NEW: iRig Acoustic Stage-$99

Looking forward to seeing reviews of this from our members.

I originally thought having electric & electro acoustic was the way to go, but I've been playing mainly acoustic lately, using a USB mic, so this could be something to think about buying.
 
Attention!!!

Got one today and messed with it for several hours, never got a decent Sound. The calibration process ruins your sound, sometimes tiny other boomy, I have the original analog version and sounds way better. Another thing to note is that the two versions are not compatible, mics have different plugs.

Looking forward to seeing reviews of this from our members.

I originally thought having electric & electro acoustic was the way to go, but I've been playing mainly acoustic lately, using a USB mic, so this could be something to think about buying.
 
Rick, your RISA stick can likely go into the AUX input which is intended for the piezo that might already be built in to your instrument, and you can turn the MIX knob to 100% AUX and all should be well. Keep in mind that this is a MIC and NOT a pickup so attaching it onto something like the RISA stick is likely to not capture much sound, this is NOT a piezo pickup it is a MEMS mic. If you have not already watched the video above, it shows how this is done.

Thanks, Booli. I would use this with a uke other than the Risa to avoid taking an audio interface with me on the road. If I am going to be playing with anyone else, I have other ukes I prefer. Thanks again.
 
Got one today and messed with it for several hours, never got a decent Sound. The calibration process ruins your sound, sometimes tiny other boomy, I have the original analog version and sounds way better. Another thing to note is that the two versions are not compatible, mics have different plugs.


Thanks for sharing this info. Mine is due to arrive on WED 1/25. I will be very upset if my experience parallels yours. I'll just have to wait and see.
 
Last edited:
Mine arrived today. I didn't have time to put it through rigorous testing but my initial impression is very good. I'm no authority on audio so I'm just going on what I feel. It's so pleasing to hear my uke come out of a speaker sounding like...my uke. The calibration process went well for me. I'll make some time this week to do some in depth testing. I also pulled out the first acoustic version to see if they were compatible and was a little surprised that they're not.


Booli, I'll drop you a line. I'll need your help setting up a meaningful test/demo.

Mike
 
...Another thing to note is that the two versions are not compatible, mics have different plugs.

.... I also pulled out the first acoustic version to see if they were compatible and was a little surprised that they're not...

Are the plugs different sizes? As in the old version is 1/8" or 3.5mm and the new version is 3/32" or 2.5mm?

Or is it because the plug on the old version is 4-conductor TRRS and the new version is 3-conductor TRS or 2-conductor TS? (you can tell by the number of black rings on the plug, which are the insulators between each connection)

In any of these cases, there are adapters you can use to make it work. I had thought of this as well, and just figured I'd cut the 20 ft cord of the original about 6" from the hump with the headphone jack, and then solder on a new plug to whatever matches the new version. Places like allelectronics.com and parts-express.com sell all kinds of plugs, jacks, etc for audio and computer stuff for real cheap (some even less than $1), but you will pay at least $7 for ground shipping.

Too bad Radio Shack is gone, and no retail left. Yes, their parts were not cheap, but you could have them in hand immediately, and they really botched their web site. Days gone by...alas...radioshack.com is now owned by a holding company that bought their assets (including the name) and is still selling a very limited sub-set of the original inventory items.
 
I'll return mine

Mine arrived today. I didn't have time to put it through rigorous testing but my initial impression is very good. I'm no authority on audio so I'm just going on what I feel. It's so pleasing to hear my uke come out of a speaker sounding like...my uke. The calibration process went well for me. I'll make some time this week to do some in depth testing. I also pulled out the first acoustic version to see if they were compatible and was a little surprised that they're not.


Booli, I'll drop you a line. I'll need your help setting up a meaningful test/demo.

Mike

I'm so disappointed I'll return mine using my 14 days Withdrawal Right. It doens't work for me, sound is terrible!!!
 
Yes the plugs are different sizes. The actual mic part looks identical.
Interesting. I wonder why they did that? Could be simple "planned obsolescence" but I guess there could be a technical reason like the gen1 has to support input and output and the gen2 just does input.
 
I'm so disappointed I'll return mine using my 14 days Withdrawal Right. It doens't work for me, sound is terrible!!!
Maybe your calibration was imperfect?

Is it not possible to 'undo' the calibration and restore it to default? Does the default setting sound bad?

What about just re-doing the calibration?

Have you another uke or guitar or something else to test it with?

Maybe all is not lost and it's just a matter of the proper finesse during calibration?

What have you plugged it into? USB? 'Electric' Guitar Amp? PA input? All variables that will alter the expectations for audio fidelity that need to be considered.

