KVR Audio

dermichl · Post by **dermichl** » Wed Mar 16, 2016 6:59 pm

just as a kind of market survey and question to the Android experts: which sub €200 tablet to choose for both mobile music making and couch surfing

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Wed Mar 16, 2016 7:18 pm

Not quite sub 200 €, but a few Euros over, but i would choose this one: http://www.amazon.de/Samsung-Tablet-PC- ... laxy+tab+a

BiancaNeve · Post by **BiancaNeve** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:36 am

None....get an iPad

someone had to say it

chrisby · Post by **chrisby** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:55 am

chk071 wrote:Not quite sub 200 €, but a few Euros over, but i would choose this one: http://www.amazon.de/Samsung-Tablet-PC- ... laxy+tab+a

I'm typing this on a Tab A... Had it for about a year (maybe a little less) , paid about $200 here in the US and can't complain about anything. Never use it for music though. I'd always heard that android just didn't support low latency... Did that get fixed?

mcnelson · Post by **mcnelson** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 10:02 am

chrisby wrote:
chk071 wrote:Not quite sub 200 €, but a few Euros over, but i would choose this one: http://www.amazon.de/Samsung-Tablet-PC- ... laxy+tab+a
I'm typing this on a Tab A... Had it for about a year (maybe a little less) , paid about $200 here in the US and can't complain about anything. Never use it for music though. I'd always heard that android just didn't support low latency... Did that get fixed?

It's getting a lot better - see:
https://source.android.com/devices/audi ... ments.html
http://superpowered.com/android-marshmallow-latency
Nexus devices on Marshmallow seem to have the best latency - 14ms for a Nexus 9 on 6.0.1. Samsung devices on Exynos coming close at 18ms.

planeth · Post by **planeth** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 2:00 pm

Even if it costs a bit more than 200€, I'd recommend a Nexus 9 (and don't upgrade it to Marshmallow). The Nexus 9 running on Android 6.x has quite a lot performance issues. Running a Nexus 9 on Android 5.1.1 results in the lowest possible latency while demanding the lowest possible CPU power. There might be differences when an app uses the superpowered driver, but to be honest, I don't know a single app which uses that driver on Android (maybe someone else can list some apps using that driver).

.jon · Post by **.jon** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:21 pm

Get an iPad. Seriously. I've had an Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10" for a year or so and while it was the best tablet hardware wise at the time, it's let down by the OS for music stuff. Most of the good stuff is iOS only.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 9:52 pm

Sounds like it's rather for casual music making though:

which sub €200 tablet to choose for both mobile music making and couch surfing

But i agree, if it's for "serious" mobile OS music making, get an iPad. Or if you're really serious about music making, get none, and use your desktop computer.

Groundhog #31684 · Post by **Groundhog #31684** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 1:52 am

chk071 wrote:But i agree, if it's for "serious" mobile OS music making, get an iPad. Or if you're really serious about music making, get none, and use your desktop computer.

I think the new gen Windows tablets and 2-in-1s that can run full multi-touch optimized Bitwig/Usine etc with all of your favourite VSTs are the best choice these days. I mean you can get an Asus T100HA for £150 in the UK right now that has performance close to a Macbook and in terms of value, once you add Bitwig (for example) to that it's still less than an iPad with a useful amount of storage (the 32GB in the £150 TH100HA can be expanded with an sdcard).

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 2:20 am

Get an iPad. I'm writing this from my Samsung Galaxy, and I've had a couple of other Android phones and tablets. I also have an iPad. The music software is simply not there on Android, even if the latency problem has been resolved (which I doubt). IPad is where the software is. Seriously.

BiancaNeve · Post by **BiancaNeve** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 10:39 am

Groundhog #31684 wrote:
chk071 wrote:But i agree, if it's for "serious" mobile OS music making, get an iPad. Or if you're really serious about music making, get none, and use your desktop computer.
I think the new gen Windows tablets and 2-in-1s that can run full multi-touch optimized Bitwig/Usine etc with all of your favourite VSTs are the best choice these days. I mean you can get an Asus T100HA for £150 in the UK right now that has performance close to a Macbook and in terms of value, once you add Bitwig (for example) to that it's still less than an iPad with a useful amount of storage (the 32GB in the £150 TH100HA can be expanded with an sdcard).

I still think PC software needs to be optimised for small touchscreens before it's any use, it's all very well being able to run it but if you need a stylus and a microscope it's not a satisfying experience.

bronxsound · Post by **bronxsound** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 10:56 am

in short get an ipad. air 1 should serve you for a while if you can't afford the latest gen. the sheer number of available apps justifies the purchase.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:57 am

BiancaNeve wrote:
Groundhog #31684 wrote:
chk071 wrote:But i agree, if it's for "serious" mobile OS music making, get an iPad. Or if you're really serious about music making, get none, and use your desktop computer.
I think the new gen Windows tablets and 2-in-1s that can run full multi-touch optimized Bitwig/Usine etc with all of your favourite VSTs are the best choice these days. I mean you can get an Asus T100HA for £150 in the UK right now that has performance close to a Macbook and in terms of value, once you add Bitwig (for example) to that it's still less than an iPad with a useful amount of storage (the 32GB in the £150 TH100HA can be expanded with an sdcard).
I still think PC software needs to be optimised for small touchscreens before it's any use, it's all very well being able to run it but if you need a stylus and a microscope it's not a satisfying experience.

Should be ok on a 10" display though. Also, don't underestimate Windows 10 in terms of touch operation, it's quite well tailored, and optimised for that. Also, you can optimize font size and all that in the config.

I'd choose a "real" OS over a mobile one for music making too. The question is, if that's really needed here, for "casual music making". You'd get a pretty low spec'd, low quality device for that price anyway.

Groundhog #31684 · Post by **Groundhog #31684** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 12:00 pm

BiancaNeve wrote:I still think PC software needs to be optimised for small touchscreens before it's any use, it's all very well being able to run it but if you need a stylus and a microscope it's not a satisfying experience.

Bitwig is a great experience on a touchscreen... without a stylus. It's actually very innovative and has a display mode specifically for tablet, although you can also use the "small screen" display mode and scale it up if you want to.

Stagelight is also a really nice experience.

In both, VST parameters are available with touch-friendly sliders/knobs.

I agree that using apps that aren't optimised in this way for multi-touch/small screen is less than ideal, but the fact is that optimised apps now exist and non-optimised apps are very usable indeed anyway with Win10 features. There are massive advantages to running a full x86 DAW in the tablet too (optimised or not).... not least the fact that you can continue working on something you started on the desk/laptop. Or make presets for any VSTi you want, to use on the tablet or main setup.

On the note of recommendations, I am only whole-heartedly recommending a Windows tablet (like the T100HA) with a minimum of the x5-8500 processor. I had a less powerful one which could run a couple of hundred synth tracks in Reaper, but the extra power of the x5-8500 negates any feelings of hard limits when doing real world stuff.

which Android tablet to choose?