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.
iPad recommendations... Is my summary of the variables accurate?
![[Deleted User]](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/698a5e0bce7111eda15bbfe05d8cf982/?default=https%3A%2F%2Fvanillicon.com%2F5120af22570b4de4ac4fd1db8a70dc79_200.png&rating=g&size=200)
I'm about to buy my first iPad for music, likely an Air 3 or 2nd gen 10.5 pro.
So there's the 48khz sample rate issue on the Air 3 I believe. My understanding is that this is using headphone only, not external audio, and mainly in apps that play samples? Does it seem likely this will be fixed (by apple or app makers) or will it always be an annoying problem?
Will the Air's 3 gigs ram be a significant drawback over 4 on the Pro? Is the faster processor on the Air going to be of more benefit than ram?
Are the issues some are having with the 2019 Pros (with crackles etc) missing from the Air 3? My understanding is that it is just the Pro line.
I was leaning towards the 2nd gen pro, when I read a post on here saying it had been a bit of a dog, and that it was worse than the 1st gen or 3rd.
Price wise, the Air 3 and Pro 2 are in the same ballpark, and are about as much as I want to spend, but it's a bit hard to get a clear idea of what's a wise purchase with all the svariables.
Also, I did post a similar question a while ago along with a whole screed of other questions, but didn't get a lot of feedback about which model to purchase, so this is a dedicated question in that regard.
Thanks 
Comments
I can tell nothing bad about my Air 3, beside the 2 speakers being on just one side, which is a stupid idea.
The kHz problem is there to stay, it depends on hardware.
But then, I did not do much with music Apps on Air 3 and iPadOS yet.
I have 2 x Pro 10.5 and couldn't be happier. Air 2 I also had a few months back was a very capable machine too but rather than going air 3 I've opted for pro because of 4gb ram.
it's not that much "issue" which is ppssible to "fix", but rather HW fact :-)
To summarize it;
it's the microphone part of jack input with forces device to 44
I have a 2nd gen Pro and I'm really happy with it, it's no dog IMO. 🐶
However there is a sorta portable solution for the sample rate problem in the newer iPads (which is how I get around the problem on my iPhone XR), which is to use a small USB soundcard into the CCK. I use a Dragonfly Black, and it works really well. It's obviously an additional expense though, but I think it's the most convenient way of working around this stupid sample rate problem. The dragonfly-shaped LED tells you what sample rate is currently in use:
I am really happy with my Air 3.
My wife got me an Air 2 in 2015 and I discovered iOS Music Production through it. I used it to the point that the CPU spike crackles and the low storage ceiling just got to be too big of a load. I was in the same boat as you are @SimonSomeone when I decided I had to upgrade; totally in limbo if I should go with a new Pro or new old stock previous Pro generation or go with the Air 3.
From everything I read and speaking with friends locally, abroad and here on the forum I decided on the Air 3. The 3 GB of RAM has been totally sufficient and the A12 Bionic chip has cured any crackles or slowdowns I was running into.
The 48kHz issue was a concern, especially since with my journey from PortaStudio’s to ADAT’s/Tascam D-88 MDM’s to the DAW’s we enjoy today I always leaned towards using 44.1kHz for everything. Since the delivery format was CD and topped at 44.1kHz and the digital file formats always used some type of data compression I never felt the extra 4000 cycles would really be appreciated anyway. I haven’t run into any issues so far and now default to 48kH whenever I start something new.
Best of luck on the search brother, hope it all works out well...
The air 3 is solid with any audio interface at low latency below 256 buffers, even 64 on small projects and 44.1/48. But that’s really needed as jack, speakers and lightning to jack adapter gives lot of crackles under 256 buffers, and even 256 is not perfect. @richardyot seems to give a good solution. Haven’t tried yet with EarPods mic 4 poles jack.
Just tried with Shure SE215 SPE IEMS with inline remote and can use 44.1 with stable sound at 128/256 buffers. Cool fix!!! thanks @dendy
Shure SE215SPE-W-UNI
https://www.amazon.com/Shure-SE215SPE-W-UNI-Special-Isolating-Earphones/dp/B07CH63ZSM/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=shure+se215+iphone&qid=1573038027&sr=8-6
I use mine everyday since two years and love them. The remote wire is available separately.
If the Pro2 is a dog it sure can hunt.
