iOS folks - anyone using this kind of non-Apple dongle?

[Reezekeys]

In my slow quest to get an iPad or iPhone rig happening for easy local gigs I downloaded the e-instruments Pure Piano (discussed in a recent thread) and it seems to do OK on my somewhat old iPad Air 2. I played it from my Roland A800 Pro using a convoluted path of keyboard to MOTU Fastlane midi interface into my MacBook Pro, routed to bluetooth midi LE to the iPad. The latency is not as good as my laptop setup but acceptable.

 

Of course the idea is to leave the laptop home! I was looking at off-brand CCK - clones that abound on Amazon and saw this one:

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Certified-Headphone-Converter-Lightning-Connector/dp/B08THPSQ83/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pb_opt

 

It looks enticing because I get the headphone output to hook up to my QSCs, a lightning port to connect to a charger or power bank, and of course a USB jack to connect to my keyboard. I'm assuming, but not positive, that the latency would improve from what I'm hearing now. As long as it wasn't worse I'd be happy.

 

I'm curious to know if anyone is running a similar setup with an iOS device. Yes I'm cheap - the Korg Plugkey is likely the interface of choice here but hey, baby steps! I'm still not sure that an iPad-only rig is in my future, so I want to keep the money outlay low right now. At $14 for this guy, if things don't work out I won't be crying into my beer.

[Baldwin Funster]

I just bought the windows/android version. It arrives on tuesday. I'll chime in then.

[miden]

I use the one that does the USB port and lightning charging and the one that does the audio out and charging. Both from Apple Store - I learned years ago to avoid the 3rd party non-officially tested devices after several failed mid-gig...It's just not worth the few dollars you save. At at $13.99 I doubt it's "officially" Apple certified, maybe it is, but I'd have my doubts.

 

That config is not available from Apple, although it would be handy!

[Reezekeys]

I use the one that does the USB port and lightning charging and the one that does the audio out and charging. Both from Apple Store - I learned years ago to avoid the 3rd party non-officially tested devices after several failed mid-gig...It's just not worth the few dollars you save. At at $13.99 I doubt it's "officially" Apple certified, maybe it is, but I'd have my doubts.

 

That config is not available from Apple, although it would be handy!

I definitely hear you, $14 delivered to my door does not instill confidence. But unless I'm missing something, either of your two dongles are useless to me. "USB port and lightning charging" - how do I get audio out of my iPhone/iPad to my speakers? "Audio out and charging" â how do I connect my keyboard?

 

I could buy two of these $14 guys and carry one as a spare. Hell, three of them are 1/3 the price of the Plugkey!

[miden]

I use the one that does the USB port and lightning charging and the one that does the audio out and charging. Both from Apple Store - I learned years ago to avoid the 3rd party non-officially tested devices after several failed mid-gig...It's just not worth the few dollars you save. At at $13.99 I doubt it's "officially" Apple certified, maybe it is, but I'd have my doubts.

 

That config is not available from Apple, although it would be handy!

I definitely hear you, $14 delivered to my door does not instill confidence. But unless I'm missing something, either of your two dongles are useless to me. "USB port and lightning charging" - how do I get audio out of my iPhone/iPad to my speakers? "Audio out and charging" â how do I connect my keyboard?

 

I could buy two of these $14 guys and carry one as a spare. Hell, three of them are 1/3 the price of the Plugkey!

 

Yep exactly why I said having one of these would be very handy! Not sure I'd trust my gig to one though haha! I get 8-10 hours from my iPad (about 7 with peripherals attached) so in my case it's an either/or, depending on what I am doing.

 

TBH, I am not sure why Apple doesn't commission one, or maybe that's giving TOO much control to the end user

 

I also have other devices like the IK Irig Duo which works as well, and with the power adaptor does it all, just awkward to setup

[Baldwin Funster]

So I should find a android dongle thread but I wont.

 

I got a dongle similar to the one in the OP except it was usbC to a 3.5mm audio out and a usbC CHRGING PORT. In my misguided optimism I was hoping that the charging port would also pass midi data. No. It doesn't. But all is not lost. It is still a sound card I can plug into a hub and I'm thinking I can actually turn a passive hub into a powered hub by plugging a charger into the dongle while it is acting as a sound card plugged into the hub.

[Stokely]

I am using an offbrand one with my Modx and older ipad. It just has the main port and one additional that I use for charging (not sure it could be used for anything else).

 

Has worked like a champ so far. The only thing that can be weird is plugging them in and turning them on seems to require a certain order for the Modx to properly use the ipad. Of course as soon as I bought it I found my older Apple one, it's my backup as it won't charge.

