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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Octatrack or MPC Live as a sampler to fill with iOS food?

2

Comments

  • @DYMS said:
    I have been going through a similar dilemma.

    I tried a Digitakt, didn't like the lack of stereo sampling, so sold it.
    Then I bought the MPC Live, but the auto sampling feature that I was excited to use with my iPad synths didn't really work as the auto-trimming and iPad latency caused issues and just didn't play right. For what I was using it for, I thought that the iPad version of MPC Pro2 or BeatMaker would suffice.

    Then I thought, I can't afford an Octotrack, so I bought another Digitakt, and again, realized that most of what I was doing with it could be done with patterning 2 (I wasn't pushing the DT, I am sure).

    Now I am trying to decide if an OT makes sense. I feel it is the only hardware box that offers more than an iPad with some quality apps... but then, at the end of the day, maybe the iPad has everything I need. But GAS!!

    I am certainly spoiled with choices.

    No harm in waiting for drambo to come out in the next months to see what it can do.

  • Honestly after the latest update to the MC707, I think this is the winner:

  • @kobamoto said:

    @ElectroHead said:
    Is there any app which enables playback of 8 audio tracks at once and changing up to 96 parameters simultaneously and morphing between 16 sets of 96 parameters with a single controller?

    if there was I would gladly pay for it.

    AudioLayer could be this, if synth parameters were exposed to AU hosts.

  • @auxmux said:

    @kobamoto said:

    @ElectroHead said:
    Is there any app which enables playback of 8 audio tracks at once and changing up to 96 parameters simultaneously and morphing between 16 sets of 96 parameters with a single controller?

    if there was I would gladly pay for it.

    AudioLayer could be this, if synth parameters were exposed to AU hosts.

    I don't know what it is about audiolayer that keeps me on the fence,

  • @echoopera said:
    Honestly after the latest update to the MC707, I think this is the winner:

    The MC707 certainly looks very capable and has quite an immediate UI. Cool new features with the update, but it seems slicing and rearranging / modulating slices still isn't as advanced as the Octatrack. As a midi sequencer it can't hold a candle to the OT or Digitakt.

    When you declare the 707 as "winner", is this as a result of spending time with all the machines mentioned, or a judgement based on demos and looking at the specs?

  • edited December 2019

    @kobamoto said:

    @ElectroHead said:
    Is there any app which enables playback of 8 audio tracks at once and changing up to 96 parameters simultaneously and morphing between 16 sets of 96 parameters with a single controller?

    if there was I would gladly pay for it.

    You might already own it without knowing!

    I would say that Obsidian in Nanostudio 2 comes closest, at least from the apps I know.
    8 audio tracks? No problem, up to 24 per Obsidian instance if you like.
    It has eight macro controllers per instance that you can map to anything and you can also create multiple mappings per knob, positive or negative, with some genius details like modulation of sample start, sample zone shift, FM amount, synth wavetable position, filter formant vowel, FX parameters etc.
    All automatable as well of course.

    Ah yes, and BTW, in-app stereo sampling and sample editing B)

  • @ElectroHead said:

    @echoopera said:
    Honestly after the latest update to the MC707, I think this is the winner:

    The MC707 certainly looks very capable and has quite an immediate UI. Cool new features with the update, but it seems slicing and rearranging / modulating slices still isn't as advanced as the Octatrack. As a midi sequencer it can't hold a candle to the OT or Digitakt.

    When you declare the 707 as "winner", is this as a result of spending time with all the machines mentioned, or a judgement based on demos and looking at the specs?

    I own and love my OctaTrack but have been in search of a more immediate GrooveBox. This is why i picked up the OP-Z because of its immediacy. The MC707 just looks like a nice evolution of the GrooveBox that satisfies that particular immediacy itch I’m in search of.

    Does it solve everything?
    Nope.

    But it seems more fluid in arrangement, pad playability and general sample beat making that i am accustomed to.

    I’ve looked at the MPCLive, but I’m not fond of the UI workflow on an aesthetics level...i just don’t feel inspired to create the way i feel on the OT or OP-Z.

    I need to test out the MC707 in Guitar Center and see how it feels.

  • @echoopera said:

    I need to test out the MC707 in Guitar Center and see how it feels.

    Don't forget to also listen to how it sounds ;-)

    My attempt at humour aside, the 707 and the OT would surely be a fantastic combo. I don't want to think about it too much because I have an another plan for my next HW purchase.

  • edited December 2019

    @ElectroHead said:

    @echoopera said:

    I need to test out the MC707 in Guitar Center and see how it feels.

