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.

iPhone Distortion 5S

Hi, I use IPad 6th gen and also an iPhone 5S.
I was using my iPhone 5S for an extreme easy mobile setup.
I use the headphone output jack through a Boss low z foot volume pedal. It is great for expression as well as a hard audio OFF.
My keyboard is a Roland Accordion.
Lately this set up has become unreliable. My main go to synth is LayR in Audiobus3 and I use it multitimbral with 3 midi channels.
It starts off fine and then eventually some distortion creeps in and within perhaps a minute it becomes totally distorted. Much worse than the distortion you get by changing the normal buffering.
I also use ThumbJam. Sometimes if this distortion starts and I switch to ThumbJam the distortion occurs in TJ but not always.
I have redownloaded Audiobus3, and LayR and still the problem continues. It is hard to troubleshoot because it takes a while to occur.
I have experienced it in LayR stand alone also.
I don’t have any of these problems with the iPad.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Comments

  • McDMcD
    edited July 2019

    Any hardware device that gets that audio out of the iPhone 5S using the lightning port would probably
    give you a clean signal:

    Korg (Midi) PlugKey $80 - It has a little volume knob for it's mini-plug audio out too.
    Presonus USB AudioBox - requires the Apple Camera Kit Adapter too but has full 1/4" line outs
    OR many other audio interface devices that can use the Apple CKA

    The digital-to-audio chip in the iPhone 5S is probably going south. The chips corrode overtime and
    start to add distortion on their way out. If it gets really bad get some extremely pure H20 and wash it out
    with a vibrating bath and let it dry for a week. If that water is pure you will be removing excess material from the internal guts and not adding anything that conducts electricity. Pure water does not conduct electricity... it's the "salts" added that allows the circuit too short. Drop you phone in most clean water and it might come back but use a fish pond like I did and it's not coming back.

  • @McD said:
    Any hardware device that gets that audio out of the iPhone 5S using the lightning port would probably
    give you a clean signal:

    Korg (Midi) PlugKey $80 - It has a little volume knob for it's mini-plug audio out too.
    Presonus USB AudioBox - requires the Apple Camera Kit Adapter too but has full 1/4" line outs
    OR many other audio interface devices that can use the Apple CKA

    The digital-to-audio chip in the iPhone 5S is probably going south. The chips corrode overtime and
    start to add distortion on their way out. If it gets really bad get some extremely pure H20 and wash it out
    with a vibrating bath and let it dry for a week. If that water is pure you will be removing excess material from the internal guts and not adding anything that conducts electricity. Pure water does not conduct electricity... it's the "salts" added that allows the circuit too short. Drop you phone in most clean water and it might come back but use a fish pond like I did and it's not coming back.

    Would the corrosion cause inconsistent distortion, as described above?
    Maybe it gets worse from heat during use, or something?

    I suspect temperature increase from use, considering the way the distortion appears and worsens over time, and seems independent from the apps being used.

    Another possibility is the fact the headphone jack has a mic input in there as well. Maybe there is a very slight feedback occurring, that gets worse over time, resulting in a severely distorted output.

    Try this setup with your iPad. If you get no distortion, it is likely something is up with the iPhone itself.

  • @CracklePot said:

    @McD said:
    Any hardware device that gets that audio out of the iPhone 5S using the lightning port would probably
    give you a clean signal:

    Korg (Midi) PlugKey $80 - It has a little volume knob for it's mini-plug audio out too.
    Presonus USB AudioBox - requires the Apple Camera Kit Adapter too but has full 1/4" line outs
    OR many other audio interface devices that can use the Apple CKA

    The digital-to-audio chip in the iPhone 5S is probably going south. The chips corrode overtime and
    start to add distortion on their way out. If it gets really bad get some extremely pure H20 and wash it out
    with a vibrating bath and let it dry for a week. If that water is pure you will be removing excess material from the internal guts and not adding anything that conducts electricity. Pure water does not conduct electricity... it's the "salts" added that allows the circuit too short. Drop you phone in most clean water and it might come back but use a fish pond like I did and it's not coming back.

