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.

Download on the App Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Standalone dawless workstations?

1234689

Comments

  • edited July 2021

    @tahiche
    If you can’t record multiple audio tracks, that span the whole song, it’s noIf you can’t record multiple audio tracks, that span the whole song, it’s not a daw.

    i think on MPC you are not limited in length of recorded audio (other than 2 GB of ram limit of course, until there is not disk streaming) and you can record up to 32 tracks simultaneously by connectinh 32 input USB soundcard.

    Of course, for this kind of job i would use rather BlackBox 1010, because it has disk streaming and records directly to sd card

  • edited August 2021

  • I know I know I said I was decided. But damn… should I just save money and get the mpc one?
    I just really see myself not being able to whatever I purchase in one spot really, I work on a lot of my music in different places of my house and to be able to not have to plug the live 2 in is really taking the cake for me. However I don’t really need the extra inputs. But extra ins and outs can’t hurt for the long run right?
    Everyone’s been mentioning the deluge and the poly end tracker, both of them I’m loving too. Now I’m back to square one it sounds like lmao

  • edited August 2021

    An MPC One with a USB-C PD battery may save you cash.

    Any USB-C PD (Power Delivery) Powerbank can provide 5v 1amp to 20v 4amp power. Don’t look for a 19v powerbank. Look for “USB-C PD” that supplies 19V. Then you’ll need a USB-C PD to DC cable or adapter with barrel size of 5.5 x 2.5mm.

  • edited July 2021

    @aleyas said:

    I'm stilling mulling 707 vs. MPC Live 2 Retro - not the black one - various peeps complaining about rubbery something on the black housing collecting dust, skin fragments, etc.

    707 would allow deeper editing of ZenCore presets vs. 101. OTOH, MPC Live 2 Retro sounds like a more complete machine, even with Gabe's list of cons (tries too hard to be DAW, complicating the workflow, Maschine Plus still a little easier to use).

    Another thing worth considering is active development. Akai have gone above and beyond with killer MPC updates since Live's release 4 years ago. Roland has a very poor track record of product support and continued development. After about 3 years, you can more or less expect Roland updates to cease. They've been doing well with ZenBeats, but their hardware is a different story.

    I'm not going to defend Roland, nor do i know their update history for all their products, but in the case of 101, they released 2 updates in 2021, 3 in 2020, and 2 in 2019.

    I wouldn't be upset if there aren't any more MC-101 updates after 2022 if the unit is reasonably stable by that time.

    They haven't released any updates for my Boss Katana 100 since 2019. I don't have a problem with that, because I understand they released Katana Mk2 and I'm sure they've prioritized support for that instead. Only one update a year for it tho....

    I only use my Katana for band rehearsals, and rely on external gear for FX. The only internal FX I use on it is the plate reverb. I don't record with it even though it works as a USB audio interface, because now I got the HX Stomp XL, which also serves as audio interface, and has much better sounding (imo) modeling and FX.

  • @Weareroses said:
    I know I know I said I was decided. But damn… should I just save money and get the mpc one?
    I just really see myself not being able to whatever I purchase in one spot really, I work on a lot of my music in different places of my house and to be able to not have to plug the live 2 in is really taking the cake for me. However I don’t really need the extra inputs. But extra ins and outs can’t hurt for the long run right?
    Everyone’s been mentioning the deluge and the poly end tracker, both of them I’m loving too. Now I’m back to square one it sounds like lmao

    If you can afford live 2 (especially the retro version) ,buy it :)

  • @Korakios said:

    @Weareroses said:
    I know I know I said I was decided. But damn… should I just save money and get the mpc one?
    I just really see myself not being able to whatever I purchase in one spot really, I work on a lot of my music in different places of my house and to be able to not have to plug the live 2 in is really taking the cake for me. However I don’t really need the extra inputs. But extra ins and outs can’t hurt for the long run right?
    Everyone’s been mentioning the deluge and the poly end tracker, both of them I’m loving too. Now I’m back to square one it sounds like lmao

    If you can afford live 2 (especially the retro version) ,buy it :)

    The confidence, I needed someone to say that lol thanks

  • edited August 2021

    @Weareroses you will be able to make amazing music with the One or the Live2. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise doesn’t know what they are talking about and are full of you know what... 😜

    A little motivation for you:

    👊🏼™️

  • @tahiche said:
    I agree , there’s nothing near a HW DAW, and I can’t understand it. Year 2021…
    My reason is AUDIO. As in Digital AUDIO Workstation. All these mpc, force, maschine+ are very limited when it comes to audio. If you can’t record multiple audio tracks, that span the whole song, it’s not a daw.
    Why are they so limited?. It’s just not justifiable.

