Audio interfaces for the new iPads

Good lord that’s pricey. Can the iOS even make use of the onboard DSP chips in the Fireface?

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There’s also RME Babyface Pro, has classcompliant mode as well, for mere $581.15 right now at amazon. Would probably solve all problems if your midi gear has classic 5-pin connectors.

I recently upgraded to Babyface Pro from Steinberg UR-22 (for PC tho, not for ipad), and it was worth it for each little cent of that price (even if I bought it elsewhere and payed a bit more)

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They have an iOS app for their TotalMix:

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And the vid says at 1:12 that Reverb and Delay are not available in Class Compliant mode. So with Babyface Pro that leaves you with EQs on inputs.

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Tried this one, audio out didn’t work on that, not even if I plugged in the USB-C headphone adapter.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B079DRQBJZ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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That’s a bummer… I wonder why?

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Dunno, its DSP in both modes, and for class compliant mode to even work you have to power it up externally anyway, so its not like DSP chips won’t have enough power.
Those reverb and delay are quite basic anyway, so not much of a loss.

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When you say audio out didn’t work, did you have a class compliant USB audio interface connected to the hub? An Apple USB-C to headphone adaptor probably won’t work. I don’t believe it’s actually a regular USB audio interface. You would need some type of USB DAC, or more useful for Audulus would be an interface with both inputs and outputs. I would make sure the interface works connected directly to the iPad before connecting it to the hub. My testing was with a USB 3 hub and interface, but I don’t see why USB-C would be any different.

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I have the Zoom U-44, it isn’t the most pretty looking audio interface but it packs a lot of functionality for the price and can be powered directly by the USB-C port of the iPad Pro.

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I use a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 runs great on the first gen 9.5 iPad pro.

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I have about 8 or 9 iOS devices I could use, so I’m keen that the connectivity per device remains inexpensive.

Currently my thinking is for each iPad

IPad -> USB connector with power -> USB to Midi converter unit (cable) -> Midi hub -> Controller Keyboard

The USB->midi cable converter is about £10 ($12)
The midi hub is about £60 ($75)

I’m not sure if the midi hub does midi through though, I think it expects to go via USB to a computer so I don’t yet know if it will work with the controller.

I’ll buy the parts and try them out, but I won’t be using the new iPad Pro, I can get audio out from the old devices into a mixer or the effects loop.

P

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I assume that the USB Connector with power you refer to is an Apple Camera Connection Kit. It seems to me that it should be possible to connect the iPads without using a traditional 5 pin DIN MIDI cable, but at this point I’m not sure I can see a way to do it. You can connect two iOS devices to a single MIDI stream via bluetooth using AUM, but I haven’t tried more than two. This morning I successfully connected a MIDI controller to my iPad using a USB Hub and CCK and then routed the MIDI to my iPhone via Bluetooth using AUM. AUM also supports MIDI network sessions but I believe that would require a macOS host. I also do some iOS app development so I’ve got some older devices I can try to hook up to see if it works. AUM is an excellent app and provides extensive audio and MIDI routing capabilities in the iOS environment

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is AUM better than Audiobus?

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AUM is a complete mixer rather than primarily an audio transport. It will connect to Audiobus, Inter App Audio and also can host AUv3 apps. It features a built in recorder, stereo processing, compression, filtering and EQ etc. I pretty much use IAA these days but I still have a couple of Audiobus only Apps and it works fine with them as well. Have a looks at the user manual at:

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Interesting, does the use of midi over Bluetooth cause any latency issues?

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I haven’t really used it enough to comment. Obviously it will introduce some additional latency. Whether it would be a problem really depends on the situation. Still, it might be worth exploring. My personal preference would be a wired connection. It just seems a shame to invest in multiple USB to MIDI converters and a MIDI hub. You would think there ought to be an easier way. :cowboy_hat_face:

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I have only used Bluetooth for one channel of midi that I was playing on the keyboard and the latency wasn’t noticeable.

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I think I have found the right piece of equipment to connect multiple iPads up to my new Novation controller. A company called Kenton makes a 5-1 midi connector, 1 input can go to multiple outputs. The input needs to be from a midi master such as a DAW or the Novation set with its Midi clock Tx on.

I’ve tried a few bits and pieces and at least I have found some very inexpensive midi->USB interfaces that can drive my iPad Pro using the camera connection kit. These worked fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01J80RISY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

On the output side I may just use older iPads that have a traditional 3.5mm out as I have several of them. I’m thinking of just getting an audio mixer to mix them all together. Recommendations on those would be welcome.

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Looks like that should do the trick. I’ve also had pretty good luck with inexpensive USB -> MIDI converters. I using one now that I think I paid $12 for on Amazon and it works just fine.
The Behringer Xenyx line is low-cost and gets pretty good reviews. Yamaha also makes some nice little mixers.

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Yep, got that Kenton device and it works well, nice and small too.

Will try one of those mixers, good value for money.

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