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.

Auria Pro worth purchasing???

I just got the 2020 iPad pro and I’m trying to decide whether to start using Auria Pro or Beatmaker 3 as my new go to DAW. I’m moving on from Cubasis 3 until they implement basic mixing features I need like proper bussing/aux sends and side-chaining. However, I keep seeing complaints regarding Auria’s stability. I see reviews online saying the app is now practically unusable. Is anyone on the forum getting by with Auria? Or should I just not even bother with it and give Beatmaker a go?

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Comments

  • @sljshh said:
    I just got the 2020 iPad pro and I’m trying to decide whether to start using Auria Pro or Beatmaker 3 as my new go to DAW. I’m moving on from Cubasis 3 until they implement basic mixing features I need like proper bussing/aux sends and side-chaining. However, I keep seeing complaints regarding Auria’s stability. I see reviews online saying the app is now practically unusable. Is anyone on the forum getting by with Auria? Or should I just not even bother with it and give Beatmaker a go?

    I have both and alternate between. They’re very different and have very little overlap in terms of workflow. I don’t find either one particularly unstable, or one more stable than the other.

    My own experience of course. I don’t push either one very hard, my stuff is pretty simple.

    Hopefully other posters will share their views

  • I bought Pro but never have been able to use it. Partly because I did not understand the flow the whole thing and it was so glitchy that I could never get it to do anything. The tech support was a joke not at all helpful especially to new users of the APP. They said everything works fine. It does not. I want it for the 2 Fab synths buried in there. If they would only make those synths stand-alone they are SO GOOD. It is tough to find the synths to get to. For me total waste of money cuz finding them was hit or Miss and I wanted to record stuff from them. A shame.

  • edited April 2021

    I use Auria Pro almost every day, without any problems. But I use it mainly for mixing and mastering imported stems, bussing, some audio tracking when I need tempo track change, and finishing my project for a release. For this Auria Pro is great. I don’t use it for composing, sketching, midi, or arranging. I will often sketch, compose, and record in GarageBand, Multitrack Daw, AUM, NS2, etc... But all audio and midi stems end up in Auria Pro for the actual mixing work. It’s the best for that.

  • I wouldn’t buy it again today tbh. It was great at one time, they took a lot of steps backwards imo and as far as I know the only Daw you can’t punch in with manually. It’s good for mixing but the workflow is very slow compared to other IPad daws. I’ve spent too much time troubleshooting whenever I used it, and in the last year all of the updates have been fixes. Seems like a lot needs to be fixed.

  • Auria has proper bussing and side-chaining. Some people have stability issues and others not so much. Stability issues tend to be associated with some AUs. It has some weirdness (and it is not alone in this respect...many iOS DAWs do) in terms of AUv3 MIDI effects.

    The flow is not hard to understand in my opinion if one has experience with mixing boards with buses. It may seem daunting to people not used to complex mixing boards.

    The tech support is poor. But there are helpful people on the Auria Pro forum to help out.

    Under iOS 14, it doesn’t work with AudioBus.

    The developer apparently has been busy doing some pandemic-related work. So, it isn’t clear when the next update will come out.

    I have mixed feelings. For some projects I do, it is the only game in town ... if tempo and meter changes are important and you do audio more than MIDI, there aren’t really any competitors.

  • I use it solely for audio and just for mixing and finishing up songs. I’d buy it again though because it works great for what I need it for. I get occasional crashes but I run it pretty lightly and freeze tracks. It’s really just end game stuff for me but it does it well

  • edited April 2021

    To follow up with more detail: I first bought Auria (pre Pro, midi-less) when it first dropped - way, way back. I was running the first iPad at the time. Since then my devices have always been chasing the Auria builds in the sense that the software was always too much for the machines I owned at the time. Its a very demanding app, but was not an issue once I bought a pro 10.5, and not an issue on my 4th gen Air. I do use it for composing. I’ve loaded the banks of Fabfilter presets available from the desktop software, FX and synth. I’ve also got a 10gb EXS24 piano loaded into Lyra. Once I learned the ins and outs of the program, including piano roll and wav. editing I don’t have glitches or crashes, but again my projects are simple...

  • edited April 2021

    I agree with @espiegel123 . if you need some “serious” audio editing or mixing there’s no other option. And that’s a literal, there’s nothing that comes close.

