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.
new hardware day! JoMox Moonwind mk2
I'd like to read about some of your recent hardware musical purchases and what your initial impressions are. There are so many interesting instruments and effects being released these days.
Last week I ordered a JoMox Moonwind mk2 stereo filter.
I used to own an Analog Heat which is a very nice saturation filter box. But I didn't use it much except to occasionally crunch some drums. I loved the saturation side but I didn't love the sound of the filter.
When I started using the Moonwind I came across a couple of bugs, but an OS update has fixed them. The build quality seems good, the knobs turn smoothly, the touchpad works well, the display is nice and clear.
It sounds gorgeous, the filters are like liquid. I love the Q control over the resonance. Each filter can have it's own filter type (LP, HP, BP), LFO shape and rate, resonance etc. and both filters can be routed in stereo, parallel, or series. Cutoff, Q, and Res can be modulated with the touchpad. The link control has three ways to control both filters at the same time and the options are very cool and creative.
When the Moonwind mix knob goes past 3:00 the stereo field starts to narrow becoming completely mono at full wet. Could be user error, it doesn't affect my use of the Moonwind, but I wonder why? The Analog Heat did a great job of keeping the stereo field solid while opening the filter. The Moonwind is less polite overall, wilder in the way the parts interact, gain staging is important. There is a bitcrusher but no saturation module, although pushing the gain into the filter creates beautiful crunch. Just running a signal through the box and pushing the gain makes anything sound better.
The FX chip is a common one, simple stuff- decent reverb, flanger is useable, delay and chorus are not so good, bitcrush and wave guides and the other JoMox added FX are good.
The manual is a little confusing and contradictory- on page 9 the outputs are balanced, on page 11 the outputs are unbalanced, I still don't know. The UI is really easy but the box is deep so it's taken me several days to get comfortable with it.
The JoMox is a total winner, I'm very happy about it and I guessed there are other people who might be looking for a stereo filter box so I thought I'd share.
Comments
nice!!!!! JoMox Moonwind mk2 looks great!
I have a SSF Stereo Dipole quad filter, gives a magical quality to audio and also works great as a Swiss army knife in a modular system. Also, my PC Daw and iPad can run through it via a ES8 when i need it.
Wow, that's beautiful.
I almost went with a small eurorack filter system because I couldn't find what I wanted in a desktop. I'd heard bad qc stories about JoMox, but so far this Moonwind seems tough. I kind of got overwhelmed looking at the eurorack options, there are so many. At first it seemed like eurorack might be a less expensive route then I started thinking through all the modules I'd need and a case...
Congratulations on the Moonwind!
I just found some bargains in the last couple months…
1010 Nanobox Lemon Drop: Really cool granular synth that despite it’s small size, is very usable and never feels cramped. It was $100 off 🙏🏻
Arturia DrumBrute: I already have a DrumBrute Impact, but a really cool guy on Facebook Marketplace sold me this with a MiniBrute 2S (below) - 2 for 1 deal, for $500 🙏🏻 it’s built like a tank, got multiple outs from each drum sound, and adds more analog goodness to my hybrid setup.
Arturia MiniBrute 2S: I love the layout, tank-like build, and warm analog sound. With the included cookbook and videos online, I’m going to learn a lot about synthesis from this 🙌🏽
ASM Hydrasynth Explorer: Paid full price, but where has this been all my life? 😂 I remember tinkering with one in Guitar Center last year and finding myself drawn to it. I’m starting learn that feeling means something. I absolutely love this synth, the way it looks - feels (great expressiveness in the poly AT mini keys) - sounds. The sky is the limit sound design-wise, I love the intuitive layout on it that shows how everything is routed. Feels very modular. This is another synth I feel I will learn about synthesis from!