[EscapeRocks]

this is one area I've never looked for the cheap off-brand. All the way back to my old iPad 2 with the 30pin connect, and now my iPad 7. I've always used the Apple CCK, without issue.

[Groove On]

I could buy two of these $14 guys and carry one as a spare. Hell, three of them are 1/3 the price of the Plugkey!

You are correct in theory, but the reality is Apple changes the software logic/rules on a whim - I"ve had several inexpensive cables and devices just stop working after an Apple update (so in your example you"d basically double/triple your loss). Those same cheap devices and cables were all working fine until then.

 

If you"re depending on those items for performances, get the Apple dongles/cables.

[Reezekeys]

Except Apple doesn't make a dongle or cable that does what this one does. I might be able to use one of their cables if I forgo the charging port, which is a possibiity I suppose. BTW many of these iOS dongles it has on its store aren't even Apple's own brand â they're Belkin.

 

But point taken. I'm just getting my feet wet and want to see if an iOS setup is workable for me. If so, I'll be happy to invest in a more robust product.

[cphollis]

I bought two of the non-Apple dongles (identical to the ones shown by the OP). They work for now. Apple didn't have that port configuration, and I wanted to deliver dedicated power to the iPad. If there's a better way to do that, I'd love to learn!

[Jazz+]

Ipads have headphone jacks, right?

But iphone 7 and above lost the audio out headphone jack. So this is the exact triple dongle that I need for a newer iPhone. I have been using a cheap offbrand USB in and power in dongle with my iPhone 6 and it works pretty well. Also works well with the iPad Pro

[Reezekeys]

Ipads have headphone jacks, right?

But iphone 7 and above lost the audio out headphone jack. So this is the exact triple dongle that I need for a newer iPhone. I have been using a cheap offbrand USB in and power in dongle with my iPhone 6 and it works pretty well. Also works well with the iPad Pro

Yea for a second I forgot that my iPad does have a headphone jack (and I've been using it the last few days while playing Pure Piano)! I'd like to get iOS VIs running on my phone though, so like you, will need the adapter to get the headphone jack. Based on the replies from the few that are using them without issues, I'm gonna take the plunge with this cheapo dongle. I have zero gigs for it to mess up on anyway!

[Jazz+]

Reezekeys, Which iPhone are you going to use it with?

Please report back how well it works, thanks. I"m surprised more people aren"t posting about this topic.

[Reezekeys]

Funny you should ask about using the iPhone. I just got on here to post my experience using Pure Piano with my iPhone SE2020 (I figured out how to load Pure Piano onto it, it was "purely" my ignorance and error as to how I wasn't able to before!).

 

I have yet to order this dongle, but I do have the $10 Apple lightning-to-headphone jack adapter so I wanted to try playing PP on the phone, using the same method as with my iPad: my keyboard's 5-pin midi to a MOTU interface connected to my laptop, then bluetoothing the midi from the laptop to the phone. Not ideal, but the best way I can think of at the moment. With my iPad it's fine, though the latency is noticeable. I could do a gig on it. With the phone? UNUSABLE. Seriously jittery note timings â with any buffer setting. This was a total surprise since the iPhone has a much newer (and presumably faster) processor than my iPad Air 2: an "A13 Bionic" vs the iPad's A8X. I won't go into everything I tried in my troubleshooting but I tried a lot of things.

 

Of course I'm wondering if this dongle is going to fix the note jitters or if it's gonna be a waste. I could just use the iPad and forget about the phone, in which case I could get the Apple Lightning-to-USB3 dongle (which would give me a USB port for the keyboard and a lightning jack for charging).

[drawback]

Rob, not trying to be snarky, but how much time and how many dongles & workarounds are you willing to put yourself through before you just buy a PlugKey?

[Reezekeys]

Well so far I am zero dongles into this. As far as time spent -- I have plenty of it these days!

 

Not to get too long-winded here, but the truth is that even with less latency and perfect operation, the iOS pianos I've tried so far don't measure up in any way to what I've been used to playing on my laptop for the past 10+ years. I know I shouldn't expect them to, but I suppose I was hoping that apps would get to the point where they might get "close enough for jazz." As I said a few posts ago, I could "get through" a gig with Pure Piano on my iPad - not exactly high praise. The piano does sound nice with no noticeable (to me) jumps between layers and no obvious sample stretching, but is dynamically limited compared to my laptop VI pianos. And, the latency, even at its minimum setting of 128 samples, is an order of magnitude worse that what I know. In a few words, it's just not as satisfying to play.

 

So, these iOS guys are something to have fun with, not drop $120 on an interface for (imo). At this point in time anyway. I'm sure the situation will change for me in the future.

