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.

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

Audio Interface Question - Designing a Rig

Hey gang. Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm building an iOS keyboard rig being the bass player in an original soul band. I used to use Mainstage back in the day when I would play left-hand bass for a blues band, but I haven't had that rig in a while, and I want to build another rig to have some more flexibility and to add different sounds for our band. Here's ultimately what I would like my setup to look like.

A 61 Key Controller (pretty set on the Novation Impulse 61, as I like the action on the keys), into my iPad Pro via a powered USB hub. An app each for Hammond, Rhodes, Piano, Synth, Brass and Bass (more on that in a minute). Using Audiobus to route sounds.

Now the tricky part. I'd like to be able to split patches which I've seen is fairly easy to do across several of the Midi apps. But I'd like to set up a left hand bass patch, and route it out of the L channel of my audio interface so that I can send bass sounds to my bass amp, and then route all other sounds to the R output that can be sent to the PA. I would send the bass/left output to an ABY pedal so that I could easily switch between electric bass and left-hand/key bass. This seems like it should be a setting issue, but I can't find in any of the apps a way to route a specific sound to one output of my interface or another. Is that a standard feature?

With all that being said, what audio interface should I be looking at? I'd ideally like to keep it $200 or under. I was looking at the iRig Pro Duo since it has Midi In/Out, along with the other I/O in a very small form factor, but is there another interface I should consider?

Comments

  • Novation audiohub is a great interface. You need to add a USB-MIDI cable if you want to plug into 5 pin midi sockets.

    AUM will let you route audio to the different outputs. Korg Module is great for the bread & butter sounds your looking for. GarageBand is good, too, but Not sure you can do keyboard splits as it’s MIDI implementation is a bit opaque.

    There are some good MIDI utilities that will let you split the keyboard the way you want (can’t recall which one I have - away from my iPad at the moment).

  • Sounds great! One question: Is your bass guitar signal chain pure hardware or is it going thru the iOS setup for effects?

  • @Kiki_90291 Thank you so much! I hadn't even looked at this one, and it looks perfect! So I plug the USB-B port on the back into my iPad, and then my keyboard into the front via USB. Would I have to use the USB-Midi cables (Midi out on the Novation to USB on the interface) in order to split patches? Or could I do that all over USB?

    @Hmtx My bass guitar signal chain would be pure hardware. Electric bass into the A input of Morley ABY, and my L output of my interface into the B input of my ABY, so I can footswitch between the two (there will be some situations where I want to play the verse of a song on my electric bass, and the chorus on the keyboard).

  • Yeah, sounds like this would work fine. I agree AUM is an excellent hub for routing R/L on your audio interface. It also has built-in basic keyboard splitting/routing.

    There are countless audio interfaces that would work great in your scenario. Potentially any class-compliant interface would work. You just need to decide what features are important to you. MIDI can be solved with a USB hub and MIDI-to-USB cables if it isn’t built into your interface. iPad charging can be taken care of by the USB 3 lightning adapter.

    A few Options:
    Focusrite 2i4
    Zoom U24

  • Have a look at https://www.iconnectivity.com/products/

    Classic midi + USB + iPad powering + all the outputs you'll ever need at low latency.

  • @Hmtx I'm liking the Novation one mentioned above for it's small size and having multiple USB ports on it, which eliminates the need for me to have a powered USB hub.

    I see that SampleTank 3 has a crap ton of good sounds in it for bass, along with rhodes/b3/clav. If I can map the MIDI sliders on my board to different parameters in SampleTank, and maybe even use some buttons on the controller to change presets, that'd be amazing.

  • @johnnyglass said:
    @Hmtx I'm liking the Novation one mentioned above for it's small size and having multiple USB ports on it, ...

    Agreed! I had not taken a close look at that one
    https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AudioHub24--novation-audiohub-2x4

  • Look at the Behringer UMC404HD with its insert points. You won't that in lot of other interfaces.

