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.

Frank Prinzel's DAW Characterizations (from the FaceBook IOS Musicians Group)

McDMcD
edited February 2019 in Other

I saw this and laughed out loud reading the "IOS Musicians" Group on FaceBook posted by Frank Prinzel.

DAW CHARACTERIZATIONS:

  1. BM3=Sampler
  2. Auria=ProTools
  3. StageLight=MPEish Keyboard
  4. GarageBand=Solitary Confinement
  5. Cubasis=MIDI editor Audio editor
  6. NS2=Synthesizer
  7. Gadget=A Bunch of Synthesizers in Solitary Confinement...

I would add:

  1. AUM=8-track Tape Machine with track bouncing
  2. ApeMatrix=4-8 4-track tape machines with a 16-to-32 track mixing console
  3. Audio Evolution Mobile Studio=TASCAM Portastudios (Cheaper ProTools)

I wish I had seen this before buying NS2.

I just didn't need another synth to "not learn". Be advised. It's a great synth wrapped in a DAW's clothing
without much of what I need in a DAW. It can add features and gain more mindshare.

I think the StageLight description is off. Maybe "Multiplatform Loop-based DAW"?

It will come in handy when Audio Recording is added in 2021 and I have an upgraded iPad with 4GB of RAM. But by then Gadget could support AUv3's.

The message is clear for me. I bought Auria Pro as my first DAW since it was the first to go out at %50 off. I should have stopped there and learned that Beast and bought all the FabFilters when they we're on sale.. I'm an old school recording studio guy.

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Comments

  • That's the curse, all right. Get an app — huh, it's a bit of work. Maybe it's me — or maybe this NEW APP has solved those issues!
    I never loved Auria. Felt like I was wearing somebody else's suit. And I love playing in Gadget, which I actually kind of keep to myself as if it's a shameful secret.
    So I'm with you. Learn your apps before you buy more.

  • edited February 2019

    @ExAsperis99 said:
    That's the curse, all right. Get an app — huh, it's a bit of work. Maybe it's me — or maybe this NEW APP has solved those issues!
    I never loved Auria. Felt like I was wearing somebody else's suit. And I love playing in Gadget, which I actually kind of keep to myself as if it's a shameful secret.
    So I'm with you. Learn your apps before you buy more.

    I think part of the problem is none of the iOS DAW’s tick all the boxes for me. Auria - nearly, but I don’t like the MIDI editing, BM3 - convoluted workflow and a bit unreliable, NS2 - no audio tracks, MIDI AU recording/automation etc.

    Which means I’m stuck with bouncing between several of the silly things, which takes up time and ends up with a muddle of files all over the shop.

    DAW’s seem to attract almost religious like followings. Try saying something critical about Auria, BM3 or....as we’ve just seen....NS2, and their devotees will tear at your trouser bottoms with their teeth. Which makes it really hard to know if what your buying is up for the job, so I seem to have ended up buying all of them, except Cubasis.

  • @MonzoPro said:

    @ExAsperis99 said:
    That's the curse, all right. Get an app — huh, it's a bit of work. Maybe it's me — or maybe this NEW APP has solved those issues!
    I never loved Auria. Felt like I was wearing somebody else's suit. And I love playing in Gadget, which I actually kind of keep to myself as if it's a shameful secret.
    So I'm with you. Learn your apps before you buy more.

    I think part of the problem is none of the iOS DAW’s tick all the boxes for me. Auria - nearly, but I don’t like the MIDI editing, BM3 - convoluted workflow and a bit unreliable, NS2 - no audio tracks, MIDI AU recording/automation etc.

    Which means I’m stuck with bouncing between several of the silly things, which takes up time and ends up with a muddle of files all over the shop.

    DAW’s seem to attract almost religious like followings. Try saying something critical about Auria, BM3 or....as we’ve just seen....NS2, and their devotees will tear at your trouser bottoms with their teeth. Which makes it really hard to know if what your buying is up for the job, so I seem to have ended up buying all of them, except Cubasis.

    You should get Cubasis, it’s a game changer ;)

  • @Keenan said:

    @MonzoPro said:

    @ExAsperis99 said:
    That's the curse, all right. Get an app — huh, it's a bit of work. Maybe it's me — or maybe this NEW APP has solved those issues!
    I never loved Auria. Felt like I was wearing somebody else's suit. And I love playing in Gadget, which I actually kind of keep to myself as if it's a shameful secret.
    So I'm with you. Learn your apps before you buy more.

