What are your thoughts after using the iPad app with your GM36?

My thoughts:

1) The midi hookup - not so much. Kind of clunky. Lightening direct (or 30 pin) would have been so much better and seamless. Oh well, it is what it is.

2) The functionality of the app in stand-alone mode, not connected to the amp seemed to work great. Connected to the amp it's okay. No complaints but... Still seems kind of clunky from this aspect as well. Coming from an Axe Fx II that uses a software interface to control the main unit I find it to be limiting and dis-jointed. It's like working with a TV remote control that has way to many buttons. The amp layout with the actual buttons on the front of the amp makes easy-perfect sense. The dials in the app seem not as intuitive to use as the amp.

3) The graphics programming of the amp are an 11! Very well drawn and easy on the eyes. I like that you can put notes on each preset of up to 68 characters. That's really handy!

4) I like that we can save the amp presets to multiple libraries of presets. A real plus.

5) They didn't give us control in the app of the amount of the Noise Gate control. Only on or off.

Now, will I be using it? I don't think so. The amp is so easy to use with a midi control foot pedal and the knobs are so easy to tweak that I find the app kind of pointless, except for saving and sharing preset libraries. It would also have been great of we could import/export a single preset to pass on to other users. I do wish the amp had a blue LED display on the front that has a simple 1-A, or 32-D on it so we can see what preset is currently set on the amp. With out the iPad app or a midi pedal board we are in the dark.

Speaking of that above: Is there a place we should start saving presets of our favorite amp settings so we can share great sounds that we have found? Or, is this amp so easy to dial in tones that we don't need to waste our time on sharing sounds? Let me know your thoughts. If Yea instead of Nay then I will figure something out where we can store our presets...

Thanks for reading my take on this 4.5 out of 5 star app!

It's a pretty good interface....,..but I am having an issue. It would great if someone can replicate the issue.
So I have a FSM32 MKIII with the FS2 hooked up with a TRS to 2 mono splitter. I have it programmed to change DELAY and MODULATION. One bummer with these switches are they do not change state when you change a patch? I guess they are dumb latched switches , so it's state is not always accurate ( light on/off )

Anyhow, here is the problem with the App. Say you have a patch with delay and Chorus, and you want to save it so the delay is on by default , and Chorus OFF. Whenever I turn off the Chorus in the app , as soon as I hit save, the INTENSITY VALUE ROLLS DOWN TO ZERO. If I change to a patch then back , it is saved at an Intensity of Zero . Why ?

Can anyone else verify this ?
Thanks.

Hey Teddis!

I won't be home to test the app until Tuesday and will try to duplicate the issue when I get back.

Can anyone else try it?

Great Man !!!
If anyone else can try awesome.

Again, when I try to save a patch with Delay on and Chorus in the off state ( intensity at 12 noon ).....it always moves the intensity to zero......you can actually see the dial roll down in the App.
And then it stores it this way on recall.

Thanks

I have also submitted a ticket through the HK portal.

Hey Teddis!

I concur with your results that the chorus goes back to zero.

Maybe the zero value is what the engineers thought we would want it to do since it may create noise? Possible the swirling filter of the chorus, even though set to the off state would allow the amp to leak noise into the signal and the engineers opted to make it quiet? Just guessing.

Sorry Man!

But what is happening now is we cannot recall a Chorus preset without ANYTHING but Minimum Intensity.

I am on the road......can you see if this happens with the Flanger ?
Thx !

Ahhhh. Sorry for my mis-understanding Ted.

I am out and about tonight so I will have to try this tomorrow morning. Sorry Man.

I haven't been using the iPad app for at least three weeks now since the amp is just so easy to Fire-and-Forget.

Still nothing back from HK on this.......

I'm an owner hopeful (waiting on a guitar to sell to fund the head and cab) and while the need for a hardware MIDI interface was initially off-putting (and from me this is a small gripe and far from a deal breaker), I do wonder if this was just smart move by H&K not just in terms of cost savings (assuming this is cheaper than Bluetooth) but also in terms of longevity. I can only assume that Bluetooth technology changes with time and there will likely be a point where the Bluetooth tech built into the amp will become obsolete and therefore making this function useless. The hardware MIDI tech is likely to be around for a very long time and less likely to made obsolete by changes in iPad versions or updates to Bluetooth technology.

Not that I know what I'm talking about. Just thinking out loud. Please correct me if I'm wrong in my thinking.

Are you guys using the iRig Midi? Has anyone tried anything else? I'm still waiting on the foot controller, so I haven't tried yet. I have an Alesis iO Dock with midi that I will be trying out soon. I do use my ipad at gigs, but for non-musical purposes--lyrics, set lists, notes on songs, etc. I'm hoping it will be cool to be able to use it with the amp.

The Alesis iO Dock should work just fine.  I have a: StudioConnect with Lightning for iPad 4 and it works the same way as the Alesis does.  I have an older thirty pin Alesis and it worked great.

