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.

SoundFonts by B-Ray Software updated with auv3 support

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Comments

  • noobnoob

    the bundled soundfonts are not deleted, just hidden when ””removed”.

  • uncledaveuncledave

    @Moderndaycompiler I don't think the soundfonts you add are supposed to appear in the Soundfonts app folder. They are supposed to be in private storage, which is essential for use by the AUv3 version. Brad has implemented mass import/export from/to the Soundfonts folder. But I've had a similar experience, where imported soundfonts spontaneously appeared in the Soundfonts folder. When I deleted them, they broke the internal app link, so it was clearly referencing the Soundfonts folder. The new file management is in an "interesting" state; you cannot predict what it will do. I'm on my second reinstall/reload and so far, so good.

  • royorroyor

    I deleted the whole enchilada.. started from scratch.. installed the newest 2.9.1 version..
    I couldn’t find a SoundFonts folder in on-my-iPad within files app.. so..

    • Exported all internal files which created the said SoundFonts folder - the only things that got exported were a Favourites.plist + SoundFontLibrary.plist - none of the included soundfonts
    • Then I dropped a GeneralUser GS SoftSynth v1.44.sf2 file in the SF folder
    • Imported all SF2 files in local folder (only 1, that’s all that was in it)
    • SoundFonts successfully added it to the list in the app
    • Tested standalone + then the AU in AUM
    • 🙂 👍
    • @BradHowes Thank you..
  • BradHowesBradHowes

    All, I found some addition issues that probably have led to configuration issues and even crashes. The big one is that my solution to detecting and handling changes in AUv3 app extension and the main app was not working properly. I've updated the code and my tests so far show proper behavior when I switch between the app and AUM with SoundFonts AUv3 running. There are probably still some warts, but hopefully the corrupted plist files will no longer happen.

    I also found some old code that was still running which made a copy of the SF2 file being installed. I don't even remember what I was doing when I wrote that; it was definitely before the AUv3 work.

    Finally, I reduced the memory footprint when adding a new SF2 file. Before I was reading the whole (!) file into memory for simplicity, but a large file could easily trigger the application to die due to memory usage.

    Regards,

    Brad

  • PoppadocrockPoppadocrock

    The update is out. Thanks @BradHowes love the app

  • PoppadocrockPoppadocrock

    It seems a lot more stable and getting lower DSP in AUM. Sweet.

  • CharlesalbertCharlesalbert

    @Poppadocrock said:
    It seems a lot more stable and getting lower DSP in AUM. Sweet.

    Same here. Thanks @BradHowes

  • PxlhgPxlhg

    This one keeps updating every second day it feels. Getting more midi support.
    Installed a "Timbres From Heaven" soundfont and are quite impressed with it so far. I'm pretty fresh on the soundfont arena and don't have Bismark taht many talk about on this matter. Anyway below is a link to before mentioned SF. It's an.exe file which is self-extracting, whatever it's called. I downloaded and everythings fine but I really don't like download .exe. But happy I did an exception.

    http://midkar.com/soundfonts/

    PS: I rolled through the posts pretty fast so if this is already in here I do apologis.

  • PoppadocrockPoppadocrock

    @Pxlhg said:
    This one keeps updating every second day it feels. Getting more midi support.
    Installed a "Timbres From Heaven" soundfont and are quite impressed with it so far. I'm pretty fresh on the soundfont arena and don't have Bismark taht many talk about on this matter. Anyway below is a link to before mentioned SF. It's an.exe file which is self-extracting, whatever it's called. I downloaded and everythings fine but I really don't like download .exe. But happy I did an exception.

    http://midkar.com/soundfonts/

    PS: I rolled through the posts pretty fast so if this is already in here I do apologis.

    Thanks for sharing

  • WhiteWhite

    Version: 2.16.0 is out:

    Added two new AUv3 effects to replicate those found in the main app. These can be used with any other AUv3 instrument, not just the SoundFonts instrument.

    • Delay -- repeats the input signal. Contains a UI with knobs for the time of the delay, the amount of output audio to feedback into the delay, a low-pass frequency cutoff, and finally a mixer control to determine how much of the original signal and the delayed signal are present in the output.
    • Reverb -- processes the input signal to sound like it is being played in a room or large open space. The UI controls the room preset and the mix of original and reverberated effect in the output.

