Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
iPhone 4 performance?
Just wondering why the requirements list the iPhone 3GS and the 4 but urge users to use the 4S or newer? If I purchase and download Audiobus it would be most likely to run JamUp a drum machine or other sequencer type app and a multitrack recorder. Sound like a setup an iphone4 can handle?
Comments
4s has more processing power, but I have used both on my 3rd gen iPod touch (32gb) and the older device really lags....but my ipad 3 is great
Hey - the discrepancy you mention between what Audiobus' app description recommends, and what the App Store actually enforces is because the App Store doesn't let us actually place limits on the devices that can install apps. This is often a source of frustration to us developers, because there's a HUGE difference between, say, the 3Gs and the iPhone 5. Colossal.
We recommend the iPad 2 or iPhone 4s and up because of the processors they have inside - anything earlier will struggle under the multitasking load of running more than one app at a time. I'm afraid you're unlikely to see good results on anything else - these devices are just too old, as frustrating as that may be.
Cheers,
Michael
True....it does bog down a bit, but it will "work" if not overloading it (recording 1 track of guitar to Multitrack...don't load multitrack up with EQ's, compressors, or reverbs while using audiobus on an older device...it just can't handle the workload. Save all your mixing stuff for when you're running it in a single instance
Thanks for the explanation guys. I think I'll purchase it on my iPhone and try it out. I do have an iPad 2 in the house that I can "occasionally" get my hands on if it proves to run slowly.
Grrr...I just tried again on my 3rd gen iPod touch......I would NOT recommend using older devices...haven't tried on my 4th gen yet, but in order to get the best use of this....use a newer device (I have ipad 3 and no issues)
I downloaded Audiobus just now. I only have two apps that work with Audiobus, JamUp XT and Thumbjam. So far, no issues running these two together. Using JamUp as effects for Thumbjam. I have to try plugging in my bass next and I'll build up a loop in thumbjam to play over and report but so far, pretty good.
Please notice that I haven't plugged in any other apps, did a hard reset and I'm running in Airplane mode. I'm sure adding a multitrack app is going to shitcan the whole thing... I'm waiting to see what other apps in the multitrack category may become available as I don't have any major need for something as powerful at Multitrack DAW. Maybe something with less demand on the processor will help out the IP4 and make it passable? hmmm...
I was playing around a bit and set up the following:
Input -> Microphone ( iRig plugged into jack so I could run my bass in )
effects -> JamUp
Output -> thumbjam
I have no idea what putting TJ in that spot accomplished aside from preventing it from running through the bass amp I was using inside of JamUp. If I chose TJ as an input, it ended up routing through JamUp which I didn't want in this setup. I'm really clueless with this kind of stuff and somehow I got it to work and it didn't require any hair pulling.. which is good cause I'd like to keep what I have left!
I used a downloaded drum loop from TJ and then played another synth loop in TJ. So basically 2 tracks looping in TJ which I then jammed along with on my bass. Worked flawlessly and no pops, clicks or major problems. Slight bit of lag on the bass but it wasn't enough to affect me at all.
So far, it seems like it will be a fun way to jam along to a few loops created in TJ. I imagine if Figure adds support it would be fun to use also. Aside from giving myself some jam tracks, not sure what else I would or could do from here. Still not going to drop $10 on MT DAW because I'm sure it would cause issues on the IP4...
When TJ is in the output slot you can use it to record loops from the 'bus, so you could loop your effected bass, for instance. Even though it isn't as slick or quite as friendly as Loopy, TJ's looper can get the job done too.
Another thing you can do is create a new instrument, then record samples from the bus.
In both cases the record button available in the Audiobus side panel for TJ makes this easier.
Yeah, I was thinking about how TJ could be placed as an input and output and thought it had to do with its ability to record. That is actually pretty cool and I'll try that out tonight.
Just have to compliment you on Thumbjam.. I downloaded the app when it first came out but didn't keep up with updates. It's a whole different app now and amazingly powerful and fun... Especially with Audiobus!
Another feature you might not have discovered yet, the input pitch tracking. On iPhone/iPod open the extra sidebar (2nd button down on the main sidebar), then hit the bottom button there (mic+notes), on iPad it's at the bottom of the main sidebar. It tracks the (monophonic) pitch of the audio input and plays the instrument, you can lock it to the scale, chromatic notes, or continuous. It can be used to output MIDI as well, for a pitch->MIDI conversion feature.
So I messed around a bit more and ran into some issues with audio dropping in and out. The IP4 also locked up and I had to do a hard reset. I had a little bit of hope upon initially trying this out but in the end the IP4 is just not going to handle this kind of multitasking. Luckily, I have an iPad2 available to use just not as often as I would like.
Guess I'm in the market for an iPad2/mini or possibly a current version of the iPod Touch with the A5 chip.
I'd like to suggest grabbing an iPad 4 if you're already upgrading. It costs more but it has roughly twice as much CPU power as far as I can tell.
Yeah, I am definitely leaning towards getting a new iPad sometime after the New Year. I've got an iPad2 hanging around I can tinker with until then.
Never thought an app would make my iPhone4 look and feel like Keith Richards overnight
but Audiobus sure did
I feel you, man. I didn't think I'd want to update my iPhone 4 anymore but... I kind of am now.
Having an issue I was hoping someone could help me with. I'm recording with my iPhone 4S using audiobus, GarageBand output and Amplitube input. As soon as everything starts running I'm hearing pops and clicks. Sounds like someone dialling on an old rotary phone. These sounds are coming through on my recordings. Any advice?
Pick it up and tell them to stop calling you?
Seriously, turn on airplane mode, do not disturb mode (still not sure what that does), do a hard reset of your phone, make sure nothing else is running in the background, start Audiobus before anything else and make sure the buffer size is set to 512 before you fire up Amplitude and Garageband.
Lol! Thanks PaulB. I'll give that a try.
Late to the thread, but I've been using AB on my iPhone4 quite a bit, and while I've had some hiccups (namely iFretless Guitar & JamUp Pro can be a bit much) it does work. Mostly I get some app crashes when loading things in to AB, but if everything loads then I'm usually good to go.
One big bit of help is MemoryInfo, which I've used since I had a 2nd gen iPodTouch - it does a great job of freeing up memory. Also, I haven't really been doing a whole lot with DAWs, most of the time I've got AudioShare in the output slot, and then I end up plugging that clip back into BM2.
Things are much nicer on our iPad2 (if I can get it away from our daughter!
)
I've been running the iKaosalator through audiobus into GarageBand on my iPhone 4S with no problems. We got a deal on an iP4 for my girlfriend and it won't run AB for the same setup.
I still love it on my 4s.