Tascam Model 24: I got this deal from a friend of my brother-in law who owns local studio. He sold it to me for $400, a third of the cost for a new one! Analog mixer with digital recording, I got this to be my main audio interface. It works great with my MPC One, adding 22 inputs and outputs. It allows me to jam “DAWless” (MPC One is very much a DAW-like interface 😂). It’s a blessing to have onboard analog compression on each channel and an audio interface that also works well with my MacBook or iPad 🙏🏻
For a little more than the cost of a new Model 24, I added five blessings to my setup 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I think you made a good choice, its taken me like 10 years to build a very modest eurorack case due to the cost of the modules and i bought 90 percent secondhand!
Ok that's what I thought might happen to me. I funded the Moonwind selling the Analog Heat plus tax return.
@Stuntman_mike
That's an entire studio of cool gear!
The Drumbrute Impact tempts me, as does the Hydrasynth Explorer- it's a very reasonable price to get access to a polyphonic aftertouch keyboard. What do you think of the sound so far? Is it the favorite of your purchases?
DrumBrute Impact is simple, which makes it great and it’s got more umpff than the original DrumBrute.
I LOVE the way the Hydrasynth sounds! If you love ambient, lofi, or jazzy - the Hydrasynth is your jam. I love everything about this synth, it’s VERY deep but streamlined for ease of use, looks pretty and is VERY solid. If you “get, IT” you will love it and never part with it.
This year I sold: Roland Fantom6 EX, Hydrasynth desktop, Peak, and behringer Deepmind. I will still be selling a couple of other devices soon… a Xenyx 2222USB and a white vocoder edition Microfreak.
I bought: MPC X SE (&all plugs for it), Meris Mercury X, and Elektron Analog Heat +FX…(still looking at a PWM Malevolent synth)
I have 4 synths in my current lineup that stayed because they are my very favorites: Waldorf Iridium Desktop(the king), Osmose, Minifreak, and Typhon.
Minifreak was the biggest surprise to me last year. I love it! Compared to the microfreak it’s a little similar, but that ends quite quickly. I do wish granular would make it over, as I will miss that on microfreak.
I’ve owned a lot of analog and digital synths in my time…the iridium is just the best to me (it is an opinion)
But there is so,etching really special about that PWM Malevolent …oh it’s a meanie.
Ooooh, an Iridium!!!
When a Hydrasynth grows up it wishes to be an Iridium 🙌🏽
Not adding links to the gear you talk about is kind of lazy and bad praxis .. or is it me who's the lazy one, hmm
I like this phrase “bad praxis”
It sounds like ominous prog rock
I got my Roland SP404 MK2 in a week ago and have been having an absolute blast with it. Using the iPad as a sound source of infinite sounds to sample into the 404 is simply the perfect combo.
Likewise sending midi from something like Thesys to sequence the samples on the 404 is equally fun. I used to use my OP-1 as the iPads partner for years until I sold it. It’s nice to have a piece of hardware around again.
Ha ha, well too late ->> Bad Praxis
Hardly prog but, they have the name...
I never heard the word praxis before this thread, thanks for the education!
This is the link to the JoMox Moonwind mk2:
https://www.jomox.de/product_details.php?lang=2&category=&product_id=26
Barefoot Footprint01 monitors. After 10+ years of having some massive floor standing speakers in the studio as my main monitors, I wanted something smaller with a bit more low end extension. They deliver on all fronts, insanely clear and loud with tons of solid low end, I'm flabbergasted with how small they are.
AlphaTheta Omnis Duo. I'm a long time Traktor based DJ who has been using the iPad version with a Z1 for my main DJ set up the last 8 years. However I've been having issues with audio drop outs for no reason the last few months and NI support is basically non-existent. Plus, I think the writing is on the wall for how much longer NI will support the Traktor line. Decided to make the jump to the Pioneer DJ ecosystem and couldn't be happier. Professional feeling hardware with a nice designer look to it. And now for bigger club gigs I can just walk up with my headphones and a USB stick, nice.
Is it difficult to learn? I almost went for the TE sampler but held back after trying Koala. I've read that the effects on the Roland are good, is that your experience?
@Tarekith I just googled the Alpha Theta Omnis Duo. It looks slick, nice UI. I like the blue.