  • edited April 2018

    yeah, inserts are a cool feature ... in particular when your setup doesn't need them... >:)
    I have an interface with inserts myself and they are provided for special or high quality analog gear that doesn't exist as a software emulation. Never used them.
    You (usually) can't record pre AND post the insert points simultanously, so with inserts activated you're left with the processed signal only and loose the raw data. Not cool.

  • @Telefunky said:
    yeah, inserts are a cool feature ... in particular when your setup doesn't need them... >:)
    I have an interface with inserts myself and they are provided for special or high quality analog gear that doesn't exist as a software emulation. Never used them.
    You (usually) can't record pre AND post the insert points simultanously, so with inserts activated you're left with the processed signal only and loose the raw data. Not cool.

    I'm so glad you're on the front lines of this battle — I don't even know to ask this question!

    Meanwhile, not to derail this thread, but.... Now that I'm the proud owner of a digitakt, I'm thinking of incorporating a DAW.

    So if I've got this to play with

    • Digitakt
    • iPad (w/CCK)
    • external midi keyboard (Akai MPK mini2, w/USB)
    • Korg NanoKontrol bluetooth keyboard
    • MacBook Air
    • turntable
    • guitar, bass, condenser mic

    what interface do I need?

  • short answer: if all must be available for play/record simultanously there's no single interface to cover that setup.
    Only the iConnectAudio4+ can serve the iPad and Mac both at the same time (which effectively makes it 2 interfaces).
    With a simple hub you can connect all midi gear to it, no problem on that side.

    But it has only 4 analog inputs (2 mic/instrument, 2 line level).
    So it's either the Digitakt or the turntable (on the line pair) and condensor mic plus guitar or bass (on the mic/instrument side).
    You can route 1 output pair from the iCA4+ to the Digitakt for sampling.

    All sources/destinations of the interface can be routed to both OSX and IOS at the same time, which is a very effective way of virtual cabling.

  • @ExAsperis99 said:

    @Telefunky said:
    yeah, inserts are a cool feature ... in particular when your setup doesn't need them... >:)
    I have an interface with inserts myself and they are provided for special or high quality analog gear that doesn't exist as a software emulation. Never used them.
    You (usually) can't record pre AND post the insert points simultanously, so with inserts activated you're left with the processed signal only and loose the raw data. Not cool.

    I'm so glad you're on the front lines of this battle — I don't even know to ask this question!

    Meanwhile, not to derail this thread, but.... Now that I'm the proud owner of a digitakt, I'm thinking of incorporating a DAW.

    So if I've got this to play with

    • Digitakt
    • iPad (w/CCK)
    • external midi keyboard (Akai MPK mini2, w/USB)
    • Korg NanoKontrol bluetooth keyboard
    • MacBook Air
    • turntable
    • guitar, bass, condenser mic

    what interface do I need?

    The Zoom R16 has channels for 8 simultaneous inputs, and can record direct to SD card or Logic:

    https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/Zoom-R16-Multitrack-Recorder-Audio-Interface-and-Controller/B7S?origin=product-ads&campaign=PLA+Shop+-+GENERIC&adgroup=GENERIC&medium=vertical_search&network=google&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=14536d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=374357651429&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_5b4ptbi2gIVTLHtCh1x7AE0EAQYASABEgKzmfD_BwE

  • @Kiki_90291 said:
    Novation audiohub is a great interface. You need to add a USB-MIDI cable if you want to plug into 5 pin midi sockets.

    AUM will let you route audio to the different outputs. Korg Module is great for the bread & butter sounds your looking for. GarageBand is good, too, but Not sure you can do keyboard splits as it’s MIDI implementation is a bit opaque.

    There are some good MIDI utilities that will let you split the keyboard the way you want (can’t recall which one I have - away from my iPad at the moment).

    X2

    Audiohub of my using

    I use with multi iPads, MacBook and/or Circuit and/or Pocket Operators and multi midi devices

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