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.

Audio Evolution vs Cubasis 3?

So I’ve yet to upgrade to Cubasis 3 but I’m all but set to pull the trigger on it. However I just recently discovered AE and it seems to offer everything I want from C3 at 1/3 (or less) of the price. Plus the Toneboosters FX is huge. But I’m wondering, what’s the catch? With such a low price tag I feel like I might be missing out on some more powerful features I’d get from Cubasis 3. Anyone with experience with both that can weigh in? Can AE record externally from an interface for hardware gear?

«1

Comments

  • Yes, it does - and the developer is very active and responsive.
    AEM also covers Android and Windoze (dunno MacOS), so things may take a while... occasionally.

  • @Telefunky said:
    Yes, it does - and the developer is very active and responsive.
    AEM also covers Android and Windoze (dunno MacOS), so things may take a while... occasionally.

    Thanks! I’ve read the dev is very responsive which is a huge plus for me. Is there anything big I’d be missing opting for AE over C3?

  • @HotStrange :Id like to know also

  • edited January 2022

    I don’t know anything about AE, but in my mind the big compelling things CB3 brings are:

    • Multicore rendering: huge performance boost if you have a recent CPU
    • Support for multiout plugins: I consider this pretty key for drum machines
    • The ability to record the output of midi plugins: not every DAW can do it

    I’m sure there are other good features as well, but those are some key features for me. Like I said, I don’t know about AE so I don’t know if it has those features.

    Edit: I just said the word “features” a lot.

  • wimwim
    edited January 2022

    Audio Evolution should soon have one feature, important to many, that Cubasis doesn't: Time signature and tempo automation.

    @dwrae said:
    I have implemented MIDI remote control and tempo/time signature change in the iOS version. A version with MIDI remote control has been uploaded and needs to be reviewed by Apple before we can release it to the testers. Shortly after that, I will upload a version with the tempo/time signature to test as well. If no problems are found, a v5 release with these features and a new chorus based on the Roland Dimension D will be released in a week.

    https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/comment/1038136/#Comment_1038136

  • @wim said:
    Audio Evolution should soon have one feature, important to many, that Cubasis doesn't: Time signature and tempo automation.

    @dwrae said:
    I have implemented MIDI remote control and tempo/time signature change in the iOS version. A version with MIDI remote control has been uploaded and needs to be reviewed by Apple before we can release it to the testers. Shortly after that, I will upload a version with the tempo/time signature to test as well. If no problems are found, a v5 release with these features and a new chorus based on the Roland Dimension D will be released in a week.

    https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/comment/1038136/#Comment_1038136

    That is a huge plus in AE camp.

  • The ToneBoosters are an extra IAP last I checked. So if you already have them, it’s a wash.

    I highly prefer CB3’s UI. Everything is easy to find and it looks very polished. I bought AEM and refunded it pretty quickly. Didn’t flow like I’d expect a DAW to.

  • @mjm1138 said:
    I don’t know anything about AE, but in my mind the big compelling things CB3 brings are:

    • Multicore rendering: huge performance boost if you have a recent CPU
    • Support for multiout plugins: I consider this pretty key for drum machines
    • The ability to record the output of midi plugins: not every DAW can do it

    I’m sure there are other good features as well, but those are some key features for me. Like I said, I don’t know about AE so I don’t know if it has those features.

    Edit: I just said the word “features” a lot.

    Could you explain multicore rendering? Maybe my mind is spacing but I’m not sure exactly what it is.

    The last 2 are huge though. Being able to record the outputs separately is great for further processing, and with midi tape recorder out, the last point is great too! Thanks!

  • @wim said:
    Audio Evolution should soon have one feature, important to many, that Cubasis doesn't: Time signature and tempo automation.

    @dwrae said:
    I have implemented MIDI remote control and tempo/time signature change in the iOS version. A version with MIDI remote control has been uploaded and needs to be reviewed by Apple before we can release it to the testers. Shortly after that, I will upload a version with the tempo/time signature to test as well. If no problems are found, a v5 release with these features and a new chorus based on the Roland Dimension D will be released in a week.

    https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/comment/1038136/#Comment_1038136

    Woah that’s a huge plus for sure. Thanks for that. I like to mess with time/tempo changes live and being able to automate that has me leaning heavily towards AE now.

  • @ChancedMusic said:
    The ToneBoosters are an extra IAP last I checked. So if you already have them, it’s a wash.

    I highly prefer CB3’s UI. Everything is easy to find and it looks very polished. I bought AEM and refunded it pretty quickly. Didn’t flow like I’d expect a DAW to.

    Do you mind explaining a bit about why you didn’t like the workflow of AE? I really do enjoy the layout of Cubasis 2, which is the main reason I was initially leaving towards C3. I just work well within the app itself.