    Don't forget to also listen to how it sounds ;-)

    My attempt at humour aside, the 707 and the OT would surely be a fantastic combo. I don't want to think about it too much because I have an another plan for my next HW purchase.

    Hehehe...we all need to be in a 12 Step Program for our GAS addiction...hrmm...12 Steps...polyrhythmic...who knew :)

  • You and Rustik can start a club. :)

  • @Tarekith said:
    You and Rustik can start a club. :)

    Hahaha...maybe...maybe...

  • @rs2000 said:

    @kobamoto said:

    @ElectroHead said:
    Is there any app which enables playback of 8 audio tracks at once and changing up to 96 parameters simultaneously and morphing between 16 sets of 96 parameters with a single controller?

    if there was I would gladly pay for it.

    You might already own it without knowing!

    I would say that Obsidian in Nanostudio 2 comes closest, at least from the apps I know.
    8 audio tracks? No problem, up to 24 per Obsidian instance if you like.
    It has eight macro controllers per instance that you can map to anything and you can also create multiple mappings per knob, positive or negative, with some genius details like modulation of sample start, sample zone shift, FM amount, synth wavetable position, filter formant vowel, FX parameters etc.
    All automatable as well of course.

    Ah yes, and BTW, in-app stereo sampling and sample editing B)

    I've never even heard of this lol... this is on iOS, I'm gonna schmoogle this right now

  • edited December 2019

    oooh, you said in nano studio 2 hahaha, ok ... nope don't have nano studio, wonder if it's still on BF prices, gonna check

    looks like it went back up to 19.99, new I shoulda grabbed it the other day... well Santa Day is on the way so maybe there will be another sale on it

  • edited December 2019

    @DYMS said:
    I have been going through a similar dilemma.

    I tried a Digitakt, didn't like the lack of stereo sampling, so sold it.
    Then I bought the MPC Live, but the auto sampling feature that I was excited to use with my iPad synths didn't really work as the auto-trimming and iPad latency caused issues and just didn't play right. For what I was using it for, I thought that the iPad version of MPC Pro2 or BeatMaker would suffice.

    Then I thought, I can't afford an Octotrack, so I bought another Digitakt, and again, realized that most of what I was doing with it could be done with patterning 2 (I wasn't pushing the DT, I am sure).

    Now I am trying to decide if an OT makes sense. I feel it is the only hardware box that offers more than an iPad with some quality apps... but then, at the end of the day, maybe the iPad has everything I need. But GAS!!

    I am certainly spoiled with choices.

    My MPC Live should get here tomorrow and using the auto-sampling feature to create a library from my dozens of iOS synths was a top priority. Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. Does the auto-sampler have any latency compensation settings? What audio interface were you using with iPad?

    I may try the autosampler within MPC 2.0 with iPad connected via IDAM to my mac. other options are iConnectMidi 4+ streaming...or maybe just use synthjacker app on iOS side and use the sampled output to build instruments on MPC. Hopefully I can find a method that’s efficient enough to be worth the effort..

  • @kobamoto said:
    oooh, you said in nano studio 2 hahaha, ok ... nope don't have nano studio, wonder if it's still on BF prices, gonna check

    looks like it went back up to 19.99, new I shoulda grabbed it the other day... well Santa Day is on the way so maybe there will be another sale on it

    Although I often wait for sales too, Nanostudio 2 is more than worth the $20.
    I constantly find new ways to use it.
    Obsidian is such a deep sampler and synth, it does that "PD" practically as good as an old CZ synth, FM almost as good as in the Digitone, sample handling with so many bells and whistles, wavetable synthesis... and a piano roll that has everything one needs, including an automation editor that's really usable etc etc.
    After seeing all the synths that have recently gone on sale, I must say that two thirds of them are already covered by Obsidian. For people who actually use their stuff, that is ;)

  • syrupcore has been trying to talk sense into us hardheads forever so I knew I'd be coming around eventually and Christmas isn't far off , looks to be time

  • @Eschatone said:

    @DYMS said:
    I have been going through a similar dilemma...

    My MPC Live should get here tomorrow and using the auto-sampling feature to create a library from my dozens of iOS synths was a top priority. Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. Does the auto-sampler have any latency compensation settings? What audio interface were you using with iPad?

    I was going from the headphone jack of the ipad mini to the stereo in on the MPCLive. Midi was being done via bluetooth, and shouldn’t have introduced the amount of signal delay I was getting.

    It has been few months now, but I recall that the issue was that the settings on the MPCLive for auto-sampling were always hit or miss, and couldn’t be as fine as I wanted. For example, if I set the MPC Live to play a quarter note for each note AND turned on auto trimming (to remove delay gap at start of each sample) then the start of each sample would shift forward, but the length of the sample would now be just under a quarter note... Sorry that isn’t super clear, but I think you will understand what I mean once you start playing with it.

