Gear Review: DigiTech iPB-10 iPad Pedalboard

If you play guitar AND own an iPad, it’s time you check out the iPB-10 pedalboard from Digitech. I’ve been using the iPB-10 for about 2 months now. My favorite feature about it, besides the sounds, is its ease of use. The biggest drawback on all other modellers I’ve used in the past has been the interface. That problem has been solved for me with the iPB-10. The iPB Nexus app, which is a free download for your iPad, is stunning and gives you complete control of all of its features. No more toggling or scrolling through settings to find what you’re looking for. Everything is laid out like you are looking at an actual analog pedalboard. You can see real looking stomp pedals, not just numbers, words or names. The visual part of this setup is what really separates it from competitors.

Another big plus is that you DO NOT need to have your iPad in the iPB-10 in order to use the board. Playing a seedy bar and worried about some drunk spilling his beer onto your iPad? Set your sounds during sound check, adjust your tone for the stage, and then take the iPad out before the show starts. If you’re like me then you also don’t like fiddling with tone while the show is happening. Set your sounds and play! There are 20 banks with 5 preset slots in each bank. If you need to tweak, there is plenty of room to do it ahead of time.

The amp models in the iPB-10 are your typical amp models. They won’t make you want to sell your real amps but they are definetely usable in a pinch or for recording direct. The effects, on the other hand, sound very good to my ears. I usually cringe at modelled overdrive pedals but Digitech changed my mind this time. One of my favorite overdrive pedals is the Boss SD-1. It is a popular OD to use with Marshall amps. (I play through a DSL100) I’ve always kept an SD-1 on my board, especially when using modelling gear. Since I started using the iPB-10, I have not turned it on once. Side by side, the iPB’s “Supreme” OD is as close to the SD-1 as any other attempt I’ve heard. It even looks like the pedal it is emulating.

I could go on and on about what I like about the iPB-10. To keep this blog review from getting more boring than it already is, I’ve listed a few pros and cons for the unit. Bottom line for me is that it gets the job done in a much simpler fashion than most others in its field. At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters to me. Check out the iPB-10 at a music store near you….just make sure you own an iPad first. ;)

Pros:
Ease of use, FREE Nexus iPad app, # of inputs/outputs, Ability to use the 4 cable method, # of effects, # of amp models, Digitech customer support, can be run as a standalone modeller or only as an effects board, use as a backup amp in a pinch

Cons:
No amp channel switch to control your analog amp, no website to share presets with other users, no tap tempo (Digitech has alerted me that tap tempo IS coming in an update), no way to backup user presets to disk off of the iPB.


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