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.

Is the Audient iD14 a good first audio interface?

I’m considering the Audient ID14 MKII. Primarily as a means of getting music from two iPads (usb C & lightning), and audio from my mic into my Mac.

I’m particularly interested in being able to hear what’s playing in my DAW or Endlesss on Mac, while getting some low latency audio from the iPad synth as I’m playing it into that DAW.

Since this is my first audio interface - I’d be grateful to hear if this use case makes sense or if I’m missing anything. Cheers!

Comments

  • For the iPad's I would use IDAM(USB) and create an aggregated device with both of them.
    But sure the iD14 gives room for future expansion via the optical input.

    Currently I use the Steinberg UR-242 which I'm happy with.
    It all depends on how many inputs you need and if midi needed?

    Cheers!

  • Hi, I just have a couple of observations.

    First, it does not appear to be "Class Compliant", so you will not be able to use it with your iPads, only the computer. Probably that's what you intend.

    Second, it is quite difficult to transfer digital audio directly from iPad to computer. There are ways, but they have limitations. So you'll be taking D/A output (from iPad headphone jacks?) into the interface for D/A conversion. This adds some noise, because the sampler is not synched with the source. Probably tolerable, but you should be aware.

    Third, there are several other choices in a similar price/performance range. They've been discussed here frequently. You might want to search for those threads.

  • The strong part of the ID14 are it‘s input channels, mic pre and instrument (hi-z) DI are exceptionally good considering the price range.
    The inputs are very low noise and work great with dynamic mics, even low volume types as the (currently overhyped) SM7b. The low noise allows to extend the gain digitally into the 70dB range with no loss on quality if you record in 24bit.
    I use an ID22 since about 5 years (all Audient inputs are identical, regardless of an ID interface or their 5-figure consoles) and have vintage Telefunken preamps for direct comparison.

    My other interface is an iConnectAudio4+ which would handle your case in a more functional way because it can deal with both iPad and Mac simultanously.
    It’s 2 interfaces in 1 box essentially and can route up to 10 (virtual) channels of audio between Mac and iPad.
    Analog quality is (a bit) lower than Audient‘s, but the functionality is 2nd to none.
    If you use a condensor mic (less critical than dynamic types) it‘s worth considering, but afaik it‘s a discontinued model. Nevertheless the „double host“ feature is unique on the market, no other audio interface can do that trick.
    The configuration control panel isn‘t the most brilliant piece of software, but does the job.

  • edited January 2021

    @uncledave said:
    First, it does not appear to be "Class Compliant", so you will not be able to use it with your iPads, only the computer. Probably that's what you intend.

    This isn't entirely true. While it has no MIDI functionality, the iD14 is a perfect companion for live tracking in an iPad DAW. I've used it for years with Auria and have no complaints. If you're looking for inputs, it has two excellent pres and supports ADAT expansion; paired with an old (but surprisingly decent) Behringer ADA8000, mine operated as a functional "travel rig," recording many a multimiked drum kit in its day. The main annoyance is setup, as it requires a powered USB hub, a "sold separately" wall wart, and a camera kit to interact with your iPad.

    Honestly, as far as interfaces in its price range go, the iD14 has the cleanest pres and best converters you're going to get. That's partially why it has so few bells and whistles - what you get is Pro, not Prosumer. I recently swapped mine for a UAD Apollo Twin and, while the access to UAD's fine plugins and Unison system are great, its pres/conversion aren't necessarily that much better. Though I have loads of new options and a much speedier setup, the quality of sound is roughly the same.

    Note: I'm not saying Audient is the absolute pinnacle of iPad interfaces! There's a new iOS-friendly Apogee Ensemble and, based on my aging Firewire Ensemble, I assume its A/DA mildly smokes both the iD14 and the Apollo Twin. But, really, that's just a game of degrees. If you're looking for an excellent piece of kit that works with both an iPad and a PC/Mac, the iD14 will produce studio quality results. The only reason I let mine go was that it became kind of redundant and disconnected from my workflow, which has (mostly) moved away from iPad tracking.