    As far as the TB apps, they’re actually one of the only Devs I haven’t owned anything by yet but they do have multiple apps on my short list. Are the IAPs for them the same price or is it a bundle?

  • AE is a weird user experience to me. There’s a ‘Next’ button on the top right that you hit a lot because there are very different views; not like Cubasis or Auria Pro’s familiar sound/midi editor and a mixer view. It’s a lot of clicks to do what get anything done. On the plus side, it’s stable and fast. It’s a matter of getting used to the workflow, but that doesn’t take long, and I definitely like it better than Cubasis.

  • I'm still trying to wean myself off Garageband onto Cubasis, and any change in established workflow isn't easy at first. While I don't crave tempo changes on all pieces it would be lovely to be able to do it sometimes, and there's no chance of this getting added to GB, and folks (including myself) have been asking for years for this on Cubasis, receiving a "on the roadmap... but a lot of work" response. At the very least, perhaps a little competition from AE will help get it prioritised!

  • Hmm a lot to mull over here. Maybe since CB2 is still supported I should give AE a shot and see how it compares. I’m still on the hunt for my “perfect” daw. CB2 is close, CB3 seems almost spot on, but maybe there’s something to AE as well.

  • @HotStrange said:

    @mjm1138 said:
    I don’t know anything about AE, but in my mind the big compelling things CB3 brings are:

    • Multicore rendering: huge performance boost if you have a recent CPU
    • Support for multiout plugins: I consider this pretty key for drum machines
    • The ability to record the output of midi plugins: not every DAW can do it

    I’m sure there are other good features as well, but those are some key features for me. Like I said, I don’t know about AE so I don’t know if it has those features.

    Edit: I just said the word “features” a lot.

    Could you explain multicore rendering? Maybe my mind is spacing but I’m not sure exactly what it is.

    The last 2 are huge though. Being able to record the outputs separately is great for further processing, and with midi tape recorder out, the last point is great too! Thanks!

    If you have an iPad with enough CPU cores (iPad Pro, recent iPad Air, maybe current base iPad), Cubasis 3 can use multiple cores to render sound from AUv3 plugins, greatly increasing the number of AUs you can run simultaneously.

  • @mjm1138 said:

    @HotStrange said:

    @mjm1138 said:
    I don’t know anything about AE, but in my mind the big compelling things CB3 brings are:

    • Multicore rendering: huge performance boost if you have a recent CPU
    • Support for multiout plugins: I consider this pretty key for drum machines
    • The ability to record the output of midi plugins: not every DAW can do it

    I’m sure there are other good features as well, but those are some key features for me. Like I said, I don’t know about AE so I don’t know if it has those features.

    Edit: I just said the word “features” a lot.

    Could you explain multicore rendering? Maybe my mind is spacing but I’m not sure exactly what it is.

    The last 2 are huge though. Being able to record the outputs separately is great for further processing, and with midi tape recorder out, the last point is great too! Thanks!

    If you have an iPad with enough CPU cores (iPad Pro, recent iPad Air, maybe current base iPad), Cubasis 3 can use multiple cores to render sound from AUv3 plugins, greatly increasing the number of AUs you can run simultaneously.

    That’s what I figured but wanted to clarify. I have the newest iPad Air so that does add another plus to C3.

  • This is my experience with AEM. I don’t have much experience with CB2 or CB3 beyond playing a bit with the LE versions.

    I tried to use it as a full DAW with MIDI and audio, then, seeing that some forum users report they mix and master their tracks in CB3, I thought I could try and do the same in AEM for stems recorded elsewhere.

    What I liked

    • overall it feels quite solid and fast, and is certainly featured enough for mixing and mastering
    • it rarely crashes, and autosave is there to help
    • you can have multiple versions of your project keeping only one set of samples
    • the developer monitors the crash reports, and reached out to solve one of the bugs.

    What I liked less

    • the MIDI editing part is less flexible than what you can find on others, eg NS2 or Xequence 2. no scale on keyboard or piano roll, drum pattern mapping only available for GM, no linked clips. So I gave up using MIDI on it.
    • the UI does not feel at home on iOS, and the general UX could be improved. I guess it’s the price to pay for being cross-platform. Its UX could be more polished, and the look is not really my taste (compared to Xequence 2, NS2 or even CBx) even though, again, it’s workable
    • Maybe there is way to import all my audio stems (recorded in AUM) in one go. But I couldn’t find it. I also tried recording directly from AUM but syncing is a bit tricky.
    • I could not put my finger on it, but I feel there could be a storage space leak. AEM seemed to take more and more storage space as I used it, even after cleaning up and removing all my projects (-after iPad reset and restore the app usage suddenly grew to an unexpected size, only way to recover was to reinstall the app).
  • @crushed said:

    • I could not put my finger on it, but I feel there could be a storage space leak. AEM seemed to take more and more storage space as I used it, even after cleaning up and removing all my projects (-after iPad reset and restore the app usage suddenly grew to an unexpected size, only way to recover was to reinstall the app).