    I think part of the problem is none of the iOS DAW’s tick all the boxes for me. Auria - nearly, but I don’t like the MIDI editing, BM3 - convoluted workflow and a bit unreliable, NS2 - no audio tracks, MIDI AU recording/automation etc.

    Which means I’m stuck with bouncing between several of the silly things, which takes up time and ends up with a muddle of files all over the shop.

    DAW’s seem to attract almost religious like followings. Try saying something critical about Auria, BM3 or....as we’ve just seen....NS2, and their devotees will tear at your trouser bottoms with their teeth. Which makes it really hard to know if what your buying is up for the job, so I seem to have ended up buying all of them, except Cubasis.

    You should get Cubasis, it’s a game changer ;)

    hah, but totally true! Easy to use, excellent developers, regular updates!
    But please @monzo, don't buy it full price! ;)

  • @ExAsperis99 said:

    @Keenan said:

    @MonzoPro said:

    @ExAsperis99 said:
    That's the curse, all right. Get an app — huh, it's a bit of work. Maybe it's me — or maybe this NEW APP has solved those issues!
    I never loved Auria. Felt like I was wearing somebody else's suit. And I love playing in Gadget, which I actually kind of keep to myself as if it's a shameful secret.
    So I'm with you. Learn your apps before you buy more.

    I think part of the problem is none of the iOS DAW’s tick all the boxes for me. Auria - nearly, but I don’t like the MIDI editing, BM3 - convoluted workflow and a bit unreliable, NS2 - no audio tracks, MIDI AU recording/automation etc.

    Which means I’m stuck with bouncing between several of the silly things, which takes up time and ends up with a muddle of files all over the shop.

    DAW’s seem to attract almost religious like followings. Try saying something critical about Auria, BM3 or....as we’ve just seen....NS2, and their devotees will tear at your trouser bottoms with their teeth. Which makes it really hard to know if what your buying is up for the job, so I seem to have ended up buying all of them, except Cubasis.

    You should get Cubasis, it’s a game changer ;)

    hah, but totally true! Easy to use, excellent developers, regular updates!
    But please @monzo, don't buy it full price! ;)

    That would be typical wouldn’t it, the only one I don’t have...

  • I like to use all them. I'll usually mix in Auria, but compose in Cubasis or GarageBand or Gadget or NS2. I like BM3 as a sampler. The only one I haven't yet spent any time with is Stagelight.

    They all have strengths and weaknesses, and while I think it's perfectly OK to make objective criticisms, it's not OK to denigrate users who might simply have different needs or workflows, or simply different priorities in a DAW. Some people really need automation, others might need audio editing, others MIDI effects or MPE, it just depends on what's important to you. Sadly these discussions are often like comparing religions or political beliefs.

  • Been thinking about starting a thread about the DAWs left off this list, some of which are formidable

    MultitrackStudio
    Meteor
    FLSM
    N-Track studio

  • As it's a bit more civilized in here I'm going to admit I bought NS2 yesterday. (Sorry @MonzoPro I will buy another of your albums when I can afford it at the end of the month, it was partially your fault that I bought it anyway ;) )

    So far I'm enjoying it for ease of use, it's pretty stable and I seem to be able to do most things without too much trouble. The built in effects are really handy and the synth seems meaty. If it makes it to iPhone soon then I will be made up. That's part of the reason I bought BM3 but I never got on with the riddle of its UI.

    Not particularly bothered about audio tracks at the moment and I could probably record audio in audioshare alongside if I needed to. I did see a video somewhere that was using the sampler for that purpose and it claimed you could record up to two hours per sample. Sample editing looks pretty easy as well.

  • @Jocphone said:
    As it's a bit more civilized in here I'm going to admit I bought NS2 yesterday. (Sorry @MonzoPro I will buy another of your albums when I can afford it at the end of the month, it was partially your fault that I bought it anyway ;) )

    So far I'm enjoying it for ease of use, it's pretty stable and I seem to be able to do most things without too much trouble. The built in effects are really handy and the synth seems meaty. If it makes it to iPhone soon then I will be made up. That's part of the reason I bought BM3 but I never got on with the riddle of its UI.

