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.

Can ADAT connect 2 computers, like an iConnect?

If I had two ADAT-capable audio interfaces, can I connect one to a Mac, the other to an iPad, and then send audio between Mac and iPad like I can with an iConnectAudio box?

Or is ADAT just for adding more analog ports, and accessing them from only one computer?

The reason I’m asking is that I LOVE my old iConnect, but the software is broken in Monterey, and also it runs super hot. But I want to run audio between Mac and iPad. I thought I might get a Motu or RME, plus some cheapo ADAT interface.

Comments

  • edited February 2022

    Yes, absolutely, you can connect two interfaces to each other. Just ensure they are running at same bit rate.

  • @auxmux said:
    Yes, absolutely, you can connect two interfaces to each other. Just ensure they are running at same bit rate.

    And those interfaces can be connected to separate computers? My goal is latency-free digital audio between the Mac and the iPad. Just making sure before I start shopping!

  • Thinking about the same constellation.
    In my thoughts is a motu ultralite for iPad only and then connect it via a rme digiface with Mac/pc.

  • @mistercharlie said:

    @auxmux said:
    Yes, absolutely, you can connect two interfaces to each other. Just ensure they are running at same bit rate.

    And those interfaces can be connected to separate computers? My goal is latency-free digital audio between the Mac and the iPad. Just making sure before I start shopping!

    I will add to ensure proper function that it should be the same sample rate and bit depth.
    i.e 24 bit, 44.1kHz.

  • This is great news. I love that I can send digital audio back and forth over the iConnectAudio, without it getting converted along the way.

    ADAT would open things up so I can still do that, but with hardware that I prefer.

    One other question. Is Word Clock necessary? Forgive my noob questions, but this is something I haven't ever looked into before.

  • Word clock won’t be necessary because the optical cable also carries a clock signal. Make sure one interface is set as master and one as slave. If you don’t have adat in and out running on them both then you would need word clock.

    I’ve never tried to connect different machines through adat, that’s an interesting idea.

  • edited February 2022

    @mrufino1 said:

    I’ve never tried to connect different machines through adat, that’s an interesting idea.

    I'm having trouble finding any good info. The best result would be to find someone who's actually done it.

    I had my eye on the RME Digiface USB as a relatively cheap expansion, but it's not Class Compliant

  • @mistercharlie said:
    I'm having trouble finding any good info. The best result would be to find someone who's actually done it.

    I had my eye on the RME Digiface USB as a relatively cheap expansion, but it's not Class Compliant

    Because of that I would also use the motu as (not cheap) bridge and the digiface to connect it with a pc or Mac.

    An other solution is this device:
    https://www.minidsp.com/products/usb-audio-interface/usbstreamer-box

  • But how do you pass midi ?

  • I use this device everyday. Works great.

  • @jazzmess said:
    But how do you pass midi ?

    Midi can go over USB via iDAM.

  • @AlmostAnonymous said:

    I use this device everyday. Works great.

    Do you use it to interconnect a mac(or PC) and an iPad?

  • edited February 2022

    @mistercharlie said:

    @AlmostAnonymous said:

    I use this device everyday. Works great.

    Do you use it to interconnect a mac(or PC) and an iPad?

    A while ago there was a very good discussion of this in this forum, using a Motu828es interface on iPad connected to 2 other iPads using the MiniDSP interfaces. That user connected the Motu's AVB ethernet port to a Mac as well. Unfortunately, I think it was buried in a discussion of iConnect gear, so likely difficult to find.

    Edit: here is the post I remembered. Lots of good discussion in that thread. This and this are also relevant.

  • edited February 2022

    Adat is the main digital format that works between any gear on any OS for multi-channel io.
    It‘s a self contained, plain hardware solution.
    If the interfaces sync, then there will be data transfer, roundtrip latency in the range of 0.5ms. Sync is crucial, though.
    Preferably both sides of the connection have input and output, even if output isn‘t needed for data it still can be used to sync (send clock to the other side) if required.

    Things may get tricky with more than 2 interfaces (1 system has 2 Adat ports and each is connected to a different system).
    In that case a wordclock distribution amp may be needed.
    (a device that sends a high quality clock to each interface on a dedicated line, it‘s not advisable to daisy-chain multiple wordclock lines with t-connectors)
    Wordclock isn‘t necessarily „better“ than syncing via optical lines, it just was the standard decades ago.

  • edited February 2022

    @mistercharlie said:
    Do you use it to interconnect a mac(or PC) and an iPad?

    It connects to an ipad and then the adats of my motu828. the only issue i have is sometimes they default back to the internal clock.

    @uncledave said:
    Edit: here is the post I remembered. Lots of good discussion in that thread. This and this are also relevant.

    nice find ;) i cant even find my own posts with the searchbar, and i'm not digging through my profile either ;)

  • @AlmostAnonymous said:

    @mistercharlie said:
    Do you use it to interconnect a mac(or PC) and an iPad?

    It connects to an ipad and then the adats of my motu828. the only issue i have is sometimes they default back to the internal clock.

    @uncledave said:
    Edit: here is the post I remembered. Lots of good discussion in that thread. This and this are also relevant.

    nice find ;) i cant even find my own posts with the searchbar, and i'm not digging through my profile either ;)

    Yeah. After a couple of false tries, I searched for "828es" and it actually pulls up posts that mention the specific model number in the text.

  • I use ADAT to connect iPads with my MAC and modular.
    Check out the Boredbrain OPTX and the MOTU LP32 too...

  • wimwim
    edited February 2022

    @mistercharlie said:

    @jazzmess said:
    But how do you pass midi ?

    Midi can go over USB via iDAM.

    At the same time you have a USB audio device plugged in to the iPad? I don't think so. This is what precludes me using my iPad as a guitar FX processor feeding the Mac over iDAM.

    I think you'd need to have a way to pass midi between the two interfaces, and the two interfaces would need to be able to send/receive to the iOS device and Mac.

    Bluetooth midi would work as well. But as you're going for no latency, might not be a good option.

  • edited February 2022

    @wim said:

    @mistercharlie said:

    @jazzmess said:
    But how do you pass midi ?

    Midi can go over USB via iDAM.

    At the same time you have a USB audio device plugged in to the iPad? I don't think so. This is what precludes me using my iPad as a guitar FX processor feeding the Mac over iDAM.

    I think you'd need to have a way to pass midi between the two interfaces, and the two interfaces would need to be able to send/receive to the iOS device and Mac.

    Bluetooth midi would work as well. But as you're going for no latency, might not be a good option.

    Well, that’ll teach me to assume things. I thought iDAM would just deliver MIDI, no matter what. I didn’t consider that the whole USB audio connection has to be active too.

    EDIT: @wim That’s a great idea, using the iPad for the guitar and sending it to the Mac over digital (I’ll use my iConnect for that). That way I can thrash the iPad at 64 frames, and keep the Mac a bit higher. Plus, all those lovely iPad FX apps.

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