    That's an Apple problem!
    Apple does not seem to really delete stuff you deleted... maybe they still hold it in a cache, or the numbers just do not get updated.

    I noticed the same for Apps like Aloha or iCab Mobile webbrowsers.
    Even after deleted downloaded files, the Apps keeps telling the large numbers in the settings and the file system does not get back the space.

  • @tja said:

    @crushed said:

    • I could not put my finger on it, but I feel there could be a storage space leak. AEM seemed to take more and more storage space as I used it, even after cleaning up and removing all my projects (-after iPad reset and restore the app usage suddenly grew to an unexpected size, only way to recover was to reinstall the app).

    That's an Apple problem!
    Apple does not seem to really delete stuff you deleted... maybe they still hold it in a cache, or the numbers just do not get updated.

    I noticed the same for Apps like Aloha or iCab Mobile webbrowsers.
    Even after deleted downloaded files, the Apps keeps telling the large numbers in the settings and the file system does not get back the space.

    Documents by Readdle has the same exact problem. I don’t know if that’s “phantom space” or real numbers, when the size keeps growing and never gets smaller even if deleting files. Has always been like this.

  • I like Audio Evolution. I think Cubasis 3 is the premier iOS DAW but Audio Evolution is not that far behind. It misses some fancy features but it is way cheaper. The UI is different. That’s all. Not better or worse, just different. It takes a little adjustment period like anything else. I made videos on Audio Evolution. And am currently running a Cubasis 3 Workshop. The videos might help you decide.

    These are just 2 examples. More at my channel.

  • Can one use a bus as an input to an audio track in AEM? i.e, can you record the output of a midi instrument to an audio track?

  • @musikeer said:

    @tja said:

    @crushed said:

    • I could not put my finger on it, but I feel there could be a storage space leak. AEM seemed to take more and more storage space as I used it, even after cleaning up and removing all my projects (-after iPad reset and restore the app usage suddenly grew to an unexpected size, only way to recover was to reinstall the app).

    That's an Apple problem!
    Apple does not seem to really delete stuff you deleted... maybe they still hold it in a cache, or the numbers just do not get updated.

    I noticed the same for Apps like Aloha or iCab Mobile webbrowsers.
    Even after deleted downloaded files, the Apps keeps telling the large numbers in the settings and the file system does not get back the space.

    Documents by Readdle has the same exact problem. I don’t know if that’s “phantom space” or real numbers, when the size keeps growing and never gets smaller even if deleting files. Has always been like this.

    Hey thank you! Important to know if you are thinking of working with Apps that use/edit a lot of large files…

  • @espiegel123 said:
    Can one use a bus as an input to an audio track in AEM? i.e, can you record the output of a midi instrument to an audio track?

    Good question. I don’t think so, or I haven’t found how.

  • @espiegel123 said:
    Can one use a bus as an input to an audio track in AEM? i.e, can you record the output of a midi instrument to an audio track?

    No, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t do that yet. But the developer is amazing. So you never know. He might get there before Steinberg do.

  • @Jamie_Mallender said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    Can one use a bus as an input to an audio track in AEM? i.e, can you record the output of a midi instrument to an audio track?

    ... He might get there before Steinberg do.

    What could be the benefit over the fact that we already can freeze tracks 🤔

  • @Gratouilli said:

    @Jamie_Mallender said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    Can one use a bus as an input to an audio track in AEM? i.e, can you record the output of a midi instrument to an audio track?

    ... He might get there before Steinberg do.

    What could be the benefit over the fact that we already can freeze tracks 🤔

    That you end up with a completely independent audio track. There are many times when this is preferable.

    I don’t have the inclination to spell it out in more detail. But I am sure there are many articles to be found explaining why this is useful. I lay out some use cases in the other AEM thread.

    There is a reason why most desktop DAWs support this and you will find threads on AB forum as to why it is a drag that one can’t simply record the audio output of one’s AU synths (not the least is that no sequencer yet reliably captures and plays back MPE.

  • @espiegel123 said:

    @Gratouilli said:

    @Jamie_Mallender said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    Can one use a bus as an input to an audio track in AEM? i.e, can you record the output of a midi instrument to an audio track?

    ... He might get there before Steinberg do.

    What could be the benefit over the fact that we already can freeze tracks 🤔

    That you end up with a completely independent audio track. There are many times when this is preferable.

    I don’t have the inclination to spell it out in more detail. But I am sure there are many articles to be found explaining why this is useful. I lay out some use cases in the other AEM thread.

