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 Store

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

What is your "iPad life expectancy"

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Comments

  • I upgrade everytime a new iPad is released, and sell my old one. If you time it right and sell right after they announce a new one, over the long run you don't lose a ton of money and you're always current and don't have to worry about compatibility. I priced it out once and it was actually cheaper to do this versus hanging on to an iPad for 3-4 years and then trying to sell it.

  • Air-summer 2014
    Air 2-summer 2015 (Air headphone jack broke, couldn't find affordable fix)
    Pro 10.5-Oct. 2017

    I plan on keeping this one 3 years. I can't imagine the typical incremental improvements swaying me til then. I'm very pleased with this 10.5.

  • Still have two 2011 iPad 2, one on iOS 7, the other on 8, my iPad Air 1 running iOS 7.1.2 was my main device for 3 1/2 years then I bought the 2017 9.7" iPad last March. They all still run well. Looks like thus far I've gone 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 years between new versions.

  • In our household we have an OG iPad mini that’s still kicking and runs Samplr and Sunrizer still fine, and my current mini 4 that I purchased in late 2016. I will be sproinging for the 2018 10.5 Pro in early 2019 (spending that tax return mentally wayyyy ahead of the game since this years went to cc bills!)

    I guess that puts me at about 2.5 years on the mini 4. I am hesitant to rely on it for live sets although the only set i did with it was pretty smooth with no crashes or hanging apps.

    It’s running pretty great right now on the current iOS and even my BM3 crackles have slowed down a lot. Still starts to crumble when I try to make an insane ambient FX chain for Geoshred (multiple delays and verbs and choruses) but all in all I’m pretty happy.

    Really crossing my fingers for a solid 2018 Pro release with no audio issues as I would love to move my projects entirely to iOS and relegate my hardware loopers to fun with the kids time.

  • edited May 2018

    Air 2 - upgraded to iOS 11 and now cannot keep more than 5 apps open before it slows down. Ran out of 128 GB and due for an upgrade.

    Mini 1 - upgraded to iOS 8 after which it became slow. Doesn't have retina display which added to its performance boost.

    You can use an iPad 5-6 years or more if you do not upgrade iOS beyond 2 major versions from the one it came with originally. For instance, if it came with iOS 10, do not upgrade beyond iOS 12. Keep at least 20 GB free space for better performance.

    iOS performance issues -
    https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=183&t=53869&sid=29f70cd16405649399c490de33182513

    Check Settings > Battery to see which apps are draining your battery and close them. If they are not open, launch them and close them.

    Use AUs for better stability and performance.

  • I went from a 2 to a 4 to an Air 2. I'm using the 4 to post this. I've used it daily for nearly six years, but only for surfing the interwebz since getting the Air 2 over three years ago. I plan to use the Air 2 for a few more years. It is used mainly for recording (Auria and AUM) hardware synths. I'll probably stop updating soon. And I already stopped buying (music) apps a year ago or so.

  • I am getting the sense that most of us are able to keep our older iPads for much longer when they are delegated to back line usage like media consumption, old iOS app comparability, etc. It also seems that many of us (not all) buy newer devices to keep up every 2-4 years.

    @Tarekith I am intrigued by this approach. Do you ever have trouble selling your old device. Do you buy new before selling the old one? How do you move all of your projects, or do you start fresh each year?

  • No, never any issues selling them, especially if you use Ebay and their international shipping program. You just send it to their distribution center in your country and they handle the international aspects.

    When I sell depends on when they announce new ipad and how long the wait til release is. If it's only a couple weeks, I'll sell my current one asap because the longer you wait once the new ones are announced, the faster the price drops. Moving projects is easy, just sync to iCloud on the old iPad and Restore from iCloud back up on the new device. Done.

  • Very interesting ... What is the story with the iPad heating up? I just bought a used ipad4. Assume it heats more according to apps in use, but not really sure. Does running it with the charged
    (Thru camera connection kit) cause less heat buildup? Thanks!

  • Ipad3 which I still use. Replaced it with an air 2 when they were cheap at Best Buy. Struggles a little bit on some of the latest apps, but nothing I can't work around.

    Never had a problem with storage on either, but I don't use sample libraries and I mix in Reaper/MixBus.

  • Air 1 in better shape and runs better than Air 2

    Battery the works.

    Air 2 = iOS 11(the real issue)
    Air 1 = iOS 10

  • @LinearLineman said:
    Very interesting ... What is the story with the iPad heating up? I just bought a used ipad4. Assume it heats more according to apps in use, but not really sure. Does running it with the charged
    (Thru camera connection kit) cause less heat buildup? Thanks!

