’t get someone on the phone you might as well not have any customer service at all. No prompt customer service = no customer service. I grew up in a business. It did well because the customer service was top priority. Apparently that’s a lost sentiment anymore.

Although it works great for guitar amp emulation etc, recording stops randomly.

I’ve just started to rely on AmpliTube. I didn’t think they’d let an iOS update break their GUI! Right now, with the iOS 16 update, AmpliTube is stuck in the portrait mode while in Live. The controls are mostly unavailable, and so none of the presets can be edited. IK should at least have someone test the iOS beta and make a warning announcement about update problems. I was able to use AmpliTube for my last gig, but was really limited. IK really needs to post an acknowledgment of the problem and a timeline to fix it!

Ironic that AmpliTubeCS crashes when I try to browse "add gear" - Especially since there's a LOT of gouging with IK. IK COULD become my go-to for all my original music needs, BUT:
I bought Vocalive but there doesn't seem to be a way to incorporate the effects with other IK apps, and now they want me to buy the effects I already have via in-app to use them here. No AudioCopy/Audiopaste is a HUGE disappointment and an easy fix to the problem. I have iRig, iRig mic, and I'm registered with both Amplitube Free apps as well as having a couple of the percussion apps. I see no reason to buy the full Ampliutube versions since I'm only interested in a few effects, which I can buy separately and which are not included in the full versions anyway. The hardware is good quality and fair value, although iRig is proprietary (iRig works great with Amplitube and with a couple other apps but feeds back with many competitors. Peavey Link is not proprietary - it works on any modeling app - but it's a cheaper build, more bulky, and requires batteries). The software needs to be intra-compatible to be really useful.
For now I'll use Amps&Cabs and Riot FX for practice, FourTrack and MultiTrack DAW for recording, and Vocalive as a toy. Make IK work universally with other IK and I'll throw another hundred bucks their way tweaking my gear - but I'm not sinking another dollar into IK until they start showing repeat customers some love.
~D!

Although it lets you jam along with your existing songs, it doesn't work with songs in mp4 format, which is what iTunes uses by default for importing CDs. So none of my 5,000 songs works.

I was hoping to use Amplitube to jam along with the songs I have on iTunes. Unfortunately, it doesn't do that, what it lets you do instead is download up to 20 songs to play within Amplitube.

I went through the messy process it requires of getting on a computer that's on the same wifi network as my iPod Touch, going to a special Amplitube website, uploading a song file from my computer, downloading it into Amplitube, and "expanding" it within Amplitube, 20 times. The problem is, Amplitube doesn't seem able to handle Apple's default format, m4a. Instead of playing the song, each time I pressed the play button it just "expanded" it again. I believe it prefers mp3 files. Considering AmpliTubeCS is designed for the Apple iPod/iPhone, this seems like a rather large oversight and renders AmpliTubeCS unusable for me.

I freaking love AmpliTubeCS. BUT, it’s only worth it if you have an iRig, and some gear of your own (pedals, etc)

People have been complaining about the pay walls.

The only purchase I have made is access to the full recording software, which is 24 bucks. But money well spent man, AmpliTubeCS is really easy to use once you get the hang of it.

But other pay walls are for things like pedals for sound effects, and you can get a bundle of them for like 24 bucks too.
People, most pedals cost like $100 EACH. So it’s a pretty good deal.

If you have your own pedals your set though, completely compatible with whatever you wanna use.

Not a bad app. Of course it's not going to sound like you tube amp... Duh!!! But, for capturing riff ideas or practicing at the airport, or on the bus this works. Not real sure what some reviewers were expecting for free or a few bucks( some people would complain about being hung with a new rope... :p ) if you read the installed help section and know how to use your phone/computer volume and tone settings, you can get tone that won't sound like your first guitar and cheap digital amp.... I bought the iRig just to interface my guitar to my phones Strobotuner@ application, and decided to try the fee app. You get two effects and a noise filter( not necessary if your guitar is quiet to start with) just keep the effect & amp gains and levels under control and you get close to what your looking for... I play for a living and this combination works for what was designed for.... It does have little, occasional pops but that is the phone audio/ iRig compatability not AmpliTubeCS . So Enjoy it, I do.... :)

Don't expect to actually use this in a live performance or recording, the tones are not that great and the responsiveness is not very realistic. The tone reminds me of a super cheap multi-effect processor plugged into a small stereo. That said, I was able to play the free version with no perceivable latency with an iphone 3g. the tuner and metronome seem to work fine. The screen layout is nice and the controls are intuitive. The delay, noise gate and distortion pedal are nice and it's great to be able to save your presets. AmpliTubeCS, of course, would be useless without a special cable to hook up a guitar. I made my own, so I couldn't comment on the iRig addaptor. Given that this does turn your iphone into a multi-effect guitar processor for free, it easly deserves 4 stars. You can use a camcorder cable to plug your guitar in. The red plug of the camcorder cable is the "mic in", the yellow and white go to the amp or stereo. For your guitar input: Use a 1/4" female to RCA female adaptor to mate with the red RCA Jack on the camcorder cable.

Nothing wrong with AmpliTubeCS. Everything works well, just as described.