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.
iPad System Limitations
I have an iPad 3 and have been noticing some strange sounds lately when using Loopy combined with other apps (Sampletank, JamUp) via Audiobus. For example, Sampletank is set as an input block, Loopy as the output block and that is it. I get a loop going in Loopy and it is playing back and then I go to switch presets in Sampletank. What I hear is a timing dropout in the audio being played back in Loopy or a zipping crackle sound while the preset loads into Sampletank. It is usually one or the other or sometimes a combination of both undesirable sounds.
My question is does anyone else experience this? Is it also noticeable on an iPad 4? I tried raising the buffer size in Audiobus but the noise is still there. I am wondering if this is just a ram or processing speed issue of the iPad?
Comments
In my experience the clicks and pops are indicative of a CPU overload. An iPad 4 isn't immune to it either, but should fair better better with twice the CPU and twice the ram of the iPad 3 from what I hear. I'm on an ipad 2 so I hear it sometimes but for the most part it's good.
I've had a number of such similar glitches on my iPad 3, to the point where the first thing I do is test any new purchase to see if it actually works as claimed. I'm afraid that in the resource starved environment of the iPad such glitchyness may be almost inevitable. :^(
I wad considering getting an iPad 4..but there are still issues and do I really need one for making video demo's..I don't have much time to actually make a full track these days..but I like it because I have a good excuse not to produce anything serious and just play with the apps lol...I have heard rumors about the iPad 5 so you never know whats round the corner..I always get glitch when trying to run more than two apps via midi with my iPad2
Oh one more thing..I wonder how CPU hungry the new Waldorf will be because all there VST's are super hungry...that one may push me towards more power I think..
@thesoundtestroom Waldorf? I didn't know. I go google.
Got it!
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2012/03/27/new-waldorf-wavetable-synth-coming-to-ipad/
Yep the Waldorf Nave..there are only a few videos at the moment...it's another wavetable but does look stunning..
I recently managed 14 tracks split roughly even between midi and Audio in Cubasis (see my 'Another Slice of Symphonic Rock' post over in the 'Creations' section
My iPad 2 has 32 GB and I had to clear the memory with a reboot before I did the mixdown. The was a bit of stuttering occasionally until I did that. I also had to move some chunks of Audio around manually because it seemed to have recorded out of sync. Oh yes, and one of my clips seemed to want to play a different sound than what I recorded. Even though the waveform still looked correct (it was a little riff a few seconds long) it only played a single chord, as though it had become linked to a different audio clip! I had to copy and paste it from a previously saved version to get my proper audio clip back!
But all in all I think it is still my iPad DAW of choice.
Yeah just listened and made a comment..great and very powerful sound...my iPad is only 16 gig but I'm on a mission to make it explode in haze of CPU Logic..KA.........BOOOOOOOOOMMMM
Additional info...
I don't even need Audiobus running to get these noises. If I have Loopy or even Multitrack DAW (2 track project) playing in the background and start switching presets in Sampletank, I get the noises.
However, when I play audio in Swift Player (youtube app that allows downloading videos and speed changes - highly recommended btw) and switch presets in Sampletank, the audio is clean as a whistle.
Are these "pro" audio apps handling the audio differently? Just more CPU/Ram intensive? I would think a 2 track project with no effects or anything in Multitrack DAW would be similar to a youtube file stored on my internal iPad hard disk being played back in terms of system resources.
Anyways, it is such a bummer because I already have a Behringer FCB1010 and was considering upgrading to a SoftStep, but now I am not sure since I can't really even switch presets on anything during live performance because of these audio glitches. :-(
I read recently that SampleTank takes up a huge amount of memory when it's running - so i'm guessing that has something to do with it.
(I'm on an ipad4 and have noticed pops and clicks and audio dropouts when using SampleTank and Loopy as well - not all the time, but on occassion.)
Thanks for the info on iPad 4. That means I at least wait until the 5 before I upgrade. I guess a workaround is to have presets loaded with all 4 parts in Sampletank and just switch between those to get different sounds while loops are running in the background.
But I guess that also means that Sampletank needs an update to make the parts selectable via midi!
The 4 parts can be assigned to different MIDI channels, you could just switch channels on your controller.
didn't read everything but one important thing:an ipad 4 is MORE than twice the power of an iPad3.I had a song running in Auria on my old ipad using 52%cpu and it takes 20% cpu on an iPad4....just saying.There's plenty of power to use.
i would upgrade from iPad 4 to 5 in a second although i'm very happy about the power of the 4...but i guess the next pad will be only thinner and lighter...at least thats what all the rumours says.We'll see...
i totally agree crabman - i am more than happy with the power and musical production capability of the ipad4 (i was actually surprised, and continue to be, at what can be done... it was an xmas gift, I would probably not have bought one myself.) Any time i've had sound issues with SampleTank i've just closed shut down any/all apps running and set things up again and it usually works fine. I rarely encounter many audio problems - but i also don't push the limits like some users might. but i really do love making music on the ipad ... coming from a desktop setup from several years ago, this is so much more fun and productive.
