KVR Audio

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:13 pm

cryophonik wrote:Has anybody here tried the iCM2+ with the latest (4th generation) iPad? Before I order one, I'd like to know that it is working properly with the adapters.

Aural Chaos wrote:They answer questions over at their Facebook page.

Thanks for the tip, AC! I found an answer to my question there (yup, should work fine) and ordered my iCM2+ a few minutes ago.

audiob0t · Post by **audiob0t** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:23 pm

Has anyone received their iConnectMIDI2+ yet?

I'm probably going to wait for the 4+, but I'd really be interested in hearing opinions about the 2+ from someone who has used one...

jc_vt · Post by **jc_vt** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:06 pm

Be aware that if you have a newer iPad with lightening connectors you will need an adapter. I ordered anyhow, taking advantage of a $20 off sale at Musicians Friend which covers this purchase.

Rajah · Post by **Rajah** » Sat Sep 07, 2013 11:38 pm

Well, who got it?

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 4:26 am

Mine's due to arrive Wednesday, so I'll report back after that. My expectations are pretty high, so I hope I'm not disappointed.

sazb30 · Post by **sazb30** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 8:03 pm

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with it...

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:03 pm

My iCM2+ arrived yesterday and, although I didn't have a lot of time to use it yet, here are my initial reactions. My first impression came when I picked up the package and was a little shocked at how heavy that small box was. I guess I was assuming that the top/back/sides were plastic, but that's not the case at all. The enclosure is all metal and it feels like a small, very solid brick. The box includes the unit, a standard USB cable to connect it to a PC/Mac, and a USB-to-30 Pin cable for attaching iOS devices to the unit. No software installer or manual is included, but as explained below, both are available for download.

As described, it's as simple as plug and play. It took me all of 30 seconds to crawl under my desk, inhale some large wads of dust, find an open USB port and plug it in. 15 seconds later, Windows 7 (64-bit) told me that I was in business. Attached the I/O's of my two synths (Kurzweil PC3X and Virus TI2) to the two DIN connectors and voila, I was almost good to go. However, all I/O's were sending to all I/O's, and this is where I started to run into some *minor* issues/annoyances.

First, finding the software was not as simple as going to the product page and downloading it. It's not mentioned on the product's page, nor on its Downloads page. But, I noticed that it was also available as a free app, so I found it immediately on the App Store. After I installed it, I got an error message about my iPad4 being disconnected due to insufficient power (I'm running the unit off USB bus-power, and my iPad was at 99% battery charge). Check the USB-to-30 Pin cord and Lightning-to-30 Pin adapter and all looks fine. A couple of restarts and I was back in business. The app was pretty straightforward and I was able to re-route the MIDI I/O's without looking at the manual. Open Sonar, assign my MIDI tracks and both hardware synths are receiving and sending MIDI messages. Yay.

Back to the iCM2+ website and I finally located a link to the PC/Mac software by clicking on the "Get Applified" button with Apple's App Store logo on the home page (i.e., suggests a link to the App Store, rather than a page to download the iConfig software for PC/Mac). Downloaded and installed the software, but upon launch, a little blank box pops up, I get a message saying that no compatible unit can be found , and the MIDI signal indicator lights on the front panel of the unit go berzerk. Close, reopen, same issue. Uninstall/reinstall, same issue. That's when I ran out of time.

Anyway, that's how I spent my initial 15 minutes or so with it. It probably sounds worse than it was and I'm sure that I'll get over every one of those minor snags quickly and painlessly. I'll spend more time with it over the next few evenings, especially with the iPad as a controller and audio source, and report my experiences.

iPlogger · Post by **iPlogger** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:46 pm

Thanks for the review. The Applified button may be for software that works only with the original iConnectMIDI.

I'm half considering upgrading my iConnectMIDI to the 2 or 4 for the audio ability. But I can't tell if the 2+ is essentially the original WITH audio ability or if there is something missing.

One question I have is if you can have two iPads hooked up. I believe you can only have one iOS device hooked up for audio, but can I have two iPads hooked up and using MIDI?

A recommendation to anyone getting this device is to properly map out your MIDI using the App Store app. Just as cryophonik mentioned. By default, everything is talking to everything which may not necessarily be what you want. I had a keyboard controller (M-Audio Oxygen 49) that was getting slammed with all the MIDI data from everything else. It was really messing up my entire system where hitting a key would take a second to register. Once I turned off all MIDI input to the M-Audio (it's only MIDI Out anyway except for writing SysEx), then all my troubles went away.

EDIT: Ah, I figured out what is lacking on the 2+. It does not have USB hosting. You can't hook up USB keyboards (like the M-Audio I mentioned above). You need the 4+ if you want to use USB keyboards.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:23 pm

iPlogger wrote:Thanks for the review. The Applified button may be for software that works only with the original iConnectMIDI.

