16gig ipad..how is it working out for you ??

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

hey

just wanted to get an idea of what to expect from a 16gig ipad, in terms of storage, for music making

of course i know it depends on so many factors, but i'm trying to get a few opinions so i can ball-park it

i've been offered an ipad 3 at a great price, and although i'm almost biting their hand off for the machine, i can't help thinking that i am gonna keep hitting the storage wall

i won't be using it as an ipod, nor a movie machine (though maybe the odd one here or there)...i will want it for pdf's and to display picture slideshows for my english teaching

i'm thinking of an ipod touch to take most of the media, gaming and photo/video capturing responsibilities so as to keep the ipad quite lean...

the only thing is to get a real world idea of audio apps

cheers for any insights

[Thunderchief]

Hi

I have a 32 gig iPad 3 currently I have only 1.3gb of space left, however I do use it as an iPod.

Counting up my music apps I currently have 27 "music" apps installed and they take up approximately 4.3 gig of space.

So if you are only going to use it for music apps I would suggest that 16 gig should be ok. But it does depend on how much audio you are going to store on your iPad, as that can soon build up.

However, as soon as you get one I think it is quite likely that you will start to use if for more and more stuff. I wish I had gone for the 64 gig now!

I have a games and few magazines on mine that take up quite a bit of space, and I have quite a few photos as well.

I hope that helps.

Simon

[whyterabbyt]

Ive got a 16Gb iPad3 used for the following

general
notes and sketching software for planning
general-purpose internet access (gmail, safari, netflix, lovefilm, iplayer etc)
remote access to systems (logmein, VNC, and streaming of Netflix/Lovefilm video from my desktop via Splashtop)
portable PDF reader with various o'reilly books and various other files stored via dropbox/google drive
a few obvious casual games
some scanning and image stuff i barely use

audio-specific
OSC/midi controllers - touchosc, lemur, tb midi stuff, etc
sequencer/studio toys : sunvox, nanoloop, rebirth etc
audio effects and synths - all sorts of stuff from LoopyHD, Impaktor, MegaCurtis thru to a good sprinkling of synths including the Korg and Moog stuff, Thor, Alchemy, Nave, Audulus and then just 'toys' like BitWiz etc

what i dont do on it : multitrack audio recording/editing, or my mp3 collection.

There's still about 4Gb free on it.

[shanecgriffo]

don't think i'd survive with 16.. i have 32gb and dont even do multi track studio stuff.. once you get a few good apps it starts adding up
always running near empty.. i do a fair bit of photo artwork too tho

[Karmacomposer]

I had a 32 GB iPad and gave it to my son since I filled it up very quickly.

I ended up biting the bullet and buying the 128 GB iPad - plenty of room for everything now.

Mike

[chris1a]

You'll have about 13.8 GB available on the 16 GB version. I have an iPad 2 16 GB and no, it's not really working. You'll have to be very selective about the audio apps you want on it, and audio apps are only gonna get bigger and better from here on. On top of that you're gonna need to really watch the amount of samples and sound/preset libraries. And producing music on a iDevice DAW = audio tracks. And so on...I'm only holding on to it cos it would be a waste of money buying an iPad 4 with the iPad 5 around the corner.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

thanks for all the replies everyone

to clarify, i do appreciate the benefits of having more space and would definitely go with 32 in a normal situation

but i can get this ipad 3 for 200 euros, boxed, in immaculate condition with 2 cases...so, while a 4th gen 32 gig would be better, it would mean more than double the price of that which i have a chance of buying

i do actually need an ipod touch 5 to replace an ipod touch that was stolen, and a camera that died on me last week....so, given the better camera on the touch, and it being more geared towards gaming and media i will get a 32 gig version to deal with all of that side of things

what i'd be left with is a situation much like whyterabbyt's, in terms of usage....my workplace is where i live so i'm never far from my laptop and the many hard drives attached to it

