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.
Advice requested: Auria Pro or Cubasis 3?
My stuff is created in AUM, and usually recorded as 8 channels of live audio plus maybe, one or two MIDI clips, direct from AUM into Cubasis 2. I use Cubasis primarily to arrange the stems on a timeline and to automate a final mix/arrangement for mastering and upload.
I find aspects of Cubasis 2 annoying, eg lack of in-app fine grain editing tools for MIDI and audio. If down the line I was to blow another fifty quid on yet another new DAW (!) should I be looking at Cubasis 3, (I.e. does it actually have fifty quids worth of extra goodness over C2?) Or would I be adding something complementary to Cubasis 2 if I looked at Auria Pro instead?
Comments
Forecasting the future is fun... and by the time you can be fact checked it always forgotten.
Auria Pro is the better tool for mixing. No doubt. It has proper bussing for side-chaining to create space for
each component in a final mix. But it seems to have slowed down on updates and that's a concern for me.
Cubasis 3 is getting regular updates and seems to be adding robustness and features at a steady pace.
For side-chaining I'm looking into the 4Pockets side-chain AU app as a work around. Cubasis 3 can save you $20 but it's only going to get basic maintenance updates so you'd regret not just staying on the current edge of the Steinberg team's efforts. Steinberg is a wholy owned subsidiary of Yamaha.
Auria Pro is a 1 app private company with a slow sales pattern having saturated it's market for IOS DAW's.
In a couple years Cubasis 3 should be the clear leader that other products seek to compete against.
GarageBand could be released to compete by Apple but I'm not holding my breath for Apple to stop protecting it's cash cow DAW which is too full featured to run on IOS.
Good luck sorting through the opinions.
Auria Pro = best mixing tool
Cubasis 3 = best bet for a future
GarageBand = limited investment by the platform vendor
NanoStudio 2 with "audio" = it's on the roadmap
Korg Gadget = stuck in a paradigm delusion - the Amusement Park of DAW's
I don't like the workflow of Auria Pro at all, unfortunately. So just personally, Cubasis 3 all the way. It's a really nice and simple workflow, and Steinberg are committed to continual updates.
@McD , @Michael_R_Grant : thanks both, good points. Sigh, you’re probably both right re C3, it’s the sensible choice. It just sticks in the craw a bit forking out fifty quid for something which doesn’t sound that much of a step up from the C2 I already have.
Call me old fashioned, but if I spend that much on anything, I want it to be all shiny and new. I’m shallow like that. Perhaps I’ll just hang fire till Black Friday and see if Steinberg offer enough off then that I feel like I’m not getting mugged...still interested to hear from anyone who did take the upgrade as to whether it offers enough goodies to be compelling, mind. Or, who knows, maybe Nanostudio (which I also have) will actually get audio. Pigs, fly, etc...
Cubasis 3 is on sale until 9/15 (or so) for $34. Cubasis 2 is sale priced at $16. Someone could get both for $50.
It's also worth checking if you have hardware that would entitle you to an upgrade from Cubasis LE. I forget the exact mechanism I used, but I ended up saving about $20 because I have an Akai keyboard.
@McD - yeah, tempting but a) right now I’m broke, and b) sort of hoping that at the least it will be available at the same discount November - and I’d be kicking myself then if they went to 50% off. Fifty Percent would definitely get me to to jump. Till then, guess I’ll stick with C2 and unrealistic expectations of Nanostudio.
@Svetlovska a tricky conundrum indeed, not only because of money spent or money lost, but also because of time spent learning new apps.
One of my biggest joys on iOS is importing stems into Auria Pro and mixing/mastering there. I find it absolutely beautiful for this, visually speaking, just stunning and professional looking, but that’s just me and my taste. For this purpose Auria Pro is sexy, excuse my French. It also has tempo track/change which is important for music that’s rhythmically volatile, and really advanced fine grain audio editing and real time warping. In terms of composition workflow, sequencing, or most things pre-mix, it is not very good at all. Heck for composition, sequencing, arranging, even GarageBand is better. Auria Pro needs an update to tighten the seams, a few things just don’t work and are plain junk.
CB3 is the safer choice, especially because you already know your way around CB2. It’s regularly updated and constantly improving. The mastering tools and enhancers available in the app have been greatly expanded. My only problems with it is the lack of tempo track, almost a deal breaker. And visually speaking, it gives me trouble, the color scheme, layout, and density makes it hard to get around, but that’s just me. Barring any major releases this year, it’s the app to beat.
