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.

What Audio Interface?

So I'm making the leap away from the iPad sandbox.
I'm tying to figure out what I need in terms of audio interface.
Below is the list of gear I've accumulated. Note: I'm not really interested in recording a live band. Not interested in playing live, either. I just need to reliably get iOS creations into a DAW.

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

What interface do I need?

NOTE: This is a reup since I unintentionally hijacked another thread; apologies to @johnnyglass for that.

Comments

  • edited April 2018

    @ExAsperis99 said:
    I just need to reliably get iOS creations into a DAW.

    This can also be done by rendering the audio on iOS and importing the WAV. If you want to use the iPad as a realtime sound module I'd say try if IDAM (https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/23240/idam-got-a-fix) works for you.

    I'm using an (https://www.iconnectivity.com) iConnectAudio4+ myself (https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/comment/478083/#Comment_478083).

  • edited April 2018

    I'd definitely try IDAM and/or studiomux first to see if you can take the iPad out of the equation, in terms of wanting a USB input into an external audio device as opposed to the laptop itself.... that said, how many available USB ports on the MacBook Air do you have? Looks like the iRig also needs a USB port.

    Would maybe either the iConnectAudio4+ or the Arturia AudioFuse work for you?

  • The MacBook Air has 2 USB ports so a hub is needed if all controllers need to be used.
    Use IDAM for iPad Audio -> Mac Book Air.

    An interface with multiple inputs is needed to cover recording Bass/Guitar, Mic and Line-In without patching if everything needs to be recorded at once.

    A mixer could also be handy for connecting the Digitakt and the Turntable.
    I'm happy with my Steinberg UR-242 and the Korg nanoKEY as a controller.

  • Apogee Duet.

  • Wow, I had ignored all those IDAM threads previously. That's pretty fascinating.

    I guess all I really want is for the iPad and the Digitakt to be sending audio and/or midi to Logic at the same time. Everything else can be tracked later.

    This is very helpful.

    And the Duet looks amazing, but why so $$$?

  • edited April 2018

    @ExAsperis99 the Duet is a (very) high quality audio device and Apogee doesn't mess with Windoze, still sticking to their Mac tradition. Smaller market volume, but they earned a lot of reputation in pro audio. The mic preamps provide 75dB of gain.
    You may listen to @flo26 's records as a reference. He (mostly) uses the Quartet interface, which is basically a double Duet.

  • @Telefunky said:
    @ExAsperis99 the Duet is a (very) high quality audio device and Apogee doesn't mess with Windoze, still sticking to their Mac tradition. Smaller market volume, but they earned a lot of reputation in pro audio. The mic preamps provide 75dB of gain.
    You may listen to @flo26 's records as a reference. He (mostly) uses the Quartet interface, which is basically a double Duet.

    Aha.
    Got it. That sounds like something down the line. (I mean, I did just buy a laptop, so...)

    Also, I cut my teeth first on post-punk and then indie rock, so I definitely have a higher tolerance for noise than most audiophiles.

    I'm thinking the iConnect 2+ looks good, or possibly a Scarlett interfact. @nazim13 what do you mean by "desktop interface"?

  • I have a Scarlett 6i6 2nd gen (I wanted spdif... rarely record real stuff through it) - I've had it 2 days. It's great! The low latency is very nice. The "6" is the spdif over the 4i4. I do miss the ability to do internal loopback, but that's a tiny thing. It's got a wall wart, so isn't bus-powered. That's something to check on what you get - fortunately, a lot of those with only a couple in/out can be bus-powered.

  • @Samu said:
    The MacBook Air has 2 USB ports so a hub is needed if all controllers need to be used.
    Use IDAM for iPad Audio -> Mac Book Air.

    An interface with multiple inputs is needed to cover recording Bass/Guitar, Mic and Line-In without patching if everything needs to be recorded at once.

    A mixer could also be handy for connecting the Digitakt and the Turntable.
    I'm happy with my Steinberg UR-242 and the Korg nanoKEY as a controller.

    Thanks for your advice, @samu.
    Don't have Logic installed yet, but I tried the iPad via IDAM into GarageBand, but I don't seem to be able to choose a midi instrument? Does this not work with GB, or have I not set things up correctly?

  • I'm pretty happy with the Ica4+.

  • @ExAsperis99 said:

    Thanks for your advice, @samu.
    Don't have Logic installed yet, but I tried the iPad via IDAM into GarageBand, but I don't seem to be able to choose a midi instrument? Does this not work with GB, or have I not set things up correctly?

    IDAM 'midi' requires iOS11 on the iOS device.
    (Just out of curiosity what iOS & macOS version are you running?).

    When you enable the iOS device in the Audio & Midi setup it becomes a class compliant Audio-In and Midi In&Out device and works with every app you've got running on your Mac.

  • Pretty sure I have the latest OS on both laptop and iPad. I'm sure I did something wrong in the Settings. The iPad seemed to register with the computer — I received a core midi message that said as much — but in Garageband's instrument list, there were only the built-in instruments.

    I watched a tutorial with a guy using Logic, which allows you to add a New Midi Track, an option not available in GB.

    Thanks again for your patient help. This is like a moment in that video game Civilization: I thought I had the map pretty well covered, and then I build longships, and holy cow, there's a lot of terrain out there to explore....

  • This just was posted on Discchord, which I found very helpful. I also love the idea that there's an Australian so into ice hockey.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=922&v=7QOXjfB1ExM

    Very small sample size, but he seems to adore a Steinberg similar to the one used by @samu. That seems a good way to go. I just want to make sure that I can send my iPad synths into Logic.

    Someday, when Overbridge comes to the Digitakt and I can send the DT's stems into the laptop rather than just recordingin a stereo mix, I may have to rethink the interface. But it seems that Elektron users have been waiting for this for ages, so I'm not holding my breath.

  • edited September 2018

    One last thought on this. The iConnectAudio4+ is unique because it has two USB ins, as @gonekrazy3000 pointed out, um, somehwere.....

    It's a little expensive ($300) and I wondered; could I not get away with a smaller interface plus a powered USB hub? I'd like to run the iPad and a Digitakt into a Macbook. Not sure if I'd use the Digitakt to sequence iPad synths (which I have done, but I don't have a fluid workflow yet). I'm asking again because it's around my birthday and, you know, I deserve it. But I'd also rather not spend $300 if I can get away with $100.

    Dean ( @Junebug ) did a great video about setting up an iPad studio; in it he relies on a USB hub.

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