[cphollis]

Well so far I am zero dongles into this. As far as time spent -- I have plenty of it these days!

 

Not to get too long-winded here, but the truth is that even with less latency and perfect operation, the iOS pianos I've tried so far don't measure up in any way to what I've been used to playing on my laptop for the past 10+ years. I know I shouldn't expect them to, but I suppose I was hoping that apps would get to the point where they might get "close enough for jazz." As I said a few posts ago, I could "get through" a gig with Pure Piano on my iPad - not exactly high praise. The piano does sound nice with no noticeable (to me) jumps between layers and no obvious sample stretching, but is dynamically limited compared to my laptop VI pianos. And, the latency, even at its minimum setting of 128 samples, is an order of magnitude worse that what I know. In a few words, it's just not as satisfying to play.

 

So, these iOS guys are something to have fun with, not drop $120 on an interface for (imo). At this point in time anyway. I'm sure the situation will change for me in the future.

 

I'm steering my iPad investments towards instruments lacking with my hardware boards: solo horns, strings, woodwinds etc. Much iPad goodness there and worth the $120 for a decent 2x2 interface. These all appear to be direct ports of their MacOS brethren, just at a more modest price point. I already have nice hardware pianos, organ, etc. so I'm kicking myself for buying Vtines and B-3X. They're a lot nicer than I expected.

 

I am a ways from gigging with iOS instruments. The cabling is too fiddly, and I'm still getting a surprise crash here and there. But it's getting better ...

[miden]

Well so far I am zero dongles into this. As far as time spent -- I have plenty of it these days!

 

Not to get too long-winded here, but the truth is that even with less latency and perfect operation, the iOS pianos I've tried so far don't measure up in any way to what I've been used to playing on my laptop for the past 10+ years. I know I shouldn't expect them to, but I suppose I was hoping that apps would get to the point where they might get "close enough for jazz." As I said a few posts ago, I could "get through" a gig with Pure Piano on my iPad - not exactly high praise. The piano does sound nice with no noticeable (to me) jumps between layers and no obvious sample stretching, but is dynamically limited compared to my laptop VI pianos. And, the latency, even at its minimum setting of 128 samples, is an order of magnitude worse that what I know. In a few words, it's just not as satisfying to play.

 

So, these iOS guys are something to have fun with, not drop $120 on an interface for (imo). At this point in time anyway. I'm sure the situation will change for me in the future.

 

And Ravenscroft did nothing for you?

[Reezekeys]

I'm steering my iPad investments towards instruments lacking with my hardware boards: solo horns, strings, woodwinds etc. Much iPad goodness there and worth the $120 for a decent 2x2 interface. These all appear to be direct ports of their MacOS brethren, just at a more modest price point. I already have nice hardware pianos, organ, etc. so I'm kicking myself for buying Vtines and B-3X. They're a lot nicer than I expected.

 

I am a ways from gigging with iOS instruments. The cabling is too fiddly, and I'm still getting a surprise crash here and there. But it's getting better ...

I wouldn't be using iOS instruments the same way you are - I just want a decent piano I can have fun with at a local jazz gig, should I ever get to do another one! :-) The idea is mostly less shlep - but the sound should satisfy.

 

Also, I very much doubt these are "direct ports" of MacOS versions - they are likely cut down in sample layers and features. If I'm wrong I'm happy to be corrected.

[miden]

I'm steering my iPad investments towards instruments lacking with my hardware boards: solo horns, strings, woodwinds etc. Much iPad goodness there and worth the $120 for a decent 2x2 interface. These all appear to be direct ports of their MacOS brethren, just at a more modest price point. I already have nice hardware pianos, organ, etc. so I'm kicking myself for buying Vtines and B-3X. They're a lot nicer than I expected.

 

I am a ways from gigging with iOS instruments. The cabling is too fiddly, and I'm still getting a surprise crash here and there. But it's getting better ...

I wouldn't be using iOS instruments the same way you are - I just want a decent piano I can have fun with at a local jazz gig, should I ever get to do another one! :-) The idea is mostly less shlep - but the sound should satisfy.

 

Also, I very much doubt these are "direct ports" of MacOS versions - they are likely cut down in sample layers and features. If I'm wrong I'm happy to be corrected.

 

again I say did Ravenscroft do nothing for you?

[Reezekeys]

And Ravenscroft did nothing for you?

Haven't tried it, or Ivory for that matter. You think getting Ravenscroft would solve the performance issues I'm seeing with Pure Piano? I should spend $156 for Ravenscroft and the Korg PlugKey and cross my fingers?

