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.

UPDATE: New PC or Used MAC?

GOT BRAND NEW MAC BOOK PRO.

15 inch

Appreciate any advice for 1st time MAX ownership.


What say you?

Strictly for Ableton and other music related items with a tad of video stuff.

Budget............I am not sure.

But proportionately, the scale can slide either way.

I just dont have $2k grand to drop on a MAC. Plus I am about to move so budget is tight.

Thanks for any and all opinions.

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Comments

  • Portable ? i.e Laptop or desktop ?

    I've been considering a second hand MAC Mini, an old low spec one can be got for £60

  • edited September 2017

    I really like macs but if you're not tied to anything mac only like Logic, there is no denying you can get better hardware for the same money by going pc. Even more so if you're on a budget

    Having extra cpu power, ram and gpu will definitely help when doing video editing

  • Hardware wise, I am very pleased with my Mac Mini from Hoxton Macs. Refurbished stock, with new 512gb SSD and 16gb RAM.

  • Latency is a bit of a PITA with PC's, even using the ASIO drivers so for music I'd plump for a Mac. For all round use I'd build a PC.

  • I’d take any kind of Mac over any kind of Windows computer :)

  • I had the same dilemma and ended up custom building a PC for audio use (not for everyone, I know). It meant I could keep costs down but still target what I really needed like silent case and fans, 16GB RAM, no DVD, etc. It's my hifi rather than DAW at this stage although I have thrown Reaper on it to check it out. Very happy.

  • @Tarekith said:
    I’d take any kind of Mac over any kind of Windows computer :)

    this :+1:
    I have an old XP machine still in use (cut off from internet) which does roundtrips within 6ms of latency at 44.1 khz (so that's not a problem with proper hardware/setup).
    I'm kind of used to this shit, but anything from Microsoft after that OS is a plain pita, in particular Win-10.
    A(ny) Mac Mini is a very nice machine, indeed - and affordable.

  • I wouldnt get a windows computer now that i had a taste of mac(other than for cad computer, since there arent really good programs on mac for that). Windows feels like a beta of an operating system in comparison to macOs.

  • edited September 2017

    Latency. it's much more of a pain to get right on a PC.

    Just get a Mac, go with the best you can in your budget. And "best" doesn't mean newest.

  • Is there an easy way to measure audio latency on my PC?

  • @gusgranite said:
    Is there an easy way to measure audio latency on my PC?

    Ableton tells you input and autput latency on the settings where you chabge buffer size etc. Dunno where else you can see it. I have some vague memory that some app for sound drivers displayed it as well, but not sure

  • @ToMess said:

    @gusgranite said:
    Is there an easy way to measure audio latency on my PC?

    Ableton tells you input and autput latency on the settings where you chabge buffer size etc. Dunno where else you can see it. I have some vague memory that some app for sound drivers displayed it as well, but not sure

    Going from distant memory...ASIO Control Panel (where you set the buffersize) should display audio latency ?

  • @Tarekith said:
    I’d take any kind of Mac over any kind of Windows computer :)

    >

    For those who build their own, the hardware is arguably better than Mac, for the money. But I would not touch Windows 10 with someone else's barge pole.

  • Hackintosh. MAC for pc prices. Not to hard to do now and plenty of people selling them

  • Speaking for the loyal opposition, I have a Windows 10 Surface Pro 3, which I use for music (with Bitwig, Live, FL 12, MTS etc)...without issue and with much joy. Touch on the SP3 for Bitwig and FL12 often makes me wonder why I spend time anywhere else.

  • edited September 2017

    Fwiw I have a Sony Vaio Canvas Z and Ableton runs fine on it but UI is fuzzy and blurry as it does not support the high density display. And this makes it unusable on the touch screen itself.

    Bitwig renders fine on the device...but having lived in both worlds I just find music software on the mac to be a whole lot more enjoyable.

    If you're using Ableton and want a laptop config just stick with a Mac. You'll thank me later.

  • edited September 2017

    On PC your latency is at the mercy of the people writing the drivers for you interface. If I understand correctly, this isn't an issue with OSX, because Core Audio is a universal driver.

  • I have both, I use PC for gaming and Mac for music, plus for me personally Mac integrates with my Ipad better, and with IOS11 were going to be able to send audio and midi back and forth via lightning cable. Music wise while you can create on both, I prefer Mac, plus I have an Apogee Duet which works on both IOS and Mac.You definitely dont need the latest Mac either, my MacBook Pro is a 2011, i7 w 16 gigs of ram , and though a new one would be nice, I dont feel restricted or feel like its not fast enough for music production at all.