    I may try the autosampler within MPC 2.0 with iPad connected via IDAM to my mac. other options are iConnectMidi 4+ streaming...or maybe just use synthjacker app on iOS side and use the sampled output to build instruments on MPC. Hopefully I can find a method that’s efficient enough to be worth the effort..

    Yeah, if you find a successful workflow I would be interested in hearing about it. Enjoy the MPC Live. It is a really powerful production center that I wish I had gotten
    along with better.

  • @DYMS said:

    @Eschatone said:

    @DYMS said:
    I have been going through a similar dilemma...

    My MPC Live should get here tomorrow and using the auto-sampling feature to create a library from my dozens of iOS synths was a top priority. Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. Does the auto-sampler have any latency compensation settings? What audio interface were you using with iPad?

    I was going from the headphone jack of the ipad mini to the stereo in on the MPCLive. Midi was being done via bluetooth, and shouldn’t have introduced the amount of signal delay I was getting.

    It has been few months now, but I recall that the issue was that the settings on the MPCLive for auto-sampling were always hit or miss, and couldn’t be as fine as I wanted. For example, if I set the MPC Live to play a quarter note for each note AND turned on auto trimming (to remove delay gap at start of each sample) then the start of each sample would shift forward, but the length of the sample would now be just under a quarter note... Sorry that isn’t super clear, but I think you will understand what I mean once you start playing with it.

    I may try the autosampler within MPC 2.0 with iPad connected via IDAM to my mac. other options are iConnectMidi 4+ streaming...or maybe just use synthjacker app on iOS side and use the sampled output to build instruments on MPC. Hopefully I can find a method that’s efficient enough to be worth the effort..

    Yeah, if you find a successful workflow I would be interested in hearing about it. Enjoy the MPC Live. It is a really powerful production center that I wish I had gotten
    along with better.

    Just nailed the autosampler workflow on my MPC Live. I think using iPad headphone output might have been the source of latency/conflict for you. Worked brilliantly just now, using a NI Komplete Audio 6 interface hooked up to my ‘18 iPad Pro via an OWC Usb-C travel dock.

    I had Factory loaded as AUV3 in AUM, making sure midi was routed via the interface. In MPC Live I created a new midi track, made sure external audio input was monitored and max levels were -4 db under 0db — and on my first test run, just used the default settings for MPC’s autosampler. The instrument program it created worked great, though the default of one sample per every 6 semitones is a little high. I’ll probably lower that to 2 or 3 for future runs and adjust the sample length according to instrument type. (pad, pluck, etc)

  • The autosamplimg feature on the akai is so good. Wish ableton would add this feature.

  • edited December 2019

    yes we are living in the times when pigs can fly... and a hardware sampler can actually auto sample and freeze/print samples on a per pad basis.... I asked Native instruments to do this on maschine 10 years ago and their response was 'hahaha silly hoomaan leave us alone' and mind you, that was freaking software not even hardware.

  • @Eschatone said:
    Just nailed the autosampler workflow on my MPC Live. I think using iPad headphone output might have been the source of latency/conflict for you. Worked brilliantly just now, using a NI Komplete Audio 6 interface hooked up to my ‘18 iPad Pro via an OWC Usb-C travel dock.

    I had Factory loaded as AUV3 in AUM, making sure midi was routed via the interface. In MPC Live I created a new midi track, made sure external audio input was monitored and max levels were -4 db under 0db — and on my first test run, just used the default settings for MPC’s autosampler. The instrument program it created worked great, though the default of one sample per every 6 semitones is a little high. I’ll probably lower that to 2 or 3 for future runs and adjust the sample length according to instrument type. (pad, pluck, etc)

    That's great to hear. You didn't have any issues with the looping points or the release when you used the sample as an instrument? Do you have any gaps at the beginning of each sample and is the auto-trimming trimming it effectively. I am not against the idea of buying another one :)

  • edited December 2019

    @DYMS said:

    @Eschatone said:
    Just nailed the autosampler workflow on my MPC Live. I think using iPad headphone output might have been the source of latency/conflict for you. Worked brilliantly just now, using a NI Komplete Audio 6 interface hooked up to my ‘18 iPad Pro via an OWC Usb-C travel dock.

