JamUp Lite beta test report - new iOS guitar effects app (and the best so far!)

[Update: JamUp Lite has been released on the App Store. Download via this URL: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jamup-lite/id449820506 ]

I have been playing electric guitar since 10 years ago and has been in church service for more than 2 years. In my journey I've been from using famous digital modeling guitar processors to pedals & tube amps. I believe using mobile devices as guitar effects processors will become one of the mainstreams soon since the processing power of mobile devices and of course the convenience of mobility.

Thanks to the developers from PositiveGrid for giving me the chance to test their first app - JamUp. The sound quality it provided is really stunning good - It is so far the best amp simulation I've tried among the guitar amp simulation software, not only on iOS but also on desktops... even better than digital modeling hardware guitar processors.

In the lite version it provides only an amp modelled after VOX AC30. It provides great VOX AC tone and the controls really feel like the real amps with quite wide range. The best thing I really want to point out is the dynamic response from this app is very real - I am just feeling like playing on a real amp! Never seen a processor which can made this so real and perfect before JamUp.

Unlike normal amp modeling software/hardware, JamUp doesn't provide detailed control and selection of cabinet, mic type & position, but it already sounds great enough. I guess their design purpose is to provide users simple yet powerful solution. (And I think most users will not bother themselves to tweak the settings if they haven't played real things?)

The effects from JamUp are pretty good as well. Noise Gate behaves great when put before drive pedal and amp, and it doesn't affect the sustain (at least as I feel). Drive pedal (which is modelled after Tube Screamer) is great too and I can achieve metal-like tone with drive knob and preamp volume maximized. Tube echo and reverb pedals are also just those what you familiar with and dream of.

For the interface part, in addition to the detailed quality graphics, JamUp lite is really neat and simple. Just drag the effects you don't want out of the signal chain and they are turned off. Drag them back to enable them. Pedal positions in the signal chain can be also changed freely. Enough said. However I do hope to see more versatile pedal routing possibilities, multiple pedals of same type, and tap tempo functionality (very important to play like Hillsong!) provided in (maybe the Pro version of) JamUp to satisfy serious players' need.

With the strong modeling technology and simple interface, I believe JamUp will be a blockbuster in the market when it is released. Keep yourself informed by registering their newsletters on their official website: positivegrid.com.

[Update: JamUp Lite has been released on the App Store. Download via this URL: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jamup-lite/id449820506 ]

The following are the test videos recorded by myself:







The test audio clips (same with the ones in the videos) are also available on SoundCloud:

JamUp Beta Test clips by Brian Wang (TB)