Lately I’ve taken plenty of breaks from both CB3 and AP, and work with AEM, MTD, and GB. At the price point even with IAP, AEM is worth considering for the audio editing, timeline, and tempo track is coming supposedly. I haven’t mixed or mastered heavily in AEM yet to know for sure how it does with that, but seems capable. There’s also Zenbeats which has a timeline, but the automation options are quite particular.
@McD I use 4pockets sidechain in cubasis and love its- works great
We should help 4Pockets out with at least 2 positive reviews... the 2 reviews they have are stopping sales
of the app I suspect. It's at 2.8 and appears to be a joke. But building a tool to side-chain is no trivial
feat. Woodpressor does it as well I think.
4pockets we’re one of the first to release a daw for iOS but they never supported it and they themselves abandoned their daw very early on and they didn’t come back on the scene till 10 yrs later. I would never purchase anything from 4pockets or Wavemachine labs or iOS in general. A laptop is cheaper and more stable than any iPad and there’s no screen to clean my fingerprints off.
@AIRstudio : it appears that you are on a vendetta today.
Seriously..woke up this morning HATING IOS
Haha. They’ve had about 4 years to REALLY let that hate build up too.
And yet you hang around an iOS app forum spreading your wisdom and positive energy. Why is that..?
The wrong side of the bed is a real humdinger, grateful my bed was against a wall this morning-always very easy to make- making my my bed at sunrise…, oh the joys of aging
@Svetlovska C3 at sale may be the way to go, but AP would still be my choice for audio tracks.
Difficult question 😅
Both?
Not sure what exactly you need, but did you try out MultiTrack DAW?
It's ever improving ...
App "MultiTrack DAW"
Developer: Harmonicdog
URL: https://apps.apple.com/app/multitrack-daw/id329322101
Minimum OS Version: 11.0
Universal: Yes
Price: $4.99
DESCRIPTION:
The power of a digital audio workstation in the palm of your hand.
Release your creativity with up to 32 high quality audio tracks. Record multiple takes, harmonies, solos, and experiments. No more worrying about bouncing - each instrument can have its own track. More cowbell? No problem!
Build new songs like a recording studio, with the monitoring and overdubbing capabilities of MultiTrack DAW. Move and trim audio until it's perfect, and mix the sound until it's just right. Export your work with a multitude of sharing options.
INPUT
MultiTrack has a wide range of input capabilities, including the built-in mic, headset mics, and USB interfaces and mics. AudioUnits (AUv3) and IAA (Inter-App Audio) are also supported as inputs and as effects.
AUDIO FILES
File types for import include mp3, ogg, wav, aac, m4a, aif, and m4a. MultiTrack now offers 8 ways to get audio files in and out: iTunes/Finder File Sharing, Wi-Fi, Drag&Drop, Copy/Paste, 'Open in...', Airdrop, the Files app, and importing from the Music Library. Whole projects can be archived in-app and shared, and sent directly to other devices using AirDrop, Wi-Fi, or any other iOS sharing method.
FEATURES
2 stereo audio tracks, upgradable to 32, for simultaneous playback.
16 inputs simultaneously (USB interface required).
16, 24, or 32 bit floating point at 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96 kHz, professional quality lossless audio for each track.
Inter-App Audio / AudioUnits v3 - Generators, Instruments, and Effects supported.
Up to 4 AU/IAA plugins on each track, the 2 effects busses, and the master out.
Sidechain capable, use the 'SC' button to pick a source track pre/post FX.
Audiobus 3 - Can be used as a sender for any track or master out. Supports saving and restoring state.
Non-linear, non-destructive editing using Regions and Bins.
Built-in track Compressor and EQ (2 bands parametric, 2 bands shelving).
Built-in Sweet Reverb and Stereo Delay available as bus effects.
Grid View with Snap to easily align regions.
Freeze tracks for improved performance.
Metronome adjustable from 40 to 240 BPM.
Various musical Time Signatures.
Ruler showing bars/beats/divisions/ticks or timecode.
Volume faders have +12db of gain boost.
Per-Region volume and fade in and out, with realtime audio monitoring while editing.
