If you’re looking for a remote for your ipod to run your sound during your show, this may be the ticket.My Virtual Sound Man died on me and the manufacturer went out of business. Each of my shows has 15 - 20 sound cues. So I went in search of a replacement. I searched the various entertainer forums and discovered the Ijet (I’m obviously not the first).
The Ijet is described as a remote that attaches to your Ipod that has an “RF signal that travels through walls, ceilings, and around corners up to 150 ft. away.”
The facts:
The Ijet comes with the remote control (which is a little like a car remote), two different kinds of belt attachments, the Ijet unit that attaches to your ipod and an RCA cord. The Ijet unit itself is about three inches long, one inch tall and about a half an inch thick. Very discreet.
It attaches to the bottom of your ipod and is ready to work in 30 seconds.
The remote has “play/pause”, “forward track”, “back track”, “volume up” and “volume down” buttons.
The Ijet runs on the power of your Ipod and is completely wireless.
You can get it on www.amazon.com for about 30 bucks.
Here’s my review:
I received the Ijet on Thursday night and after about 10 minutes of practice was using it for shows by Friday morning.
I’m a learn-on-the-job kinda guy, so it took me about 4 songs (sound cues) to get use to it. I love it. I can start a song and stop a song. Increase and decrease volume at will.
I didn’t actually measure the distance, but on that one day I performed four shows in three different venues (cafeteria, theatre and multi purpose room) with audiences ranging from 200 to 500 people and it worked fine. I even run through the audience and it worked there.
Here are a few things to think about before purchasing:
- Because the Ijet attaches to the bottom of your Ipod, the headphone jack must be elsewhere. My wife’s Nano has the headphone jack on the bottom, so it wouldn’t work. I have a Classic, so it was fine.
- Check the compatibility on-line. Doesn’t work with all ipods.
- The remote does not have a fade-out feature. If this is important to you, you may want to look elsewhere.
- I would say it’s about 95 percent dependable. If your show is dependant on EXACT sound cues such as sound effects, you may want something a bit more reliable. But if you just run music cues, it’s perfect.
- All the entertainer forums suggest that you have a blank track between each track to make managing your list easier. I didn’t find this necessary.
- Because the Ijet works on the power your Ipod, you’ll need to charge the ipod between shows. I don’t like taking any of my equipment out of my sound bag between shows, so you can solve that problem by charging your ipod while setting up or breaking down your show. That way everything stays together.
All that being said, if you want the perfect remote to use for your music cues for only about 30 bucks, this is a no-brainer. Great for a one man/woman show. If you need all the other bells and whistles, you can invest the thousand or so dollars in something much more fancy schmancy.
I welcome your comments.
Have fun!
- John Abrams
Rebel Entertainer and Guy that has the music in him
www.rebelentertainers.com
www.facebook.com/rebelentertainer
www.twitter.com/johnabrams1
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4 comments:
Hey there John,
I had no idea that Virtual Soundman had gone out of business. But I've been a long time Wireless Wizardry (now Creative Entertainment Solutions, www.theceswebsite.com) customer starting with the minitech (out of production now) controlling a MD player, then a CD player, then an iPod, and now I've graduated to their MP3 Tech http://www.theceswebsite.com/products/audio/mp3tech/index.html
It is the BEST and most idiot proof remote controlled music player I have EVER used. It IS expensive compared to a 30 dollar remote. But it is WONDERFUL. All the songs (up to 100) are programmed on your computer into an SD memory card. Up to 9 different playlists can be programmed on a card and there is one "on the go" playlist available. There are no moving parts, it's all digital.
The remote is a small car type remote with 4 buttons. I sewed a pocket for it into the pockets on my show pants. That way it always sits the same way and I press it through my pants. No one ever knows I'm starting the music.
The '1' button starts or pauses the song. If the song plays until the end you never touch the remote again, it will play through and pause at the next cue, waiting for your command. The '2' button is programmable in your computer for each song or each playlist, your choice. It will do one of 3 actions, either fade the song and cue the next, fade the song and start the next, or just bump the song playing immediately to the next song and begin playing it. I use the first and third options in my show on different songs. The '3' button raises the volume by 3 db everytime you push it and the '4' button lowers the volume in the same way.
The problem I always had with iPods is the volume wheel. It is infinitely variable and hard to set at a definite volume, specially if the power goes off. So many times I would get the volume just right in sound check and then the show would be totally different. This happened with just about every iPod remote I tried. I sing in my show and need the volume to be the same EVERY time. The MP3 tech does this. It also has additional transmitters built in that will trigger up to 8 optional units to do special effects, trigger fog or lights, drop something, etc. etc. These can be custom made to do just about anything you would want it to do at a pre programmed time in your sound or music cues. Great for magicians.
The last thing I want to say is that Kerry and the guys at Wireless Wizardry (I'm not used to the new name yet) is the service. They are the best. I heard that Virtual had lousy customer service but not so with WW. I've called them about a small problem right before a show and they have returned my phone call immediately and helped to get my show going. I can't speak highly enough about this unit and this company. If you need your music or sound cues to be idiot proof, inconspicuous, and always reliable I would HIGHLY recommend the MP3 tech by Creative Entertainment Solutions. It's (expensive but) THE BEST!!!
Chris
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the review of the MP3 Tech. I've heard nothing but great things about it.
Ken Scott emailed me. He's also very happy with the product.
For those of you that want a step above the ijet (actually, a bunch of steps up) and really need it to work brilliantly every time, the MP3 Tech is the way to go. It does have a sizable price tag, but if you need it, it's well worth the price.
Thanks again Chris and Ken
Another vote for the MP3Tech... I go back to the MiniTech days as well.
We are over 10 years with Kerry's devices and we've literally never missed a sound cue. It's truly remarkable and Kerry, being a performer himself, is so understanding about what we use this unit for.
He alone has executed one of the great meetings of engineering and usability.
Barry Friedman
Raspyni Brothers
i just bought an 'i-jet' over e-bay for a theatre juggling show that and their budget couldn't supply a sound tech, in australia they are not yet accessible and all i could find was an 'i-pod' docking station, and that was infrared and needed to be line of sight (didn't work) as the sound system was behind us and a bunch of curtains. THe 'i-jet' worked an absolute treat, best $50 i have ever spent over e-bay. i remembered reading a review on the newsletter months ago. thank you, it is a sound investment.
Dan Gorski
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