    Theres plenty of hardware digital recorders that compete with DAWs. If you remove the "groovebox" part, theres tons of options out there.

  • edited July 2021
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • edited July 2021

    Im figihting the urge to pick up another 1k. Now with the battery mod.
    Sold my 1k a while ago to force myself to try different workflows. Its all good, but still miss it.
    Never really used the sampler in it since ive picked up ipads. 99% just AUM and sequencing....but now the battery mod....far more portable (as 'portable' as can be for its size)

  • @AlmostAnonymous said:

    @tahiche said:
    I agree , there’s nothing near a HW DAW, and I can’t understand it. Year 2021…
    My reason is AUDIO. As in Digital AUDIO Workstation. All these mpc, force, maschine+ are very limited when it comes to audio. If you can’t record multiple audio tracks, that span the whole song, it’s not a daw.
    Why are they so limited?. It’s just not justifiable.

    Theres plenty of hardware digital recorders that compete with DAWs. If you remove the "groovebox" part, theres tons of options out there.

    Could you mention some?.
    You’ve got tons of multitrack recorders, sure. Zooms, Tascam… But no midi sync or any kind of synchronizing with a drum machine, iPad…
    The Tascam Model 12 is a bit closer as it has midi clock, but still no way to loop, sequence, edit… more like removing the “DAW” part altogether.
    As far as I see it you have amazing grooveboxes or multitrack recorders but nothing that quite resembles the daw capabilities in a hardware device.

  • Ot sure what you mentally picturing. I was referring to things like the tascams and the zoom multitrack recorders.

  • Knowing the style you do and what youve posted around here. You seem like a bluebox/blackbox kinda guy ;)

  • @tahiche That's the point. Syncing with HW grooveboxes is usually no problem but linear recorders? Not so much. Back to the iPad then. Cubasis can send MIDI clock since ages but from my experience, BM3 works the best. Also, Audiobus 3 is a good contender for adding clock sync to the equation or even AUM if you don't need a clock slave.
    A third option is Korg Gadget, it does record into clips well and has enough barebones editing to trim and position clips but it's strill strictly pattern/clip based.

  • I though the issue with HW recorders and syncing was because a) i'm an idiot and can't find them b) i'm broke and cannot buy a fancy one :tongue:

    That being said, a good function for me is auto-trigger recording (which Cubasis 2 doesn't have... why? So i'm back to BM3 again), and so in the HW realm, I use my trusty SP-404sx, acting as multitrack recorder. I'm sequencing it with my QY-70, but have done so with Xequence inside ios too

  • A DAW is a sample-accurate multitrack record/playback device. A beatclock like MTC is way below that standard and pointless in a DAW context.
    You‘ll get a sync in (correct) musical metrics, but no 2 mixes will sound the same, of course depending on the complexity of track arrangement.
    It may not matter at all... or may be annoying by flanging sounds if the same source is split across multiple tracks (for individual processing).

    Syncing hardware recorders to DAWs can be a pita, given the recorder supports an adequate timecode and usually it requires dedicated sync hardware to coordinate the components of the system.
    That‘s why such features are expensive and not very common.

  • Imma do it. Ordering the mpc retro live 2 tonight…
    Unless anyone can sway me toward mpc one and electron samples… but the WiFi and speakers put the live in demand for me. Thanks to everyone who helped along the way lol

  • @AlmostAnonymous said:
    Knowing the style you do and what youve posted around here. You seem like a bluebox/blackbox kinda guy ;)

    I might have to take a better look at those. They seem more of a one trick pony, right?.

    @rs2000 @tahiche That's the point. Syncing with HW grooveboxes is usually no problem but linear recorders? Not so much. Back to the iPad then.