Ability to monitor the input signal with effects, while recording the raw input.
Looping with the Loop Markers.
Hotbox popup control (Long-touch over track) with context sensitive buttons.
Audio Browser allows preview of audio files in the song.
Snap, Punch, Input Monitor, Auto Input, Undo and Redo, and many more features.
Smart Snap displays red vertical lines with exact snapping placement, snaps to any other region or ruler line.
MORE FEATURES
Beautifully rendered waveforms at multiple zoom levels.
Low latency VU meters for each track.
64 bit audio processing.
Latency compensation with selectable buffer sizes.
Zip compression of song projects for backup/restore.
Wav, mp3, ogg, ALAC, FLAC, and m4a compression for mixdown with selectable bitrates.
Free 'Sound Copy' app extension allows copying audio to the General Pasteboard from outside MultiTrack.
Many, many more features.
For more information visit harmonicdog.com
RELEASE NOTES: Version 6.3.6
• Sidechain inputs for AudioUnit plugins. Use the 'SC' button on plugs that publish a sidechain input (or multiple input busses), like FabFilter (MB Pro, Timeless 3), RoughRider3, NYCompressor, or Blue Mangoo Multiband Compressor. Sidechain input can source from any other track, pre or post effects, including other tracks that also have sidechain effects.
• Per-Region Volume. When editing a region, an additional Handle will control the volume (-45 to +12 dB)
• Vertical dragging of Regions or multiple Regions. You ask for it, we deliver.
• Tracks now allow mono or stereo regions on the same track, the VU meter will change channel count dynamically.
• Separate 'Bounce' and 'Copy' buttons in the Hotbox. The Bounce button will mixdown all audio in selected regions and copy it to the Pasteboard.
• Realtime monitoring of editing/moving Regions, start/stop/fadein/fadeout/volume, during playback.
• Undo/Redo of track deletion/creation/moving. Tracks will animate back to original position on Undo/Redo.
• Improved Loop Marker adjustment, window will now autoscroll when dragging Loop Markers.
• Wi-Fi web server now has options for toggling 'Track FX', 'Bus FX' and 'Master FX' for track downloads.
• AUView now has 'Speaker' icon used to toggle the output.
Many more things.
Version 6.3.6
Region editing now shows underlying regions through the region ghost, for easier alignment.
Version 7.0 is still on it's way, stay tuned!
Other recent features:
• New low price! Basic MultiTrack now comes with 2 tracks and with all features enabled. If you bought MultiTrack before this version, you will of course retain your track counts and all previous purchases.
• Tracks can be now be purchased in multiples of 8, up to a total of 32.
• 32 bit floating point project formats! Use the '32f' option (Gear icon on the Songs Screen) to create a project with the new format.
• New midi piano keyboard controller for AudioUnit Music Devices or Instruments. With Pitchbend/modwheel sliders and scalable key widths. Automatic velocity and aftertouch on supported devices.
• Mixdown stems as separate tracks into a folder, with normalize option.
• AudioUnit plugin view can be moved and resized, and remain onscreen. Supports multiple AU Instruments open at once on iPad.
• FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) implemented.
• Pin button. On iPad, AU plugins and instruments now have a Pin button to keep the plugin on screen. When opening a song, all pinned plugins will restore their position.
• Multi-channel wav export.
• Track Duplicate feature.
• Mute/Unmute per region.
• iOS 14 ColorPicker for changing track color, with a wider range of colors.
• Enable iOS Status Bar for iPad split view or slide over mode.
• Added Bounce button to Audio Browser.
• Allow reordering of track FX by dragging tabs (Compressor, EQ, and AudioUnit chain).
• Allow dragging of AudioUnit windows outside of screen edges.
• Adds sorting of AudioUnits in selection panels with most recently used at the top.
• 'Allow Portrait' toggle switch for iPhone in Settings.app (default is on), switch off to force landscape.
• Store last selected 'Ruler' and 'Time Display' metronome settings, as default for new songs.
• Input Fader can expand up to a 32 channel VU Meter.
• New Create Song panel with song name and bits/rates.
"A laptop is cheaper and more stable than any iPad and there’s no screen to clean my fingerprints off."
A laptop with no screen? Not sure you've quite got the knack of this technology thing
I sleep on the floor. Whichever side of the bed I wake up, it's always the 'lowest' point of my day