    Not particularly bothered about audio tracks at the moment and I could probably record audio in audioshare alongside if I needed to. I did see a video somewhere that was using the sampler for that purpose and it claimed you could record up to two hours per sample. Sample editing looks pretty easy as well.

    I’ll send you some codes ;)

    It is a good app, and I love the workflow. The issue for me with audio tracks - is really down to CPU. On the desktop I record each VST to an audio track in Reason - that way I can use real heavyweight synths and fx, then remove them for the next track.

    I love the way Slate works - being able to vary velocity for drums gives a really authentic feel to rhythm tracks. But I’d like to get a few ambient Aparillo tracks in there as well, and my Air 2 just isn’t up to it when more than one instance is loaded up.

    I haven’t used it for a week or so now, think I’ll revisit it tonight.

  • I’ve begun to think we pay so much attention to feature lists and checklists that we often forget to actually listen to what we’re doing, use our ears. There’s a lot of apps out there that produce great high quality sounds but perhaps are lacking “standard” features. And of course there are many that are plain lacking across the board. I’m sure we’re all guilty of drowning a standalone’s output in fx for no other reason than it was a stand-alone app with a short feature list so surely the output MUST need to be touched up. Not always the case.

  • edited February 2019

    I mostly agree with the above observation.
    I dont care who flames me...
    Ive been producing music for many years and i come from real gear racks & too many personal loans.

    Auria Pro takes dedication and study; but its the BEST daw option hands down...i will agree the workings of it can be small and fiddly and its a little more enigmatic than it should be. Just the shear magnitude of Auria Pro is POWERFUL! Just the stretch algorithms on an audio track is nice! Maybe i think auria pro doesnt present like a mobile platform as much as it does a computer platform?

    Beatmaker3 is still suffering a few janky crashes, and it also has an enigmatic work style at times(meaning things arent always where you go to and arent outright obvious). But as a sampler....almost unbeatable even in hardware. Once bm3 is very stable its just a sickeningly powerful tool for sample editing etc!

    Cubasis ummm im just not into its navigation etc, export options are kinda iffish...its the only high dollar app i keep deleting then installing each update hopeful it gets a bit better...maybe it will one day!

    Garageband is too closed, the sampler is a joke period, sometimes i wish intua would seperate the bm3 sampler from the app and make it auv3 so we could just use it in other daws?! But as far as a good learning music tool and a pretty decent song building workstation garageband ia great and i usenit alot...especially aince logic pro is my main daw and i can open gbmobile projects right in LPX!

    Gadget? I hate the sequencer as it has no linear track mode and leads and vox dont start on the 1.1 actually a bit before which renders this tool kinda worthless for any organic feel at all...shame really! Everything else about gadget is fairly tight, maybe stop selling me romplers as new gadgets and just make one great drum machine sampler iap and sell me iap sounds?! I still hate no au gadget or au fx?

    Ns2 is a synth sequencing workstation with sampling as a secondary function, there are plans for audio tracks soon...but until then its Not a replacement for things like auria and cubasis if you need audio facilities! I will say though...it has one of the best interfaces, aome of the nicest graphics, and one of the top ten synths on ios! Ince this gets audio tracks itll be a pretty nice daw for many people! However as with previous ns1 sampling as in hiphop production is doable but NOT IDEAL on this platform. Once again if intua makes the bm3 sampler an au and it loaded into ns2 woooo WINNER in so many ways.

    Stagelight is far from where it would have to be for me to suffer its interface. Its like sex with a hideous person its doable, but do ya really want to! You almost need a fetish for the graphic style to like using it hahahaha. (Harshness for humor only)

    Caustic another closed world, with shit filters, and no audio tracks...the jupiter skin makes a huge difference in looking at it tho so kudos to that skin designer YOU DID THAT rej needs to hire you! Caustic has alot of other good features and on ios its the closest thing to reason you can get really. Maybe gadget is kinda similar. Rej if you are reading please redo the filters!

    I owned, erased, and dont use the prehistoric daws anymore so that is pretty much my take on those....

    The Good thing about software, is, alot of these apps could shift or improve through 2019 and change our whole opinion.

    Ive been moving more toward hardware lately, as i cant really rely on apple to make quality ios products anymore, so i feel like ios and i might be parting ways with the eventual death of my gen 1 12.9” ipad pro! As i wont move to gen 2 or gen 3.

