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.

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Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Guitar Interfaces

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Comments

  • There's also the Alesis io4. It's between $110 and $150 depending on where you look. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=755460&Q=&is=REG&A=details

    Been using it for a couple of months now and it's been very good to me. Not a single issue with the iPad (haven't tried it with my computer) and the sound is good. Shit, the sound is pretty great for that much I/O at that price! Being a single purpose device from a pedigree like Apogee I suspect the Jam sounds a little better as a guitar DI. I've never heard the jam so I have no idea. For me the difference was the extra stuff like 4 inputs, MIDI I/O, xlr inputs with phantom power, monitoring, stereo recording, inserts... If you need that stuff, I'd consider it.

    I run it like this: guitar cable into input 1, mic cable into input 2 and stereo send from a mixer into 3/4 for everything else. I send the io4's outs to the mixer since the mixer drives my monitors. Plus, a man has to have access to his space echo at all times!

    The unit feels pretty cheaply made but mine just sits on my guitar amp. With 4 inputs I don't really need to fiddle with it much other than turning it on so I'm hoping it will live a reasonably long life.

  • edited December 2012

    Just as an FYI. Walmart has the Rocksmith game with cable for $20-$30 bux. I was amazed by how clean it sounds. Of course it is no Apogee, but if you already have a CCK, for the money, you really cannot beat it.

    Way better than the Peavey or the god awful iRig.

  • I've been using a DIY passive box made with a 1/4" to RCA digital camcorder cable which has a potentiometer knob you can use to fine tune the noise you're getting from the input. Sometimes you'll get electrical interference if the iOS device is charging. This produced a much cleaner input signal than the I/O dock. Here's a link to the circuit which is very simple to build with very inexpensive components you can get from Radio Shack. Works really well to feed input from other devices too.

    http://ltdan.de/images/dPLUG.pdf

    If you're running out to a mixer or speakers, you'll need to first run your guitar through a mono pre-amp and then into the DIY box and have the headphone output on the DIY box go to your mixer or computer's external sound card inputs so you don't have the output signal going back the wrong way.

    If you want a DIY box that uses the 30 pin connector like the Apogee Jam, there's a company that sells a breakout for the 30 pin connector so you can then solder your wires to it to make your own connections.

    http://www.kineteka.com/PodBreakout-v1.

    Info on 30 pin connections

    http://irq5.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/the-apple-30-pin-dock-connector/

    Here's a DIY I/O dock

    You can also find information about the new lightening connector but if you build your 30 pin box connector correctly, it may be possible to use the Apple lightning 30 pin adapter.

  • Nerd. Win. That is so sweet.

  • Hi

    IMHO The Sonuus I2M USB interface is the best solution for Guitar to CCK to iPad

    It's probably more expensive than others at £100 but the big difference is you get mono midi too!!!

    Plus you can hook up to a PC and customise the Gain and Midi parameters.

    It works nicely with JamUp and is lovely with Sunrizer

    Take a look at my vid on YouTube using it with a Tele and GarageBand - google Batninja

    Bats

  • Has anybody used the Behringer UCG102 guitar to USB interface with success?

    http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UCG102-Guitar-to-USB-Interface/dp/B000PAPO9W/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=36ADQONWRCJYK&coliid=I1KU7MCK7EELBY

    I have an ipad 4, and would have to use it with CCK lightning interface.

  • I have a Guitar jack 2. Anyone know if it and the Sonoma wireworks software will work with audiobus?

  • The Yamaha Audiogram6 USB powered mixer works with JamUp and other iOS guitar apps via the camera connection kit with a powered USB hub. The foot print for the mixer is smaller than the iPad. You may need to reconnect or restart your iPad if you're not getting sound to establish the connection. You can also use USB midi devices plugged into your midi hub. The mixer also has analog compression for the first two inputs which can be any combination of instrument/mic and mono/stereo. MT DAW recognizes the multiple outputs too. You can mix audio on the Yamaha and output it to speakers. It's relatively small and light weight plus it has XLR inputs for mics and phantom power. Plus it will work with your desktop DAW. Haven't tried using the mixer while connected to both the iPad and desktop yet.