    • Transient editing for fixing timing issues, time stretching, merging regions, proper crossfade, bounce in place...
    • Buses and aux sends, extensive routing options...
      So if you have some experience with mixing in desktop it’s the closest you’ll get.
      IMO it’s strongpoint, being the Protools for iOS, is also its biggest flaw, it’s just not pretty, slick or fun to work with. It’s totally subjective but it doesn’t get me in a “playful” mood as is the case with other iOS apps. It’s like a 3000 horsepower V8 engine in a family sedan. I wish they joined forces somehow and made an NS2-Auria hybrid, or let Brambros design the chasis... Auria is way ahead, still, in terms of serious functionality but I feel like it really needs a push.

    @Littlewoodg I’ve also got a 10gb EXS24 piano loaded into Lyra

    That’s nuts!. Does it fit through the door?. 😳

  • @sljshh said:
    I just got the 2020 iPad pro and I’m trying to decide whether to start using Auria Pro or Beatmaker 3 as my new go to DAW. I’m moving on from Cubasis 3 until they implement basic mixing features I need like proper bussing/aux sends and side-chaining. However, I keep seeing complaints regarding Auria’s stability. I see reviews online saying the app is now practically unusable. Is anyone on the forum getting by with Auria? Or should I just not even bother with it and give Beatmaker a go?

    I have Auria Pro.

    I think it looks amazing.

    I never actually made a song in it.

    I have had it from before it had midi.

    I don't know what it is.....but...it never does it for me......

    Same for BM3.

    I basically record stuff into Loopy and edit them in Cubasis or Twisted Wave on my Mac.

  • Same here, CB2/3 for composing and Auria Pro for audio editing & final mastering

  • I've been using Auria since 2013, with over one hundred completed songs recorded with it. For me it's been a very productive app, and I rarely have issues with it.

    I use most of the iOS DAWs, and I compose and arrange regularly in GarageBand, Gadget, and NS2, with the occasional dabble in Cubasis 3, but everything gets finished in Auria.

    I do have concerns over its long-term viability, and I think Cubasis 3 has made great strides and is catching up in terms of feature parity, but for now Auria is still the best DAW for mixing.

  • @richardyot said:
    I've been using Auria since 2013, with over one hundred completed songs recorded with it. For me it's been a very productive app, and I rarely have issues with it.

    All the same! Auria is the main app on all my iOS devices since 2014. And I'm not sure if some other app can compare with it. It's a powerful app with a lot of professional features and useful functions. I have iPad Pro 32 Gb and Auria is an only music app that I installed. Just because Auria has everything you need to create music.

    In this regard, I'm sure that Auria worth purchasing now, today, tomorrow etc... It's very easy to use, intuitive and powerful app for everyone who want to create music!

  • I also use Auria for mixing/mastering. Auv3 are where the crashes mostly comes from. I have had absolutely no problem using only the Toneboosters suite of Auv3 plus some of some IAP effect of Auria.

    Test any Auv3 one by one to make sure they are not causing crash and you should be fine.

    Make frequent snapshot and you also have the auto snapshot feature to help in case of a crash.

  • There’s really not that many professional choices of DAWs in iOS. Auria Pro is as close as you’re going to get on an ipad IMO. BM3 isn’t really a DAW, and is more of just a software MPC. Auria’s interface is not as intuitive as Cubasis, but feature wise it’s much deeper. Personally I haven’t had any stability issues with Auria (maybe I’m just lucky?). In a perfect world I would have the GUI and workflow of Cubasis w/ the timeline and features of Auria.

  • edited April 2021

    I have used Auria Pro since 2017. At the time I purchased it BeatMaker 3 was released. I really wanted BM3 to be the one as I saw a lot of promise in the workflow and samplers on every pad and a few other bits. The reports from the field had me think twice about BM3 and I bought Auria Pro (AP)
    At the time it was the correct decision.

