Review: iRig Pre HD

One of the things I enjoy most about recording bass at a studio is walking in, handing the sound engineer my instrument cable, and running direct. It’s super simple on my end, and provides the engineer with a great signal. This is also how I do most of my recording at home. I will, however, note that having the “air” and “nuance” of a mic’d bass cabinet adds a fullness and body that you can’t emulate completely. It’s with that in mind that I was excited to review the iRig Pre HD from IK Multimedia.

The iRig Pre HD is pure simplicity. Grab your microphone of choice and plug it in. The high quality Class A preamp (that has an adjustable range of 40dB) is at your disposal with an optional phantom power selector. The multicolor LED indicator make it as simple as possible to grab a great signal from the mic and make that bass really shine in your mix.

One of the things that I appreciate from IK Multimedia is how they provide products that adapt to the modern musicians needs. While using the iRig Pre HD on my laptop is ideal for home recording, it also comes with a lightning cable adapter for those times when recording onto my iPhone or iPad is needed.

As a bassist that performs solo quite often (you can grab my debut album here), having the ability to record my live tracks directly onto my phone is ideal. With the iRig Pre HD, I find it easy to grab a solid signal immediately (as the LED allows me to see the signal strength while performing) and capture those live takes, if only for review purposes. The recording sounds amazing, but as an artist, we’re always harder on ourselves, right??

The iRig Pre HD from IK Multimedia is a super simple way to capture professional recordings instantaneously, whether you’re working from home, in a studio or even at the local bar on an open mic (where I’ve used it). By itself, it’s an amazing interface. Add into that the software that IK Multimedia bundles in with it (Mic Room for Mac/PC and iOS, the Mic Pack for VocaLive, etc..) and it’s a done deal. The iRig Pre HD makes recording simple, period.