  • please, anyone has tested both tascam iu2 and apogee jam, who could say if the tascam has as good audio quality as the apoogee jam?

    i will buy one of them next week.

    thanks!

  • I use tascam iu2 with iphone 4s ios 6
    I play guitar and sign so I can connect both inputs at the same time
    The audio quality is the same as any standard USB audio interface in the $100 region (44khz/16bit) but the build quality has a lot to improve on (especially the ubersilly dock connector cable which is not unplugable!)
    It has MIDI and offers phono out and digital out.

    When using apogee you get a much better build quality but I think the sound quality should be the same (I only heard it in online recordings so I might be wrong here, but the tech-sepcs seem the same). You will not have 2 inputs 2 outputs and no MIDI - for me that is a deal breaker, but for some it might not be so.
    On top of that apogee does not offer an output so this is taken by your ios device internal speaker or you will need to use the headphone output, which again for some is not the preferred way to connect their gear to say mixer/PA system or guitar amps etc...

    Almost forgot to mention tascam will allow for your ios device to be charged, where as the apogee wont... hope this helps :)

  • edited January 2013

    hey toni, it helps a lot, thanks!!
    i think i will get one, as the price is so good now. although i read about a lot of people having problems to make it work and returning it to shop. mmmmmm...

    i know the build quality is like a toy. it's a shame we don't have yet no enterprise building pro interfaces for iosdevices... we would buy them!!

    i also knew about this one:

    http://www.studiosixdigital.com/iaudiointerface2/

    but it's too expensive, and batteries only last for 3 hours. although it looks very robust.

    thanks one more time.

    david

  • If your serious about the quality of your guitar tracks on IOS I recommend the Apogee Jam. The fact that it does not require a powered hub is icing on the cake. I have tested with my PRS, Taylor and Nylon Acoustic with K&K and the sound is clean and nuanced.

  • edited January 2013

    I'm holding out for this Roland interface, which comes out in a couple of weeks:

    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DuoCaptureEX

  • edited January 2013

    @ssante, i care about the quality, ofcourse. but i have my instrument + voice + midi... and i need to charge the idevice sometimes. apogge jam semms made more to work on the fly, but not for for giging.

    @tonifranco, can you please confirm if the battery levels go empty if use it during 2-3 hours? is the tascam iu2 battery consumption very demanding?

    @davarm, i wish i could use the cck with my ipod touch.

    thanks!

  • The Roland interface is class compliant and battery powered so you can use it with the CCK without problems ;-)

  • @dvarm, @gamuso, @chapalo: The Roland Interface does look like a fine multipurpose interface. If and when you buy this I would be very interested in your appraisal especially for the Stereo inputs.

  • @gamuso

    Dunno as I usually just plug the iPhone in at any battery stage and start charging when required or charge from the start when using on stage.
    I can check for you next time but I'm away for a week...
    Roland duo seems like a neat solution for iPad, yet I do like me über portable solution with a looper/sound module in my pocket. If only audiobus supported separating of channels to different apps I'd add vocal fx on top of that :))) one day lol

  • I just purchased the focusrite Scarlett 2i2. I highly recommend its excellent build and sound quality. The two inputs can be XLR or instruments. It has phantom power switch. Headphone monitoring (with switch for zero latency direct monitoring). When recording guitar, the signal it produces has plenty of headroom with no noise or hiss. Very clean signal.

    Only downside: a powered USB hub is required for CCK use. But really, for the Pre-amps and phantom power, it is worth it.

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/822508-REG/Focusrite_SCARLETT_2I2_USB_Scarlett_2i2_Portable.html

    If you just need one phantom powered input ( plus one instrument), the iTrack Solo is another Focusrite option that works with iPad without the powered hub and comes with a direct cable so no CCK is needed.