+1 Air 3👍🏼
10.5 Pro is a great machine.
(By the way there is no such thing as a second gen pro 10.5. There was only ever one model released with the 10.5 screen. It is the iPad Pro 10.5, released in 2017. Yes the internal specs and release date are same as the 2nd gen 12.9 Pro, so... I guess it is understandable why people call it that)
Anyway, if I were in the buying market right now, I would probably buy a 10.5 Pro over the Air 3 just for the extra RAM. The other specs are similar enough but keep in mind that the 10.5 Pro also has: way better audio with 4 speakers (when using without headphones), Promotion and brighter screen, better cameras, and the option to buy 512GB model If that matters to you.
Thanks everyone for these great, in-depth replies
Another issue to consider is that sometimes Pro models have issues related to updates of various music apps or the iOS which do not seem to be issues on regular iPad models. Other times the issues appear on both models but seem to take longer to resolve on the Pro models. If you do a search on this forum you will find examples of these problems. I assume it is because the Pro models are built on different hardware so sometimes the bugs aren't fully worked out on the Pro model when the apps get released or updated. I want to get a Pro model as well for the added memory but have stayed away so far for this reason. Anyhow, that's just my 2 cents on this issue.
So, both a AD converter on the Lightning port or a headset incl. microphone on the head-jack can fix things to a stable 44.1 kHz?
The AD converter works like an audio interface and any audio interface will allow for 44.1. Any microphone with 4 pole jack (I believe it’s CTIA for iPhone/iPad, be careful with the norm) will do the same thing. Shure 215 SPE IEMS are pretty decent, but pre-iPhone 7 jack EarPods will do the trick too.
Many thanks, @Janosax
Don’t know where you read that .. but I speak from experience, I have three iPad Pros .. a 1st generation 12.9 running IOS 12.3.1, a 2nd generation 12.9 running IOS 11.2, and a 2nd generation 10.5 running IOS 11.3.1. My 2nd generations are a bit snappier than my 1st despite them being on IOS 11, and everything works the same on all three of em. My 10.5 is in my Studio A room and has replaced my two desktop PC’s and three 20” monitors, and is hooked up to an RME Babyface Pro DAC which also has midi which runs 10 hardware synths (mostly vintage).
My 2nd generation 12.9 is in my Studio B room and has replaced two desktop PC’s and two 24” monitors, and is hooked up to an Apogee Duet DAC which also has midi, and it runs 12 hardware synths (the oldest being a Moog Voyager). I use the DAW apps Cubasis, Auria Pro, and Garage Band, both suites of Waves and Fabfilter FX apps, and all the major synths, samplers, drum machines, etc.etc.
My 1st generation 12.9 is in the master bedroom where I kick back and work much of the time these days .. but it only has 128gb of storage so there is lots of flying files off to Dropbox and the other iPads which have 512gb of storage. My advice is get the most storage you can since you will work a lot with stems on an iPad which can eat storage pretty fast.
A month or so ago when I decided to get a 3rd iPad Pro I was faced with the dilemma of either the latest 12.9 or a new old stock 2nd generation .. and after days and days of researching and obsessing over the 3rd generations ultimately chose the 2nd generation for a number of reasons that amongst some of em were the ability to use my interfaces with no compromises, more bezel to actually hold the thing without accidentally having a finger touch something and screw up my work, sturdier build, a headphone jack (which I use a lot), a track record of glitch free reliability with the 10.5 2nd gen, and of course a LOT less money. YMMV
So happy to read that, @cloudswimmer
Also happy owner of an 2nd gen. Pro 12.9
And also asking myself why the Air 3 just has so small bezels on top and bottom!
A bit more would be better to handle that thing!
Apple will finally remove any button, any brezel, any connector from the iPads, I'm sure.
Even if people want brezels, buttons, and for example 2 Lightning and 2 USB-C connectors at least!
That’s interesting cloudswimmer. Lots of interest and pertinent stuff.
The other factor is I’m probably going to buy used.... hope that works out ok
I bought a 2018 pro solely for audio use thinking issues had been ironed out and i’d be “future proof” for a while....You are sooo right to only be considering only the Air 3 or 10.5 pro. Others have had more success with the new pros but it is a total dud for me. My 8 plus runs circles around the pro.
What problems have you had with the 2018 Pro?
I have the 2018 11” Pro and I’d like to try to reproduce some of issues others have been having.
Also, are you on iOS 13?