so, a few casual games - angry birds, sudoku, fruit ninja etc and some applications to read pdf's etc
then i would like various control options, for remote vnc stuff...controlling logic etc.....a little space to hold a couple of films, which i can keep on a revolving basis

then there is using it as a digital 'whiteboard' for when i'm giving english classes.....along with slideshows, this is something that doesn't need to be on the ipad permanently...just updated before each class

so, that leaves just the audio apps....when i used to have the 'touch' 3g i had a lot of fun tinkering with 'nanostudio'....i seem to remember this having quite a small footprint....of course, there will be other synths etc, but i have no real intention of using sample libraries or loops

i would like to record audio though..some from voice for some experimental projects, but mainly to use the ipad as a 4-track to get all my old guitar compostions laid down...

again, i'll never be too far from the laptop and would think that projects would eventually be brought into logic to finish

so, a couple of other questions if i may

is it possible to save projects from something like nanostudio or beatmaker in such a way as to be able to archive on the mac and to transfer to the ipod touch...or does it all have to be bounced out as audio ??...if i can do this, then it's all good....if i fancy going off on a hike to do some composing then i would just load up the projects i planned to work with and go

i know eventually i will want more space, but i reckon the price of this allows me to still sell it next year (providing i maintain it's condition) for a good price...then i could top up the cash to get a refurbed 32g 5th gen

thanks again....i really feel comfortable that it will serve me well for the next year or so

[mrufino1]

Get the newest iPad you can with the most storage you can. iPad is awesome for music making and you'll max it out fast. I have a 16 fb iPad 2 and there are some cool apps I have to rotate on and off depending on how many songs I have in auria at the moment. Also, beat maker 2 is not on it because of the 800mb of useless samples that it comes with, but I'd like to have it for virtual midi (until auria's update!). I have additional samples, etc in nano studio, and some recordings in jamup pro. Constantly clearing caches, using phoneclean, etc as well. The processor in the iPad 3 is the same, and as apps get better and need more memory you'll want more processor and ram. I understand wanting the iPad in your hands today, and it will work, but I think you'll be buying again relatively soon. Just my 2 cents.

[audientronic]

Don't get the 16. It is a royal pain in the ass. Seriously. There's no "imho" about it. It's physics, it's facts. You will never have any room available. This is something that frustrates me almost every time I turn the damn thing on. And constantly erasing apps and putting them back on is very frustrating. I've lived with it for 2 years this way. Get at least 32, but better yet 64 or more. If you can't afford it buy the mini at 32.

EDIT: By the way-I have no music or videos or photos on mine--none, and still have these issues...

[martygras]

It sounds like you will be okay with the iPad2 you are being offered, especially if you plan to get an iPod for music. Take advantage of cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive etc.
Adding more space to iCloud is actually pretty inexpensive too in comparison to others.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Get the newest iPad you can with the most storage you can. iPad is awesome for music making and you'll max it out fast. I have a 16 fb iPad 2 and there are some cool apps I have to rotate on and off depending on how many songs I have in auria at the moment. Also, beat maker 2 is not on it because of the 800mb of useless samples that it comes with, but I'd like to have it for virtual midi (until auria's update!). I have additional samples, etc in nano studio, and some recordings in jamup pro. Constantly clearing caches, using phoneclean, etc as well. The processor in the iPad 3 is the same, and as apps get better and need more memory you'll want more processor and ram. I understand wanting the iPad in your hands today, and it will work, but I think you'll be buying again relatively soon. Just my 2 cents.

