KVR Audio

Mushy Mushy · Post by **Mushy Mushy** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:29 pm

How does processing power compare between an iPad1 and a P3 1GHz?
My instinct tells me they're pretty similar.

On my P3 I ran Cubase SX3 with multiple audio tracks and several soft synths and FX.
So why can't we yet do even half of this on an iPad?

And when I say half I mean the several soft synths half.

Dewaine · Post by **Dewaine** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:38 pm

I think the process power is very similar. But if you can get an iPad 2, it's better.......

As far as using that power... remember iOS has only been around a few years. X86 (PC) and OSX (Mac) has been around in the PC case for nearly 30 years (gee, think it's time to move on?)....anyway.... I know in Nanostudio (which I don't use but own) I can get several Eden synths going without a problem. As the developers become more skilled working in iOS, and they are forced to do so with things like virtual midi.... I think it will get better.

My iPad two loads and displays web pages as fast as my Mac Mini.... I guess what I'm trying (very poorly) to say is that I think the horsepower is there, but the software development on the music app side of things needs improvement/maturing.....

mindnoise · Post by **mindnoise** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 1:30 pm

Here is some direct comparison but with Macs and PC vs iPads.

http://t-gaap.com/2011/3/31/performance ... acbook-air

Dewaine · Post by **Dewaine** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:51 pm

Interesting stuff.... And I know you could just Logic (at the time) on a PowerBook G4 and it worked fine. So I have to say the bigest limitation (at this point) is maturity of software. I had a little 12" PowerBook G4 and I can tell you it could run several audio tracks and several AU's in Logic Express just fine. So our iPad 2's can do a lot more that present software is capable of....

The Chubu · Post by **The Chubu** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:49 pm

You're comparing x86 architecture to ARM architecture. ARM isnt focused in performance but power consumption.

I found this, its not cute and colorfull but it provides a good insight. An Atom 330 (Atoms are a sort-of current edition P3s) vs an ARM A8 (not current A9 used in iPad 2 though, A8 is used in iPad 1 and iPhone 4).

http://www.slideshare.net/napoleaninlon ... omparisons

ARM isnt targeted to that kind of processing (number crunching) basically.

polaris20 · Post by **polaris20** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:20 pm

Dewaine wrote:Interesting stuff.... And I know you could just Logic (at the time) on a PowerBook G4 and it worked fine. So I have to say the bigest limitation (at this point) is maturity of software. I had a little 12" PowerBook G4 and I can tell you it could run several audio tracks and several AU's in Logic Express just fine. So our iPad 2's can do a lot more that present software is capable of....

The biggest limitation is indeed the software maturity. A 1Ghz ARM is definitely faster than a 1Ghz PIII.

Mushy Mushy · Post by **Mushy Mushy** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:22 pm

This is all very interesting.
The future of the iPad does indeed look bright.

The Chubu · Post by **The Chubu** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:58 pm

Indeed. ARM is getting everywhere, its supported by linux and by extension ios and android, AND windows. Devs have tools everywhere and graphics wise, portable media is getting way faster.

So its a matter of keeping things on track i think, hoping that no serious bloat ware starts to appear.

iPad vs P3