Customer Reviews

Peavey AmpKit Link Electric Guitar Interface for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

I did my research before purchasing the Amplink Link. Most reviewers preferred the Ampkit Link over the other guitar interfaces (like the iRig, Griffin Guitar Connect, PRS etc). The Ampkit Link is the only one that uses it's own batteries to boost the signals outside the iPhone/iPad. The others just use the iPhone/iPad signal levels of the device and reviewers complained about crosstalk. The best thing about any of these devices is that you can use them with any app on your device as an audio in and out. I am a bass player and opted to purchase some in-app items a la carte in Amplink rather than buy the Ampkit+ $19 package. I spent the same amount and bought the Bass head/cabinet, delay, reverb. I also use the Ampkit Link with GigDaddy multitrack app ($4 with effects). I also started using the Ampkit Link to run my bands sound board through the Ampkit app for reverb and delay for the whole mix!! I just used the AUX send & return to go through the Link. The other day I just noticed that the version 2 of Amplitube for iOS has an in app purchase of a 4 track recorder for $10!! I'm gonna have to get that and try it out. Then I will have a mutitrack recorder with any amp, cabinet effects combination I could ever want.

I don't work for or get paid by any of these companies, I'm just an IT guy that went to Recording Engineering school and have been a bass player for over 20 years.

If you are thinking of getting one of these guitar/bass/instrument interfaces for your iOS device, just get the Ampkit Link and you'll be happy :)

Like several others, I did some research before settling on the AmpKit LiNK. I actually bought the LiNK locally at a guitar store. Out of the box, the LiNK was made far more cheaply than anticipated. I thought the materials could have been better and the whole thing could have been made studier, especially given that it should get reasonably steady use. The first plug in seemed good, though once again I felt that it wouldn't take much to damage the input jacks. I had the same intermittent signal drop out already mentioned by some users after just a few minutes and found that either jiggling the cord or fidgeting with the jack on the iPhone helped, but frankly, I don't care to run the risk of messing up the jack on a $200 phone to get a $30 device to work.

The LiNK was noisy, but I found that fiddling around with the app settings helped resolve most of it. Still, there was an annoying popping, crackling sound that wouldn't go away. I looked online to find possible solutions for the noise, but most advice said to adjust the settings. In a few days, the crackling increased to entirely unplayable levels. I wrote the company and while they were extremely helpful, they eventually said there must be something wrong with the unit I had and asked me to swap it out for another LiNK. I tried three other ones in the store and they all had the jack issues mentioned above. One of the new ones had the same crackling and popping issue.

Ultimately I decided to go with a competitor's product. I tried it in the store as well and it performed exactly as expected with no problems. And no batteries needed, which works out as a plus too.

I'd caution anyone looking to buy one of these to either find a friend who has one or try the product locally first before buying it.

A few days ago, I received a replacement unit. This one works fine, with only minor problems. The guitar jack doesn't connect if it's pushed in too far, but that's easy to adjust. Occasionally I also have only one channel on the headphones, and again repositioning the headphone jack fixes it.
The folks at Agile were really helpful with resolving this, although it took a bit of time to figure out the return procedure with Peavey.

Below is my original review.

