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.

Any iPad DAW connecting to Roland hardware - advice on best way?

Hi,
I’ve been trying to move to iPad only for a while now, ditching my Mac with its various daws. However, severely tempted by the expensive but brilliant Roland Fantom 7 keyboard. Roland were always my favourite synth brand back in the day.

Roland gear is NOT class compliant. Has great integration with Mac, but requires a dedicated Roland driver on Mac. The USB port on the Fantom can output 16 audio channels at once to a Mac DAW.

I’d like to use Cubasis (or other DAW) to record like this - create some multi channel parts and output from Fantom to multiple separate tracks in iPad at once.

Scratching my head but some ideas come to mind:

Buy an audio interface with 16+ inputs
Only record the outputs from fantom 2 at a a time (on my 2+2 audio interface)
Use an app like Studiomux somehow https://zerodebug.com/studiomux/. Not even sure if this app is still supported or of use.

If anyone could help with advice on best connection method I’d appreciate it!

Thanks.

Comments

  • The Yamaha Montage offers exactly that: Multichannel audio and MIDI over USB.
    I would play one and see if the Roland is really so much better. I doubt it.

  • I would not design any solution that depends on Studiomux. It’s finicky and can’t be installed on Catalina. It works if you have it installed prior to updating to Catalina, though.

    I have a Fantom 8, and like other Roland gear it will do class-compliant MIDI, but like you say for audio you have to switch USB modes and it requires their driver.

    The Fantom has limited physical I/O, so your idea of an interface with a lot of inputs won’t help. You’re still limited to the two main outs and sub outs on the Fantom. I honestly haven’t used the sub outs at all so I’m not sure what the routing options are. I can poke around if it’s helpful, but regardless you have a max of four analog channels as two stereo pairs.

  • @rs2000 thanks for that, I was considering a Yamaha modx7 for the way it would interface nicely with iPad. I know the montage is the step up from that.

    However, having played with all 3 of these I still like the Roland best. In terms of ui and the whole workflow vibe.

    @Liquidmantis understood, lack of analog out negates the big interface route then. Thanks.

    Wanted to mix iPad auv3’s and hardware synth, but not gonna work I think. Well, not ideally anyway.

  • The Roland seems to have a usable built-in sequencer. One way to use it: Sequence AUv3s from the Roland!

  • @rs2000 how would I export the final mix though?

  • @johnrob66 said:
    @rs2000 how would I export the final mix though?

    If my eyes see correctly, the Roland has 4 individual outputs so transferring a project using a 4-input audio interface would be the hard way unless you keep a desktop computer.

    We all know that although the iPad is a powerful music creation tool, it cannot replace a desktop machine without accepting quite a number of limitations.

  • @rs2000 yep, I think that would be it. Grrr to Roland for not making their gear class compliant (audio).

    Ah well, put up with the limitations I suppose.

  • edited February 2020

    Audio interface with as many inputs as required.
    Cheaper option is getting one of these and a 2 input class compliant interface.

    http://myvolts.com/product/42824

  • @BlueGreenSpiral said:
    Audio interface with as many inputs as required.
    Cheaper option is getting one of these and a 2 input class compliant interface.

    http://myvolts.com/product/42824

    The Fantom 7 has 16 parts but only 4 audio outs.
    16 audio channels are already supported over USB but not iOS compatible.

  • For some reason I thought the OP was talking about the boutique range @rs2000

    Need to read more carefully before posting!

  • @johnrob66 said:
    Hi,
    I’ve been trying to move to iPad only for a while now, ditching my Mac with its various daws. However, severely tempted by the expensive but brilliant Roland Fantom 7 keyboard. Roland were always my favourite synth brand back in the day.

    Roland gear is NOT class compliant. Has great integration with Mac, but requires a dedicated Roland driver on Mac. The USB port on the Fantom can output 16 audio channels at once to a Mac DAW.

    I’d like to use Cubasis (or other DAW) to record like this - create some multi channel parts and output from Fantom to multiple separate tracks in iPad at once.

    Scratching my head but some ideas come to mind:

    Buy an audio interface with 16+ inputs
    Only record the outputs from fantom 2 at a a time (on my 2+2 audio interface)
    Use an app like Studiomux somehow https://zerodebug.com/studiomux/. Not even sure if this app is still supported or of use.

    If anyone could help with advice on best connection method I’d appreciate it!

    Thanks.

    Just take your two main outs on the Fantom, run those into your interface, and record one track at a time (both midi and audio) in Cubasis, that’s how I record all my hardware synths that all plug into one big mixer (I take the mixers two main outs and run those into an RME Babyface Pro or Apogee Duet and just hit the mute switches on what I don’t want to hear). It’s no different than when I record on my desktop computer into Reaper. I’ve been trying out iPad only recording since last summer .. it works, but man is the desktop with its 3 monitors A LOT easier and more reliable. Fantom, Montage, KRONOS .. all good stuff, my Roland Jupiter 80 is my main axe these days .. but the new Fantom IS enticing 👍

  • Maybe the Fantom has a way to export the tracks as wav files

  • @Korakios said:
    Maybe the Fantom has a way to export the tracks as wav files

  • @johnrob66 said:
    Hi,
    I’ve been trying to move to iPad only for a while now, ditching my Mac with its various daws. However, severely tempted by the expensive but brilliant Roland Fantom 7 keyboard. Roland were always my favourite synth brand back in the day.

    Roland gear is NOT class compliant. Has great integration with Mac, but requires a dedicated Roland driver on Mac. The USB port on the Fantom can output 16 audio channels at once to a Mac DAW.

    I’d like to use Cubasis (or other DAW) to record like this - create some multi channel parts and output from Fantom to multiple separate tracks in iPad at once.

    Scratching my head but some ideas come to mind:

    Buy an audio interface with 16+ inputs
    Only record the outputs from fantom 2 at a a time (on my 2+2 audio interface)
    Use an app like Studiomux somehow https://zerodebug.com/studiomux/. Not even sure if this app is still supported or of use.

    If anyone could help with advice on best connection method I’d appreciate it!

    Thanks.

    If recording all 16 tracks as one stereo output is an option, you could set the USB Audio option to Mix that combines all tracks (as opposed to Parallel mode that streams individual tracks separately).

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