    I find having the display brightness turned up all the way has more effect on this than anything for me.

  • Thanks, Tarekith! I'll do that.

  • No I mean that having the brightness turned up tends to make my iOS devices run warmer than normal. If you're having heat issues, you probably want to turn your's down some.

  • I had heard & I believed, that extending an iPad too far beyond it's initial iOS was asking for trouble. I resisted with my Air 2 to go past iOS10 but when a few apps made iOS11+ mandatory for use and I got tired of the constant upgrade reminders I took a shot and went into iOS11.

    I never felt the Air 2 truly took to iOS11 and was disappointed. Yes most things still worked, battery performance remained good, but the speed & fluidity had evaporated. Why? Well, R&D future proofing or not, as the Air 2's rolled out of FoxConn, Cupertino hadn't really thought of the intricacies of iOS11 as they were prepping the launch of iOS9. That's as simple as I can frame it.

    My Air 2 is still great for interwebs & entertainment consumption but as my hub for iOS music production? Not so much. When the Air 3 that's on order becomes my studios "brain", I'm not going to go too far beyond one or two "transplants" to iPadOS. Hopefully the launch of the Air 3 and the development of iPadOS is close enough that I won't have to sweat every update notice like I just received a Monty Python-esque early organ donor notification...

  • @JRSIV said:
    I had heard & I believed, that extending an iPad too far beyond it's initial iOS was asking for trouble. I resisted with my Air 2 to go past iOS10 but when a few apps made iOS11+ mandatory for use and I got tired of the constant upgrade reminders I took a shot and went into iOS11.

    I never felt the Air 2 truly took to iOS11 and was disappointed. Yes most things still worked, battery performance remained good, but the speed & fluidity had evaporated. Why? Well, R&D future proofing or not, as the Air 2's rolled out of FoxConn, Cupertino hadn't really thought of the intricacies of iOS11 as they were prepping the launch of iOS9. That's as simple as I can frame it.

    My Air 2 is still great for interwebs & entertainment consumption but as my hub for iOS music production? Not so much. When the Air 3 that's on order becomes my studios "brain", I'm not going to go too far beyond one or two "transplants" to iPadOS. Hopefully the launch of the Air 3 and the development of iPadOS is close enough that I won't have to sweat every update notice like I just received a Monty Python-esque early organ donor notification...

    iOS 11 was a nightmare for my Air2 but iOS 12 cleared most everything up nicely.
    I may keep it there depending on reports from the forum and such.

  • edited July 2019

    Two years into my 10.5" iPad Pro (2017) - still works flawlessly and iPad OS 13 will make it even better. The new Pros don't offer that much more (0.5" larger screen, new pencil faster processor) but mean I need to invest in new pencil, new keyboard in addition to the iPad. And they won't let me do anything new that I can't do with my current setup. I'm thinking this one has at least 1-2 years more in it before I may be tempted to upgrade.

  • edited July 2019

    First iPad (iPad 2) i bought in march 2011 - still works without issues (i sold it to my friend, he is using it on daily basis)

    First Mini 1 i bought in november 2012 - still works without issues (i use it often for Nanostudio 1, works like a breeze)

    iPad Air 1 i bought in november 2013 - still works, no issues, i use it mostly for recording of synths in studio, it's permanently docked in iTrack dock .. battery still ok

    I'm expecting my new Mini 5 will hold for years, considering the fact that it can handle (in terms of CPU) everything i need to do full production with it, i'm expecting i will buy new one probably around 2025 ? :-) Maybe in that year there will be not iPads at all, and instead of them there will be retina implant for full computing in AR :)

  • My iPad history is as follows, iPad Gen 1 which I've sold when I got an iPad Gen 2 Cellular which is now in possession of my Dad.

    After that I got 1st Gen iPad Mini Cellular which I used until I got the iPad Air 2 Cellular that I got about 6 months after it was released and it still serves me well. While I still have the 1st gen iPad Mini it feels slow and sluggish to use.

    Considering the hotspot improvements coming in iPadOS/iOS13 I am for the first time considering an iPad without cellular connectivity as the price of the 64GB 11" iPadPro cellular is about the same as 256GB 11" iPadPro Wifi.

    If/When I go for the 11" iPad Pro it will be 'full on' with Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Cover and some kind of dock/hub with card reader and HDMI port.(Don't even own a 4K TV so 1080P@60Hz is enough for me).