    The above statements are only my opinion and do bot reflect the views of others!

  • I’ve been enjoying GB + AUv3 for a good while ...but just recently re-installed all my Spectrasonics instruments and Logic Pro...because geez developers (especially Apple) just aren’t taking iOS seriously enough for my taste 😴

  • @MrSmileZ said:
    Ive been moving more toward hardware lately

    Like what? Akai Force?

  • I haven’t spent much time with NS2, but it seems to load AudioUnits, so I’m not sure it’s really a closed “synth”. Or am I missing some limitation of how AUs work within NS2?

  • @overorange said:
    I haven’t spent much time with NS2, but it seems to load AudioUnits, so I’m not sure it’s really a closed “synth”. Or am I missing some limitation of how AUs work within NS2?

    No. You are not. It's just that of the 10 only Gadget doesn't load AU's. Is, I have 8 other DAW's that do that and those AU's can be great synths. So, I just didn't need NS2. But at some point I'll work off my "app debt" and check it out more fully. But I used the sale to have it until then and save $10.

    Maybe some think locking it into a $20 DAW means it's close when everyone else (except Korg) is producing AUv3 Synths which for 9 or 10 DAW's means they are more open. Obsidian is locked behind the NS2 wall.

    I mentioned all this so I might advice someone on the fence. $20 in and you might not feel so great about the jump. Not the first time I've bought an app I just don't click with.
    The Demo's indicate it's not my style of music tool. Maybe the $7 Acoustic 1and/or 2 IAP would give me something closer to my style. Hard to say.

  • Does anyone think that Auria Pro will ever get another major update a la Auri-Auria Pro in 2015?

  • @Telstar5 said:
    Does anyone think that Auria Pro will ever get another major update a la Auri-Auria Pro in 2015?

    What would you like to see added? I think it's pretty complete. I only really miss Comping. and perhaps stability.

    It's fantastic to see the diverse opinions about all those DAW's. I currently use Garageband a lot. Contrary to what @MrSmileZ says, I don't think it's closed at all. It allows you to use AU's, IAA's, export to MacOS garageband and Logic. It really is a very powerful piece of software and highly underrated. Some of it's power is hidden however. I use it mainly because of the fantastic built-in drummer.

    on the other hand, I try so hard to like Gadget, but I just don't feel inspired by it and I really feel that's a pitty, because I really like the concept.

    Stagelight I've been using for years on my pc. I really like it; the minimalist design. Just misses some features right now but it'll get there.

  • @richardyot said:
    I like to use all them. I'll usually mix in Auria, but compose in Cubasis or GarageBand or Gadget or NS2. I like BM3 as a sampler. The only one I haven't yet spent any time with is Stagelight.

    They all have strengths and weaknesses, and while I think it's perfectly OK to make objective criticisms, it's not OK to denigrate users who might simply have different needs or workflows, or simply different priorities in a DAW. Some people really need automation, others might need audio editing, others MIDI effects or MPE, it just depends on what's important to you. Sadly these discussions are often like comparing religions or political beliefs.

    +10000

  • @MrSmileZ I mostly agree with your assessment, however I would just say in defence of Cubasis that it does do some things better than all the other DAWs: namely AU MIDI and MPE support. For AU MIDI Cubasis is by far the best option on the platform, and there are many people for whom this is a really important feature, so for those musicians Cubasis is the best choice.

  • edited February 2019

    @richardyot said:
    @MrSmileZ I mostly agree with your assessment, however I would just say in defence of Cubasis that it does do some things better than all the other DAWs: namely AU MIDI and MPE support. For AU MIDI Cubasis is by far the best option on the platform, and there are many people for whom this is a really important feature, so for those musicians Cubasis is the best choice.

    Also gentle learning curve is a very strong point imho. It's pretty much fire up and go from the start without having to figure out too many unexpected product-specific idiosyncrasies.

  • @brambos said:

    @richardyot said:
    @MrSmileZ I mostly agree with your assessment, however I would just say in defence of Cubasis that it does do some things better than all the other DAWs: namely AU MIDI and MPE support. For AU MIDI Cubasis is by far the best option on the platform, and there are many people for whom this is a really important feature, so for those musicians Cubasis is the best choice.

