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 Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Anyything able to mimic the "ease of awesomeness" of the iOS music ecosystem on a computer?

I recently bought Scaler 2 to use with Ableton because it sounded a lot like it provides a workflow similar to what I like about making music on iOS. Only to find out right away there's Scaler 2 available on iOS already... lol.

But it got me wondering if there are any other apps or plugins that are similarly as enjoyable and intuitive as the iOS apps. While I love jamming on iOS I very rarely manage to put together an actual track, usually I'll just take snippets out of an AUM jam.

I read a thread earlier about IDAM which I'd never heard about and being able to stream music directly from my iPhone to PC and into a DAW, which I'd really like to learn more about. I also got a Bluetooth adapter that lets me use an aux in/out with my iPhone so I'm wondering how easy it would be to just directly record into my computer - would that require an interface?

Lemme know!

Comments

  • wimwim
    edited December 2022

    IDAM is easy to set up and all you need is a USB cable. Here's a good starting point: https://www.cultofmac.com/615742/how-to-record-digital-audio-from-your-iphone-to-your-mac-with-idam/. Google "How to set up IDAM iOS" for more help than you can shake a stick at.

    Audio is one-way (iOS to Mac). MIDI can go both ways. Also ... a downside ... since you're using the USB on the iOS device, you can't use an audio interface at the same time. So, for instance, I can't play my guitar plugged in to my iPad and stream that to the Mac.

    Generally though I find it more convenient just to render to audio right on iOS then AirDrop over to my DAW of choice on the Mac.

    Forget about Bluetooth for streaming audio in any kind of music production. The latency is too bad to be usable. You'll end up needing to re-align all the audio (see paragraph above. 😉 )

    MIDI over Bluetooth isn't bad though.

  • Ableton with a good midi controller with endless encoders and rack macro support would be close (APC 40, Push). You'd lift all the controls of the devices you use to rack macros and then cycle through the devices and have everything mapped. I've bought a cheap iPad with the intent to use Touchable Pro but kinda got sucked into mobile production and Koala haha.

  • Dang, sad to see only two replies to this thread - but again, this really confirms the unique expressive nature of the iOS ecosystem.

    @wim said:
    IDAM is easy to set up and all you need is a USB cable. Here's a good starting point: https://www.cultofmac.com/615742/how-to-record-digital-audio-from-your-iphone-to-your-mac-with-idam/. Google "How to set up IDAM iOS" for more help than you can shake a stick at.

    Audio is one-way (iOS to Mac). MIDI can go both ways. Also ... a downside ... since you're using the USB on the iOS device, you can't use an audio interface at the same time. So, for instance, I can't play my guitar plugged in to my iPad and stream that to the Mac.

    Generally though I find it more convenient just to render to audio right on iOS then AirDrop over to my DAW of choice on the Mac.

    Forget about Bluetooth for streaming audio in any kind of music production. The latency is too bad to be usable. You'll end up needing to re-align all the audio (see paragraph above. 😉 )

    MIDI over Bluetooth isn't bad though.

    Isn't IDAM Mac only? ):

    @[Deleted User] said:
    Ableton with a good midi controller with endless encoders and rack macro support would be close (APC 40, Push). You'd lift all the controls of the devices you use to rack macros and then cycle through the devices and have everything mapped. I've bought a cheap iPad with the intent to use Touchable Pro but kinda got sucked into mobile production and Koala haha.

    I just got an Akai MPK II with a free copy of VIP, which contains midi maps & allows you to create custom ones for any plugins that you have. But for some reason as soon as I finally sat down with it I felt like a deflating balloon. I've finally got to the point where I can finish a track in Ableton but I really don't like the workflow for arrangement

  • @fornax55 said:
    Dang, sad to see only two replies to this thread - but again, this really confirms the unique expressive nature of the iOS ecosystem.

    @wim said:
    IDAM is easy to set up and all you need is a USB cable. Here's a good starting point: https://www.cultofmac.com/615742/how-to-record-digital-audio-from-your-iphone-to-your-mac-with-idam/. Google "How to set up IDAM iOS" for more help than you can shake a stick at.

    Audio is one-way (iOS to Mac). MIDI can go both ways. Also ... a downside ... since you're using the USB on the iOS device, you can't use an audio interface at the same time. So, for instance, I can't play my guitar plugged in to my iPad and stream that to the Mac.

    Generally though I find it more convenient just to render to audio right on iOS then AirDrop over to my DAW of choice on the Mac.

