iPad Help - forgot about no headphone jack

[kwyn]

So, with my old iPad there was a headphone jack. I used the camera kit to be able to charge, connect my keyboard, while outputting audio through headphone jack. 

 

I want to be able to play, charge, and output audio, but I forgot my new iPad air gen 5, ($400 :)), there is no audio out.

 

Can someone recommend a simple, reliable interface for playing live that fits the bill?

 

[J.F.N.]

The UA Volt interfaces wont require any extra power, can be powered externally if you prefer though. I use a Volt 2 with my iPad Air M1.

 

You could also use something like this one if that covers your needs.

 

https://www.hypershop.com/products/hyperdrive-6-in-1-hub-for-ipad?variant=19292802187326

 

I use that to get both charging power and USB connection to the iPad at the same time, and it's also convenient with the headphone jack on it.

 

Bought mine on Amazon for 15€ and it includes a short extension cable as well as an option.

[D. Gauss]

Get a 20 dollar USB-C hub off Amazon.  I use this one:

 

 

Get a usb-c extender cable and you don't have to worry about the hub hanging off the ipad.

[Motif88]

https://satechi.net/products/usb-c-pd-audio-adapter?variant=33442515583064&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=21248018082&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjLGyBhCYARIsAPqTz1-OqYPBjCwUMnWLhVwQAi17uVgLG1GMwVb8BgF8Ywv6f2s1-aLNDNEaAg6jEALw_wcB

 

[erik_nie]

I use simple PCM2704 based USB audio interfaces (can be found on several chinese websites).
I even build a 4 output aggragated audiocard from these from my Macbook to play stereo backing tracks with click-track.
Sound great, are small, are cheap and you cannot mess with settings or volumes.
I compared it with the audio out of my Macbook Pro, and did not hear any quality loss.

I use one on my iPad mini 6 setup via a powered USB-C hub. Because I also connect my synths via USB Midi I did get some noise and that was handled by adding a adum3160 digitaal signal audio power isolator before the USB audio interface. Also available on Chinese websites. It's a kind of DI box for USB.

Good Luck!

[My Keys And Me Are Vintage]

58 minutes ago, D. Gauss said:

Get a 20 dollar USB-C hub off Amazon.  I use this one:

 

 

Get a usb-c extender cable and you don't have to worry about the hub hanging off the ipad.

A hub like this really is the only solution I found for my iPad. About $30-40 online. I use a similar USB-C hub with a magnetic backing I added to it. I also like extra USB inputs in the hub, as it makes it so easy to add old synths ad-hoc using MIDI DIN -> USB cables. The HDMI output is nice to connect to my wall-mounted monitor for a bigger screen when at home so I can take my damn glasses off. I also prefer a magnetic USB-C connector to my iPad to avoid damaging the iPad’s USB-C port from repeated stress. 

[kwyn]

Is this one any good?

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/j5create-usb-c-multi-port-hub-with-power-delivery-white/6460683.p?skuId=6460683&extStoreId=1764&utm_source=feed&ref=212&loc=18676888448&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjLGyBhCYARIsAPqTz1-IyreoqKGY0WhTP71u6Qyn-iVnWQY9QnRAn7tEZF4LcuZeFc-aO1UaAlvEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[My Keys And Me Are Vintage]

1 hour ago, kwyn said:

Is this one any good?

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/j5create-usb-c-multi-port-hub-with-power-delivery-white/6460683.p?skuId=6460683&extStoreId=1764&utm_source=feed&ref=212&loc=18676888448&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjLGyBhCYARIsAPqTz1-IyreoqKGY0WhTP71u6Qyn-iVnWQY9QnRAn7tEZF4LcuZeFc-aO1UaAlvEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Any good? Well, it has all the features I would look for. But as for quality, I think they are all pretty much the same. No brand loyalty for this kind of stuff!

[J.F.N.]

They probably come from the same product line for the electronics in them, all of them...