  • BradHowesBradHowes

    @White said:
    Version: 2.16.0 is out:

    Added two new AUv3 effects to replicate those found in the main app. These can be used with any other AUv3 instrument, not just the SoundFonts instrument.

    • Delay -- repeats the input signal. Contains a UI with knobs for the time of the delay, the amount of output audio to feedback into the delay, a low-pass frequency cutoff, and finally a mixer control to determine how much of the original signal and the delayed signal are present in the output.
    • Reverb -- processes the input signal to sound like it is being played in a room or large open space. The UI controls the room preset and the mix of original and reverberated effect in the output.

    Thanks @White! I came here just to write this. :D

    Please note that there are most likely some rough (but not sharp) edges regarding the AUv3 effects. If you encounter any issues or have any feedback (non-delay kind), please let me know. There is an email link in the settings page which is probably the best way to let me know, though I do get notifications about new messages to this thread as well.

    Regards,

    Brad

  • CharlesalbertCharlesalbert

    For me the effects does not appear on the list after update. There is a particular name they have to search in aum?

  • WhiteWhite

    @Charlesalbert said:
    For me the effects does not appear on the list after update. There is a particular name they have to search in aum?

    Search for "soundf":

  • CharlesalbertCharlesalbert

    Tried, thanks @white but they don’t appear in my list. I try afresh install✌️

  • CharlesalbertCharlesalbert

    No luck even reinstalling it. @BradHowes

    IPad Pro 12.9 2020 iOS 13.7

  • uncledaveuncledave

    @Charlesalbert I'm surprised you're having trouble with AU in 13.7. But, you could try the following, which might help:

    • Open the stand-alone SoundFonts app first, then try AUM again.
    • Restart the iPad.
  • BradHowesBradHowes

    @Charlesalbert said:
    No luck even reinstalling it.

    Charles, I am puzzled about your first screen capture. The "Inserts & Effects" panel is pointing to the output meter, but it should be pointing to the circle with a + below the SoundFonts icon like one can see in your second image. How did you get to the state shown in the first image?

    Regards,

    Brad

  • uncledaveuncledave

    @Charlesalbert Also, could you please report your AUM version? It's in About in the hamburger menu in upper right.

  • CharlesalbertCharlesalbert

    @BradHowes here is a short video showing the issue

    @uncledave AUM version 1.3.8

  • BradHowesBradHowes

    @Charlesalbert said:
    @BradHowes here is a short video showing the issue

    @uncledave AUM version 1.3.8

    Thanks! That makes sense now. Unfortunately, I have no idea why the effects do not show up but the SoundFonts instrument does. From the app’s standpoint they use the same mechanism to advertise that they contain AUv3 extensions. Also, could you check in GarageBand? It is more involved to get to the effects:

    1. Create a new instrument (does not have to be SoundFonts btw)
    2. In the top control bar, touch the button with some vertical slider controls. This should open up a side panel with the name of the instrument (eg SoundFonts) and various controls and categories.
    3. Touch the “PLUG-INS & EQ” button.
    4. Press the Edit button
    5. Press on one of the NONE entries
    6. Touch the Audio Unit Extensions tab in the panel that appears
    7. Scroll down to hopefully find the two SoundFonts effects

    Thanks in advance for helping to solve this.

    Regards,

    Brad

  • BradHowesBradHowes

    Also, I just got an email from someone who is having the very same issue.

  • BradHowesBradHowes

    I think I found the problem: I failed to set the minimum iOS version in Xcode for the new effects to match that of the app which is still at 12.0. The new effects were configured to run on a minimum of iOS 14.2. I have updated the configs and I have a new 2.16.1 release awaiting review.

    Brad

  • CharlesalbertCharlesalbert

    @BradHowes said:
    I think I found the problem: I failed to set the minimum iOS version in Xcode for the new effects to match that of the app which is still at 12.0. The new effects were configured to run on a minimum of iOS 14.2. I have updated the configs and I have a new 2.16.1 release awaiting review.

    Brad

    Thanks so much ❤️

  • BradHowesBradHowes

    @Charlesalbert It has been released and should be available now or very soon (2.16.1)

    Sorry for the trouble, and thanks so much for helping to figure out what was going on.