thanks

i get what you say,,,i would give the same advice...but paying an extra 270 euros (on top of the 200) for 16 gig more and the processor ram improvements just aint looking good for me at the moment

if i were to do it, i would not be able to get the touch 5g..this would mean that all video recording, photo taking and game playing duties would end up with the ipad...in a pinch i would use the ipad for these things, but i'm not gonna be pulling an ipad out anytime i want to shoot a few snaps..i also think the size, weight and form factor is not something i could imagine gaming with for anything more than a few minutes, here and there

i also am in need of an audio interface for my mac, and the price difference would be near enough to get me the latest apogee one...then i would have a great ipad interface also

my thinking is that the price is so good, that i could still sell it in 2014 for a good price...at such a point i would possibly be able to afford a refurbed ipad 5 with more space

i'd like the latest and fastest but i'm still pretty happy using my aged macbook pro dual core with it's measly 3g of ram

the only reason i am currently thinking of getting an ipad at all is for pdf's of textbooks for studying...the idea of the ipad came up as i am on the road without the ability to store textbooks....and textbooks only do one thing...the ipad was offered to me at this great price for that reason only...so, the fact that i have been off with the fairies fantasising about all the great apps i'mma get my hands on is kind of an aside

i don;t imagine using it for full on productions...i still have a much more powerful, full-blown d.a.w...so, really it;s gonna be a music ideas slate, that will also give me access to some great new ways of interacting with sound

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Don't get the 16. It is a royal pain in the ass. Seriously. There's no "imho" about it. It's physics, it's facts. You will never have any room available. This is something that frustrates me almost every time I turn the damn thing on. And constantly erasing apps and putting them back on is very frustrating. I've lived with it for 2 years this way. Get at least 32, but better yet 64 or more. If you can't afford it buy the mini at 32.

EDIT: By the way-I have no music or videos or photos on mine--none, and still have these issues...

do you game on it ??

do you have samples and loops ??

what kind of audio are you recording ??

not looking to doubt, just to get a better picture

according to señor rabbyt he has 4gig of free space...i imagine a similar apps profile, but with differences of course...4 gig is quite a lot of space just for audio for the music apps, or not ?? remember, the laptop is not far away...i'm not trying to ditch it, but i would like to benefit from not being tied to a desk when making music...

if i have to come back from lazing under a tree to charge the ipad, then i can easily swap out a few things at the same time

just can't justify the loss of the ipod which will be more convenient for many tasks, just for the inconvenience of increased necessary syncing

this thread was to determine whether i could get away with it at all, and i'm quite confident from the answers that i will be alright...there's always next year

the ipad mini is a no-go for me...as i said, the main impetus for looking at the ipad was for textbooks and full-scale pdf's...i already have a 7" android tablet and tried to use it as a reader but it is just not big enough for my needs....for the same reason, i would be better with a retina screen

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

It sounds like you will be okay with the iPad2 you are being offered, especially if you plan to get an iPod for music. Take advantage of cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive etc.
Adding more space to iCloud is actually pretty inexpensive too in comparison to others.

good suggestions re: cloud services....thanks

oh, and it's an ipad 3

[Karmacomposer]

Money aside, just remember that there is no ability to increase the storage space. What you get is what you get. iCloud is for backup only. Even the smallest music apps eventually use up a ton of space with iPads inefficient design. I ran out of space on my 32gb ipad with zero music, zero photos, zero videos and minimal games and other apps.

Like others have said, buy the newest and biggest ipad you can. Buying a 16 gb and even a 32 gb ipad is a total waste of money and time if you plan to create any music with it.

Been there and done that.

Mike

[Crimsonghost]

It sounds like you will be okay with the iPad2 you are being offered, especially if you plan to get an iPod for music. Take advantage of cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive etc.
Adding more space to iCloud is actually pretty inexpensive too in comparison to others.

good suggestions re: cloud services....thanks

oh, and it's an ipad 3

IMHO if you have an iDevice, just spend the $25 and get iCloud. If you listen to a lot of music and find your iPhone/ipad filling up quickly, iCloud just pushes music and pictures off of itself to clear up room as needed.

And I'm using 16 and 32g ipad 2's and have no problems running a bunch of music apps with and without audiobus. Personally I don't much care for making music inside my iPads, so I haven't tried some of the more CPU intense daws (auria, cubasis, ect.)but any of the others I've tried ( nano, garage, bm2, ect) work just fine with no trouble or signs of bugging out or crashing. And that's running a full audiobus with a fair amount of audio and midi tracks.