In use, the Apogee Jam X USB is simple to set up. The Jam X USB works on both MacOS and Windows, as well as iOS if that’s what you have available; like if you’re travelling and can’t bring a computer with you. You can monitor via either headphones or powered speakers, with the Apogee Jam X USB offering ample volume for both options. While the Apogee Jam X USB is small, it’s rugged, and will endure being bounced around in a case or bag while travelling, serving as an on-the-road solution to recording if needed. The audio quality could have the Apogee Jam X USB easily serve as your main interface for home and studio recording as well! Apogee manufactures the world's best professional audio equipment. Apogee offers an unrivalled experience to its clientele. Their products provide outstanding sound quality, inspiring simplicity, and exceptional value. Apogee will continue to grow and challenge old standards with breakthrough technologies that improve audio recording and increase creativity.

Then, you get a lightning cable to connect it to the iOS devices. And if your PC supports a USB-C, that won’t be a problem either, as you get a cable for that as well. iRig HD2 In addition to your current reading, you may find this other article on 10+ Reasons You Need an Audio Interface worth your time. Clean Mode is the optimum option for clean, undisturbed recording since it uses the Pure-DIGITAL signal route to produce a smooth, noiseless tone.In addition to that, you won’t have to go through any hassle of configuring it. It goes without saying that configuring a device can be a time-consuming and complicated process.

The Apogee products that came before the Jam series of interfaces have inspired years of riffs, songs and melodies, and the Apogee Jam X is the latest in a long line of useful, practical and well-designed interfaces. The unit plays nicely with multiple operating systems, allowing you to jump between a laptop, desktop computer or an iPad, for example, with no break in audio quality. The Jam X USB is a tool that just about every music maker needs, whether you’re equipped with a full on, home studio situation with a need for a more portable solution, or simple recording equipment that could benefit from professional-grade audio conversion and handy on-board compression. Apogee have again elevated a seemingly perfect design, reinvented in the Apogee Jam X USB Audio interface. For further information on this topic, refer to our article on 10 MAJOR Difference Between Mixer vs Audio Interface as well. It boasts the blend mode for low-latency recording. It offers resolution up to 24-bit/96kHz for excellent sound quality. All in all, you get a noise-free quality sound. Apogee markets the Jam with the phrase “plug in, play, record”, and in my experience, it’s just that easy. Within 10 minutes of opening the box, I had the Jam unit attached to my iPad and was playing through Garage Band’s nice assortment of simulated amplifiers. The Jam comes with two interface cables, one to connect your guitar to the iPad, and one that can connect your guitar to a USB port on a Mac notebook or desktop computer.Starting our comparison with the Apogee Jam Plus USB input, it is a high-end USB input with plenty of features for the best playability. It is manufactured by Apogee, a company known for manufacturing top-quality audio solutions. The compressor modes are really what elevate the Jam X – offering no compression at all, or three varying modes of compression, from the lowest, the Smooth Leveller, to the Purple Squeeze in the middle, and the Vintage Blue Stomp at the most extreme end, offering an ‘aggressive’ amount of compression. Compression before an amp sim can really help you shape and hone your tone, bringing new life to any existing amplifier sims you might have. The Smooth Leveller felt and sounded like a great ‘always on’ type solution, providing reasonably transparent compression, while preventing any peaks from poking through and clipping an otherwise great take. Monitoring with latency is an instant mood ruiner, making it almost impossible to record, and because of this, the Jam X USB includes a low latency mode that allows you to monitor direct from the unit, rather than after a round trip through your DAW and computer.

The Jam X USB is capable of keeping up with the most discernible ears, as recently displayed in the launch video featuring Polyphia’s Tim Henson exploring the compression modes. iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation), iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air 2, iPad Air (1st generation), iPad (7th generation), iPad (6th generation), iPad (5th generation), iPad mini (5th generation), iPad mini-4, iPad mini-3, iPad mini-2, iPad mini-1, iPad mini-1 (1st generation). All the mentioned models of iPad are compatible with Jam+. As far as the construction is concerned, no other USB input beats the iRig HD 2 digital USB input. It features a 1/8″ headphone output, a dedicated top-quality preamp, and a volume level dial.If you’ve had the experience of using any Apogee product in the past, you’d know that its products are highly innovative. The same is the case with the Apogee Jam Plus USB input. It effectively reproduces your guitar’s unique tonal qualities, and you can rest assured that you will be getting the best tonal quality. The LED is useful in that it has three colours: blue means that the Jam is connected but not active, green means connected and active, and red means that the signal level has overloaded the input. Usefully, the green LED also gets brighter when a higher signal level is present. Out of phase, split-coils, parallel wiring, all are achievable and more. And your signal path remains 100 per cent analogue - the digital bit lies in how your smartphone communicates this information to the guitar.