iPad, SetlistMaker, and the hardware

[Daddyg3042]

Happy New Year all.

 

Was just reading Gino's post about the NYE equipment mishap. His comment on SetListMaker prompted me to post, but I thought I'd start a new thread rather then hijacking his.

 

I've been using SLM for over a year, but only for set order and its document capability. Love it. One of my xmas presents was IK's iRig MIDI. I've read the reviews here, so was a little hesitant to get it, but it was inexpensive enough to put on my xmas list, and I liked it's small form factor. Thought it might be fun to use with the Voyager and Animoog, and it is, but the more pressing need is to program SLM with patch/bank changes. I've done a few songs now, and it works great, but taking it out to gigs is another story. The "box" is cheap plastic and looks very breakable. The connectors look pretty frail, especially the mini USB plug for power, and none hold snugly; the weight of the iRig almost pulls it out of the iPad's connector. I'm considering a 3 ft. 30 pin M to F extension cord to plug into the iPad, then running it down the mic stand (with a K&M ipad holder) to the floor, and making a little "holster" for the iRig to sit in. I can then use the foot long power cable it came with (pretty lame), putting the power block on the floor, so it doesn't pull out from the iRig.

 

If anyone is using this setup, I'd be very interested in your experience with it and how you set it up for stage use. Thanks

[miden]

You may find that unless you buy premium, (and by that I mean those that are about $30+ and have a thick cable) long 30 pin cables, they will not carry either audio or power without issues. They seem okay (just) for data.

 

However having said that, I would recommend you go no longer than about a metre for a 30 pin extension (going on personal experience)

 

NEVER buy those cables on Ebay - they are mostly crap.

[Daddyg3042]

Thanks, Miden. Read some comments on Amazon about cheap cables...same ones that are on eBay. I am concerned about the distance too; could be why most of the better cables are only a meter.

 

 

 

 

[DulceLabs.com]

Right angled plugs are a good idea as well.

[mate stubb]

My din plug midi interface is cable tied to the iPad mic stand holder to provide strain relief.

[gino]

I use line 6 midi mobilizer II and it also seems flimsy but has performed flawlessly. I chose it based on a few reviews. I go midi out of iPad midi in to a Korg TR88 and then midi through from the korg to midi in on a Roland XP80. Admittedly my iPad sits on a stand right in front on the keyboards so the cable out of the iPad into the Korg doesn't have far to travel. I have just purchased the irig midi to have as a spare in case of emergency but I'm yet to take it out and give it a try.

[AnotherScott]

Something nice about the iConnectMIDI and Griffin pieces is that their separate boxes function as a kind of strain relief.