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.
Not suitable for iPad 2 or less - the truth
There seems to be some forum members who use iPad 2s and are upset that certain apps don't run properly on this older model.
I can't blame them - if the app is not suitable for that model then it should say so clearly in the iTunes store description.
But what constitues "suitable"? What if "most" of the features work with an iPad 2, but some don't? What if only 50% of the features work. What if a DAW records well but dies when you add filters? It is a bit of a grey area.
I suggest we nominate apps that, in normal use using all of the features, are not suitable for iPad 2.
This is not an attack on developers. These "performance intensive" apps are brilliant and do amazing things and make amazing sounds. They are some of the best apps you can buy - they just are not really suitable for slower iPad 1 and 2s.
To get the ball rolling I would put forward the most obvious one, "Auria" - a stunning app that is worth every cent of the $50 price tag. It's an epic, game changer... but I could never recommned this app to an iPad 2 user, unless they were going to use it for simple projects (in which case I would suggest another DAW like the cheaper MultiTrack DAW).
Please make suggestions and be fair to the devs. This is about spreading useful info, not bashing developers.
Comments
I have ongoing trouble w Thor and Sampletank (on my iPad 2). Both work fine on their own, but I get a lot of choppy sound often when I load up AudioBus and a DAW (usually BeatMaker 2 or Garageband).
This is really disappointing, because I would like Thor to be my go to synth for electronic sounding patches & like to use Sampletank for my acoustic piano sounds. They both work pretty well w/ midi keyboards running directly into the iPad w nothing else running.... Hopefully I'll have a new iPad in early 2014, but yes, a heads up from the developers would have been much appreciated.
My favorite synths are Thor, Nave, Wavemapper/generator and they all are great as standalones, but struggle when combined with reverb, delay etc. on Audiobus (or IAA). It really limits the possibilities. Another is Wejaam which is fine except when reverb is loaded up and recording a long file. Lots of clipping as the CPU struggles. All brilliant programs but will obviously would excel on anything above IPad 2.
Actually I was able to use Auria on an iPad 2 + iOS 7 without too many problems, by using some basic workarounds. Firstly I did most of the actual recording in Multitrack DAW or later in Cubasis, and used Auria for final mixing. This works really well, because the real strength in Auria is the mixing, automation, and effects.
Then I was careful to add effects one track at a time and then freeze each track once I was done (you can always unfreeze later with no loss of quality), and this helps to keep the CPU load down. The main problem is then RAM, but if your song gets really complex you can save a new version of it and bounce/mixdown some tracks together to free up memory.
Admittedly these are workarounds - but compared to working on a 4 track recorder this is still pretty amazing. There was a time when being able to do any of this on an iPad was amazing enough of itself that we could accept these issues, but as the technology matures our expectations rise. Nonetheless if you are careful it is perfectly possible to use Auria on an iPad 2, but of course the experience on a newer model is more pleasant.
I don't like this thread lol (joke)' but I hope it doesn't deter developers from making apps for the ipad2, especially since Apple has decided to keep it in the lineup.
On another note @thinds, Nave works just fine for me running it through audiobus into other apps, so I don't want anyone to think they shouldn't give it a try on the iPad2. We all just need to know the limitations of our devices, but I think developers have done a pretty good job at mentioning the benefits and shortcomings of a newer device vs an older device running their apps [the reason I never bought Auria for my iPad2] (it's actually in their best interest to do this), but it should also be common sense on our part. Back in the day I knew I couldn't run photoshop / illustrator / indesign all at the SAME TIME without taxing the PC, maybe I could only run two of them simultaneously, but that doesn't mean that Photoshop wasn't worth the purchase. It's funny that we are now at the point of complaining (or disappointment) because we can't run 5 CPU intensive apps simultaneously on a 3 yr old device that we know is technically in the early stages of tech (we are all experiencing history in the making in music creation). As long as the app works with audiobus (or inter-app audio) I'll be happy.
I tend to agree with @Muzetech. I own an iPad2 and would rather have a newer and more powerful device (I just can't afford it right now), but with knowledge of the limitations and by using creative workarounds, I can get most things to work. Auria and iTuttle struggle, but for the most part, I can be quite productive with my device. I DO however like the idea of knowing the efficiency of apps. I would find it more beneficial if we put together a list of the most efficient apps and a list of the most CPU/RAM intensive apps. I think that would be more useful for everyone to know. :-)
That said, Auria and iTuttle go on my list of most intensive apps. :-)
On the iPad2, Thor would choke on polyphony settings higher than 3 notes on a lot of patches. I was able to use SampleTank, Nave and Wavegernerator just fine via Audiobus into either NanoStudio or Multi-Track DAW.