I won't be able to offer specific feedback until mine gets here in 2 days. :(
 
Braguesa, I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out. I'm hoping as I get to play with mine I don't discover any shortcomings.

Booli and Jim, I'll add that the new plug is thinner than the gen 1 plug. I suspect the main reason is that they're two different products and as Jim pointed out they perform different functions.
 
:(

Maybe your calibration was imperfect?

Is it not possible to 'undo' the calibration and restore it to default? Does the default setting sound bad?

What about just re-doing the calibration?

Have you another uke or guitar or something else to test it with?

Maybe all is not lost and it's just a matter of the proper finesse during calibration?

What have you plugged it into? USB? 'Electric' Guitar Amp? PA input? All variables that will alter the expectations for audio fidelity that need to be considered.

I won't be able to offer specific feedback until mine gets here in 2 days. :(

I'd like I was wrong, I wanted this so much, as I have the analog version, I like its sound and this version should be a big step up. I tested with full range speakers and sound quality is far from acceptable. The first time I tried it I liked the sound but when I calibrated, sound was totally uneven. You cannot do a reset, so I think it's done for me.
 
I'd like I was wrong, I wanted this so much, as I have the analog version, I like its sound and this version should be a big step up. I tested with full range speakers and sound quality is far from acceptable. The first time I tried it I liked the sound but when I calibrated, sound was totally uneven. You cannot do a reset, so I think it's done for me.


This is sad news.

I was just now searching on the IKMM support forum where I found your thread and they do not seem so helpful: http://cgi.ikmultimedia.com/ikforum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=13128&p=68037&hilit=stage#p68037

I wonder, can you 'reset' the calibration by holding the button and not making any sound at all, (or not even have the mic cable plugged in while doing so) and just wait for it to timeout?

If that works, then maybe it will sound better?

If it cannot be reset, then those of us getting these after you should maybe avoid doing the calibration at all, and just use it in the default mode out of the box. There has to be some way. It would be a total design failure if there was no way to reset the device back to factory settings.

Please let us know if you get a reply to your support ticket with IKMM, and what they tell you.
 
I simply can't believe there's no way to do a factory reset.

ETA: and yet that's the answer you're getting from IK. Hopefully the real tech support will have a different answer.
 
Last edited:
I simply can't believe there's no way to do a factory reset.

ETA: and yet that's the answer you're getting from IK. Hopefully the real tech support will have a different answer.

I've read quite a few threads on the IKMM forum, and there is far more helpful and in-depth info from users on YT than in that support forum.

If a reset is in fact not available, then maybe as a group we should voice our disappointment directly to IKMM, for this will be the second time that such a product has failed on it's promise.

I will restrain myself from an immediate 'call to arms' until I get hands-on with it myself, so maybe for now it is wise to wait before we start sharpening our pitchforks and machetes.:)
 
Last edited:
Hi everybody. First post here. Long time ukulele player.
Just wanted to say that I just purchased the irig acoustic stage. It sounds phenomenal to me. A game changer, literally. It gives a real microphonic sound (and a good one too) with extreme convenience and mobility.
I did not calibrate it. If you read the manual carefully, the full manual from IK website, it basically suggests to calibrate it only if you have a dreadnought guitar. I tried with many instruments of mine ( guitars ukes mandolin) and it sounds really really good. In the worst case (my taylor 314ce), it sounds much better than Taylors' piezo pickup. In the best case (my nylon guitar) it rivals an actual revording with a good quality condenser mic in front of the guitar. For ukes, its sounds very very good. Maybe a tiny tiny bit nasal, but that can be easily fixed and I'm being really picky here.
However I am very surprised that you cannot reset it. There must be a way. In the meanwhile I strongly suggest NOT to calibrate it unless you're really unhappy with the sound, which I think it's very unlikey, according to my own personal experience. But of course every instrument is different.
 
Last edited:
Hi everybody. First post here. Long time ukulele player.
Just wanted to say that I just purchased the irig acoustic stage. It sounds phenomenal to me. A game changer, literally. It gives a real microphonic sound (and a good one too) with extreme convenience and mobility.
I did not calibrate it. If you read the manual carefully, the full manual from IK website, it basically suggests to calibrate it only if you have a dreadnought guitar. I tried with many instruments of mine ( guitars ukes mandolin) and it sounds really really good. In the worst case (my taylor 314ce), it sounds much better than Taylors' piezo pickup. In the best case (my nylon guitar) it rivals an actual revording with a good quality condenser mic in front of the guitar. For ukes, its sounds very very good. Maybe a tiny tiny bit nasal, but that can be easily fixed and I'm being really picky here.
However I am very surprised that you cannot reset it. There must be a way. In the meanwhile I strongly suggest NOT to calibrate it unless you're really unhappy with the sound, which I think it's very unlikey, according to my own personal experience. But of course every instrument is different.