    I cut my teeth originally as a live mix engineer and I learnt MIDI programming with Cubase 1.3 on an Atari ST so the AP setup made sense to me. It has two views: mixing view (which feels like and resembles a mixing desk) and track view which resembles any track view sequencer or audio recording program. It makes sense if you are used to working with hardware mixing set ups.
    BM3 is a different beast. The workflow and editing processes are different. If you like to free form your ideas or really enjoy multiple levels of audio manipulation then I think BM3 has the edge and there is currently very active development taking place. But, there are some weird frustrating elements to recording and editing when working on the timeline that are quirky in their own ways.
    Which one you choose to work with is going to come down to how you like to work. If what you want to do is record things to a timeline and everything is relatively sequential like recording to tape then the recording and mixing process of AP will flow. If you are more into recording in parts and loops and manipulating audio at the sample level then BM3 will be way more appropriate.
    AP has busses built in. BM3 has more AUX channels which you can use as busses. By planning ahead you can create mixing groups and even sub mix channels. AP has 8 submix channels built in and also has a very usable bussing process built in.
    Personally I’ve found myself using BM3 more these days, but I think that’s because of the sampling capabilities. I have had to rethink how I do things after being used to more traditional set ups, but I think it’s been worth the mental gymnastics.
    One thing to note: BM3 has sidechaining only within it’s own FX (which are pretty decent in their own right). AP has AUv3 sidechaining implemented.

    You will have more synchronisation options with BM3. BM3 works with Ableton Link including stop/start sync, also MIDI click receive and send. In this respect it is very versatile when syncing with other apps and hardware. AP only sends MTC although you can get HUI protocol controllers to work so hardware controllers like the Faderport will work for fader control, transport control etc.

    In AP I really like the built in channel strips designed by PSP. Especially on the submix channels and the master stereo mix. They are very nice sounding and can potentially mean you won’t need a lot of extra EQ or compression plugins to do the basic grunt work. BM3 doesn’t have built in channel strips.

    I hope this can give you some ideas to work with in your choice.

    I think you really need to ask yourself clearly what sort of work you want to achieve. If it’s a traditional workflow you’re after AP is probably going to be more what you want, but if you are more interested in stretching the paradigms a bit and want something that will more willingly sync across apps and hardware then BM3 might be more the ticket.

    I use both of them.

  • edited April 2021

    I would say annoying bugs, but not unstable or unusable. I made this album with it, plus some other apps.
    https://jonmcmillan.hearnow.com/

    First piece is all Auria Pro using built in FabFilter One, Twin2, and Salamander piano. FX are in app purchases of FabFilter ProR, Q, C, MB, L, Saturn, Volcano and Timeless.
    Second piece is using sample pack from @MobileMusicPro + Fabfilter One as the lead. Arranged, mixed and mastered in Auria Pro using Fabfilter ProR, Q, C, MB, L, and Saturn in app purchases.
    Last three were composed in Korg Gadget, bounced the audio without FX to Auria Pro, then re-mixed and mastered using same stuff as the second piece.

    So yes, (sorry for my shameless plug), Auria Pro is really good. You'll be annoyed at some bugs, but still quite usable.

  • I’m digging the shameless plug @McM (the music and presentation of the album are great!)

  • @McM said:
    I would say annoying bugs, but not unstable or unusable. I made this album with it, plus some other apps.
    https://jonmcmillan.hearnow.com/

    First piece is all Auria Pro using built in FabFilter One, Twin2, and Salamander piano. FX are in app purchases of FabFilter ProR, Q, C, MB, L, Saturn, Volcano and Timeless.
    Second piece is using sample pack from @MobileMusicPro + Fabfilter One as the lead. Arranged, mixed and mastered in Auria Pro using Fabfilter ProR, Q, C, MB, L, and Saturn in app purchases.
    Last three were composed in Korg Gadget, bounced the audio without FX to Auria Pro, then re-mixed and mastered using same stuff as the second piece.

    So yes, (sorry for my shameless plug), Auria Pro is really good. You'll be annoyed at some bugs, but still quite usable.

    Haha love the plug and love the tracks! (got new free sample pack coming next month so stay tuned)

  • Another important feature Auria Pro has is crossfades between events.

    It lacks looping during recording.

    I use BM3 for its great sampler. Sometimes it is the right tool for a project or part of a project.

    I find that a lot my projects end up making use of a few different apps. Using them for their strengths and not battling their weaknesses if something else will do the job.

  • My only concern about Auria is its seemingly dwindling lack of support. It feels like it could use a sleekening given how streamlined Cubasis 3 is, but it’s still probably the best for the heaviest duty mixing that can be done on iPad. Plus, it’s still the only source of Timeless 2, Volcano, and Twin 2....

  • @Obo said:
    I’m digging the shameless plug @McM (the music and presentation of the album are great!)