I have an Air, and I was surprised to find that I actually still prefer recording in BM2 over Auria. I had some noticeable latency in Auria that I don't get in BM2. I'm sure its probably a setting somewhere down in Auria, but I just couldn't be bothered to dig around and find it. Plus I really like BM2. Auria still gets lots of love. My workflow just didn't drastically change with the new iPad like I kind of thought it would. I have yet to encounter a crackle or stutter. Bam.
I don't think it's as simple as coming up with a rank ordered listing of CPU intensive apps, since there are so many variables. In the case of Auria, for example, it depends on the effects and plug-ins you're adding to a project. For any list to be of much value, I think you would have to detail all the permutations of how it could be used.
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Auria works just great on iPad 2 if you are NOT on iOS 7. The only thing more demanding in Auria then the other DAWs is the editing window since Aurias waveforms are, what, 10x more detailed then say Cubasis. On iOS 6 the edit window runs well enough on iPad 2 that it shouldn't hinder you from purchasing it. Apple gimped it with iOS 7 (there are bugs in iOS 7 that does have a severe impact on Aurias waveform rendering, they are working on it tho).
I believe the "Auria is a lot more resource heavy" thing stems from the fact that the devs have not put any limits on it. It's all up to the user to handle the system resources. And when you start to mix in heavy duty plugs like fab filters etc you can obviously overload an iPad 2. I can kill the iPad Air with one instance of FabFilters Saturn if I want.
Sorry got a bit long winded. Point being, don't avoid Auria if you're on iPad 2 and below iOS 7 (until Apple fixes the bugs at least).
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I'm one of these grumbling bastards! On iPad2, Alchemy, which is one of my go-to apps, often underperforms or crashes and stutters. Hugely irritating. Like a frog persistently trying to bite one of your balls off.
Alchemy is the repeat offender, but one you cannot ignore. Like Jimmy Savile. You call on Alchemy to be the answer to a track, but then it opens its guthole and sprays brown liquid aural frustration in your ears. That shit drips out onto your cornflakes the next morning. Everyone sees. Grandma too. She's disgusted. By Alchemy. But grandma is dead. Spooky.
It is a real shame that Alchemy doesn't perform on iPad2. But it is also immensely exciting that I'm getting my Air this week and I will no longer be hamstrung. It is still an awesome device though, just not awesome enough. I want to run ChordPolyPad with 16 MIDI connections. I want to play polyphonic masterpieces with Thor and Nave and not have to close Safari to make that happen.
Oh, back on topic... So Alchemy is a bit unreliable, eh?
@sickmoth There is a thread here, where many people are experiencing the same thing you are describing, and not just with iPad2s. I tend to think that the problem lies with either Alchemy or iOS7, and not necessarily the iPad2....
Hmm. Of course it isn't just Alchemy but it makes such lovely sounds that it stands out so much when it doesn't work. If it still pisses on my breakfast on the Air, I'll send a note to the devs at Camel. TF7 is a great example of a dev who instantly sorted a workaround and stabilised their app. If only they were all like that. Still, I am bloody grateful for relatively cheap production software :-)
I would add that Bias does not work well on the iPad 2.
In addition, for what it's worth, as an iPad 2 user myself I think for any iOS musician out there upgrading to at least an iPad 4 is probably in your future. Music related apps are getting better and more intensive and it's going to take more processing power to get these to run properly. Having been a musician for nearly 40 years now, I feel what's happening with iOS music is really exciting and we're just at the begining of what's to come. Anyway...that's my two cents (three with inflation)
BIAS works ok on my iPad 2 as long as I don't have much else open. I can run it in the effects slot in Audiobus if whatever else I'm using isn't using up too much memory. I generally just use it to create amp sims, which I then load up in JamUp and close off BIAS. Works just fine for that.
I am starting to notice some pops and click on my iPad 2 in general. I wish I could afford to upgrade! I think that by the time I'm ready to upgrade the next iPad will be hitting the shelves. That's the only positive.
About Alchemy Mobile on iPad 2 - this is the first we've heard of such problems, and would like to get it fixed ASAP.
If someone could provide more info in an email to support [at] camelaudio [dot] com we can test. Useful info would include:
What are you doing when performance degrades?
Are you using AudioBus? IAA?
Which other app is AudioBus used with?
Are you playing loops or presets? Which ones?
How many active tracks are playing?
The more details we have about the problem, the more likely we are to find the bug(s) anf fix it. Thanks.