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StompIO looks and feels very much like a traditional piece of stompbox hardware.

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StompIO is a heavy-duty floor controller that connects to your computer by USB and takes charge of any AmpliTube amp and effects software that you are running. It comes complete with AmpliTube2, AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix, Ampeg SVX (for bass players) plus, for people who already own AmpliTube 2, the new AmpliTube Metal.

Up until now, the various versions of AmpliTube had been mutually exclusive in that you couldn't, say, combine the fuzzbox models in the Hendrix edition with an amp from AmpliTube 2. However, there's now a 'shell' program called AmpliTube X-Gear - included in the StompIO package - that ties all of them together and enables you to mix and match.

StompIO is built to withstand the rigours of the road - its metal construction is as solid as they come, with a tubular 'handle' making it easy to pick up and also protecting, to an extent, all of the rear panel connections. These include MIDI I/O, S/PDIF, stereo headphone jack, two pairs of outputs and a direct jack output for a clean unprocessed version of the input signal.

There are also six sockets to connect external controllers. One of these is used for the Cry Baby clone expression pedal that comes with the package

The top panel controls are well laid out and have been kept simple. The main row of seven foot switches includes bank up and bank down, tap tempo and A, B, C and D switches to select one of the four programs held in each bank. Three extra switches are foot operated duplicates of top panel buttons for exit and entry in data control and for calling up the tuner. A single knob sets the output volume.

The narrow but brightly-lit main display window shows the program name and the parameters editable by a row of six 'soft' knobs directly underneath – ideal for quick onstage tone adjustments. A pair of cursor buttons completes the vast array of controls

There are five modes of operation for the StompIO. Called play modes, each offers a different set of functions for the bank up/down and A, B, C and D switches.

In use

With X-Gear running and StompIO connected via USB, the sound of the software amp sims is available at the StompIO outputs, ready to go to headphones, PA or a power amp/speaker combination.

IK has considered all the options when designing the various StompIO Play modes - there are different ways of working to suit different players, but one thing that they all have in common is that a large degree of organisation has to take place before taking the StompIO onstage. You have to edit programs to get the sounds you want and then put them into the StompIO memory banks in a logical order for easy recall when needed.

Switching directly between programs while playing can, in cases where the two sounds are very different from each other, come across as a little unnatural with a short, but still perceptible, silent gap between sounds which can seem like a time lag before the start of the new sound. This is something to be aware of, and requires careful timing when hitting the switch, but may not necessarily be a problem as most switching of that nature is likely to occur between songs or at natural gaps in the music.