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.

Question for Devs - MIDI 2.0... how will this shape your apps in the near future?

Question for Devs - MIDI 2.0... how will this shape your apps in the near future?

I’m mainly wondering for those apps that are midi dedicated, such as the scripting apps StreamByter & Mozaic, and sequencing apps such as Xequence 2 etc?

The template building apps like MidiDesigner & Lemur.

Abstract midi surfaces such as Poly 2 and TC-Data.

@audeonic @brambos @SevenSystems @JSMilton @BitShapeSoft @SecretBaseDesign

Obviously keen to hear from anyone with thoughts, devs & users alike.

Comments

  • I have the MIDI 2.0 spec lying around somewhere but didn't get around to have a look at it yet. Maybe that would be a good idea for those coffee breaks at the Café instead of browsing around random Audiobus forum posts 😉

  • edited January 2020

    @SevenSystems said:
    I have the MIDI 2.0 spec lying around somewhere but didn't get around to have a look at it yet. Maybe that would be a good idea for those coffee breaks at the Café instead of browsing around random Audiobus forum posts 😉

    😂

    It’s obviously going to take some time to see large scale integration of MIDI 2.0, but it’s going to bring some huge changes when it does.

    EDIT: Importantly though, it’s being designed to be completely backwards compatible with the 1.0, so there should be no obsolescence with its arrival. Just additions. :)

  • edited January 2020

    It will also take time for new hardware or firmware updates to existing hardware to become widespread.

    What have you seen in MIDI 2.0 that interests you ?

    The device capability advertising would make control surfaces able to configure/build themselves I guess.

  • As long as not even 30% of the features of MIDI v1.0 are to be found in the majority of iOS apps, I wonder how much later MIDI 2.0 features will be seen in iOS apps than in desktop programs.
    One nice feature would be auto-configuration so whatever modern MIDI controller you connect with the iPad, you'll automatically see all parameters of the selected instrument or plugin mapped to the faders and knobs and their current values shown on LEDs/LED rings/LED bars or LCD displays.
    Will this come to iOS?
    All DAW and AUv3 host developers would have to implement that and I doubt it will happen soon.
    It wouldn't be my #1 prio request either because I find a touch screen much better to handle than a mouse, often even better than a MIDI controller because if you want to control many different synths or FX, the blind mapping gets messy fast.

  • @AndyPlankton said:
    It will also take time for new hardware or firmware updates to existing hardware to become widespread.

    What have you seen in MIDI 2.0 that interests you ?

    The device capability advertising would make control surfaces able to configure/build themselves I guess.

    Yeah, the bi-directional communication is interesting.

    Obviously the range of expression in performance will be vastly greater too.

    Plus, who doesn't want an extra 240 midi channels!? :D

  • edited January 2020

    @rs2000 said:

    One nice feature would be auto-configuration so whatever modern MIDI controller you connect with the iPad, you'll automatically see all parameters of the selected instrument or plugin mapped to the faders and knobs and their current values shown on LEDs/LED rings/LED bars or LCD displays.

    For sure, the bi-directional communication will certainly see more midi controllers use visual feedback. Not so common these days. The BCR2000 is one of the only ones I can think of atm.

  • @SpookyZoo said:

    @AndyPlankton said:
    It will also take time for new hardware or firmware updates to existing hardware to become widespread.

    What have you seen in MIDI 2.0 that interests you ?

    The device capability advertising would make control surfaces able to configure/build themselves I guess.

    Yeah, the bi-directional communication is interesting.

    Obviously the range of expression in performance will be vastly greater too.

    Plus, who doesn't want an extra 240 midi channels!? :D

    That’ll be a whole orchestra’s worth :D

  • Has anyone ever heard of IP V6? It's coming because the Internet has run out of the 255.255.255.255
    addresses and IP V6 has a larger address space. It was drafted in 1998 and made a standard in 2017.

    Do you knowingly use it? MIDI 2.0 will take a decade to become pervasive. But keep the thread alive with any clues or guesses.

    @SevenSystems said:
    I have the MIDI 2.0 spec... for those coffee breaks at the Café instead of browsing around random Audiobus forum posts 😉

    Please finish "Xequence Audio Pro" (called "the last DAW you will ever need" by insiders). Insider in this case would be anyone that hangs out in the same Cafe as @SevenSystems.

  • Maybe we'll see at last a hardware controller integration based on Midi 2.0 spec without relying on iOS&Apple

  • @McD said:
    Has anyone ever heard of IP V6? It's coming because the Internet has run out of the 255.255.255.255
    addresses and IP V6 has a larger address space. It was drafted in 1998 and made a standard in 2017.

    Do you knowingly use it? MIDI 2.0 will take a decade to become pervasive. But keep the thread alive with any clues or guesses.

    Interesting.

