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.
Comments
Unless there’s new news it won’t work fully. It’ll play back audio through the speakers/headphones but won’t allow mic inputs etc.
I have the MG06 and depending on your application it’s ‘ok’. Good for the price. I use it for live-streaming, I wouldn’t trust it to lay and album however.
For condenser mic (NOT DYNAMIC MiC) applications, I’d recommend you go Audient…best bang for the buck and the id14mk2 sounded as good as the duet 3 to me…another reason it went back
That‘s a misleading statement...
All Audient ID preamp stages (they are identical) are top performers with dynamic mics, or rather may be even considered the best in class below $1k.
They have an extremely low noise floor and you can easily add 18dB of digital gain without spoiling the result.
Highly recommended...
There‘s a grain of salt, though...
only the Audient ID4 performs identical on IOS, OSX and Win.
ID14 and ID22 are class compliant and provide channels 1/2 input and output as expected, but additional ports (optical and analog 3/4) are provided as firmware presents them.
This changed with firmware versions (iirc) and the control panel for routing and latency free monitoring does not exist in IOS.
Both devices cannot store the routing (if you used a Mac/PC for configuration) after the interface is powered down.
In other words: config on Mac/PC, then unplug the USB cable and plug into an IOS device will keep the current setup, if the interface is kept powered by an external PSU (the original ID14 and ID22).
The ID14 MK2 is USB-buspowered, so this is not an option (afaik).
The ID44 has a different onboard controller that does store settings on the device, so it‘s configure once on PC/Mac and after that use it in IOS with that setup.
While the preamp stages of all ID interfaces are identical, the monitoring section, hardware inserts and converters vary.
No it isn’t, It’s a statement from personal experience. And in my opinion, they aren’t top performers with dynamics, they’re the worst and I’d sooner use a Scarlett gen 3. I consistently have issues (with usb-c iPad, plugged into power) and an inability to reliably drive dynamics (re20, re320, sm7b) without cloud lifters. They also perform differently with usb-c to usb-c cables vs usb-a to usb-c cables. The M4 is a MUCH better and less fussy performer with Dynamic Mics and Audient MK2 is more ‘musical sounding’ overall, but dynamic mics is where I’ve consistently had it fall flat.
Apogee approach it seems is to leave the old iOS products there an not tamper with them. They don’t want to make the Duet 2, One etc Class Complaint with a firmware push. (Maybe it’s impossible?) You MIGHT be able to turn the preamp on the computer app, keep its power plugged in and then go to iPad and maybe it’ll hold..idk, I haven’t tried it, just an idea that you can try for free.
The Duet 3 honestly just isn’t better than the 2 for me. The lack of screen, lower gain, and sample rate issues past 48k on iOS, etc etc just seemed like a step backwards. It’s sleek and all that but the Duet 2 was really it.
I have yet to see a difference between the 2018 pro and the 2021 16gb ram M1 in performance. I use them interchangeably and if they were the same size etc I wouldn’t be able to tell ‘em apart.
Thanks for the heads up, I was considering going for it. Also considering Maschine + or one of those Akai boxes…any recommendations?
People are saying 15.2 has ‘broken’ some midi controllers. Here we go again…
Dev kits have been available, and plenty of other developers have had products ready upon release. I don't know why audio companies try to bury their heads until there's public outrage before they start updating.
Apogee is the worst about ongoing support, or even support for that matter. My Ensemble Thunderbolt has an issue where if an audio source application is not visible, after a random amount of time the headphone output starts to break up. The main out is still fine. It's done it on three different Macs across OS upgrades even, and the issue will go away simply by refocusing the application so that it's visible. It can only be a software/driver issue, but their support just said it if was a driver issue they would have heard of it already and blew me off. Screw those guys.
That all said, the last-gen Duet 2 works with USB-C iPads, but the software doesn't. So any changes you want to make require hooking it up to a Mac.
You’re familiar.
Does it memorize if u unplug power?
Yup! So if you have a static config it works great. I have mine tucked away on a small rack and have it hooked up to my mixer so that I can send/receive whatever audio to/from the iPad. The mixer's main USB connection is hooked up to the computer. I'm not using external power to the Duet, just an Apple USB-C Camera Kit to a USB-C extension cable. The Duet powers up when the iPad is connected and the settings persist.
Exactly!
I'm actually looking for a new interface. Is the Duet 3 better than this Motu? I was going after the Motu
That’s tragic. They used to be the leader of leaders.
I have a Live 2 in the cart RIGHT now…do I push play or chill in BM3 with the Launchpad/other midi controllers
I’ve heard cases of double triggering etc on Launchpad and others but I can’t speak from experience, only what I’ve heard.
So I’ve got an extreme scenario question: say I turned on phantom power in the duet 2/One on the mac. Unplugged it, traveled with just the iPad, caught a plane, and then wanted to use the 48v (condenser) mic on the other side, it would retain those settings?
It's been forever since I used it as a mic pre. I believe that works fine. The settings are apparently stored in NVRAM and are not lost, which is ideal for a portable interface. Alternatively, maybe you can set one of the two soft buttons to toggle phantom power? I can't remember if that's an option. I also think the Duet only supports phantom power when the external power supply is connected, so keep that in consideration.
