Synthaholic Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 With all the news and recent threads about new iPad apps for controlling new iPad multitimbral sound apps, which audio interface should I get? Id want: iPad control of the interface instead of relying on a laptop At least 4 outputs I also want ADAT input, since I use some Alesis gear The only two I can find under $500 are the Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 and the PreSonus Studio 1824 but Im confused as to whether you can control them totally from the iPad. I have the iPad Pro 12 with 512GB. The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted December 18, 2018 Author Share Posted December 18, 2018 Links to the two I mentioned: https://focusrite.com/usb-audio-interface/scarlett/scarlett-18i8 https://www.presonus.com/products/Studio-1824 The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zalman Stern Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 For Focusrite, I'm not sure there's a way to adjust interface parameters from iOS. There is Focusrite Control, but so far as I can tell, that communicates with the desktop app that needs to be running on a Mac OS X machine plugged in to the interface. (cf https://focusrite.com/focusrite-control and https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/212028389-Focusrite-iOS-Control-Basic-setup .) I've used a first generation Scarlett 18i20 to record into Auria Pro on the iPad and it works well, but I have to setup the monitoring matrix, etc. via a laptop. Mark Of The Unicorn's AVB interfaces all allow complete configuration and control via a web interface. This means that even while one is plugged into an iPad via USB, one can change parameters from a web browser on the same network. (A web browser on the iPad will work, though switching apps while recording is a no go. You rarely want to do that any way. You can even control it from a phone, thought the UI gets scrunched pretty badly.) The web UI is good, though as one adds tracks, one has to be careful about which browser one uses as the UI can get very buggy in terms of scrolling. The AVB units are also incredibly expandable by adding more interfaces and plugging them together using ethernet cable. The issue with the MOTU setup is you'll need a WiFi access point to plug the interface into and the interfaces are a bit pricier too. (They're also a generally higher spec product than e.g. the Focusrite Scarlett line, though whether that matters or not depends on the application.) If using more than one together, an AVB hub is required. PreSonus might have something, but a quick look at their iOS apps indicates the control stuff is for the StudioLive mixers and things that have WiFi. The PreSonus story looks similar to MOTU: control is over standard networking and is for units that have Ethernet connectivity. (I think some of their products might have built-in WiFi. Behringer does this on their stage mixers and such as well. That's getting to a bigger and more expensive box than you likely want.) A friend recently went through this and ended up with one of Apogee's interfaces (Duet I believe) as the MOTU UltraLite wouldn't (easily) do audio I/O and MIDI at the same time from iOS. I don't know if it allows control from iOS or if he's using the physical controls. (It was decided to switch to a laptop due to iOS app issues such as each patch having massively different volume. Not the interface's fault, but par for the course: a smart person spending an hour or three on the issue and deciding they'd rather play music than debug a system.) Per the thread on iPads, there oughta be a much easier and better answer to this question. There's a ton of stuff for a good price that almost works, but my experience for iPad recording indicates one wants to configure the interface with a laptop or use the physical controls on the interface to make adjustments. -Z- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 Thank you, Zalman Stern! I had come to pretty much the same conclusion about still needing a laptop. The need for WiFi is a dealbreaker. I want to use this interface live and I cant count on WiFi being available. I may record with it at home, but the main function would be to send different iPad sounds to different channels in my mixer. The PreSonus has 8 line outs, plus L&R Mains. So I was hopeful about that one. The iConnectivity interface looks good (no ADAT. ), but Ive read some bad reviews on the controlling software. And Im still not sure if an iPad is all you need. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/iConnAudio4p--iconnectivity-iconnectaudio4 The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfort Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 The iPad Musician Facebook group might be another resource to check with. Its a closed group, but easy to join. There are also other iOs music Facebook groups that are dedicated to iOS music, apps, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 Meh. All the biggest brains are here at the Keyboard Corner. The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zalman Stern Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 The need for WiFi is a dealbreaker. I want to use this interface live and I cant count on WiFi being available. Just to clarify, you need to plug your own WiFi access point into the interface via Ethernet to give a way to get to the soft UI. Venue WiFi is irrelevant. It might also work on an iPad with the USB to Ethernet adapter, though I'm guessing it still needs something to provide DHCP, so the WiFi hub is still there, but that avoids running the radios. (Theoretically the interface could provide all the network services needed, but I don't think any of them do.) That'll also need a USB hub. Not sure how this plays out with the higher-end Dante stuff, but my guess is no one tries to use that kit with iOS. The Crumar/GSi approach puts WiFi access point hardware into a keyboard (or the Gemini) to allow access to soft UI on a phone/iPad/laptop. -Z- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted December 21, 2018 Author Share Posted December 21, 2018 Thanks for that, Zalman. Ive discovered that an iOS interface must be CoreAUDIO Compliant and USB Compliant. The Steinberg UR824 looks very good, but costs $800. It has plenty of inputs and outputs, 2 ADAT connections, plus comes with an iPad app and Cubase LE for iPad. But then you come to the fine (and I mean tiny) print: *Please note that in CC mode you can only use the analog inputs and outputs. CC mode is iPad mode. *sigh* Oh, and I just noticed: no MIDI. The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted January 21, 2019 Author Share Posted January 21, 2019 Thank you to so many in the community who offered suggestions in this thread. I went with the MOTU Ultralite AVB. The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.