    Would the corrosion cause inconsistent distortion, as described above?
    Maybe it gets worse from heat during use, or something?

    I suspect temperature increase from use, considering the way the distortion appears and worsens over time, and seems independent from the apps being used.

    Another possibility is the fact the headphone jack has a mic input in there as well. Maybe there is a very slight feedback occurring, that gets worse over time, resulting in a severely distorted output.

    Try this setup with your iPad. If you get no distortion, it is likely something is up with the iPhone itself.

    Do you only hear it when using the headphone output that way? What if you listen to the phone's output with actual headphones?

  • @espiegel123 said:

    @CracklePot said:

    @McD said:
    Any hardware device that gets that audio out of the iPhone 5S using the lightning port would probably
    give you a clean signal:

    Korg (Midi) PlugKey $80 - It has a little volume knob for it's mini-plug audio out too.
    Presonus USB AudioBox - requires the Apple Camera Kit Adapter too but has full 1/4" line outs
    OR many other audio interface devices that can use the Apple CKA

    The digital-to-audio chip in the iPhone 5S is probably going south. The chips corrode overtime and
    start to add distortion on their way out. If it gets really bad get some extremely pure H20 and wash it out
    with a vibrating bath and let it dry for a week. If that water is pure you will be removing excess material from the internal guts and not adding anything that conducts electricity. Pure water does not conduct electricity... it's the "salts" added that allows the circuit too short. Drop you phone in most clean water and it might come back but use a fish pond like I did and it's not coming back.

    Would the corrosion cause inconsistent distortion, as described above?
    Maybe it gets worse from heat during use, or something?

    I suspect temperature increase from use, considering the way the distortion appears and worsens over time, and seems independent from the apps being used.

    Another possibility is the fact the headphone jack has a mic input in there as well. Maybe there is a very slight feedback occurring, that gets worse over time, resulting in a severely distorted output.

    Try this setup with your iPad. If you get no distortion, it is likely something is up with the iPhone itself.

    Do you only hear it when using the headphone output that way? What if you listen to the phone's output with actual headphones?

    @espiegel123 said:

    @CracklePot said:

    @McD said:
    Any hardware device that gets that audio out of the iPhone 5S using the lightning port would probably
    give you a clean signal:

    Korg (Midi) PlugKey $80 - It has a little volume knob for it's mini-plug audio out too.
    Presonus USB AudioBox - requires the Apple Camera Kit Adapter too but has full 1/4" line outs
    OR many other audio interface devices that can use the Apple CKA

    The digital-to-audio chip in the iPhone 5S is probably going south. The chips corrode overtime and
    start to add distortion on their way out. If it gets really bad get some extremely pure H20 and wash it out
    with a vibrating bath and let it dry for a week. If that water is pure you will be removing excess material from the internal guts and not adding anything that conducts electricity. Pure water does not conduct electricity... it's the "salts" added that allows the circuit too short. Drop you phone in most clean water and it might come back but use a fish pond like I did and it's not coming back.

    Would the corrosion cause inconsistent distortion, as described above?
    Maybe it gets worse from heat during use, or something?

    I suspect temperature increase from use, considering the way the distortion appears and worsens over time, and seems independent from the apps being used.

    Another possibility is the fact the headphone jack has a mic input in there as well. Maybe there is a very slight feedback occurring, that gets worse over time, resulting in a severely distorted output.

    Try this setup with your iPad. If you get no distortion, it is likely something is up with the iPhone itself.

    Do you only hear it when using the headphone output that way? What if you listen to the phone's output with actual headphones?