    Forget about Bluetooth for streaming audio in any kind of music production. The latency is too bad to be usable. You'll end up needing to re-align all the audio (see paragraph above. 😉 )

    MIDI over Bluetooth isn't bad though.

    Isn't IDAM Mac only? ):

    Yes, it’s MacOS only.

    Windows and Linux don’t really have any equivalent - you can only connect other devices with various drivers and apps, and it’s not always very reliable.

  • @michael_m said:

    @fornax55 said:
    Dang, sad to see only two replies to this thread - but again, this really confirms the unique expressive nature of the iOS ecosystem.

    @wim said:
    IDAM is easy to set up and all you need is a USB cable. Here's a good starting point: https://www.cultofmac.com/615742/how-to-record-digital-audio-from-your-iphone-to-your-mac-with-idam/. Google "How to set up IDAM iOS" for more help than you can shake a stick at.

    Audio is one-way (iOS to Mac). MIDI can go both ways. Also ... a downside ... since you're using the USB on the iOS device, you can't use an audio interface at the same time. So, for instance, I can't play my guitar plugged in to my iPad and stream that to the Mac.

    Generally though I find it more convenient just to render to audio right on iOS then AirDrop over to my DAW of choice on the Mac.

    Forget about Bluetooth for streaming audio in any kind of music production. The latency is too bad to be usable. You'll end up needing to re-align all the audio (see paragraph above. 😉 )

    MIDI over Bluetooth isn't bad though.

    Isn't IDAM Mac only? ):

    Yes, it’s MacOS only.

    Windows and Linux don’t really have any equivalent - you can only connect other devices with various drivers and apps, and it’s not always very reliable.

    I would say Linux can compete as a DAW and music production environment. Audio and MIDI can be routed via the Jackd system. And drivers are not a problem because they come with the kernel and are automatically detected and loaded (as so called modules). There are even special low latency kernels for audio production. And there are hundreds of free and open source plugins and effects available. I am a happy Linux user for almost 30 years. The moment I would get this on a tablet, I would switch from the iOS black box to a Linux tablet.
    Have a look at https://ubuntustudio.org/

  • @catherder said:

    @michael_m said:

    @fornax55 said:
    Dang, sad to see only two replies to this thread - but again, this really confirms the unique expressive nature of the iOS ecosystem.

    @wim said:
    IDAM is easy to set up and all you need is a USB cable. Here's a good starting point: https://www.cultofmac.com/615742/how-to-record-digital-audio-from-your-iphone-to-your-mac-with-idam/. Google "How to set up IDAM iOS" for more help than you can shake a stick at.

    Audio is one-way (iOS to Mac). MIDI can go both ways. Also ... a downside ... since you're using the USB on the iOS device, you can't use an audio interface at the same time. So, for instance, I can't play my guitar plugged in to my iPad and stream that to the Mac.

    Generally though I find it more convenient just to render to audio right on iOS then AirDrop over to my DAW of choice on the Mac.

    Forget about Bluetooth for streaming audio in any kind of music production. The latency is too bad to be usable. You'll end up needing to re-align all the audio (see paragraph above. 😉 )

    MIDI over Bluetooth isn't bad though.

    Isn't IDAM Mac only? ):

    Yes, it’s MacOS only.

    Windows and Linux don’t really have any equivalent - you can only connect other devices with various drivers and apps, and it’s not always very reliable.

    I would say Linux can compete as a DAW and music production environment. Audio and MIDI can be routed via the Jackd system. And drivers are not a problem because they come with the kernel and are automatically detected and loaded (as so called modules). There are even special low latency kernels for audio production. And there are hundreds of free and open source plugins and effects available. I am a happy Linux user for almost 30 years. The moment I would get this on a tablet, I would switch from the iOS black box to a Linux tablet.
    Have a look at https://ubuntustudio.org/

    It’s been quite some time since I tried, but have always found Linux systems to be limited in music making abilities compared to a Mac. Certainly way better than Windows in terms of finding solutions and avoiding problems though.

    Don’t think I’d ever go back to trying to make music with Windows now, but would keep an open mind about Linux.

  • One of the things that makes iOS so good for music is touch. Drambo runs on the Mac too, and has amazing keyboard and MIDI support, but it’s nowhere near as immediate or fun without touch.

    Ableton can easily do pretty much anything you can do on iOS, but mousing and clicking is a hassle.

    That said, Ableton with Push 2 is pretty rad, and Koala maps automatically to the push’s knobs.

