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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iPad sounds vs. Yamaha YP-235
Hi,
I've been away from using the iPad for music for at least a couple of years. I just bought a new iPad mini 5, so I'm checking out the many apps I already have again.
And frankly, I'm asking myself how comparatively good the sounds are that come from my iPad.
One piece of gear I own is an inexpensive Yamaha YP-235. I compared some of the sounds on that to my iPad, including a Korg Module piano. TBH, the YP-235 sounded as good. Maybe better.
Now, I wasn't using any high PA or headphones. But my soundcheck has me asking if I should bother pursuing the iPad as a sound module, rather than just using the Yamaha. My other keys gear is an OP-1 and a Behringer Model D, BTW.
Don't get me wrong; there are other reasons to enjoy the iPad for music-making. But now I honestly wonder if sound quality is a good reason for me.
Thanks,
- Joe
Comments
hooo boi prepare for a flood hehe
My analog gear collection consists of
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
Moog Voyager
Juno 60
Juno 106
Korg Polysix
Access Virus
OP-1
30 or so various circuit bent or unmodified vintage Casio and Yamaha Keyboards
Boxes full of circuit bent kids toys, noisemakers, DIY synths etc etc etc
With that being said, there are still sooooo many more sounds the ipad is capable of. Whatever sound you can dream of there is an app for it. The apps are all so cheap, and when you start getting into midi and routing stuff around in AUM, you can achieve great results. I find myself nowadays using the Ipad more than my analog gear, as its just so much more reliable. I still use my analog to layer of course, and there is nothing like turning and twisting knobs on an old synth.
How are you getting the sounds out of the ipad? If you record HQ Wavs inside of aum and then export them, ive found no loss of sound quality.
The iPad/iPhone really needs a proper external audio-interface to shine...
...the built-in headphone jack feels like a bad joke when it comes to output quality.
(I always feel like something is broken when I use the iPad's built-in headphone jack and compare it to my UR-242).
Don't know about the particular keyboard but some keyboards accept digital audio-input over USB so the DAC in the keyboard is used instead of the one on the iPad and that can usually boost the quality a bit.
For example the somewhat cheap MX line can be used as a audio interface (output only) and beat the crap out of the headphone jack on the iPad. The Montage and MODX can also be used as audio interfaces for both playback and recording.
Some diss the iPad's quality by using the built-in speakers...
To get sounds out, using a mini adaptor to an instrument cable. Then plug into a, um, bass amp that has a horn so it's IMO not a half-bad PA.
Anyway, from the Yahama YP-235, using the output to an instrument cable to the bass amp.
The YP-235 acoustic grand in my quick soundcheck sounded at least as good as the Korg Module Ivory sounds.
FWIW, the most satisfying tone of anything I have is the Behringer Model D going into the same bass amp.
Again, I was totally expecting the Korg Ivory sounds to be better. Especially because I just bought it
But now I'm wondering if I should hold off on spending more bucks on more iOS sounds if even the modest Yahama is on par.
No, I haven't looked into better iPad interfaces, which might make a difference.
Thanks,
interfaces definitely make a difference. as well as direct export.
Are you using this for production? Or live performances / Jamming
You could try and download the free Moog Model D app and see how it compares to the Behringer Model D as well just for fun?
(For keyboard type sounds try PureSynth 2 from Gospel Musicians, it's very high quality).
Also, Yamaha piano samples have a certain 'sound' to them so it's like comparing apples to oranges, this is why even on the hardware side some prefer Yamaha's to Rolands and Korg, Kawais, Casio's and vice versa.
Did you compare any other Korg Module sounds to similar sounds on your keyboard?
It takes a lot more to judge the quality than piano samples to be totally honest...
I can only talk for myself but before I had/have a pretty 'emotional bond' with my Yamaha SY85.
It has it's distinctive sound but I would not call it 'better' than what the iPad can produce thru the UR-242...
After sampling a few sounds from it there is next to zero difference in the sound quality between the iPad and the SY85.
Same goes for my classic Yamaha TX81z it's practically impossible to hear the difference between the hardware TX81z and Yamaha's FM Essentials.app, the app might be a bit 'cleaner' than the TX81z but not to the point where it becomes a night & day difference...
So yeah, I recommend you try a few more apps before throwing in the towel
/Samuel
Depends on what sounds you're after. Some sounds are the emulations of hardware costing 5 digits or more - expensive and rare enough to not be realistic options for most people - eg. iVCS3 and Model 15.
Joe I'm fully with you on the dissapointment of the Korg Module sounds and many of the othe apps. Believe it or not some of the best sounds on iPad are free. All you need is the cheap bs-16i app and load them up. Here is a demo of a free piano
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PxBDbs11ody7YSmBodYSgcKjeu4WpeNC/view
You can download lots of sounds from my site all for free
https://sites.google.com/site/soundfonts4u/
@Samu, really? How much better is the sound thru an AI, and why, please? I never heard this before. Wouldn’t an AI just amplify or convert the iPad amp, or does it bypass those circuits? Would it make a difference to a nonafficienado like myself?
IMO it won’t make much of a difference if you are using good quality higher impedance headphones that are easy to drive. The iPad has a decent DAC in it. But if you are connecting to loudspeakers then the interface and amplification makes a difference. That’s my experience anyway.
A digital interface entirely bypasses the onboard sound processing in both hardware and software - it‘s fed by digital data output of apps, using it‘s own digital to analog converter and amplifier.
But as @gusgranite mentioned the IOS hardware is way better than what you‘d expect from a mobile consumer device - it even has been praised in the audiophile community.
It‘s main flaw is a relatively low output power, that will make it seem worse if compared to a dedicated headphone amp.
There are (cheap) interfaces that deliver less quality than the IOS onboard system, as there are better interfaces like Apogee and the like.
The improvement of the latter is significant, but I wouldn’t call it night and day either.
(myself using Sennheiser IE4 and AKG K501, iCA4+ and Audient ID22)
Thank you for the clarification @gusgranite and @Telefunky. It has seemed quite fine to me, but hey, we all salivate for better.
Hi folks,
At the moment, I'm mostly just interested in the sound I can get for jamming at home.
Maybe to sample into the OP1, which has been my current tool for composition.
Also -- I do have iPad Model D, and I did AB to the Behringer Model D. The hardware synth has a better feel to me. But I'll also be using the iPad Model D for learning about more about the MiniMoog.
Thx,
Definitely don't base these decisions on korg module, I agree that the ivory there (forget which one I got, think there are two) is very disappointing.
Try a few free apps and see how you like the sound quality. Start off with Robert Burns' Spectrum, for example.
Ravenscroft is way better than any of the pianos in Module IMO.
Got one of these but with the 'DGX' branding and fully-weighted keys. The acoustic sounds are actually pretty decent so I'm not surprised they compete. Have you tried tweaking the velocity curves in-app or onboard? I tend to use a shallower curve with iOS pianos.
A good audio interface can make a world of difference, for playback and for recording audio, because of the digital to audio converters , and the audio to digital converters and also the mic preamps. I have the Apogee Duet for IPad and it was like night and day when I first plugged it in, I could hear my mixes much better, or should I say the flaws in them before I mixed with the Apogee. I was using an Avid fast track duo before which sounded good but the Duet sounds much better. I bought mine to use with my MacBook Pro and also with my IPad and I absolutely love it
Update: just got a Tascam DP24SD mixer/ recorder. Ipad sounds WAAAAAY better than before with old mixer. So this topic is being revisited for me.