    Thanks everyone,
    I believe heat may be the issue. This was my 1st iPhone and it does seem to run hot. I understand about the corrosion and MAY try that solution as a last resort. I have interfaces but trying to keep setup as simple as possible. I will checkout the headphone idea as soon as I get a chance. I really appreciate all of your help.🎶❤️

  • @McD said:
    Any hardware device that gets that audio out of the iPhone 5S using the lightning port would probably
    give you a clean signal:

    Korg (Midi) PlugKey $80 - It has a little volume knob for it's mini-plug audio out too.
    Presonus USB AudioBox - requires the Apple Camera Kit Adapter too but has full 1/4" line outs
    OR many other audio interface devices that can use the Apple CKA

    The digital-to-audio chip in the iPhone 5S is probably going south. The chips corrode overtime and
    start to add distortion on their way out. If it gets really bad get some extremely pure H20 and wash it out
    with a vibrating bath and let it dry for a week. If that water is pure you will be removing excess material from the internal guts and not adding anything that conducts electricity. Pure water does not conduct electricity... it's the "salts" added that allows the circuit too short. Drop you phone in most clean water and it might come back but use a fish pond like I did and it's not coming back.

    @McD , I assume you believe it’s 100% safe and won’t even try to talk you out of it ,but in this scenario , you do realize that dirt will go all way inside plus the moisture takes several days ,up to a month to go away .

  • With just distilled water the phone would likely be killed by the procedure.
    There is a lot of dirt inside these old fellows and the 'pure' water will dissolve salts from it.
    When it dries a conductive film will set on parts.

    I used to have that 'effect' on a regular base with my 3gs, which stalled or switched itself off whenever in situations with atmospheric moisture, say during a walk through the woods in autumn or similiar.
    (recently I had to exchange the battery and got a view of the mess inside - certainly more than to expect in 5s because mine had several cracks in it's back cover)

    Imho an ultrasound bath wouldn't change that situation, as the dirt remains inside the phone.
    But if you disassemble it, do the 'cleaning bath' and then dry the circuit board it might be a valid approach. Visual inspection with a magnifier will tell if it's necessary at all.

    There's one problem, though: parts of the main circuit board are shielded by soldered metal cages and it's not guarateed that these are waterproof.
    If water enters, it will solve metal particles and become conductive, at least at this small scale of the circuit and the high frequencies inside.

  • @Korakios said:
    @McD , I assume you believe it’s 100% safe and won’t even try to talk you out of it ,but in this scenario , you do realize that dirt will go all way inside plus the moisture takes several days ,up to a month to go away .

    I consider it a last resort to save a damaged device.

    If I had an iPhone as a spare for music and it produced distortion I would consider a bath pure H20. Something that states "The best non-conductive liquid for liquid cooled PCs", for example. It will evaporate and there are methods to speed that up but the only real danger is dislodging existing matter then moves to create "shorts". The water won't conduct. Putting the iPhone in a vacuum would help speed things up. I would just blow cool air through it and "hopefully* get another phase of reliable use from a damaged iPhone.

    I tried it after failing into a Koi pond but it was already fried. I waiting a week before trying to re-charge it
    and it was a goner. Probably shorted the chips out quickly in a highly conductive media.

    There are hundreds of sites in the internet that will recommend putting the wet iPhone into rice. Has anyone ever seen non-conductive rice? Would you consider just blowing powdered rice into your working phone?

  • @McD said:

    @Korakios said:
    @McD , I assume you believe it’s 100% safe and won’t even try to talk you out of it ,but in this scenario , you do realize that dirt will go all way inside plus the moisture takes several days ,up to a month to go away .

    I consider it a last resort to save a damaged device.

    If I had an iPhone as a spare for music and it produced distortion I would consider a bath pure H20. Something that states "The best non-conductive liquid for liquid cooled PCs", for example. It will evaporate and there are methods to speed that up but the only real danger is dislodging existing matter then moves to create "shorts". The water won't conduct. Putting the iPhone in a vacuum would help speed things up. I would just blow cool air through it and "hopefully* get another phase of reliable use from a damaged iPhone.