    Then again I can easily wait for the next batch if iPadPro's as I'm more than happy with the iPad Air 2 as it is.
    (Even runs the new Eventide stuff without breaking a sweat, don't know how demanding FabFilter Pro-R is as I don't have it yet).

  • @RUST( i )K said:
    Air 1 in better shape and runs better than Air 2

    Battery the works.

    Air 2 = iOS 11(the real issue)
    Air 1 = iOS 10

    Why ios11?

  • edited July 2019

    Original iPad Mini bought in 2012 on latest iOS 9 -- still in good shape. Battery life stellar. One always-on pixel. Side switch gives slightly erratic contact.

  • Things just have gotten better and better, but my original 7 yr old iPad2 still works flawlessly and battery fine. The iPad4 I bought used and I think had some third party work on it... but still, for $150 I have gotten plenty of use out of it musically. The almost new Pro2 is a dream. Good to go for a few years now. Apple has its detractors, but I am grateful for solid hardware and the upcoming ios13.

  • Air 2, latest iOS, still happy with it.

  • @AudioGus said:
    iPad retina - 2012
    iPad Air1 - 2014 (Gadget made me get it)
    iPad - 2017 (Cubasis2 made me get it, BM3 made me love it)

    I am one year into the 2017 ipad and tickled pink... I can run BM3 with a bunch of FAC AUs, couple nice reverb aux, swapping files between apps is fast, exporting/bouncing is fast... hmmm, what will it be in two years...?

    Only thing I know is I wont pay more than 350$ unless the file system gets a major boost.

    iPad Pro 10.5 - 2018 - had it for the past three months and am crazy happy with it. Really wanted to get the best headphone jack iPad I could (RIP Jack) and came across a nice barely used one. Been fantastic for BM3 and Fabs. Takes a long time before I hit CPU and ram issues now. Also love how quickly I can transfer files, back up over lightning/usb etc. How long will it last? Mmm, who knows...

  • It really depends on how you use it. You can kill an ipad if you use it a lot for watching movies, video games, letting your kids play with it in 2-3 years. I mean the battery. If you use it exclusively for music that likely more than doubes.

    I've had my air 2 for some 4 years and can see it going for another 4 with light mostly music production use.

  • @supadom said:
    It really depends on how you use it. You can kill an ipad if you use it a lot for watching movies, video games, letting your kids play with it in 2-3 years. I mean the battery. If you use it exclusively for music that likely more than doubes.

    I've had my air 2 for some 4 years and can see it going for another 4 with light mostly music production use.

    My battery definitely takes a kicking with music apps. Most days I drain it in well under three hours and it gets pretty warm.

  • For the iPad Air 2 I've decided that as long as the battery has acceptable capacity and it can run the latest iOS version it's good enough for me :)

  • edited July 2019

    Until a couple weeks ago I was very happily using a first gen 12.9" iPad Pro. Then I dropped it while offloading my gear after a rehearsal and it shattered spectacularly. Never had any issues with it though, never felt slow or gave me any problems over the course of... what, almost 4 years? I replaced it with a 3rd gen 12.9" which was conveniently on sale at the time. The smaller size is nice and USB C is a game changer. I'd expect to get at least the same amount of use from this one.

    We also have an Air 2 that is trucking along just fine.

  • I’ve had an iPad since the day the iPad 2 was released. I broke the iPad 2 when it fell out of my unzipped rucksack and the screen shattered.

    I replaced it with a then current iPad Air 2.

    I still have it. As of today it still runs the current iOS. I haven’t checked to see if it’ll run iOS/iPad Os 13.

    My mum still uses her iPad 2 I bought her about 25 years ago (she doesn’t run anything that taxes the CPU!). It obviously doesn’t still run the latest iOS version though. But it still works perfectly and battery life is surprisingly good still.

    My iPhone 7 is feeling more tired than my iPad Air 2.

  • @klownshed said:

    I still have it. As of today it still runs the current iOS. I haven’t checked to see if it’ll run iOS/iPad Os 13.

    iPadOS is supported on the iPad Air 2 but from what I've seen with limited multi-tasking in the sense that if you use two apps on the screen at once and bring up a slide-over app the two other apps will temporarily stop responding to touch but drag'n'drop from a slide-over app to either of the two apps works as expected...

    iPhone 7 will also be supported by iOS13.

    I'll wait for the official iPadOS release before I install it but I will do it on the day it's released :)

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