I received my AmpKit Link yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm having problems with the connector to the iPad/iPod. The input works only sporadically, output to the speaker is fine. Jiggling the connector sometimes helps, although I haven't found a reliable way of getting it to work. In addition, the slightest movement can cause the connection to break, resulting in pretty awful noise (similar to pulling out or re-inserting the plug). I'm not sure if the fit between the connector and the receptacle on the iPod is the problem, or if there's a loose wire in the connector itself. I'm sure it's the AmpKit Link - pretty much the same results for two iPod touches (2G) and an iPad, although the connection with the iPad is the most finicky one. A headset with microphone also works without any problems on all three devices.
It's too early for me to tell how well it works apart from that - I've only been able to spend about half an hour with it in a (more or less) working condition. For my needs, it seems fine. There is some noise, but with the noise reduction in the AmpKit app, it can be brought down to a tolerable level. During the one occasion when I had it working for about ten minutes, I noticed that towards the end there was a bit of crackling. Somewhat annoying, but tolerable. It's also possible that this was a side effect of the connection problems.
I don't hav eaccess to similar devices like the IK Multimedia AmpliTube iRig or Guitarbud Audio Interface, so I can't compare it against them. Since the AmpKit Link has some active circuitry and does impedance matching for the line input, it should be better, which seems to be the overall impression of the reviews I've seen.
The device is also rather light, and especially when used with an iPod touch the whole setup can be unstable. But instead of putting it on a desk, one could use an armband for the iPod and carry everything around.
It is activated when the guitar cable is plugged in. So forgetting to unplug it will drain the batteries.
Obviously I could return it, but given that it seems to be on backorder, I might also consider doing some surgery on it to find out what's wrong. I have an extra three-ring connector, and have tried to plug this one in, and just string two wires to respective terminals on the AmpKit Link connector, but didn't get an input signal.
I used it mostly in combination with the AmpKit app. The free version I used doesn't have a lot of selections in terms of amps and pedals, so if this is important, the paid version is the way to go. The main annoyance for me is the tedious way to upload backing tracks or songs to play along with: It has to be done one by one through a Web browser, which gets rather tedious after the first few.
Overall, I'd probably buy this one over the other ones. Hopefully the problems I'm having are not generic flaws - maybe it's just a result of getting one from an early production run.

Peavey AmpKit Link is a great, inexpensive way to connect a guitar and output (headphones, PA, etc) to your iPod Touch / iPhone / iPad. I use it on my iPad, but be aware that this device is just the hardware interface. You also have to get the app (available in free or paid versions) from the app store. Be aware that the Peavey app is only decent. . . I experienced a little latency-stutter in the free AmpKit app, and it's only for iPod/iPhone so it doesn't look as good on the iPad; but IK Multimedia's Amplitube is far superior and works fine with the Peavey AmpKit Link. I paid $20 for the full-on app with all the extra cabs/stomps/mics and it was well worth it. You can create your own setups and jam out, hook it up to a PA if you like and the sound quality is excellent!

If you want to be able to play your instrument through your iPad, you NEED an interface of some kind. This is an interface of some kind. Not a great kind... But functional.

... IF you know how to solder.
Since I've been an electronics tech and owned more than a couple of electronics repair companies over the last 30+ years, it was no big problem.
I also ran JBL's electronics production line for a year.
That made troubleshooting and repairing this device fairly easy.

Even at the very beginning I found the unit to be very touchy. Intermittently getting power. The light would go off and the sound would vanish. Then back on. Then off. If you held it just right, it would work.
I don't know about you, but I find it very difficult to play guitar while holding this little white box with one hand...

I figured the problem could only be in a couple of places, so I pried the housing open, checked the power conducting contacts that utilize the ground of the instrument plug to make the connection. They seemed OK, but I tensioned them up and cleaned the contacts just in case.
No change.
A careful examination of the solder points showed cold solders on all 4 of the battery connectors on the circuit board.
I re-soldered all of them and it works great now.

Cheap construction and bad soldering technique in this device yields a very unreliable product.
It's made in China.
They should spend a little time and teach their 4 year-olds how to properly solder a connection.
It's not that difficult.

The LiNK works perfectly with AmpKit and AmpliTube on my 3rd generation iPod touch. I purchased the iRig when it first came out and it works, but the LiNK has far less noise, and doesn't produce feedback when using high gain settings. Additionally, there is no crosstalk or "bleed" from your other tracks when using the LiNK with recording apps like MultiTrack DAW; further, the tones from the amp simulator apps are more full and rich. The AmpKit LiNK is also less expensive than the iRig. Since I've gotten the LiNK, the iRig is collecting dust.