Totally different IMO. Do you want I/O or ‘the sound’ more? Audient & Apogee have a certain ‘sound’ to them. Motu is great but more transparent in my experience. Disclaimer I’ve heard the M4 not this interface so I’m (probably wrongly) guessing
I’d love if the ONE could do this since it’s AA battery powered
I need "the sound" more and was looking for an interface where IOS could utilize the plugins associated with on-board DSP. Most pro-level interface plugins can't be used by IOS.
@ninobeatz and I’ll add this…until Apogee drops the Control App for Duet 3 And fixes sample rate issues past 48k on iOS I don’t recommend the Duet 3
Motu can host plugins on iOS?
That only tells the interface has problems with USB-power in your specific situation.
I got recordings by someone with an ID4 (AKD D1200 dynamic mic) that are flawless.
Myself only using dynamic mics with an ID22 and it‘s „competitor“ here is a Telefunken V676a.
But no need to further derail the Apogee thread: the ID14 isn‘t the most brilliant choice for IOS anyway, not even version 1 with external PSU.
Digital input only (read: without any sync options) is sub-par by definition.
thanks bro..very helpful!!!
Fair enough, but the specific situation is iOS usage. I’ve seen podcasts and long form spoken word artists get burned by attempting to use this interface with iOS and dynamic mics. Several times. It just isn’t a good combo in my experience. Maybe the mk1 is better since it has power, but the mk2 is bad business.
There’s no denying that the Audient sounds really really good, and it’s the most ‘musical’ sounding interface I’ve heard at its price. I use one when I don’t wanna fire up the symphony desktop. I just will not ever trust one with a dynamic on iOS with no cloud lifter.
Are these recordings done on iOS or a computer? And mk1 or mk2?
The ‘one way’ digital port is new to me, never seen it before the Audient
Yeah I’ve gone a bit sour on apogee with how they discontinue products these days.
Much rather throw my money at RME.
>
That's Native Instruments fault not Apple. Every year when theres some kind of software update, developers fall behind and the M1 chips have been around for over a year and developers still haven't adapted yet. I wouldn't say thats on Apple because plenty of devs have already adapted their apps. Native instruments along with Avid take years to make their stuff compatible
Yea they have done some wild changes although I'm not mad at them. They went design > function for a while but I think they've got it down now. I don't think Jobs would be upset at what they're doing. I believe the iPad lineup is unified now and the Mac lineup is starting to feel professional again.
I think where things get lost is where us musicians utilize iPads in a way that 99% of people buying iPads do. Our gripes and concerns get overlooked mostly not because they don't care but because it's not suitable for the majority. The expectation of using an iPad is that it just functions, simple. Mac on the other hand has different expectations and use cases. There's several core audio things I'd love for them to implement on iOS/iPadOS but I'm not holding my breath. But they're two different OS and I don't give them the same kind of expectations, power aside. There's a lot of iPad things I wish Macs did and vice versa. Those lines will blur over time
Whoa, buddy. Slow down with the rational, measured responses. Don't you know this is the Audiobus forum? I don't know what you're used to but that's not how things are done here.
No, I agree. Constantly worrying about backwards compatibility causes stagnation, slow and poor adoption of new technology, and sometimes limits new technologies by shackling them to dead weight. Like the new MacBooks. The magsafe charging is a nice add-on since it's still based around USB-C charging and doesn't replace anything. If you couldn't charge via USB-C anymore I'd be really peeved. The HDMI port taking up a much more useful USB-C/Thunderbolt port does really annoy me though. I'd much rather the flexible, multifunction port over one that is on life support.
The headphone jack occasionally bugs me, but if it's part of the trade-off for the lighter iPads with a smaller bezel I'd not want it any other way. My OG iPad Pro was a beast, the new ones are much nicer in the hand.
😂 I feel you tho.
I do find that thunderbolt ports are more useful than HDMI as well since you can use a hub and or daisy chain things and still get HDMI but I understand people hate the dongle life. We'll never get all the ports we want regardless and or the power behind the ports is bottlenecked by hardware whereas using a dongle would keep it up to speed.
Losing the headphone jack gave us slimmer bezels and I would never go back to the original iPad design. I think the tradeoff was worth it but I know the audio community didn't deem it necessary and thats a fair point. Considering it was the only tradeoff that happened with new designs I think it was worth it. USB C/Thunderbolt is miles and miles better than Lightning for anything audio related.
I do not know of the software the lets you record streaming/Facetime thats bundled with Audient that works on iOS. There aren't too many interfaces that will power the iPad while connected.
I had the Audient ID4 MK2 and EVO 8. I had the EVO 8 first but it had power issues where it would turn on and off for no reason and the headphone amp was eh. Sold it and got the ID4 and I just traded that in for the MOTU M4 cause it didn't have 4 inputs sadly but it sounded great.
I've been using the Kingston Nucleum since 2018 and I have no complaints with it. Has USB C powerthru port and a USB C port for data, 2 USB A ports and SD + HDMI. Powers the iPad, interface, and two controllers like the launchpad mini and launch key 49 without issue. I have the magic keyboard and I love the way it floats the iPad in front of you but the port for power doesnt let in enough power to keep the iPad charged while using a bunch of gear, probably for heat concerns.
Yea the ID4 MK2 has really good preamps and headphone amp, also nice and small. I still recommend it even tho I just got rid of it.
That hub looks good. I just worry about the headphone output being the only option when plugged in. I had a different hub by Hyper in 2018 and anytime it was plugged in the speaker would not work on the iPad. Also anything USB C will work on the iPad Pro models 2018 and up