Ipad audio interfaces

[Ambient Lifeforms]

Hullo

Im trying o use my ipad as fx interface on my synths, with different apps - with very bad results, started doing some testing and discovered that using my iRig for in and out simply destroyed the sonics - all bass disappears!
So that brings me to my question do you have any recommendations for getting audio in and out of an ipad?
What about the docking stations? ( alesis, behringer..??)
Or something else?

[johny_gtr]

I own ipad 4 gen and used only 2 interfaces with it:
1) Apogee Duet for IPAD. +: can power the ipad (and don't think about battery), superb sound quality, simple and very intuitive setup/control panel. - only usb for midi, some issues with outputs setting (forgot the description), only MAC/IOS, no Windows (if you want also use with computer/laptop also) Extra plus - you can plug with 30pin/lightning cable and don't thing about camera connection kit and other cheesy interfaces. Looks and feels like good (not modern shitty) device
2) RME Babyface. + superb sound quality and preamps, 2 headphone outputs, RME chip can be updated a lot and RME often releases the updates. - total app is hard to understand and $, need to choose between charge cable and Babyface cable, need to connect with camera connection kit. But RME can work on MAC, WIN and IOS.

If you choose RME or APOGEE don't buy as adaptor (30 pin to lightning, camera connection) chinese made. It don't work but I don't know why.

Alesis and Behr maybe look good and interesting but Apogee and RME are top-notch musical devices company with quality for years.

[Ambient Lifeforms]

Ipad audio interfaces

Cool those are in the high- quality... and costly both, around 550 euro, more than I currently have to spend... But information is great :-)

[johny_gtr]

Maybe you can find the used one. Also if you will need to sell it in future you have great chance to sell as same price.

[nadaRobot]

I have an iConnectMIDI interface I'm quite happy with:

http://iconnectivity.com/iConnectMIDI2plus

Exposes your iDevice to your DAW through an ASIO driver - audio and MIDI data both can be streamed bidirectionally. If you're on a PC, you do have to use something like ASIO4All to wrap all your audio devices into a single stream (assuming you have another ASIO device already). The suggestions earlier in the thread are all good if you don't have a good interface, or are looking to upgrade. Me, I have a Focusrite that I wasn't ready to part with, so I bought this gadget to supplement what I already had.

Regarding the problems with your iRig, you may have an impedance matching problem (AFAIK it's designed for a guitar input, not line-level). The other issue may be the effects themselves - are you using the IK software, or some other product? The IK stuff, depending on the model loaded, will likely have a pretty severe low-freq roll-off.

HTH,
P

[Ambient Lifeforms]

Ipad audio interfaces

@nadaRobot I'm currently trying to move out of the box, so interface should just work with the ipad,
I tried a load of different apps with the iRig: flux:fx, livefx, wow2 from sugarbytes and glider verb, besides amplitube and jam up ( which are both guitar oriented) and they all had the problem, so probably the iRig.
I've ordered a alesis io-dock II which also has midi I/o and can provide power to the ipad and is also nicely portable , based on feedback in Facebook groups. I hope the lower price compared to the high end devices, doesn't mean I will be let down quality- wise, but I will get back to you guys here.

[Ambient Lifeforms]

Ipad audio interfaces

My experiences with the io dock II so far: it sounds far better than the iRig ( for synths). However there are no clipping indicators which makes adjusting input volumes something of a bother considering that audiobus does not provide level metering either. You have to plug some kind of app on the input to get a simple meter - irritating.
Also you cannot acces the hardware volume adjustment of the ipad when docked, which makes the exercise of plugging in and out awkward ( I always forget to turn the volume up before docking, and spends time debugging before remembering, and also forgets to close all audio apps before undocking which causes audio feedback from the ipad) *sigh*
But when setup correctly it can work, but I am beginning to doubt the feasibility of using this setup. maybe kaoss pads and effect pedals will be better.
Any comments to my out-of the box experiences?

[nadaRobot]

My experiences with the io dock II so far: it sounds far better than the iRig ( for synths). However there are no clipping indicators which makes adjusting input volumes something of a bother considering that audiobus does not provide level metering either. You have to plug some kind of app on the input to get a simple meter - irritating.

That stinks - you'd think Alesis could part with a couple of clipping LEDs.

Also you cannot acces the hardware volume adjustment of the ipad when docked, which makes the exercise of plugging in and out awkward ( I always forget to turn the volume up before docking, and spends time debugging before remembering, and also forgets to close all audio apps before undocking which causes audio feedback from the ipad) *sigh*

You can swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen to expose the soft volume control.

But when setup correctly it can work, but I am beginning to doubt the feasibility of using this setup. maybe kaoss pads and effect pedals will be better.
Any comments to my out-of the box experiences?

Stick with it! There's a ton of great music being made on mobile devices, but there's definitely a learning curve, and the tech is still very young.

[KrisM]

I have a Line 6 Sonic Port and it works nicely (lightning, though, can't remember if it comes with Dock cable, too). I bought it because:

1/4" (6.3mm) input for mono instrument (used with guitar and MicroBrute).
1/4" (6.3mm) stereo out
1/8" (3.5mm) stereo in, used with my OP-1
1/8" (3.5mm) stereo out, headphones or for recording/sampling into OP-1

Can be had for $100 new, less used.

I've lost hours of my life noodling around on my MicroBrute being lovingly massaged with AUFX Dub and Space :listening:

[Ambient Lifeforms]

Hi krism
Didn't know those two effect units for the ipad, so... Just bought aufx:space and Will try it out

[betadecay]

I have the ICM2+ from iConnectivity.
It was a real pain to get the thing work, in the best case, the synth freezed (froze?) after just a few minutes and played the same tone forever, in the worst case, the iPad rebooted. After these crashes, the device was not recognised, so I had to power cycle it and sometimes the iPad too...

It turned out, that there are to connectors for 30 pin to lightning:

The bad one: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD...n-adapter-02-m

The good one: http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MD...30-pin-adapter

Now, that i use the good one, nearly everything is fine.

Sometimes the synth still crashes after 10 or 15 Minutes, but i did not really figure out, why. Perhaps it has to do with the loudness, because reducing the synth's volume seems to help. But this problem occurs not so very often, so i can hardly reproduce it.

[Makrotulpa]

My advice to most everyone here: wait until Audiomux is released! It works and alongside MIDImux you can send and receive MIDI channels and stereo in / out with the generic supplied iPad USB cable

[betadecay]

When I look at this: http://www.synthtopia.com/content/20...sneak-preview/, i read something like "[...] designed to route MIDI and audio, between iOS devices and Macs [...]" - what about Windows?

[nadaRobot]

Yep. Mac only.


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[des]

I have an older Presonus Audiobox USB connected thru a USB hub and the CCK to my iPad 4. Works ok. I had to use the hub because the iPad cannot power the Audiobox seperately. Gives me 2x2 audio i/o plus midi. I thought Presonus came out with another interface that didn't need the hub, but I'm not sure about that. Using the hub allows me to connect a controller or two to the iPad. Another nice thing...I can also use the Audiobox on my laptop if I don't want to bring my Profire 2626 along...