I have tried Ampkit and I-rigs amplitube, and the ampkit software is far superior for recording and getting a great custom sound. With the ampkit, you can chose between a wide variety of amps (you have to pay for them but its worth it). I love the Taos rectifier and the 6505 and my metal taste buds have been very satisfied. You can also chose different pedals, mics, and cabs and really get a unique custom sound to jam out to. And the best part is it sounds GREAT for a small pocket amp. Great Product!!!

This product -and its near sibling, the iRig- is designed to allow electric guitars, basses, or any other instrument level signal to be recorded through the headphone jack of an iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It can be used with any recording software available for iOS, from the included voice recorder on the iPhone, to any of the various multitrack recording applications, samplers and groove production apps as well. In theory, when paired with either the companion Ampkit application, or the competing one from Amplitube, your iOS device becomes a portable guitar processor like the Tascam gtr-1, Pandora px5d, Line6 pocket pod, etc.

In practice, It has some of the features of all of them, but not all the features of some of them. For basic practicing and/or jamming along to tracks though, it is a very cheap alternative to any of the above mentioned devices. Included free are basic processing functions such as a Marshall-like amp simulator (clean and drive channel, reverb, eq, etc.), cab simulator, and simple stompbox delay. Metronome, tuner and simple mono recording are also available free. If you need or want anything more, it will have to be purchased through the apps or as a paid upgrade (although the total sum will always be considerably less than any of the dedicated devices if you exclude the price of the phone).

The hardware itself sounds good enough. There is always some amount of latency in the monitored guitar signal, but overall sound quality is pretty acceptable (This is true of the iRig adapter as well, which I also own). Various amounts of hiss or hum will be present depending on the input level of your instrument, if it has humbucking pickups, etc... But the amps and effects are as realistic as you can expect from a plastic audio interface and a mobile phone guitar processor.

Compared to the iRig adapter, the only difference is the use of a single AA battery in the Ampkit. This makes it sound a little louder than iRig since it can rectify the signal a bit before going into the phone, but it also makes it bulkier. So if you value pocketability, or don't carry a man-bag like myself, you're probably better off with the iRig device. Otherwise, Ampkit sounds great and is also small enough (smaller than the iPad charger, for example) that having it in the bag is no issue at all.

It is trivial to build one of these yourself out of radioshack parts and an altoids tin can for a mere fraction of the price. But for those of you out there who don't have time, patience and a soldering iron, Ampkit is a solid buy.

Happy shredding!

Was excited to get my Ampkit Link. What a buzzkill. Like so much of the other feedback I read after I had problems with it, the device does not work. No volume, but yes static. No answer from Peavey when I emailed them.

I was a little weary of buying this with some of the reviews saying it worked sporadically, was built flimsy, etc. However, and I'm not discounting any of their opinions, I find it to be decently built and had no issues what-so-ever when using it with my iPhone 4 and iPad 2. It plays great with Garage band as well.
The only issue I'm having is with the Ampkit+ (which I immediately bought since I loved the free version). However, I am using beta iOS software so I won't even go into those issues until the final build of iOS is out - and see if I still have the issues. I love the sounds, I love the hardware. I really love the ability to set the I/O filter. It enables me to totally get rid of any feedback when using high-gain settings (something I can't do within Garage band).
Anyway, just my impressions after receiving it today and messin' around with it a little.

Update: I sent the developer of the app an email tonight (Sunday) about using it with iOS 5 (beta). I stated that I do not consider the issues I'm having bugs, since I'm using beta iOS software. I expected to wait quite a while for an answer because 1. it was Sunday and 2. it deals with beta iOS software. However, I was amazed when I got an answer back literally within a couple minutes saying that they were aware and are working on updates. That is AWESOME customer service. I'm pretty stoked with the unit and the amp - and the quick addressing of my email definitely solidified my appreciation.