The iPad 5 is rumored to the A7 quadcore..so plenty of power..and Halftone is right the key is not to overdrive your device..work within the limits and everything should be OK..like I said I have a 2 so I have to work within the limits of that device..i.e. with Cubasis as soon as I get to maybe 5 or 6 tracks I will mixdown so I only have obe Audio track to start again with..not an ideal situation..but if you do need to remix slighty later you could always open up the old template and then make any minor adjustments..
I think this is an interesting thread. During the past few months I've noticed that our expectations of what can be achieved on an iPad have risen enormously. Initially with the first crop of audiobus compatible apps everyone was saying how brilliant the iPad 2 and 3 is for using as a sketch pad and then exporting to desktop apps for finalising and tweaking and so forth. Now, we are talking about the current iPads limitations. Isn't this linked with the rise as the more resource hungry big boy apps come on board which is expanding our horizons.
Also, the more talented ios musicians here are becoming more resourceful and depending, perhaps, more on their iPads for producing the final version.
I am a novice on all this and within three months find my iPad 3 is becoming a bit limiting. I started out depending on Garageband and recording my guitar. Initially, just wanting to import a drum track and record my own guitar tracks. With an iPad 3 this was brilliant. Since February I have upgraded to Cubasis, downloaded a host of new music apps such as Alchemy, Samplebox plus a lot more. I now play around with more sounds and tracks and iPad limitations are beginning to rear themselves. Personally I blame you all and this forum!!!! Why couldn't I just stick with my guitar, Jamup and Drum Beats + with Garageband or MultiDAW.
Now, I can't wait for iPad 5/6/7 to come.
I'm using an iPad3 and have got to the point of changing Audiobus to 512 frames when using the monster apps, which helps a lot
I think that Jomodu has hit it on the head, and the introduction of Audiobus has a lot to do with it. Ipad music and the scope of what you can achieve has moved on immensely in just six months, but this has the side effect of putting pressure on what are quite limited resources by desktop standards. Apple must be rubbing their hands at the thought of us wanting to upgrade to the latest versions of the hardware!
With Apple's crappy iPad naming conventions, how does one know the iPad version? I assume it's the Settings-->General-->About-->Model value. Mine is MD39LL/A which I assume indicates that it's an iPad 3.
Quadcore in the next pad AND thinner/lighter?I'm curious too see how they manage it with keeping the battery power on the same level...and if it doesn't get so worm to fry my eggs on it
Anyway,Quadcore would be great.The only thing i don't like about the next ipad (IF the rumours are true)is the shape.It could be like a bigger iPad Mini then.But i use my pad only in Landscape mode and i like to have a bigger surrounding on all edges.It would cut something from the visible screen when i use it in my bed for example...first world problems
edit:not only Audiobus is responsable for the hunger for more cpu power.In my case it's clearly the Fabfilter plugins as well
Has anyone find a way around the stuttering? Does it still occur on the new iPad Air or mini retina? Or is there a way to change the part, and not the preset by midi, as this does not cause the stuttering.
Right now my active loops in Loopy suffer from a lot of crackling every time i change preset, making it unusable live. Using an iPod 5
http://forum.audiob.us/discussion/4337/performance-problems-solved#Item_21
This other thread is going on presently and addresses some ways to check/improve performance. I have an iPad2, and I do get the clicking and glitching when I run too much stuff, but I can also do just about anything I need to reliably if I pay attention to memory and following the proper preventative steps.
iPad 2 is kind of old in the tech world where you get a turnaround time of about 18 months for a shiny new gadget to mushroom. iPad 3 is kind of getting long in the tooth as well. iPad 4 still cuts it big time. With caveats.
Having said all that and to put things in perspective, you have to look at the desktop parallel and the same scenario repeats itself all over again. My Mac Pro is kind of limiting when compared to the new and greatest Mac Pros. I say kind of limiting because although it hasn't got the power of the new Mac Pros, it does my music producing job 100%. That is because I just don't keep adding tons and tons of VSTs or AUs to get what the sounds I want.
You have to plan your productions in advance. That is what the pros do. Even the best of the new Mac Pros will grind to a halt when pushed to the absolute extremes with tons of plugins.
Working with audio files will make your system work better which in essence means converting your MIDI tracks to audio. I have the stems of a Living Colour song and there's about 80 audio tracks of pristine quality. I am sure those audio tacks were mixed in a first class studio with high end processing. However, as audio files, my limited system makes the song sound like the real thing. Work with audio files if you can and your so called limiting system will probably get another extra 30 to 40% of studio power. Mine does.
Yes iPads are not as powerful as desktops but with a little bit of thinking ahead, your iPad 2 or 3 might still have that extra bit more grunt to keep you going.