How does the ipad stack up against a PC or Mac Daw? Assuming we will have to wait another version or so?
I see there are a lot of apps out for the ipad and now garage band?
What features will need to be implemented to run lets say ableton live or cubase, inside of the ipad like you do with a pc or mac?
Is there a way to use a external soundcard?
How does the ipad differ from a pc-mac daw setup? what needs to be added feature wise before we can have this discussion?
How does the ipad stack up against a PC or Mac Daw?
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- KVRAF
- 5175 posts since 29 Apr, 2006
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- KVRian
- 621 posts since 5 Aug, 2002 from United States
I love my iPad (had it nearly a year) but NO WAY is it a PC replacement for music creation. And nor is it ment to be. It is awesome for MOBILE use and for creating ideas. But it is in no way on the level of Cubase, Reaper, Sonar.....etc.
The iPad HAS replaced my PC for just about everything except music. Within the first 6 months of owning it I sold my laptop, net book, ereader, and Nintendo DS. If it was not for music creation and Photoshop, I would be tempted to get rid of my desktop....
The iPad HAS replaced my PC for just about everything except music. Within the first 6 months of owning it I sold my laptop, net book, ereader, and Nintendo DS. If it was not for music creation and Photoshop, I would be tempted to get rid of my desktop....
Dell desktop Win 10 /2012 MacBook Pro
Cubase Pro 10/Mixcraft 9
Cubase Pro 10/Mixcraft 9
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- KVRAF
- 2686 posts since 5 Feb, 2004 from Nevada City, California
hmm..
the difficulty i would say is that it cannot run any normal music apps by itself - also it cannot connect to most normal peripheral hardware.. therefore it is hard to judge its CPU relative to a PC - one can only say that it is like a netbook, but it will not be able to run normal apps until it can run a full Mac OS..
i have an ipod touch and i really enjoy things like nanostudio, but there is no way it can replace a normal computer for having freedom of workflow.. with the ios you are tied down to what is available in each individual app.. no merging of plugins or chaining different apps..
the difficulty i would say is that it cannot run any normal music apps by itself - also it cannot connect to most normal peripheral hardware.. therefore it is hard to judge its CPU relative to a PC - one can only say that it is like a netbook, but it will not be able to run normal apps until it can run a full Mac OS..
i have an ipod touch and i really enjoy things like nanostudio, but there is no way it can replace a normal computer for having freedom of workflow.. with the ios you are tied down to what is available in each individual app.. no merging of plugins or chaining different apps..
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- KVRAF
- 2493 posts since 6 Dec, 2005 from Bay Area, USA
IMO we MUST start dislodging our mindset from the PC-centric paradigm into a more dedicated/mobile simplified interface that iPads offer.
iPad 1 easily handles baseline MIDI and audio handling, with plenty of synths and simple audio-editing apps, but is still mostly essentially a powered monitor with a port for interfacing to other hardware.
See what Alesis has already done to see a really good integration of the iPad with MIDI/audio interface.
iPad 2 brings more horsepower, the same interface port, and more graphics speed.
Since it has the same port, then there will probably be more interfaces and/or adapters for getting audio into the iPad for editing (like Alesis), but it will be up to the current DAW developers to develop iPad-equivalent versions of their programs, because I don't see any possibility of simply installing any of the current DAWs on an iPad anytime soon.
With Garage Band, iMovie etc. already available for cheap on iPad 2, then I could see simply recording audio or video on the iPad and then porting everything over to our main DAWs and NLE's to finish the process.
I'm now down to my main laptop DAW machine and using my iPad for everything else - including typing this
Greg
iPad 1 easily handles baseline MIDI and audio handling, with plenty of synths and simple audio-editing apps, but is still mostly essentially a powered monitor with a port for interfacing to other hardware.
See what Alesis has already done to see a really good integration of the iPad with MIDI/audio interface.
iPad 2 brings more horsepower, the same interface port, and more graphics speed.
Since it has the same port, then there will probably be more interfaces and/or adapters for getting audio into the iPad for editing (like Alesis), but it will be up to the current DAW developers to develop iPad-equivalent versions of their programs, because I don't see any possibility of simply installing any of the current DAWs on an iPad anytime soon.
With Garage Band, iMovie etc. already available for cheap on iPad 2, then I could see simply recording audio or video on the iPad and then porting everything over to our main DAWs and NLE's to finish the process.
I'm now down to my main laptop DAW machine and using my iPad for everything else - including typing this
Greg
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- KVRAF
- 1644 posts since 18 Mar, 2004 from Lincoln, CA
How is it even a fair comparison? Computers can have tons of storage for high-end sample libraries--terabytes of them, sampled down to the last detail and full range of articulations. There's also the plugin standards like VST, TDM, AU, RTAS...etc, and the ability to host them inside of much more powerful and feature-rich DAW sequencers. There's also the much more powerful CPU and RAM, allowing for far more flexibility and possibilities. I mean, try running a few instances of convolution reverb on an i-Device--I wouldn't think that's possible. Hell, run something like Omnisphere on an i-Device. A single patch of moderate complexity will bring the i-Device to its knees.
So, no, it's not going to happen for a very long time, especially that computers are still becoming more powerful, and the music-making software for computers are also still becoming more and more powerful and feature-rich.
I guess it also depends on what your standards are. If you make very simple music that doesn't require a lot of CPU and RAM power--for example, just a handful of loop-based tracks and some very basic effects, then the i-Devices would be all you'd ever need. But if you want to make music that's more ambitious, then. . ..
What I plan to do is to use i-Devices to create the MIDI data. The sounds on the i-Devices won't be able to match the quality of the ones on the computer, but that's fine, since I'll just export the MIDI data out to the computer and then replace all the sounds with quality instruments, samples, audio recordings...etc.
So, no, it's not going to happen for a very long time, especially that computers are still becoming more powerful, and the music-making software for computers are also still becoming more and more powerful and feature-rich.
I guess it also depends on what your standards are. If you make very simple music that doesn't require a lot of CPU and RAM power--for example, just a handful of loop-based tracks and some very basic effects, then the i-Devices would be all you'd ever need. But if you want to make music that's more ambitious, then. . ..
What I plan to do is to use i-Devices to create the MIDI data. The sounds on the i-Devices won't be able to match the quality of the ones on the computer, but that's fine, since I'll just export the MIDI data out to the computer and then replace all the sounds with quality instruments, samples, audio recordings...etc.