  • edited January 2013

    I dont think anyone mentioned one of the best things about the apogee. It isn't only crosstalk that it prevents. It also all but eliminates 60 cycle hum, which is way better than a noise gate if your pickups are single coil. I got the iRig first and the hum was so bad with any fuzz or distortion effect that it was completely useless to me. On that note, if anyone wants an iRig that was used maybe four times, all you have to do is pay for shipping and I'll send it to you. If you have humbuckers it might be fine for you.

  • @ gamuso

    Hi,
    Back home now. I did an extensive jam last night for about 2-2.5 hours. Used iPhone 4S fully charged, plugged ium2 without USB powering and run loopy and garage band simultaneously. I had plugged in my fcb1010 and pcr m50 into midi and guitar and mic on audio l&r. Battery was at 86% when I finished, so I don't think that's an issue. Where was it reported anyway? Can't find anything about it...

  • thanks a lot toni!
    very helpful info.

    best

  • http://forum.audiob.us/discussion/84/guitar-interfaces#Item_53

    Seriously...I can't be unlucky twice....can I??

    John Lewis' staff were excellent. They handed me a new iPad, even though it was day 46, against a 28 day warranty.

    Buuut....

    Same deal. Any audio recorded on previous tracks, bleeds into new recordings quite significantly.
    This occurred when using irig and guitar with headphones plugged in recording into any app. (loopy, mdaw, Auria, GBand)

    Thinking it was now the irig causing this, I repeated this experiment with just vocals and apple headphones.

    Same result again. Previous tracks bleed into new recording.

    Have I really just been unlucky twice....or is his a fundamental fault with the iPad 4?

    Still no problems with these methods on iPhones 4s

    Both using iOS 6

    Anybody with a similar experience?

    Thanks

  • edited January 2013

    Its not a fault or even bad luck. The problem is the same with the iRig and the headphones as they both plug into the headphone jack so the audio coming to your headphones which is the same port bleeds into the mic/irig. If you use a USB interface with CCK you won't get this issue. I've not used the apogee jam but I hear this is pretty impressive and you also won't get this issue

    If you check the start of this thread it's probably explained better by some others. In short anything that goes into the headphone jack will cause audio to bleed

  • Thanks for the advice.

    Apogee Jam does seem the way to go. I think a few alternatives were unveiled at NAMM, so could be a while yet.

    Strange that this has no problem on the iPhone though.

  • Just an interesting update...

    Spent nearly an hour testing with the super helpful staff in my local Apple Store.

    Both my first and replacement iPAD (4)'s were having bleed through problems (see above posts).

    TESTING SHOWED...

    Using the iRig or Apple headphones recording into the iPAD headphone socket suffered considerable audio bleed. This occurs whatever DAW you record into.

    The above setup does not encounter problems on iPHONE 4s, and interestingly....

    The above setup also works fine on the iPAD MINI. No bleed whatsoever.

    So the fault really does lie with the iPAD's headphone socket.

    Tested the APOGEE JAM going into IPAD 4, via a 30 pin to lightning adapter....it works! Audio records absolutely fine with no bleed.

    Bizarre how the iPHONE and iPAD MINI headphone sockets are usable and the iPAD's not.

    OPTIONS...

    So, I can either...a) Downgrade to a mini......b) Stick with iPAD and grab JAM....c) Stick with iPAD and wait for iRIG HD or similar or.... d) Return iPAD and wait 10 months for new iPAD in hope that my £560 device will like it at both ends!!

  • That's really interesting stuff @spookyzoo. Thanks a lot for going the extra mile and sharing it.

  • Wow, that's really interesting!

  • Wow, great work @SpookyZoo! This is really good to know.

  • No worries. Hopefully this info will be helpful for other users.

    Just one thing...it occurred to me that all our testing was performed on an iPad 4.

    Are owners of other iPad models finding similar result, or is this a new condition?

    Also would like to ask...what guitar interface are users planning to buy? The iRIG HD is coming soon...what about the alternatives?

    Cheers. :)

  • edited February 2013

    ..

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