  • @mambonassau said:

    @uncledave said:
    First, it does not appear to be "Class Compliant", so you will not be able to use it with your iPads, only the computer. Probably that's what you intend.

    This isn't entirely true. While it has no MIDI functionality, the iD14 is a perfect companion for live tracking in an iPad DAW. I've used it for years with Auria and have no complaints. If you're looking for inputs, it has two excellent pres and supports ADAT expansion; paired with an old (but surprisingly decent) Behringer ADA8000, mine operated as a functional "travel rig," recording many a multimiked drum kit in its day. The main annoyance is setup, as it requires a powered USB hub, a "sold separately" wall wart, and a camera kit to interact with your iPad.

    Honestly, as far as interfaces in its price range go, the iD14 has the cleanest pres and best converters you're going to get. That's partially why it has so few bells and whistles - what you get is Pro, not Prosumer. I recently swapped mine for a UAD Apollo Twin and, while the access to UAD's fine plugins and Unison system are great, its pres/conversion aren't necessarily that much better. Though I have loads of new options and a much speedier setup, the quality of sound is roughly the same.

    Note: I'm not saying Audient is the absolute pinnacle of iPad interfaces! There's a new iOS-friendly Apogee Ensemble and, based on my aging Firewire Ensemble, I assume its A/DA mildly smokes both the iD14 and the Apollo Twin. But, really, that's just a game of degrees. If you're looking for an excellent piece of kit that works with both an iPad and a PC/Mac, the iD14 will produce studio quality results. The only reason I let mine go was that it became kind of redundant and disconnected from my workflow, which has (mostly) moved away from iPad tracking.

    As an aside, you can set up that FireWire ensemble as a stand-alone converter and use it with both your id14 and your Apollo- I have one that is doing exactly that with my Apollo x8. I got the ensemble from a friend for $150. Mine is being clocked by the Apollo x8 but if the apogee had to be the master in a different setup I wouldn’t be upset about that.

    Maybe you already knew all that, but I just thought I’d mention.

  • @mrufino1 said:

    @mambonassau said:

    @uncledave said:
    First, it does not appear to be "Class Compliant", so you will not be able to use it with your iPads, only the computer. Probably that's what you intend.

    This isn't entirely true. While it has no MIDI functionality, the iD14 is a perfect companion for live tracking in an iPad DAW. I've used it for years with Auria and have no complaints. If you're looking for inputs, it has two excellent pres and supports ADAT expansion; paired with an old (but surprisingly decent) Behringer ADA8000, mine operated as a functional "travel rig," recording many a multimiked drum kit in its day. The main annoyance is setup, as it requires a powered USB hub, a "sold separately" wall wart, and a camera kit to interact with your iPad.

    Honestly, as far as interfaces in its price range go, the iD14 has the cleanest pres and best converters you're going to get. That's partially why it has so few bells and whistles - what you get is Pro, not Prosumer. I recently swapped mine for a UAD Apollo Twin and, while the access to UAD's fine plugins and Unison system are great, its pres/conversion aren't necessarily that much better. Though I have loads of new options and a much speedier setup, the quality of sound is roughly the same.

    Note: I'm not saying Audient is the absolute pinnacle of iPad interfaces! There's a new iOS-friendly Apogee Ensemble and, based on my aging Firewire Ensemble, I assume its A/DA mildly smokes both the iD14 and the Apollo Twin. But, really, that's just a game of degrees. If you're looking for an excellent piece of kit that works with both an iPad and a PC/Mac, the iD14 will produce studio quality results. The only reason I let mine go was that it became kind of redundant and disconnected from my workflow, which has (mostly) moved away from iPad tracking.

    As an aside, you can set up that FireWire ensemble as a stand-alone converter and use it with both your id14 and your Apollo- I have one that is doing exactly that with my Apollo x8. I got the ensemble from a friend for $150. Mine is being clocked by the Apollo x8 but if the apogee had to be the master in a different setup I wouldn’t be upset about that.

    Maybe you already knew all that, but I just thought I’d mention.

    Haha, I just created this exact setup with my Apollo last week! Good call.