Now if the iPad just had a USB connection it would be "so much easier" to use... Maybe the iPad in October will have a USB port? I love Apple products but Apple does piss me off sometimes.

Cool. I'll report back once I've tried to, just to provide confirmation.

Don't get me started on Apple!   

for you guys using the iRig midi interface. The cables are so short.......to be used live, the iPad would have to be 5 feet from the FSM Controller. Any ideas what to do ?

Teddis wrote:for you guys using the iRig midi interface. The cables are so short.......to be used live, the iPad would have to be 5 feet from the FSM Controller. Any ideas what to do ?

I saw a midi coupler that will allow you to connect a longer midi cable to the iRig cable.

(google midi coupler)

I'm not using anything yet, as I am waiting on the foot controller (hopefully Thursday!), but 5 feet would be perfect. I'll have the iPad attached to my mic stand, with the foot controller directly below. I'll need a 15-20' cable to hit the amp.

Well, I couldn't get the IO Dock to sync with the amp. I decided to stop by GC on the way home and pick up the iRig Midi. I'll go looking for the coupler tomorrow and try everything again on Saturday's rehearsal.

Really... It didn't work... It should have worked just fine. Did you use midi in and out both? I will review the manual and see what it says about the midi connections while using the iPad app. Maybe there is a hidden sentence that says something useful.

Yep, I triple checked the connections. I never got past the "communicating with the amp..." message.

I'm using an iPad Mini. Do you think it's possible that could be an issue?

Ahhh...  I thought I had read that the MFS-432 MK III foot pedal is required to be used to drive the iPad app.  If I remember correctly, you have not gotten yours yet?  This info is on page 3.2 of the foot pedal's pdf manual:  

The "MIDI In" of the MFS-432 MK III is necessary for the use of GrandMeister 36 in combination with the GrandMeister iPad app and a MIDI interface. Connect the MIDI In of your FSM-432 with the MIDI output of the interface and the MIDI Out of the FSM-432 with the amp’s MIDI input. The amp’s MIDI output should be connected with the interface’s MIDI input. Learn more about this feature in the manual of the GrandMeister iPadTM app.

If you have hooked up like this that message in the app should go away.  I think I had the same issue when I first tried to connect it up.

Sorry in advance if this does not help Man.

Hey HwyStar. Thanks for the info. I did get my foot controller that same day, and had the connections all going the right way. Still no luck. I bought the iRig Midi on my way home from rehearsal that night (and a midi coupler the next day, so the ipad could be father than 5 feet from the amp). I'll check it out tonight at rehearsal. I'm also bringing the amp home tonight, so I should have more time to experiment.

Thanks again.

Update:
I used the iRig Midi tonight, and it worked like a charm! I keep the ipad on my mic stand, so the 5' cable from the ipad to the FSM 432 is perfect. I bought a midi coupler to add length to the amp/ipad cable. The only problem I had with the app is that it lost the connection to the amp one time, after about 15 minutes of not making any adjustments.

I love the ability to adjust the amp without walking over to it. In the middle of a song (or even solo), I can make a quick change. This so great, especially when I'm just starting to get the presets set up and balanced.

Good deal! Glad you got it sorted out Man!

Hi Guys

I have decided i DO need the app capability as I am constantly changing our set list and moving all these songs about manually is wasted time.

I have decided on the I Rig midi 2 but am unsure of what cables i need to buy to connect it all up?. I do have the FSM Mark 3 footswitch and the cable it comes with.

I`ll chime in, though I don`t use the app for iOS (windows laptop).

The app is effing GREAT.....IF you`ve got a controller that lets it be. I use an FCB1010 and it does everything it should. I went in, programmed my sounds and settings, saved, never looked at it again.

My complaint is the interface. Having to use a midi relay (I happen to use the midiman) is a wiring headache. USB would be a very welcome addition.

I love that we can store libraries of presets. Let`s face it, NO ONE uses 127 presets, so it`s ultimately kinda moot, but still a feature I appreciate. Especially if something unexpected were to happen and the amp dump it`s memory somehow. Easy backup.

A little clunky? Sure. An effortless way to set the amp up and sync it to my H9? Absolutely.

As usual good feet on the ground observations Jeff. I find 127 presets too much to handle mentally nowadays but useful for a different reason. I do find it useful to replicate my voices for each of the power soak settings on 1-8, 9-16, etc. That effectively drops me down to 8x4 (x 4) and lets me use the same block at home, rehearsing and live at different levels.

I do agree entirely that saving different sets is a big plus but I think expecting USB is asking for a totally new internal area of complexity to be added. Can't see that happening in the near future. And running a long USB cable to the amp is not on either! It's worth remembering that USB is a strange beast. You can actually cause damage to the hardware by trying to run it over cables which are too long. The recommended absolute max is 5m for high speed and 3m for low speed. It isn't terminated optimally so can create reflections back up the line. If these take long enough to reflect back they can add to the outgoing signal level and overstress the line drivers.