    Thing is I don’t want a hardware linear recorder. I’d like an “all around” thing, like a Maschine or MpC with more features in audio, like disk streaming and arranging. Octatrakt and Deluge can stream from disk, but they’re both pretty “unique”. Is it that hard to have these machines stream from disk?. A PC could do it 20 years ago, and they were about 1/5 as powerful as an average phone. I just don’t get why audio is so neglected.
    @rs2000 I mentioned sync because it’s the only way one of the hardware multitrack recorders could be useful, if you could sync them with an iPad, Digitakt or whatever to do layers and takes. I don’t really need it if I’m on the iPad. So why do I need a hardware standalone device if I have the iPad?. Less screen and more knobs, not very original.

  • @tahiche said:

    @AlmostAnonymous said:
    Knowing the style you do and what youve posted around here. You seem like a bluebox/blackbox kinda guy ;)

    I might have to take a better look at those. They seem more of a one trick pony, right?.

    @rs2000 @tahiche That's the point. Syncing with HW grooveboxes is usually no problem but linear recorders? Not so much. Back to the iPad then.

    Thing is I don’t want a hardware linear recorder. I’d like an “all around” thing, like a Maschine or MpC with more features in audio, like disk streaming and arranging. Octatrakt and Deluge can stream from disk, but they’re both pretty “unique”. Is it that hard to have these machines stream from disk?. A PC could do it 20 years ago, and they were about 1/5 as powerful as an average phone. I just don’t get why audio is so neglected.
    @rs2000 I mentioned sync because it’s the only way one of the hardware multitrack recorders could be useful, if you could sync them with an iPad, Digitakt or whatever to do layers and takes. I don’t really need it if I’m on the iPad. So why do I need a hardware standalone device if I have the iPad?. Less screen and more knobs, not very original.

    I thought this too, however the two kids love making their own music and movies and stuff using my iPad, they even have their own pads. I agree with why get a stand-alone when I have an iPad?? I’m however convinced it will help me focus more on music and not have to rely on having my iPad when an idea strikes. Stay at home dad… so I thought this through lol. I’ll get a second ipad next year tho.

  • edited August 2021

    It’s also about it feeling more “like an instrument” which takes you to places. The iPad, with the touch interface and some amazing apps, feels like a better , more direct connection to music than a laptop with a mouse. And my Digitakt feels a lot more like an instrument than the iPad, but the Digitakt is limited (in my hands) when it comes to making full songs. I. I’m really thankful for the iPad and iOS music community as they allowed me to ditch the mouse, I guess I’m on the path and would like to keep going. I don’t know 🤷🏻‍♂️ It’s might be just good old GAS after all

  • @tahiche said:
    I might have to take a better look at those. They seem more of a one trick pony, right?.

    Kinda, but was getting more at theyre a perfect fit for working from the sofa. ;)

  • @AlmostAnonymous said:

    @tahiche said:
    I might have to take a better look at those. They seem more of a one trick pony, right?.

    Kinda, but was getting more at theyre a perfect fit for working from the sofa. ;)

    I would also suggest looking at those I was, close to getting a black box. But Mpc. Just fits my bill lol

  • @tahiche said:

    @AlmostAnonymous said:
    Knowing the style you do and what youve posted around here. You seem like a bluebox/blackbox kinda guy ;)

    I might have to take a better look at those. They seem more of a one trick pony, right?.

    @rs2000 @tahiche That's the point. Syncing with HW grooveboxes is usually no problem but linear recorders? Not so much. Back to the iPad then.

    Thing is I don’t want a hardware linear recorder. I’d like an “all around” thing, like a Maschine or MpC with more features in audio, like disk streaming and arranging. Octatrakt and Deluge can stream from disk, but they’re both pretty “unique”. Is it that hard to have these machines stream from disk?. A PC could do it 20 years ago, and they were about 1/5 as powerful as an average phone. I just don’t get why audio is so neglected.
    @rs2000 I mentioned sync because it’s the only way one of the hardware multitrack recorders could be useful, if you could sync them with an iPad, Digitakt or whatever to do layers and takes. I don’t really need it if I’m on the iPad. So why do I need a hardware standalone device if I have the iPad?. Less screen and more knobs, not very original.

    Well, every iPad DAW already streams from disk! And AudioLayer does it too.