  • @AndyPlankton said:

    @ToMess said:

    @gusgranite said:
    Is there an easy way to measure audio latency on my PC?

    Ableton tells you input and autput latency on the settings where you chabge buffer size etc. Dunno where else you can see it. I have some vague memory that some app for sound drivers displayed it as well, but not sure

    Going from distant memory...ASIO Control Panel (where you set the buffersize) should display audio latency ?

    No idea. I have successfully erased that sort of stuff from my head, since my need to use such an outdated and laughable driver system has been replaced by a superior one ;D

  • edited September 2017

    @Littlewoodg said:
    Speaking for the loyal opposition, I have a Windows 10 Surface Pro 3, which I use for music (with Bitwig, Live, FL 12, MTS etc)...without issue and with much joy. Touch on the SP3 for Bitwig and FL12 often makes me wonder why I spend time anywhere else.

    I fully trust your experience, but Win-10 is a system that's in permanent connection with it's mothership and organizes whatever is on your system according to Microsoft.
    You don't even have any choice at all, which is completely unacceptable for me.
    Their developement system (building blocks of all current software) is an extremely clumpsy construction that wastes tons of resources.

  • Nothing wrong with Windows 10 per se, I have it installed on 4 machines without any kind of issue. I quite like it, and certainly wouldn't go back to XP, or even Windows 7.

    Having said that, for music making specifically I think a Mac makes more sense than Windows. Less hassle with ASIO drivers thanks to Core Audio, and well, Logic.

  • edited September 2017

    @Telefunky said:
    Win-10 is a system that's in permanent connection with it's mothership and organizes whatever is on your system according to Microsoft.

    Windows 10 doesn't interfere with your system in any kind of intrusive way AFAIK. All the files etc are exactly where you'd expect them to be. They push you to update, same as Apple does, but that's a good idea anyway, in most cases. At least when Windows updates it doesn't break your older apps like iOS and OS X can.

  • @Strizbiz said:
    I have both, I use PC for gaming and Mac for music, plus for me personally Mac integrates with my Ipad better, and with IOS11 were going to be able to send audio and midi back and forth via lightning cable.

    You can already do this with the lightening cable, you just need to turn it on in MacOS Audio MIDI preferences.

  • edited September 2017

    If you want to use Reaper/Maschine/Studio One i would avoid Mac, I have multiple set ups on both platforms and like both for various reasons, but those three programs are poor for resource use compared to their Windows variants on the exact same hardware.
    Other than GPU accelarated video composition/editing where Macs are again very poor, both platforms are perfectly good and do their job well.
    For the record, a well programmed ASIO driver like RME performs way better than core audio too, so the latency thing is a choice not defined by Windows itself.
    Always buy RME always be happy, that applies to both platforms.

  • Remember: A new PC becomes a used PC; a used Mac stays a used Mac.

  • I have a Asus G20 CB. Using Ableton 9 suite & FL Studio & Cubase Artist. I use the Fl ASIO, which is much better than the standard free ASIO. On average I am using 30 tracks in a project, all plugged up to the gills(Fabfilters/PSP/etc)....... I'm lucky if I get pass 35-40% on CPU..... Been trying to push it harder, but it can take it easily. Even when using heavy CPU VST(Omnisphere/Dune/Trillian/Sampletank 3/etc)...... Never crashing...... Very pleased with it, as I don't have any restrictions anymore. I don't don't know if MACs can handle the same abuse I give my PC? iZoptope 7 & Slate Digital FG-X is even a breeze.
    Windows 10 is solid now. I think Microsoft have done well to tighten things up (sercurity wise) like Apple have done. IMO..... :)
    But other people's options will be different. I've tried iMacs, & I wasn't THAT impressed with it. When I tried the simular thing, to what I do which the PC, the CPU went crazy, like my old 2007 laptop PC. Low memory, etc. The way I abuse samples, I couldn't do on a Mac. I found it a bit limited. Plus, I wouldn't go for a second hand computer...... You buy second hand, then you maybe buying second hand problem, with no warranty. Just saying......... ;)

  • @AndyPlankton said:
    Portable ? i.e Laptop or desktop ?

    I've been considering a second hand MAC Mini, an old low spec one can be got for £60

    Laptop

  • @Zen210507 said:
    Hardware wise, I am very pleased with my Mac Mini from Hoxton Macs. Refurbished stock, with new 512gb SSD and 16gb RAM.

    $? US$

  • @kgmessier said:
    Remember: A new PC becomes a used PC; a used Mac stays a used Mac.

    Cute.

    Kind of like being broke is being broke, but being bankrupt is just a "technical term"......................LOL

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