The Applified button actually takes you to the page where the Mac/PC software can be downloaded, along with links to the App Store:

http://www.iconnectivity.com/Applified

iPlogger wrote:One question I have is if you can have two iPads hooked up. I believe you can only have one iOS device hooked up for audio, but can I have two iPads hooked up and using MIDI?

According to the manual, both USB device ports will work with iOS devices, but only port 1 supports AudioPassThru and will charge an iOS device (as long as the power supply is connected to the iCM2+).

iPlogger wrote: EDIT: Ah, I figured out what is lacking on the 2+. It does not have USB hosting. You can't hook up USB keyboards (like the M-Audio I mentioned above). You need the 4+ if you want to use USB keyboards.

Are you sure about that? The manual says that USB device ports 1 and 2 both support audio and MIDI connection to Mac/PC. I'll try it with one of my USB MIDI controllers this evening.

jc_vt · Post by **jc_vt** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:25 pm

Mine arrived yesterday, and I have had a chance for a first pass at in, and am impressed.

As noted above, the Mac/PC software is under the Appify section of the home page, and it IS the correct software to use. However, for the uses described below this software was not needed.

I'm using it with a Mac, and so far I have successfully connected audio and midi from iPad to Live and back, so I can play Nave on my iPad and it routes straight into Live, sounds very good (although I have not attempted to compare to the earphone out audio quality). With a little more configuring I was able to have Live send a midi passage to the iPad which sent its audio back into Live, as expected. I got this mostly to be able to more easily incorporate my iPad sound programs into my Live work, and it seems like it will work very well for that.

I have experienced some problems connecting my Novation Remote SL to the whole system, but am still working on that.

Next test will be to connect a PC and Mac together and try to sync DAWs between them. I will report back on my results.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:41 pm

jc_vt wrote: Next test will be to connect a PC and Mac together and try to sync DAWs between them. I will report back on my results.

Interesting. I have a MacBook as well, so I could give that a try. Just curious to know how you plan on using the two synch'ed together???

jc_vt · Post by **jc_vt** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:29 pm

cryophonik wrote:
jc_vt wrote: Next test will be to connect a PC and Mac together and try to sync DAWs between them. I will report back on my results.
Interesting. I have a MacBook as well, so I could give that a try. Just curious to know how you plan on using the two synch'ed together???

Well, I have Live set up on both Mac and PC, mostly to get access to some PC only VST's. My hope is to find a way to sync them to be able to include those sounds in a composition. Not sure yet how feasible this is....will let you know if the iConnectivity device will accomplish this...

Aural Chaos · Post by **Aural Chaos** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:36 pm

cryophonik wrote:
iPlogger wrote:Thanks for the review. The Applified button may be for software that works only with the original iConnectMIDI.
The Applified button actually takes you to the page where the Mac/PC software can be downloaded, along with links to the App Store:

http://www.iconnectivity.com/Applified

iPlogger wrote:One question I have is if you can have two iPads hooked up. I believe you can only have one iOS device hooked up for audio, but can I have two iPads hooked up and using MIDI?
According to the manual, both USB device ports will work with iOS devices, but only port 1 supports AudioPassThru and will charge an iOS device (as long as the power supply is connected to the iCM2+).

iPlogger wrote: EDIT: Ah, I figured out what is lacking on the 2+. It does not have USB hosting. You can't hook up USB keyboards (like the M-Audio I mentioned above). You need the 4+ if you want to use USB keyboards.
Are you sure about that? The manual says that USB device ports 1 and 2 both support audio and MIDI connection to Mac/PC. I'll try it with one of my USB MIDI controllers this evening.

I forget which one is the A connector and which is the B connector, but anyway, the 2+ does not even have the one you would need to connect it via USB to an Axiom or whatever. The 4+ does ( or will some day, hopefully someday soon...)

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:51 pm

Aural Chaos wrote: I forget which one is the A connector and which is the B connector, but anyway, the 2+ does not even have the one you would need to connect it via USB to an Axiom or whatever. The 4+ does ( or will some day, hopefully someday soon...)

Yeah, you're right.

You would need a male B to male B connector (assuming that the keyboard has a female B connector like the iCM2+ has).

iPlogger · Post by **iPlogger** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:59 pm

If you look at the front of the old iConnectMIDI (image here: http://www.iconnectivity.com/iConnectMIDI) you can see a connection for USB A. This lets you hook up USB MIDI keyboards and even a USB hub to have multiple USB devices connected at once. I think this connector is only available in the 4+, but it is a key feature I need. For those who don't use USB keyboards and don't need this feature, then this is a great deal.

Does anyone know if you can hook up a USB keyboard to the B end of iConnectMIDI? Will a USB A to B convertor work?

iConnectMIDI 2+