[miden]

Well it really depends on the apple device you are trying to use...And ravenscroft for iOS is $36

 

EDIT: I am assuming we are talking iOS here not PC/MAC? as it is an iOS thread

[cphollis]

I'm steering my iPad investments towards instruments lacking with my hardware boards: solo horns, strings, woodwinds etc. Much iPad goodness there and worth the $120 for a decent 2x2 interface. These all appear to be direct ports of their MacOS brethren, just at a more modest price point. I already have nice hardware pianos, organ, etc. so I'm kicking myself for buying Vtines and B-3X. They're a lot nicer than I expected.

 

I am a ways from gigging with iOS instruments. The cabling is too fiddly, and I'm still getting a surprise crash here and there. But it's getting better ...

I wouldn't be using iOS instruments the same way you are - I just want a decent piano I can have fun with at a local jazz gig, should I ever get to do another one! :-) The idea is mostly less shlep - but the sound should satisfy.

 

Also, I very much doubt these are "direct ports" of MacOS versions - they are likely cut down in sample layers and features. If I'm wrong I'm happy to be corrected.

 

Since I'm focusing on modeling-based tools, the core model they use on both versions is likely to be identical. I mean, who would want to rewrite that? You're right, fewer features exposed, less aggressive sampling, etc. What I meant was that the most likely thing is that they start with the MacOS code base, and go from there vs. design a different product. "Direct" in this case means progeny, as in direct descendant. Not identical, though.

[Reezekeys]

Well it really depends on the apple device you are trying to use...And ravenscroft for iOS is $36

 

EDIT: I am assuming we are talking iOS here not PC/MAC? as it is an iOS thread

Yes, iOS of course! I was adding Ravenscroft ($36) and the PlugKey ($120).

 

My devices are an iPad Air 2... a little dusty & musty by Apple's "A" chip specs these days, and my iPhone SE2020, which as I said should have a lot more juice but actually made Pure Piano unplayable, compared to my iPad.

[miden]

Wow I didn't realise Plugkey was that much... yeah ipad Air2 won't really cut the mustard these days, apart from lighter plugs...I don't think you'll get a happy user experience for pianos....although Pure Synth Pro does have some "reasonable" attempts among its arsenal of sounds, and IIRC it will run ok on an Air 2...

 

Oh and Gospel Musicians Neo Soul and Neo Soul Studio 2 should be ok too (if you are into EP's)

[Jazz+]

Reezekeys

 

A big part of what you found unplayable is because you daisy chained and used bluetooth. As a musician forget about Bluetooth! It always introduces massive latency.

Get the budget triple port interface for your iPhone SE and I think you are probably good to go. If my wife gives me her SE I would buy that same interface you showed in you initial post.

The 2018 iPad Pro, which I have, is fast too, my dual port non-Apple cheap camera and power interface works fine.

I can vouch for VB3m organ, Scarbee EP 88 Rhodes in Korg Module and Ivory In Module (Ivory is least favorite of these 3 fundamental jazz keyboards for playability). VB3m is modeled and excellent. Scarbee is excellent sounding and at the border of playable latency for me in Korg Module, it could be snappier in response and I think it"s better on a laptop full version which I also have along with Garritan CFX. Ivory is the biggest challenge in Korg Module because piano samples are cumbersome. When PianoTeq IOS comes it may be the best option. I have heard reports that Ravenscroft suffers substantially form latency on IOS phones.

 

Having said all that, I would still rather take my Kawai ES110 to a jazz gig because it"s a bit snapper and more dynamic than iOS pianos.

[miden]

....... have heard reports that Ravenscroft suffers substantially form latency on IOS phones.....

 

I have no issues on iPhone 8

[Reezekeys]

A big part of what you found unplayable is because you daisy chained and used bluetooth. As a musician forget about Bluetooth! It always introduces massive latency.

Get the budget triple port interface for your iPhone SE and I think you are probably good to go.

Totally agree that my bluetooth setup is adding latency. It's still a mystery why my much newer iPhone SE2020 performed worse than my old iPad though. Same exact setup with bluetooth. For $14 I'll take the bet that this budget interface might fix or improve things by letting me connect the keyboard directly.

 

I'm sure your iPad Pro has the horsepower to use the more demanding VIs. One of those (or the rumored upcoming iPad Pro with an M1 chip) could very well be in my future but I can't justify the expense right now. Thanks for the status report on those apps.

[Reezekeys]

....... have heard reports that Ravenscroft suffers substantially form latency on IOS phones.....

 

I have no issues on iPhone 8

Great to hear, so forgive my nagging with these questions: how do you connect to the phone (you mentioned two different Apple dongles earlier in this thread)? What's your buffer set at? And if there's a polyphony setting, how many voices/notes? Thanks!