    I'm getting more and more into my Windows tablet with Ableton running. Still evaluating different synths for best usability (touch friendly controls), sound and acceptable CPU load, and combining a Win tablet with an iPad (syncing over Ableton LINK) works!

  • edited August 2021

    @tahiche
    I just don’t get why audio is so neglected.

    i think it's because recording multiple long audio track is more domain of traditional recording of live bands, which is not target audioence for grooveboxes and compact production stations. People who are primary customer group for this kind of boxes are more into midi, synths, sampling, building whole composition in midi - recording multiple long audio tracks at once, then cutting them and rearranging still works better with mouse on big screen ;-)

    Judging by myself - i really never cared about recording longer audio - but i pretty much believe it's the case.

    Anyway, i'm pretty sure it's just matter of time when MPC adds disk streaming.

    But there is opened question - if 2GB (current memory limit on MPC) is not enough for your multitrack recording, then you nare probably looking on device not suitable for you, and you should stick with computer for this kind of job

  • @dendy said:

    @tahiche
    I just don’t get why audio is so neglected.

    i think it's because recording multiple long audio track is more domain of traditional recording of live bands, which is not target audioence for grooveboxes and compact production stations. People who are primary customer group for this kind of boxes are more into midi, synths, sampling, building whole composition in midi - recording multiple long audio tracks at once, then cutting them and rearranging still works better with mouse on big screen ;-)

    Yes and no 🙃. You’re right about editing a ton of tracks and takes, makes more sense on a desktop. But I’m not talking about a 80 track pro tools session.
    Let me use Roland MV1 Verselab as an example here… It’s advertised as a compete song solution, and it’s called Verselab, to target singers, hip hop, trap or whatever, musicians that do beats, use synths, etc, but also sing on top. That’s pretty common right?. That’s no “live band” scenario… We’ll the MV1 has a 12 minute mono (6 min stereo) audio limit. Even if you were only singing, (no guitars, no bass, no extra recordings) you’d be limited if you wanted to do adlibs, choruses, duets, or whatever!. It’s crazy.

    But there is opened question - if 2GB (current memory limit on MPC) is not enough for your multitrack recording, then you nare probably looking on device not suitable for you, and you should stick with computer for this kind of job

    Again I think we’re beyond the “rock band” vs “electronic musician” paradigm. There’s a lot of crossover between genders and use cases. Even if it’s purely electronic music, you probably want to record the output of your Eurorack modules to audio. Right?.
    And yes, like you say I’m sticking to the iPad for now, I’m so glad for the iPad. It’s probably only a matter of time until the right hardware unit comes along. For me the closest are Maschine+ and the Akai Push. The Push is pretty much the same functionality as Zenebats (my daw of choice because of the clip mode) but on hardware, albeit the audio ram limit and the fact that it’s pretty bulky for sofa operation.

    @rs2000 its a whole different topic but I’m really curious about your windows tablet. Bitwig also looks really interesting…

    Cheers!

  • @tahiche
    We’ll the MV1 has a 12 minute mono (6 min stereo) audio limit.

    Lol really ? That sounds like bad joke ... serious implementation of multitrack recording with basic editing is exactly what i would expect in this type of device ...

  • @dendy said:

    @tahiche
    We’ll the MV1 has a 12 minute mono (6 min stereo) audio limit.

    Lol really ? That sounds like bad joke ... serious implementation of multitrack recording with basic editing is exactly what i would expect in this type of device ...

    Yes, really 🤦🏻😂
    It’s for singers that want to do whole songs but don’t dig background vocals…

    If I recall correctly the audio time limit on the MV1 is exactly the same as on the MC707 which is not meant to be a “whole song” device and definitely not aimed at singers. This is the stuff I’m talking about. It doesn’t make sense in the year 2021 that we think these limitations are OK.

  • @tahiche Yes, the Win tablet is interesting but I'll need some more time to set up a software collection that works well enough. Touch and multitouch on Windows is really a hit or miss experience, and while I don't think that lack of multitouch support is an issue in Ableton itself, I need at least a reliable virtual MIDI keyboard which I have yet to find.
    VMPK looks good but it's a crashfest unfortunately.
    Also, I hoped for being able to design custom multitouch UIs inside NI Kontakt but it seems that none of the programs from Native Instruments even support multitouch to begin with.

Sign In or Register to comment.