    I tried it after failing into a Koi pond but it was already fried. I waiting a week before trying to re-charge it
    and it was a goner. Probably shorted the chips out quickly in a highly conductive media.

    There are hundreds of sites in the internet that will recommend putting the wet iPhone into rice. Has anyone ever seen non-conductive rice? Would you consider just blowing powdered rice into your working phone?

    The rice (not powder) is a myth , used to absorb the moisture .

  • I tried the same setup using actual headphones. I ran a sequencer for a couple of hours and the distortion came back. It took much longer but also the heat wave we have been having is over.
    I guess I’ll have to try another iPhone.
    Thanks everyone for your help.

    @espiegel123 said:

    @CracklePot said:

    @McD said:
    Any hardware device that gets that audio out of the iPhone 5S using the lightning port would probably
    give you a clean signal:

    Korg (Midi) PlugKey $80 - It has a little volume knob for it's mini-plug audio out too.
    Presonus USB AudioBox - requires the Apple Camera Kit Adapter too but has full 1/4" line outs
    OR many other audio interface devices that can use the Apple CKA

    The digital-to-audio chip in the iPhone 5S is probably going south. The chips corrode overtime and
    start to add distortion on their way out. If it gets really bad get some extremely pure H20 and wash it out
    with a vibrating bath and let it dry for a week. If that water is pure you will be removing excess material from the internal guts and not adding anything that conducts electricity. Pure water does not conduct electricity... it's the "salts" added that allows the circuit too short. Drop you phone in most clean water and it might come back but use a fish pond like I did and it's not coming back.

    Would the corrosion cause inconsistent distortion, as described above?
    Maybe it gets worse from heat during use, or something?

    I suspect temperature increase from use, considering the way the distortion appears and worsens over time, and seems independent from the apps being used.

    Another possibility is the fact the headphone jack has a mic input in there as well. Maybe there is a very slight feedback occurring, that gets worse over time, resulting in a severely distorted output.

    Try this setup with your iPad. If you get no distortion, it is likely something is up with the iPhone itself.

    Do you only hear it when using the headphone output that way? What if you listen to the phone's output with actual headphones?

  • I got my 5s from my ex girlfriend a few years back and it’s always only played sound out of one side whilst using earbuds/headphones (not sure why- I never asked, but I know headphone ports have failed on many iPods, etc. as well after Apple outsourced the manufacturing overseas so I just assumed faulty parts/assembly was to blame) Silly question, but just to help rule some things out - have you made sure there’s no lint, etc., jammed up in the headphone jack and/or lightning port? I’ve had that be the culprit for sound issues before...

  • Well...I screwed up. Trying to check for lint I used a bread tie (wire) with a little hook bend on the end, got It stuck and broke it off inside the iPhone. I am waiting now for a screwdriver from eBay to open the phone. Hopefully no more damage than immersing it in water 😂

  • @Bellows said:
    Well...I screwed up. Trying to check for lint I used a bread tie (wire) with a little hook bend on the end, got It stuck and broke it off inside the iPhone. I am waiting now for a screwdriver from eBay to open the phone. Hopefully no more damage than immersing it in water 😂

    It always something. Opening it up for a good "blow out" with one of those air cans they sell to coal computers is a good step. Look for any crusty looking patches on the surfaces. They open one of my iPhones and showed me that I should replace the battery because it was an ugly mess.

  • Thanks for your help. I received my tools and opened the phone. It all looked good as far as I went. Reassembled and phone worked. I have also acquired a new iPhone 6S.I experienced the same heat issue sporadically.
    When I use the Noise app I suspect it may cause the problem. No idea why, the CPU% reads low for it.
    Another suspect is the Audiobus3 preset selection.Before I set that up I didn’t notice heat building up in the iPhone 6s and now sometimes it does. Perhaps when you have made the error of having one midi message assigned to call two presets. Troubleshooting now.

    I am starting to grasp the fact that the iPad 6th gen is quite a bit more powerful than these older iPhones. Thanks everyone for your help.

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