    However I'll definitely be using MIDI 2.0 as soon as it's physically possible to do so. :)

  • edited January 2020

    Some links...

    https://www.midi.org/articles-old/details-about-midi-2-0-midi-ci-profiles-and-property-exchange

    edit: I was going to link to the full 2.0 spec, but you need to register a free account with midi.org

  • @SpookyZoo said:
    However I'll definitely be using MIDI 2.0 as soon as it's physically possible to do so. :)

    Me too. Im just expecting every developer to take their time justifying the effort and get payback for it.
    When did AUv3 get spec'ed? MPE?

  • @McD said:
    Please finish "Xequence Audio Pro" (called "the last DAW you will ever need" by insiders). Insider in this case would be anyone that hangs out in the same Cafe as @SevenSystems.

    Dude 😂 I hang out in MULTIPLE Cafés, MULTIPLE times a day! You'll never find me 😁

  • edited January 2020

    I would imagine the scripting apps StreamByter, MidiFire, Mozaic would have the most to work with in Midi 2.0

    The guys from Bomebox MIDI translator device seem to have been in the mix of it early on.

    N.B. Fair warning, for a 10min video, there's not actually too much info on the spec itself. But some interesting snippets.

  • I’m very interested to see the next generation of midi controllers that can talk both ways with software, I think we’ll see cool stuff being done with controllers like the behringer X-Touch, with scribble strips, lit up encoders, flying faders. I think we’ll see the controllers first, and some early big name software, like Ableton, use it, and gradually the smaller developers would get on board once there is a critical mass of available controllers and demand to be able to use them with their software.

    There have been lots of better protocols from Midi 1.0 over the years: Mackie HUI, novation automap, OSC. It’s the adoption that was the issue, not the technology, Midi 1.0 stands to this day as a political achievement, for achieving nearly universal adoption, so midi 2.0, is surely promising.

  • 32 bit ccs is all I want

  • @McD said:
    Has anyone ever heard of IP V6? It's coming because the Internet has run out of the 255.255.255.255
    addresses and IP V6 has a larger address space. It was drafted in 1998 and made a standard in 2017.

    Do you knowingly use it? MIDI 2.0 will take a decade to become pervasive. But keep the thread alive with any clues or guesses.

    @SevenSystems said:
    I have the MIDI 2.0 spec... for those coffee breaks at the Café instead of browsing around random Audiobus forum posts 😉

    Please finish "Xequence Audio Pro" (called "the last DAW you will ever need" by insiders). Insider in this case would be anyone that hangs out in the same Cafe as @SevenSystems.

    Public v4 addresses are slowly running out (and there is a market for these :D ) but most people use their private address space anyway which is usually translated to one single public IPv4 address so you're easily able to use your own >60000 devices at home (look up NAT, Network Address Translation if you're interested in how it works).

  • edited January 2020

    I wonder how much of a performance hit 2.0 will be over the original spec, say if a device like Deluge were firmware updated to support the new standard?

    I’m sure it’d be minimal but surely not negligible? those are some big numbers that midi 2 will be causing our devices to crunch— with a trade off of an unprecedented level expressivity that I’m very much looking forward to.

  • McDMcD
    edited January 2020

    @SevenSystems said:

    Please finish "Xequence Audio Pro" (called "the last DAW you will ever need" by insiders). Insider in this case would be anyone that hangs out in the same Cafe as @SevenSystems.

    Dude 😂 I hang out in MULTIPLE Cafés, MULTIPLE times a day! You'll never find me 😁

    You will never catch me watching you either... Probably because of that Atlantic Ocean think but still.
    People are saying it's 95% done but you have lost the will to change anything. Afraid you will break it for good with another line of code. Screw your courage to the sticking place.

    Like George R R Martin... it might outlive you (the app... not GRRM).

  • @Processaurus said:
    I’m very interested to see the next generation of midi controllers that can talk both ways with software, I think we’ll see cool stuff being done with controllers like the behringer X-Touch, with scribble strips, lit up encoders, flying faders. I think we’ll see the controllers first, and some early big name software, like Ableton, use it, and gradually the smaller developers would get on board once there is a critical mass of available controllers and demand to be able to use them with their software.

    There have been lots of better protocols from Midi 1.0 over the years: Mackie HUI, novation automap, OSC. It’s the adoption that was the issue, not the technology, Midi 1.0 stands to this day as a political achievement, for achieving nearly universal adoption, so midi 2.0, is surely promising.

    @Eschatone said:
    I wonder how much of a performance hit 2.0 will be over the original spec, say if a device like Deluge were firmware updated to support the new standard?

    I’m sure it’d be minimal but surely not negligible? those are some big numbers that midi 2 will be causing our devices to crunch— with a trade off of an unprecedented level expressivity that I’m very much looking forward to.

    Good points!

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