    Thanks!!!

    @MobileMusicPro said:

    @McM said:
    I would say annoying bugs, but not unstable or unusable. I made this album with it, plus some other apps.
    https://jonmcmillan.hearnow.com/

    First piece is all Auria Pro using built in FabFilter One, Twin2, and Salamander piano. FX are in app purchases of FabFilter ProR, Q, C, MB, L, Saturn, Volcano and Timeless.
    Second piece is using sample pack from @MobileMusicPro + Fabfilter One as the lead. Arranged, mixed and mastered in Auria Pro using Fabfilter ProR, Q, C, MB, L, and Saturn in app purchases.
    Last three were composed in Korg Gadget, bounced the audio without FX to Auria Pro, then re-mixed and mastered using same stuff as the second piece.

    So yes, (sorry for my shameless plug), Auria Pro is really good. You'll be annoyed at some bugs, but still quite usable.

    Haha love the plug and love the tracks! (got new free sample pack coming next month so stay tuned)

    No problem :) It's tough out there...I've made about $2 in streaming sales :D

  • edited April 2021

    @tahiche said:

    @Littlewoodg I’ve also got a 10gb EXS24 piano loaded into Lyra

    That’s nuts!. Does it fit through the door?. 😳

    :) It is tasty. Its from a company with the unfortunate name “Imperfect Samples”. Not as big as that Crudebyte suite of AUv3 pianos, Colossus: 30gb. The imperfect samples idea is that as deep as the included multi-sample pianos and sound perspectives are, they also have discernible character. So not just a particular model of piano like a Steinway, but one particular Steinway. I think a lot of multi sample instruments make a similar claim but this is one that I can hear. One side plus is it comes with an “instrument” that is a set of John Cage prepared piano style FX

  • Probably worth noting that the IAP in Auria can eat up a lot of space -- even just the free stuff.

  • I have been using Auria Pro to track all my hardware synths and drum machine up to 16 tracks at once from a Behringer XR18. I do most of my Midi work in NS2 but i am more of a player than a programmer. I use this for sketching out ideas. I export all the stems and record my Vox on the desktop them mix and master

  • There is a thread in the AP forum discussing the future of AP. Let’s get more discussion going to get the dev to wake up.

  • edited April 2021

    @oat_phipps said:
    Plus, it’s still the only source of Timeless 2, Volcano....

    Sadly, it isn't true anymore in my case and in the way I used Auria Pro to access these 2 effects + Saturn in AUM and AB3 😩🤷‍♂️
    There's a "bug" in Auria Pro, which the dev doesn't seem to be interested of, that makes it unusable (for my use). See here for more details : https://www.auriaapp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=16553

  • edited April 2021

    Yes. Auria Pro is the most powerful DAW on the platform for mixing and also incredibly powerful and precise for audio editing.

  • @arktek One thing to note: BM3 has sidechaining only within it’s own FX (which are pretty decent in their own right). AP has AUv3 sidechaining implemented.

    I wasn’t aware of this. Would you mind explaining the process?. I have BLEASS compressor, for example, that can do side chain.

  • @Gratouilli said:

    @oat_phipps said:
    Plus, it’s still the only source of Timeless 2, Volcano....

    Sadly, it isn't true anymore in my case and in the way I used Auria Pro to access these 2 effects + Saturn in AUM and AB3 😩🤷‍♂️
    There's a "bug" in Auria Pro, which the dev doesn't seem to be interested of, that makes it unusable (for my use). See here for more details : https://www.auriaapp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=16553

    In iOS 14, Auria doesn’t work with Audiobus. Audiobus seems to work fine with it in iOS 13.

    The Auria developer is apparently working on a COVID related job (maybe some lab machinery).

  • @espiegel123 said:

    @Gratouilli said:
    There's a "bug" in Auria Pro, which the dev doesn't seem to be interested of, that makes it unusable (for my use). See here for more details : https://www.auriaapp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=16553

    In iOS 14, Auria doesn’t work with Audiobus. Audiobus seems to work fine with it in iOS 13.

    Good to know - another reason to be sticking with my iOS 13.6 for a while longer.

    Auria Pro does have the amazing FabFilter Twin 2 synth - though I wonder whether / when it, as well as Timeless 2 and Volcano 2 will get released on their own as AUv3.

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