    Also learning curve is a very strong point imho. It's pretty much fire up and go from the start without having to figure out too many unexpected product-specific idiosyncrasies.

    But maybe NS2 has it beat in that department ;)

  • Full respect to the ones which give demos, since you can never know how well you get on with it until you learn the workflow. :)

    Cubasis midfx is good yes especially since the last update, but when NS2 get's the bugfix and midifx automation/recording, it will be much improved. Unlimited fx (I think) reordering and saving chains as presets is very useful. So I'm already preferring it, knowing that these potential fixes are in the works.

  • edited February 2019

    @richardyot said:

    @brambos said:

    @richardyot said:
    @MrSmileZ I mostly agree with your assessment, however I would just say in defence of Cubasis that it does do some things better than all the other DAWs: namely AU MIDI and MPE support. For AU MIDI Cubasis is by far the best option on the platform, and there are many people for whom this is a really important feature, so for those musicians Cubasis is the best choice.

    Also learning curve is a very strong point imho. It's pretty much fire up and go from the start without having to figure out too many unexpected product-specific idiosyncrasies.

    But maybe NS2 has it beat in that department ;)

    I really hope they sort out the AU MIDI in NS2 - I was trying to record the Obsidian synths being triggered via Rozeta, SPA and Riffer last night without success. It's very frustrating, and I hope they fix this soon. Otherwise it's a joy to work with.

    I can see me getting Cubasis eventually, then I'll have the full set.

  • @MonzoPro said:
    I really hope they sort out the AU MIDI in NS2 - I was trying to record the Obsidian synths being triggered via Rozeta, SPA and Riffer last night without success. It's very frustrating, and I hope they fix this soon. Otherwise it's a joy to work with.

    I can see me getting Cubasis eventually, then I'll have the full set.

    I would wait and see how things pan out in NS2 before buying Cubasis (if you don't have it already). If the MIDI AU is well implemented and audio tracks come in the summer as promised you might not need Cubasis. What NS2 does, it does really well, it just needs to be more feature complete to compete with the other DAWs.

  • @richardyot said:

    @MonzoPro said:
    I really hope they sort out the AU MIDI in NS2 - I was trying to record the Obsidian synths being triggered via Rozeta, SPA and Riffer last night without success. It's very frustrating, and I hope they fix this soon. Otherwise it's a joy to work with.

    I can see me getting Cubasis eventually, then I'll have the full set.

    I would wait and see how things pan out in NS2 before buying Cubasis (if you don't have it already). If the MIDI AU is well implemented and audio tracks come in the summer as promised you might not need Cubasis. What NS2 does, it does really well, it just needs to be more feature complete to compete with the other DAWs.

    Yeah that was the plan for me for NS2. I'm going to try and explore BM3 again at some point too.

  • Bm3 is more like a love child between maschine and ableton, than JUST a sampler. Akai force is closest thing to bm3 atm imo

  • @richardyot said:
    @MrSmileZ I mostly agree with your assessment, however I would just say in defence of Cubasis that it does do some things better than all the other DAWs: namely AU MIDI and MPE support. For AU MIDI Cubasis is by far the best option on the platform, and there are many people for whom this is a really important feature, so for those musicians Cubasis is the best choice.

    Good point! I don’t really have any more devices so I didn’t think about that...so to more users it would be a nice fit.

  • @brambos said:

    @richardyot said:
    @MrSmileZ I mostly agree with your assessment, however I would just say in defence of Cubasis that it does do some things better than all the other DAWs: namely AU MIDI and MPE support. For AU MIDI Cubasis is by far the best option on the platform, and there are many people for whom this is a really important feature, so for those musicians Cubasis is the best choice.

    Also gentle learning curve is a very strong point imho. It's pretty much fire up and go from the start without having to figure out too many unexpected product-specific idiosyncrasies.

    Very gentle in comparison to bm3 and Auria pro for sure. I just don’t click with it as of yet.

  • edited February 2019

    @McD said:

    @MrSmileZ said:
    Ive been moving more toward hardware lately

    Like what? Akai Force?

    I’m awaiting my fedex delivering the force as we speak! Plus I’m going to be installing the 2.4 update into my mpclive shortly as well...what a day what a day...I might be guilty of pulling my living rooms curtains and doing my best terrible version of shirley Murdock hahahahaha

    Hell, I might even go Julie Andrews hahahahaha

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