    Regards,

    Brad

  • CharlesalbertCharlesalbert

    All working so good now, thank you @BradHowes

  • MisplacedDevelopmentMisplacedDevelopment

    @BradHowes I use this app a lot as I have invested quite a lot into the soundfont format and it has been very reliable for my use. A couple of questions if I may, apologies if these have been answered elsewhere:

    1. Does the app stream each instrument within a soundfont as it is needed, or does it load the whole soundfont into memory first? I ask because I am wondering how to organise some sf2s I am putting together. A monolith soundfont would be easier to organise but I don’t want to hit memory limits if I use the same big soundfont file across multiple instances of the plugin.
    2. Are there any plans for adding an ADSR amp envelope? This would be such a useful addition as I really miss not having that extra control on how the instruments sound. There are some workarounds using other FX after the app but nothing that gives the same control as a built-in set of ADSR knobs.

    Thanks!

  • BradHowesBradHowes

    @MisplacedDevelopment said:
    @BradHowes I use this app a lot as I have invested quite a lot into the soundfont format and it has been very reliable for my use.

    Great to hear!

    A couple of questions if I may, apologies if these have been answered elsewhere:

    1. Does the app stream each instrument within a soundfont as it is needed, or does it load the whole soundfont into memory first? I ask because I am wondering how to organise some sf2s I am putting together. A monolith soundfont would be easier to organise but I don’t want to hit memory limits if I use the same big soundfont file across multiple instances of the plugin.

    Good question. I don't know the exact answer right now. When a preset is selected, the URL of the SF2 and the preset program/bank parameters are given to Apple's AVAudioUnitSampler. Its documentation says

    Loads a specific instrument from the specified soundbank.

    If it is smart about it then it would just keep the the preset samples and settings in memory. I don't know for sure, but I will do some measurements and report back.

    1. Are there any plans for adding an ADSR amp envelope? This would be such a useful addition as I really miss not having that extra control on how the instruments sound. There are some workarounds using other FX after the app but nothing that gives the same control as a built-in set of ADSR knobs.

    Yes. I am actually working on that right now. :smile: It is definitely the most-requested feature. That and the ability to "fix" some presets that have very long envelope release times that can starve the synth of voices. Unfortunately, right now I do not have a release date yet.

    Thanks!

    You're welcome!

    Brad

  • MisplacedDevelopmentMisplacedDevelopment
    edited February 2022

    @BradHowes said:

    @MisplacedDevelopment said:
    @BradHowes I use this app a lot as I have invested quite a lot into the soundfont format and it has been very reliable for my use.

    Great to hear!

    A couple of questions if I may, apologies if these have been answered elsewhere:

    1. Does the app stream each instrument within a soundfont as it is needed, or does it load the whole soundfont into memory first? I ask because I am wondering how to organise some sf2s I am putting together. A monolith soundfont would be easier to organise but I don’t want to hit memory limits if I use the same big soundfont file across multiple instances of the plugin.

    Good question. I don't know the exact answer right now. When a preset is selected, the URL of the SF2 and the preset program/bank parameters are given to Apple's AVAudioUnitSampler. Its documentation says

    Loads a specific instrument from the specified soundbank.

    If it is smart about it then it would just keep the the preset samples and settings in memory. I don't know for sure, but I will do some measurements and report back.

    1. Are there any plans for adding an ADSR amp envelope? This would be such a useful addition as I really miss not having that extra control on how the instruments sound. There are some workarounds using other FX after the app but nothing that gives the same control as a built-in set of ADSR knobs.

    Yes. I am actually working on that right now. :smile: It is definitely the most-requested feature. That and the ability to "fix" some presets that have very long envelope release times that can starve the synth of voices. Unfortunately, right now I do not have a release date yet.

    Thanks!

    You're welcome!

    Brad

    Really good to hear you are working on the ADSR envelope, it will be a nice surprise whenever it arrives :) Thank you also for offering to dig in to the mechanism used by Apple to load instruments. Hopefully they just load in the instruments you ask for (perhaps with a bit of caching) rather than keep the whole soundfont in memory for every app instance.

  • anotherscott2anotherscott2

    Does this app allow you to switch to playing a different soundfont by sending a MIDI Program Change from your controller? And if so, can you have multiple soundfonts loaded so that switching from one to another is instantaneous?

  • NeuMNeuM

    @anotherscott2 said:
    Does this app allow you to switch to playing a different soundfont by sending a MIDI Program Change from your controller? And if so, can you have multiple soundfonts loaded so that switching from one to another is instantaneous?

    I don’t believe so. You have to manually select the soundfont you want to play.

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