  • Get it. I use the MK I every day with an iPad. I did a ton of research and am really happy with the convertors and dynamic range.

    Sounds like you need the USB-C on the MK II otherwise i'd suggest getting the MK I used. I found it for about $230.

  • Do we know if this will save adat settings via desktop software to the device so they function properly when reattached to an iPad? I love my iD14 mki but it is useless if wanting to change the boot settings on iOS. The iD44 supports this.

  • Unfortunately both ID14 and ID22 lack the storage features of the ID44.
    (the latter uses a new chipset)

  • UAD preamps are in no way „better“ that Audient‘s... they are just different.

    Audient uses a classic amp design based on single transistors, while UAD uses a „preamp on a chip“, the Texas Instruments PGA2500, a high quality chip, but infamous for it‘s clean to sterile sound character... or rather no character at all.
    Analog sections of this chip (gain and impedance) can be controlled digitally, which makes it an ideal companion for UAD‘s hardware emulations.
    Addionally the somewhat „slimmer“ sound is a more appropriate source for these emulations.
    Even the Audient preamps add some color, which is not appreciated if the target is a Neve emulation (f.e.)

  • @Telefunky said:
    UAD preamps are in no way „better“ that Audient‘s... they are just different.

    Audient uses a classic amp design based on single transistors, while UAD uses a „preamp on a chip“, the Texas Instruments PGA2500, a high quality chip, but infamous for it‘s clean to sterile sound character... or rather no character at all.
    Analog sections of this chip (gain and impedance) can be controlled digitally, which makes it an ideal companion for UAD‘s hardware emulations.
    Addionally the somewhat „slimmer“ sound is a more appropriate source for these emulations.
    Even the Audient preamps add some color, which is not appreciated if the target is a Neve emulation (f.e.)

    Yeah, the Apollo preamps on their own are ultra ultra clean and definitely are “skinny.” They’re not really meant to be listened to this way as you said. Although I did use them without emulation on a video dialogue recording gig as that suited the situation best, at least with the unison preamps that I have. I have heard my friend’s recordings with a Neumann tube mic and his audience interface and they sound great.

  • One question here is if the Loopback also works on iOS/iPadOS?

    Reading the manual the Loopback is a separate 'input' that can be selected and if that's the case it should be selectable in any audio software running on the iOS/iPadOS as well or?

    The EVO4 also has a built-in Loopback feature and if it indeed allows 'loop back recording' in the digital domain on the iPad it would be a very nice option. I've got no access to either the Audient ID14 or EVO4 so I can't test...

    My UR242 has a loopback option but it's automatically disabled on IOS which is a bummer.

    Cheers!

  • edited January 2021

    copied from the ID14 manual:

    DawReturns These are the signals being played back from your DAW. The iD14 has 6 Daw Return Channels allowing you set up multiple cue mixes or sends to hardware outboard gear.

    this should enable routing system sound 1+2 to another channel to be recorded on a dedicated track.
    But you have to setup the cue mix in OSX, unplug the Mac USB cable and plug in the CCK iPad USB cable without powering the ID14 down.
    The PSU is required in that case, for obvious reasons this doesn‘t work with bus power.
    This setting is kept within the interface as long as power is kept on.
    The next power cycle will restart the default setting and you‘ll have to repeat the procedure.

    With the ID44 this has been solved to the (much) more conventient way of storing the settings permanently on the interface, so you have to setup only once.

  • I'd look at the SSL 2. Class compliant and great preamps/headphone output.

  • edited January 2021
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • I realize that for the mki, but was hopeful the mkii would include this feature. That’s unfortunate if it doesn’t. Thanks. > @Telefunky said:

    Unfortunately both ID14 and ID22 lack the storage features of the ID44.
    (the latter uses a new chipset)

  • edited January 2021

    My experience has also been on iPad that the id14 (mki at least) doesn’t actually allow for independent outs for the headphones, also making it useless for a headphone cue, essentially turning it from an iD14 to an iD4 (2 in/2 out on iOS)

  • Routing and cue mix setups are done by the control panel software, which unfortunately only exists for Windows and OSX.

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