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.
Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 and Audiobus routing
Hi, for Focusritt Scarlett 6i6 users or Audiobus developpers, I have this crutial question, as I just bought one to replace my old FastTrack Pro : how do set inputs routing for the Scarlett ?
Of course, I can see all the inputs (1, 2, 3 ... and 1+2, 2+3, 3+4 ) in the input slot of Audiobus (but no choice in the output slot, weird, but one thing at a time !).
But when I plug my MeeBlip in 3+4 or 1+2, or any other source (CD, iPhone output..), it sounds directly through the ouputs, without launching Audiobus. And if I let the input source, let's say the MeeBlip, then launch Audiobus and select the inputs where I plugged the MeeBlip, it's like it plays "in double", I hear the inputs in direct + the inputs through Audiobus.
Even if I had less inputs on my FastTrack, and it was not suppose to be "iPad class compliant" or even suppose to work at all with an iPad (it's a 10 years old soundcard), it works perfectly with it, once plugged to a powered USB hub, I can see all the inputs, the 2 midi keyboards plugged to the hub, and no problems for the routing... Of course you can set the routing with the OSX application, but there is no iOS app (like Maestro for the Apogee Duet), and NOTHING is said on the documentation for the iPad ! So before I get an headhache trying to set the Scarlett on my Mac, making lots plugs, deplugs and replugs between my Mac and the iPad, I would like to be shure that it will work in the end.
Thank you for your help,
best regard,
Cyril
Comments
I do not have that particular Focusrite, but they usually feature a direct monitoring mix for minimal latency. If this is active it will produce the effect you are complaining of. The other versions I have sport a switch and/or wet/dry level control. The 6i6 does not appear to have those manual controls. You might need to connect it to your PC, run MixControl, and see if there is a configuration setting to turn direct monitoring off. You may also have to select File -> Save to Hardware to get the change remembered.
Add.: MixControl may also help with static output routing. There are to my knowledge only three Audiobus Apps that can send to the output channels beyond the Main stereo pair, Cubasis, Auria, and MiMix. Audiobus itself does not. Though it would seem a no-brainer.
Quite a few apps can access outputs 3+ on a multi-output device directly (I.e., when running alone, not in Audiobus or Auria, etc). Most of these same apps can also access inputs 3+. Some examples are Turnado, FLUX, Borderlands Granular. More, but I can't remember them right now.
I mention this because I've started having more success (and more fun!) by dropping Audiobus from my normal setup and just using apps that can properly access the i/o channels that I need it to access. FX apps, sound manglers, etc need to input from 3+4 and output to 3+4 in my setup, and the ones I mentioned can do that without Audiobus getting in the way.
I know this is the Audiobus forum, but I think it's worth mentioning this option when people are struggling with mutil-io hardware interfaces.
AD 480. forgot about that. But the most universal solution would be System Output selections folowing the same paradigm and the input selectors.
I have a Focusrite 8i6 and to make it work with an iPad, there's different Templates coming with it. I had to use the one called "mixing", to be able to use all inputs/outputs. Maybe it still works the same, and you'll have to try this approach...?
However, the three I mentioned initially are still the only ones that can do effectively a cross-point routing of multiple inputs to multiple outputs.
sorry for the delay of my answer. To dwarman, there ´s as you said, a function in MixControl to save your configuration on the harware. After a lots of try/error/try again/half right/try again...etc, I succed to save a config which allow me to see my 6 mono inputs and 3 stereo inputs in the input slot of Audiobus. I tried all of them with differents apps and for now, at the exeption of a few crashes caused by the use of MIMIX (and maybe the last update of iOS 8), it seems to work fine. Now I must deal with the level inputs, line or instrument, which must be set in MixControl as well. And don't know what Focusritt users think of this application, but it's so not clear ! I almost regret my old M-Audio FastTrack where all these settings were made physicly, with switch and knobs on the soundcard itself ! Of course, the sound quality is much better, there's no debate, but what makes my a little angry is all Focusrite promotion towards iOS music maker, when there's not a single line on the documentation about the configuration for this kind of use ! Audiobus developpers should make a " little pressure" on the brand :-) ... Anyway, Thank you all for your help, this was usefull ! Cheers
For what it's worth, output routing's something I'm planning!
Hi Michael, it would be a very usefull feature indeed ! And in an imaginary version of Audiobus I have thought of, you would be able to control the output slots level, like MIMIX does but it would be implemented in Audiobus... : best regards