    There is a reason why most desktop DAWs support this and you will find threads on AB forum as to why it is a drag that one can’t simply record the audio output of one’s AU synths (not the least is that no sequencer yet reliably captures and plays back MPE.

    Yes, I can easily imagine that simply send a midi track output to an audio track input would be cool to record a live performance for a keyboardist, but it is something quite easy to do with 4Pocket Multitrack in Cubasis... even if it's not as straightforward as a "native possibility" in the DAW, it works pretty well and isn't an absolute pain (imho).

  • @espiegel123 said:

    @Gratouilli said:

    @Jamie_Mallender said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    Can one use a bus as an input to an audio track in AEM? i.e, can you record the output of a midi instrument to an audio track?

    ... He might get there before Steinberg do.

    What could be the benefit over the fact that we already can freeze tracks 🤔

    That you end up with a completely independent audio track. There are many times when this is preferable.

    I don’t have the inclination to spell it out in more detail. But I am sure there are many articles to be found explaining why this is useful. I lay out some use cases in the other AEM thread.

    There is a reason why most desktop DAWs support this and you will find threads on AB forum as to why it is a drag that one can’t simply record the audio output of one’s AU synths (not the least is that no sequencer yet reliably captures and plays back MPE.

    Now you mention it, sending any combination of audio outputs to one of its audio input for recording sounds like quite a natural feature that any mixing & recording environment should have.
    After all, AUM has quite some flexibility in routing, Koala resamples to another slot, Loopy Pro records anything to another loop....

  • @Jamie_Mallender said:
    I like Audio Evolution. I think Cubasis 3 is the premier iOS DAW but Audio Evolution is not that far behind. It misses some fancy features but it is way cheaper. The UI is different. That’s all. Not better or worse, just different. It takes a little adjustment period like anything else. I made videos on Audio Evolution. And am currently running a Cubasis 3 Workshop. The videos might help you decide.

    These are just 2 examples. More at my channel.

    I actually just saved your video before seeing this comment so I can watch it after work! Thanks for weighing in, looking forward to checking those out!

  • @crushed said:
    This is my experience with AEM. I don’t have much experience with CB2 or CB3 beyond playing a bit with the LE versions.

    I tried to use it as a full DAW with MIDI and audio, then, seeing that some forum users report they mix and master their tracks in CB3, I thought I could try and do the same in AEM for stems recorded elsewhere.

    What I liked

    • overall it feels quite solid and fast, and is certainly featured enough for mixing and mastering
    • it rarely crashes, and autosave is there to help
    • you can have multiple versions of your project keeping only one set of samples
    • the developer monitors the crash reports, and reached out to solve one of the bugs.

    What I liked less

    • the MIDI editing part is less flexible than what you can find on others, eg NS2 or Xequence 2. no scale on keyboard or piano roll, drum pattern mapping only available for GM, no linked clips. So I gave up using MIDI on it.
    • the UI does not feel at home on iOS, and the general UX could be improved. I guess it’s the price to pay for being cross-platform. Its UX could be more polished, and the look is not really my taste (compared to Xequence 2, NS2 or even CBx) even though, again, it’s workable
    • Maybe there is way to import all my audio stems (recorded in AUM) in one go. But I couldn’t find it. I also tried recording directly from AUM but syncing is a bit tricky.
    • I could not put my finger on it, but I feel there could be a storage space leak. AEM seemed to take more and more storage space as I used it, even after cleaning up and removing all my projects (-after iPad reset and restore the app usage suddenly grew to an unexpected size, only way to recover was to reinstall the app).

    Thanks a ton for this! The midi editing and not being able to load stems from AUM is actually a pretty big deal to me. I finish half my tracks on the iPad (other half on the MacBook) so being unable to dump the stems is a nearly a dealbreaker.

  • @espiegel123 said:

    @Gratouilli said:

    @Jamie_Mallender said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    Can one use a bus as an input to an audio track in AEM? i.e, can you record the output of a midi instrument to an audio track?

    ... He might get there before Steinberg do.

    What could be the benefit over the fact that we already can freeze tracks 🤔

    That you end up with a completely independent audio track. There are many times when this is preferable.

    I don’t have the inclination to spell it out in more detail. But I am sure there are many articles to be found explaining why this is useful. I lay out some use cases in the other AEM thread.

    There is a reason why most desktop DAWs support this and you will find threads on AB forum as to why it is a drag that one can’t simply record the audio output of one’s AU synths (not the least is that no sequencer yet reliably captures and plays back MPE.

    Agreed. I really hope Cubasis (or GarageBand or AEM for that matter) will implement this soon. It’s one of the few massive features missing on iOS, imo.

Sign In or Register to comment.