There are a lot of mind-bending music apps for Apple’s iPad, utilizing the large touch-screen interface and built in accelerometer to create unique virtual instruments, multitrack recorders, and drum machines (So far, this one is my favorite). However, despite the ever-increasing number of music production apps, there are much fewer ways to actually connect your own gear to the popular tablet, leaving a wide range of creative possibilities unexplored. Enter the iO Dock ($199 street) from Alesis, a universal iPad and iPad 2 docking station designed to integrate virtually any instrument or piece of pro audio gear with your iPad. Slip your iPad into the side of the dock, and you’ve got a portable and functional workstation, with all of the connections you need to plug in professional microphones, instruments, and monitors. With the entire App Store at your disposal (the iO Dock is CoreMIDI compliant), you can fully utilize multitrack recorders like GarageBand, play the iPad like an instrument, or use it to control instruments through MIDI. For inputs, the dock has two combination XLR-1/4” jacks, with individual gain knobs and switchable phantom power for the pair. The second input also has a high-impedance switch, allowing you to plug […]... Click on the title for more