IK Multimedia iLoud Portable Speaker Preview

If you are like me, you rolled your eyes when you read "iLoud". Are we really still putting 'i's' in front of everything? And iLoud? What is it some sort of cheerleader megaphone that you plug into your iDevice? Surely this product must be lame.

Well, unfortunately for me, I have to at least give every product that comes across my desk a cursory look to see if our readers would be interested in it. Honestly, this is the first time in a long time that I found myself saying, "Wow, that's cool" out loud while reading. The iLoud is as cool as its name is uncool. And that's a lot.

Portable speakers are nothing new. We cover tons of them and we're only covering the tip of the iceburg. They come out every day. The iLoud has a moderate battery life at 3 hours at full volume and 10 hours at "normal" usage. The form factor is fairly bland as a thin (2.36"), wide (9.84") rectangle with a glowing volume knob on the front. There are four drivers (two 0.75" tweeters and two 3" woofers of undisclosed type) which each get their own amplifier (a total of 40 watts is spread across the four drivers). When we look at the back, however, we start to understand that the iLoud isn't just another portable speaker: It is much more.

Wait, is that a guitar plugged into the iLoud?

I'm going to ignore the guitar for a moment. The iLoud has your standard 3.5mm input for connecting your mobile device. It also is Bluetooth enabled with A2DP. It is mpossible to see on this picture but there is a gain knob as well as a button for Bluetooth pairing. There is a master power button on the back but the iLoud has an auto standby mode to save battery. The iLoud is ported for additional bass.

The elephant in the room is the guitar. This is a standard 1/4" plug that allows you to plug your instrument directly into the speaker. If that were all it did, it would be cool. But IK Multimedia wasn't content with that. There are a number of apps you can add to your iDevice to modify your guitar (just like pedals) or mic. The iLoud features a built-in iRig circuit for directly connecting a guitar or a dynamic microphone, and allowing you to take advantage of the real time sound processing of your favorite mobile apps. Usually you'd use the iRig (an IK Multimedia product) to plug your guitar or mic into your iPhone/iPad and record or stream it from there. With the iLoud, you plug  both your iDevice (via 3.5mm plug - doesn't work over Bluetooth) and instrument into the speaker and the processing happens in real time.

When you take the functionality and form factor of the iLoud as a whole, you get a clear picture. The iLoud fits in a backpack pretty easily and is highly portable. It can be used for impromptu performances or to listen to to your favorite tunes on the go. IK Multimedia promises that they've used DSP and high quality components to ensure a "studio monitor sound". While they may be overselling it a bit, the focus on accurate as well as portable is something we like to see in any product in this category. At $300, the iLoud certainly isn't cheap but the coolness and functionality of the product can't be denied. We're sure there will be more than one budding musician asking Mom and Dad for one of these for Christmas to take back to their dorms. Heck, Mom and Dad might even want to pick one of them up for themselves!

Conclusion

The IK Multimedia iLoud has such a unique feature set that it is hard to compare it to other portable products. We've seen portable speakers that had little more than Bluetooth and a 3.5mm input with similar price points. Of course, we've also seen some that cost quite a bit less. But, in the end, if you are a musician and are looking for a speaker that does more than just stream from your phone or connect to your guitar, this may be the only game in town. Our only concern is the delay on the processing. If the sound comes out with any sort of delay, it may make the the iDevice processing useless.

For more information, please visit www.ikmultimedia.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.