    I had Factory loaded as AUV3 in AUM, making sure midi was routed via the interface. In MPC Live I created a new midi track, made sure external audio input was monitored and max levels were -4 db under 0db — and on my first test run, just used the default settings for MPC’s autosampler. The instrument program it created worked great, though the default of one sample per every 6 semitones is a little high. I’ll probably lower that to 2 or 3 for future runs and adjust the sample length according to instrument type. (pad, pluck, etc)

    That's great to hear. You didn't have any issues with the looping points or the release when you used the sample as an instrument? Do you have any gaps at the beginning of each sample and is the auto-trimming trimming it effectively. I am not against the idea of buying another one :)

    I’ve only sampled 7 or 8 patches so far, and I don’t have a lot of experience with autosamplers in general, but so far MPC’s has been much better than I expected. Autotrim isn’t leaving any noticeable gap. Zooming all the way in, it looks (and sounds) perfect.

    I’ve found the best way to get the settings right each time is to just do it by ear. I start the autosampling process and if it sounds like it’s not getting enough tail or sustaining long enough, I just quickly cancel and adjust until the first note sounds perfect before I let it do a full run.

    Loop points are going to be more difficult to get just right since you have to wait till it’s finished sampling to see how it went, though I haven’t heard any clicks. (it has an x-fade option if thats an issue)

    One option would be to only auto-sample a single note at first, to quickly adjust loop settings until it sounds right. For release times/envelope settings, you go to “edit program,” make sure “ALL keygroup” is selected (unless you want different envelop settings for different key ranges) at top and adjust the amp envelope to taste. autosampler just defaults to full amp sustain, no release—but it’s quick and easy to adjust after sampling is finished.

  • @HandOfEmpty said:
    Have to say I'm surprised plocks aren't anywhere to be seen on iOS as far as I know.

    Ton drum machine has them.

    @ElectroHead said:
    Is there any app which enables playback of 8 audio tracks at once and changing up to 96 parameters simultaneously and morphing between 16 sets of 96 parameters with a single controller?

    Ableton?

    More seriously, how many people really use all that on the Octatrack? Plus, it’s such a pain to set up and use. On the other hand, compared to an iPad, the Octatrack lacks a lot.

  • @Eschatone Thanks for the update. Your process sounds much like the one I was using, but I was trying to be more mathematical. I would set the note and release to 500ms (or maybe it was 1000 as I seem to recall that there was a minimum value I was running into) at 120bpm so that it was a quarter note on and a quarter note of release, but then the auto trimming would ruin that for me.

    I probably should have spent more time with it, to be honest.

  • @ElectroHead said:
    Is there any app which enables playback of 8 audio tracks at once and changing up to 96 parameters simultaneously and morphing between 16 sets of 96 parameters with a single controller?

    Ableton?

    More seriously, how many people really use all that on the Octatrack? Plus, it’s such a pain to set up and use. On the other hand, compared to an iPad, the Octatrack lacks a lot.

    I use 8 audio tracks all the time:

    "Such a pain to set up!". What's the "pain" in setting it up? Plugging in the cables? Collecting and preparing samples? (can be a lengthy process, but it's the same for any sampler. It can be argued that the iPad lacks a lot compared to the Octatrack. E.g. what makes a better hands-on midi sequencer for hardware with rock solid timing?

    There is a learning curve with the OT, but once you get it and it clicks, it's intuitive, deep and fun.

  • edited December 2019

    x

  • edited December 2019

    @ElectroHead said:

    @ElectroHead said:

    @ElectroHead said:
    Is there any app which enables playback of 8 audio tracks at once and changing up to 96 parameters simultaneously and morphing between 16 sets of 96 parameters with a single controller?

    Ableton?

    More seriously, how many people really use all that on the Octatrack? Plus, it’s such a pain to set up and use. On the other hand, compared to an iPad, the Octatrack lacks a lot.

    I use 8 audio tracks all the time:
    "Such a pain to set up!". What's the "pain" in setting it up? Plugging in the cables? Collecting and preparing samples? (can be a lengthy process, but it's the same for any sampler.

    It can be argued that the iPad lacks a lot compared to the Octatrack. E.g. what makes a better hands-on midi sequencer for hardware with rock solid timing?

    There is a learning curve with the OT, but once you get it and it clicks, it's intuitive, deep and fun.

  • edited December 2019

    double post deleted

  • @ElectroHead said:
    Is there any app which enables playback of 8 audio tracks at once and changing up to 96 parameters simultaneously and morphing between 16 sets of 96 parameters with a single controller?

    AudioLayer and Layr synth as well as iM1 Korg.

    I Wonder if anyone is using iPad as a “sound module” with a hardware sequencer.

    Specifically for a continuous live set.
    One app that gets a program change on change of sequence from hardware.

  • @kobamoto said:
    hey you digitakt dudes, don't know how I missed this but is it true that the digitakt doesn't have round robin, I know it has p.lock sample triggering but what about round robin?

    modulating sample slot with LFO

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