KVR Audio

Snoo · Post by **Snoo** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:11 am

Anybody here making music with Android tablets?

I'm looking to get back into a live music project with some friends. Previously I'd been using hardware samplers/ kaos pad and synth. But this time around I'm thinking of using an android tablet. Trouble is I'm a little in the dark. Are there specific spec's/ software builds I should be using to ensure things run smoothly? And how do you generally hook up a tablet in a live setting (to a DI box). Bearing in mind my budget is small I may be looking at 2nd hand tablets also.

Any bits of advice would be greatly appreciated.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:26 am

Snoo wrote:how do you generally hook up a tablet in a live setting (to a DI box)

Only option is the 3.5mm headphone out, using a simple 3.5mm stereo --> RCA cable. No problems to be expected, usually the headphone out can be used very well in the same manner as an unbalanced line output. So if it needs to be balanced and lowered to mic level for the mixer, you'd plug it into a DI box.

The developer of Caustic recently reported the latency in Android is close to 0.1s, making it not very usable for real-time.

NB: We have a specialised forum nowadays for mobile devices, including Android tablets:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=166

Snoo · Post by **Snoo** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:33 am

Thankyou Bertkoor. looked but obviously missed the other forum so thanks for the link.
Not sure if latency will be a problem as I will be playing it like and instrument and not needing to monitor anything coming in. Not planning to record or suchlike.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:40 am

Snoo wrote:Not sure if latency will be a problem as I will be playing it like and instrument

In that case you will probably suffer from a lag of 0.1 sec between you hitting a (virtual) key on the tablet and actual sound coming out. That's no good I suppose... A cheap laptop with Asio4All would do much better.

Snoo · Post by **Snoo** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:45 am

BertKoor wrote:
Snoo wrote:Not sure if latency will be a problem as I will be playing it like and instrument
In that case you will probably suffer from a lag of 0.1 sec between you hitting a (virtual) key on the tablet and actual sound coming out. That's no good I suppose... A cheap laptop with Asio4All would do much better.

I've just been having a read here actualy and I think you are right. Seems there are some problems with Android in this area. I've got a bit of time yet so maybe I can hang around until the Windows 8 tablets drop. I'd considered a netbook or cheap laptop, but then I'd need my controllers plugged in. I really like the idea of having just the tablet.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 11:14 am

If you want a tablet with low latency, the iPad 2 seems to be the only one capable of it, because iOS provides core-level audio with a buffer that can be as low as 256 samples. That's low enough for real-time playing an instrument.

Snoo · Post by **Snoo** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 11:31 am

I really don't want another apple product though.

Thank you for all the advice my friend. It's much appreciated.

thebaggytrouseredone · Tue Mar 13, 2012 11:57 am

I wasn't an apple fan either but the iPad is the best tool for the job .. most supported and best tablet for music IMHO.

J.C · Post by **J.C** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:00 pm

you can't use computer software on a tablet

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:47 pm

J.C wrote:you can't use computer software on a tablet

You can with Windows 8 with an X86 CPU based tablet. Coming soon :

Samsung Tablet

11.6″ touch-screen display with a gorgeous 1,366 x 768 screen resolution
◦Intel Core i5-2467M 1.6GHz dual-core processor
◦4GB RAM
◦64GB SSD (Solid State) drive
◦Connectivity Options: 3G mobile broadband and Wi-Fi
◦microSD memory card slot, one USB port, Ethernet and a micro HDMI connector
◦Thickness: 12.9mm
◦Weight: Just under 900 grams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Ohaklb ... re=related

J.C · Post by **J.C** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:40 pm

Yep, But it still Science Fiction.

Release date?

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:44 pm

J.C wrote:Yep, But it still Science Fiction.

Release date?

A few months (Summer). Its Science fact - the clue is in the review. Many more from other companies to follow

polaris20 · Post by **polaris20** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:12 pm

UltraJv wrote:
J.C wrote:you can't use computer software on a tablet

You can with Windows 8 with an X86 CPU based tablet. Coming soon :

Samsung Tablet

11.6″ touch-screen display with a gorgeous 1,366 x 768 screen resolution
◦Intel Core i5-2467M 1.6GHz dual-core processor
◦4GB RAM
◦64GB SSD (Solid State) drive
◦Connectivity Options: 3G mobile broadband and Wi-Fi
◦microSD memory card slot, one USB port, Ethernet and a micro HDMI connector
◦Thickness: 12.9mm
◦Weight: Just under 900 grams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Ohaklb ... re=related

Everyone who's had that tablet for review has said that while Win8 works great on it, it's noisy and the battery life is terrible. Better off waiting until the platform matures a bit. Paul Thurrott said it sounds like a jet engine.

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:15 pm

polaris20 wrote:
UltraJv wrote:
J.C wrote:you can't use computer software on a tablet

You can with Windows 8 with an X86 CPU based tablet. Coming soon :

Samsung Tablet

11.6″ touch-screen display with a gorgeous 1,366 x 768 screen resolution
◦Intel Core i5-2467M 1.6GHz dual-core processor
◦4GB RAM
◦64GB SSD (Solid State) drive
◦Connectivity Options: 3G mobile broadband and Wi-Fi
◦microSD memory card slot, one USB port, Ethernet and a micro HDMI connector
◦Thickness: 12.9mm
◦Weight: Just under 900 grams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Ohaklb ... re=related
Everyone who's had that tablet for review has said that while Win8 works great on it, it's noisy and the battery life is terrible. Better off waiting until the platform matures a bit. Paul Thurrott said it sounds like a jet engine.

Seeing as its not released yet, you cant judge any faults that may be present in test models. Same goes for Windows 8. As for maturity - its just a PC with touch screen. Nothing new except market perception. Most ipad owners live with all its flaws so I cant see that being a problem.

Goratrix · Post by **Goratrix** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:33 pm

UltraJv wrote:Seeing as its not released yet, you cant judge any faults that may be present in test models.

Sure you can judge them. For a simple reason: the specifications of that tablet are already present in today's notebooks, including that exact processor. So we know exactly how much heat that processor generates and how much cooling it needs. There is not going to be any magical cooling in that tablet, in fact it's going to be much worse, based on the more compact enclosure of a tablet compared to a notebook. And the same goes for power consumption and battery life.

Android Tablets?