What a time for musicians! It strikes me how all this gear is so diverse in nature, well built, great sounding, and good looking.
Links for all:
JoMox Moonwind:
https://www.jomox.de/product_details.php?lang=2&category=&product_id=26
SSF Stereo Dipole quad filter:
https://steadystatefate.com/products/stereo-dipole
1010 Nanobox Lemon Drop:
https://1010music.com/product/lemondrop
Arturia DrumBrute:
dhttps://www.arturia.com/products/hardware-synths/drumbrute/overview
Arturia DrumBrute Impact:
https://www.arturia.com/products/hardware-synths/drumbrute-impact/overview
ASM Hydrasynth Explorer:
https://www.ashunsoundmachines.com/hydrasynth-explorer
gorgeous synth!
Tascam Model 24:
https://tascam.com/us/product/model_24/top
Akai MPC X SE:
https://www.akaipro.com/mpc-x-se.html
wow! what a machine
Meris Mercury X:
https://www.meris.us/product/mercuryx/
Elektron Analog Heat +FX:
https://www.elektron.se/us/analog-heat-fx-explorer
Waldorf Iridium:
https://waldorfmusic.com/iridium-en/
Osmose Expressive E:
https://www.expressivee.com/2-25-osmose?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8_Cs0b-ShQMVaiitBh37fQ4XEAAYASAAEgK3BfD_BwE#
Arturia Minifreak:
https://www.arturia.com/products/hardware-synths/minifreak/details
Dreadbox Typhon:
https://www.dreadbox-fx.com/typhon/
PWM Malevolent:
https://www.1pwm.com/malevolent
Roland SP404 mk2:
https://www.roland.com/global/products/sp-404mk2/
Barefoot Footprint01:
https://barefootsound.com/footprint01/
AlphaTheta Omnis Duo:
https://alphatheta.com/en/information/introducing-the-omnis-duo-portable-all-in-one-dj-system/
Oh thanks so much for adding the links, it saved me time…I was just about to add em.
You know, I don’t think that Hydrasynth is a bad instrument. It just covered alot
Of the same territory and I favored the iridium more so. Hydra punches WAY above its pricetag! I’d recommend it for anyone wanting to get into deep synthesis. Hydra is built like a tank, has random on every module, has great filters, has mutants…its a WIN for the desktop at 500-700 bucks
Iridium is my favorite synth of all times and I will soon buy another one.
So far I would say no it’s not hard but it is a lot lol. It can do so much and I’m still barely scratching the surface but having a lot of fun. My next day off I’m gonna sit down properly with the manual and a 2 hour video to follow along and learn the basics.
Effects wise, yeah they’re brilliant so far. To be digital the tape saturation and distortion effects sound very warm and organic. The reverb is great, the more unique effects are cool and very usable. I’d definitely recommend. And audio and midi over usb makes life all the more easier. Literally one cable and I’m good to go.
I keep forgetting about Hydra’s random on every module, I need to play with that!
Have you ever thought about getting the waldorf quantum?
I actually did, but it’s overpriced in my opinion. I like having 16 voices for half the money of the 8 quantum gives if you use the analog filters. The analog filters really don’t make me say ooooh worth 2400 more dollars. Iridium all the way for me, maybe two iridium’s eventually.
The randomization options on Hydra are one of my favorite things about it. So much fun to come up with new fun sounds without tons of shitty ones in the process. I wish more synths were as deep as that about randomization.
🙌🏽 Which Hydra do you have?
the Quantum has 16 voices nowadays (they added 8 digital voices in an update)
however, i totally understand what you are saying about the extra price.
I use to have the desktop.
Nice, did you like using the pads?
I loved using the pads, they are way more expressive than I think most people realize. Plus you could set them up in 4ths layout like a guitar.
Ahhh, almost like a lap steel eh?
I played lap steel for several years. I sold it and miss it. The common tuning for 6 string lap steel is C E G A C E (C6 chord). Although there are many other tunings used, mostly using chord tones. Bass, though, is tuned in 4ths- E A D G.