Hi Jomasino,

Welcome to UU.

Thanks for the reassurance and for sharing your experience with the new iRig Acoustic Stage.

It adds to my own hope that this device is not a waste of time and money, yielding only frustration and disappointment.

As per FedEx, mine will be here tomorrow 'Delivery by 9PM', but FedEx usually comes by 1pm most days.
 
Hi everybody. First post here. Long time ukulele player.
Just wanted to say that I just purchased the irig acoustic stage. It sounds phenomenal to me. A game changer, literally. It gives a real microphonic sound (and a good one too) with extreme convenience and mobility.
I did not calibrate it. If you read the manual carefully, the full manual from IK website, it basically suggests to calibrate it only if you have a dreadnought guitar. I tried with many instruments of mine ( guitars ukes mandolin) and it sounds really really good. In the worst case (my taylor 314ce), it sounds much better than Taylors' piezo pickup. In the best case (my nylon guitar) it rivals an actual revording with a good quality condenser mic in front of the guitar. For ukes, its sounds very very good. Maybe a tiny tiny bit nasal, but that can be easily fixed and I'm being really picky here.
However I am very surprised that you cannot reset it. There must be a way. In the meanwhile I strongly suggest NOT to calibrate it unless you're really unhappy with the sound, which I think it's very unlikey, according to my own personal experience. But of course every instrument is different.

When I tried it first it seemed good to me, too. Problems happened when calibrated, sound quality simply has gone and no way of resetting to original. I posted a technical support issue with no luck, no answer. My experience with IKMM has lows n highs, software is not so good, hardware has some good devices, indeed. I'll give you an example, iOS sound modules have a 15Khz roll off freequency that compromises sound quality and that is omitted, later they agreeded with me and it was just like that!!! The iRig HD sounds really good, yet, as the iRig Mic Studio.
P.S - I've several IKMM devices, I know what I'm talking about.
 
Last edited:
When I tried it first it seemed good to me, too. Problems happened when calibrated, sound quality simply has gone and no way of resetting to original. I posted a technical support issue with no luck, no answer. My experience with IKMM has lows n highs, software is not so good, hardware has some good devices, indeed. I'll give you an example, iOS sound modules have a 15Khz roll off freequency that compromises sound quality and that is omitted, later they agreeded with me and it was just like that!!! The iRig HD sounds really good, yet, as the iRig Mic Studio.
P.S - I've several IKMM devices, I know what I'm talking about.

if you remove the batteries for a full 48 hrs and just let it sit, maybe the unit will forget the calibration and come back in default setting?

Can you please try it?

Sometimes these things have and save to a volatile flash memory that gets wiped when there is no power, or if a capacitor is inside to help the settings survive a battery change, you have to wait for the capacitor to drain of all stored power, and then the settings are lost, which is what we would WANT in this case.

and then after waiting 48 hrs with no battery and no USB connections during that time, try again, without doing the calibration, and see if it sounds like the original, BEFORE calibration...

Please try this and see.

This ^ is what I'd do first, and then I would open it up and look for a shunt or dip switches or a reset jumper, but I may have more experience investigating unknown electronics than most folks here and I AM NOT RECOMMENDING anyone else try this, and I am not responsible if you do open it and break it - proceed at your own risk and only if you are knowledgeable with electronics, like using a logic probe, oscilloscope and soldering iron, if not, then I recommend DO NOT OPEN IT!

Mahalo! :)
 
Last edited:
if you remove the batteries for a full 48 hrs and just let it sit, maybe the unit will forget the calibration and come back in default setting?

Can you please try it?

Sometimes these things have and save to a volatile flash memory that gets wiped when there is no power, or if a capacitor is inside to help the settings survive a battery change, you have to wait for the capacitor to drain of all stored power, and then the settings are lost, which is what we would WANT in this case.

and then after waiting 48 hrs with no battery and no USB connections during that time, try again, without doing the calibration, and see if it sounds like the original, BEFORE calibration...

Please try this and see.

This ^ is what I'd do first, and then I would open it up and look for a shunt or dip switches or a reset jumper, but I may have more experience investigating unknown electronics than most folks here and I AM NOT RECOMMENDING anyone else try this, and I am not responsible if you do open it and break it - proceed at your own risk and only if you are knowledgeable with electronics, like using a logic probe, oscilloscope and soldering iron, if not, then I recommend DO NOT OPEN IT!

Mahalo! :)

Sorry, I'll send it back tomorrow, cannot trust this device.
:(
 
Top Bottom