[Reezekeys]

I had bad luck with a 3rd-party CCK for my iPhone & iPad, one that included a headphone jack (which I didn't actually need - my motivation was just to avoid paying the "apple tax"). The audio sucked - noisy and low level. Then I read somewhere that the lightning port on my iPhones also outputs analog audio, so this dongle may have just been adapting to a 3.5mm jack, not doing actual d-a conversion. I haven't been able to find out if the USB-C equipped i-things do this as well.

 

I also remember hearing that 3rd-party iOS accessories can sometimes be bricked or compromised by an iOS update. This probably applies to older lightning-equipped products, as USB-C is (supposedly) a standard that all manufacturers follow. I would choose a dongle that a forumite can confirm has worked well through a few iOS updates.

[J.F.N.]

Yes, this problem should be gone with the USB-C iPads, else they'll experience the EU commission going medieval on their hiney...

[Baldwin Funster]

I've had better luck with 3rd party CCKs w/charge port than Apple ones. The apple ones (I bought a couple by mistake over the years) give more "low power" messages and send lower audio levels to my sound adapter. The 3rd party ones (I bought a couple as backups) have not had issues.  I think it's the particular adapter you buy not that ALL 3rd party adapters are bad. I will agree that the brand names in Chinese or transliterated Chinese make it impossible to buy based on brand names and it's random if you get a good brand or bad. Lucky for me in this instance I got ones that work good. Which is good because the apple ones were an expensive disappointment. I still got them btw.

[miden]

FWIW, only buy the best adapters you can afford....cheap ones often work first out of the box, but get into a critical situation and they fail! There is a reason the high end gear is the price it is....several good videos on YT (with x-rays of connectors and interconnects) display this only too well!

[Reezekeys]

4 hours ago, Baldwin Funster said:

I've had better luck with 3rd party CCKs w/charge port than Apple ones. The apple ones (I bought a couple by mistake over the years) give more "low power" messages and send lower audio levels to my sound adapter.

 

I've gotten the occasional "not enough power" alert using the Apple CCK. No issues with audio levels as I use my iPad's headphone jack (one of the reasons I went for the older 9G). I carry a spare (Apple) CCK, never had to break it out on a gig though. Right now I have no reason to try a 3rd-party piece but will keep what you said in mind. I plan on using my 9G iPad as long as I possibly can.

[Baldwin Funster]

12 minutes ago, Reezekeys said:

 

I've gotten the occasional "not enough power" alert using the Apple CCK. No issues with audio levels as I use my iPad's headphone jack (one of the reasons I went for the older 9G). I carry a spare (Apple) CCK, never had to break it out on a gig though. Right now I have no reason to try a 3rd-party piece but will keep what you said in mind. I plan on using my 9G iPad as long as I possibly can.

The good news might be that Apple will likely have a huge surplus of lightning adapters to blow out real soon. Hopefully they sell them cheap and not just put them in the landfill to keep prices high.

[Reezekeys]

I don't remember Apple "blowing out" anything but one can hope, I guess. They still sell this at full price (I assume that's always been the price, maybe I'm wrong and this is a "blowout" 🙂 )

 

 

I have a feeling there are still a ton of lightning-equipped phones and iPads in use too - less reason to discount them, at least for now.

[Paul Woodward]

Apple rarely have a blow out if ever. They just reduce or cease production of an item which drives the prices up on the market due to scarcity. The ‘sweet spot’ is when retailers think something is redundant or no longer popular and they have a ‘blow out’. Until they completely cease support for a device, there will always be accessories for it even if they hard to find and/or expensive.

[Stokely]

Back when I had an ipad in my rig, I had bad luck with a couple of cheaper non-Apple ccks.  They simply eventually stopped working, though with one it was just the charging port.  I got the Apple one finally and it worked.   Perhaps it was an IOS update, not sure--I tended to avoid those once I got everything working    

[J.F.N.]

I have an iPad 8gen that I during a period was running for midi tasks in my keyboard lab, to connect it I first bought a non apple (nobrand) CCK on Amazon, everything worked fine, for most of the time apart from that it was picky with the charging, under some circumstances the iPad wouldn't charge even thought I had power coming in on the CCK. I still have it as a spare in a drawer, but instead I ended up buying an Apple CCK and never saw that problem again.