  • edited January 2023

    you can use Ableon note on ios for some touchy touchy.

  • I love Maschine on desktop as it is like BM3 on roids for me.

  • edited January 2023

    Agreed re: touch, the first time I hooked up my Samsung Galaxy to a TV to mess around with Caustic on the big screen I found myself just completely stifled because of how slow it was using a mouse as opposed to touch. I suppose this could be remedied with a touchscreen monitor but one of those with ample CPU to produce music is way beyond my budget.

    @catherder said:

    @michael_m said:

    @fornax55 said:
    Dang, sad to see only two replies to this thread - but again, this really confirms the unique expressive nature of the iOS ecosystem.

    @wim said:
    IDAM is easy to set up and all you need is a USB cable. Here's a good starting point: https://www.cultofmac.com/615742/how-to-record-digital-audio-from-your-iphone-to-your-mac-with-idam/. Google "How to set up IDAM iOS" for more help than you can shake a stick at.

    Audio is one-way (iOS to Mac). MIDI can go both ways. Also ... a downside ... since you're using the USB on the iOS device, you can't use an audio interface at the same time. So, for instance, I can't play my guitar plugged in to my iPad and stream that to the Mac.

    Generally though I find it more convenient just to render to audio right on iOS then AirDrop over to my DAW of choice on the Mac.

    Forget about Bluetooth for streaming audio in any kind of music production. The latency is too bad to be usable. You'll end up needing to re-align all the audio (see paragraph above. 😉 )

    MIDI over Bluetooth isn't bad though.

    Isn't IDAM Mac only? ):

    Yes, it’s MacOS only.

    Windows and Linux don’t really have any equivalent - you can only connect other devices with various drivers and apps, and it’s not always very reliable.

    I would say Linux can compete as a DAW and music production environment. Audio and MIDI can be routed via the Jackd system. And drivers are not a problem because they come with the kernel and are automatically detected and loaded (as so called modules). There are even special low latency kernels for audio production. And there are hundreds of free and open source plugins and effects available. I am a happy Linux user for almost 30 years. The moment I would get this on a tablet, I would switch from the iOS black box to a Linux tablet.
    Have a look at https://ubuntustudio.org/

    Hey thanks for the heads up, my best friend in high school was always trying to get me into Linux but I never made the switch. I recently dropped a laptop though and now it won't boot from its internal OS so I have to boot from a thumb drive so maybe I'll consider getting a linux model that can run on USB... if that's doable

    Also to answer my own question, I recently reactivated my subscription to Reason+ thanks to the discount from my new Akai MPK MkII and I remembered that the whole reason I fell in love with iOS music making was because of how similar it is to Reason. In fact it was Reason's plugins on iOS that first showed me the potential. So now that I've got si months of FREE Reason plugins to play with....I've actually put my phone down for the first time in forever

    edit: holy crap ubuntu creative studio looks AMAZING. and indeed very similar

  • edited January 2023

    @fornax55 said:
    Hey thanks for the heads up, my best friend in high school was always trying to get me into Linux but I never made the switch. I recently dropped a laptop though and now it won't boot from its internal OS so I have to boot from a thumb drive so maybe I'll consider getting a linux model that can run on USB... if that's doable

    Ubuntu Studio can be put on a USB stick and booted from there. You can test it, and once you have decided you want to install it, you can start the installer from there. But you will need sufficient memory (I would say at least 4Gb). If you are using Windows or a Mac, then you will need a tool to create a bootable USB from the downloaded ISO file. This link describes the procedure: https://itsfoss.com/create-live-usb-of-ubuntu-in-windows/

  • @catherder said:

    @fornax55 said:
    Hey thanks for the heads up, my best friend in high school was always trying to get me into Linux but I never made the switch. I recently dropped a laptop though and now it won't boot from its internal OS so I have to boot from a thumb drive so maybe I'll consider getting a linux model that can run on USB... if that's doable

    Ubuntu Studio can be put on a USB stick and booted from there. You can test it, and once you have decided you want to install it, you can start the installer from there. But you will need sufficient memory (I would say at least 4Gb). If you are using Windows or a Mac, then you will need a tool to create a bootable USB from the downloaded ISO file. This link describes the procedure: https://itsfoss.com/create-live-usb-of-ubuntu-in-windows/

    Omg, thanks again. Im actually gonna try er out. Ever since I dropped my laptop I haven’t been able to build windows and have been using tails , which isn’t the ideal operating system for any computer you were lgoing to be using repeatedly to save things on

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