How professional can a sound get with iOS alone?

[Perceptualization]

Hello,

I want to get into making music again, and I’ve been looking at this Spectra 32-Bit DAC Amp for an alternative for an amp for my headphones and speakers.

So far I'm working a pair of Sennheiser HD-650 headphones and an ASUS laptop and Reason from Reason from Propellerhead. I've got an iPad Air 2, and I've been looking at that Auxy.

What do you think? Would it even be necessary to be with have an amplifier anymore with this Spectra DAC attached to my iPad Air?

I found it here – http://bit.ly/Spectra-32-Bit-DAC-Amp

Thanks for help!

[BertKoor]

Hmmm, the "Mobile apps & Hardware" is usually for Android & iPhone related stuff. Your query might get better attention in the generic Hardware or Computer Setup section.

Anyway, your cans (Sennheiser HD-650) appear to have a pretty high impedance of 300 Ohm. So they require plenty juice to drive.
See http://www.head-fi.org/a/headphone-impedance

NextDrive has published some specifications

MAX. Power Output
2Vrms @ 600Ω
49mW @ 32Ω

Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick here, but 2 V @ 600 Ohm renders only 6.7 mW power according to my calculator. 49 mW @ 32 Ohm would mean a voltage of about 1.25V. But without knowing the efficiency of your cans, no definite conclusions can be drawn.

Also I cannot find any information anywhere what this DAC/AMP should cost.

You also mention speakers. This device is for headphones only. Speakers require much more power, above 10 W for sure. So for (passive) speakers you need something else.

[T-CM11]

What's the link between your question and the topic title?
Anyway, I'm going to reply to the title:

How professional can a sound get with iOS alone?

"Professional" is about making money, it is NOT an aspect of (a) sound.

[thecontrolcentre]

Professional is about the user, not the (i)OS ...

[T-CM11]

Professional is about the user, not the (i)OS ...

...the user making money. Professional doesn't necessarily say something about "quality". Though marketing people like to imply that.

[khanyz]

I've switched to an iPad setup for doing Jingles. Discussed here

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=473578

[Numanoid]

A lot of the best drum and bass of the 90's were made using trackers on Amiga or ST, with like a meg or two of RAM.

So why shouldn't anybody be able to make professional sounds with iOS ?

[V0RT3X]

Running a iPad Pro 12.9" here and I can get a pretty decent sounding jam with custom samples and Korg Gadget. This is probably pretty obvious to most, but remember that your software performance depends on what kind of iOS device you own. If you want to replace your laptop with an iPad then I would recommend getting the Pro version with the most space you can afford.

As for sound quality, well it turns out that the iPad pro uses a built in cirrus logic codec. https://jp.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad+Pro+Teardown/52599

If you want to improve upon the quality of the internal DAC then pick up a Apogee Duet for iOS and use that for your Sennheiser headphones. I have the Duet for iOS and it works surprisingly well and improves the overall quality.

I was a bit reluctant to think of the ipad as a capable computer for making music on, but once I tried it I was pretty convinced that this is a useful tool for computer musicians.

[ATS]

A lot of the best drum and bass of the 90's were made using trackers on Amiga or ST, with like a meg or two of RAM.

So why shouldn't anybody be able to make professional sounds with iOS ?

great point, tablet are way more advanced than anything in the not too distant past.

[Numanoid]

A lot of the best drum and bass of the 90's were made using trackers on Amiga or ST, with like a meg or two of RAM.

So why shouldn't anybody be able to make professional sounds with iOS ?

great point, tablet are way more advanced than anything in the not too distant past.

The best point is this:

Professional is about the user, not the (i)OS ...

A crafty person will always be able to make great results nevertheless the equipment

[V0RT3X]

A lot of the best drum and bass of the 90's were made using trackers on Amiga or ST, with like a meg or two of RAM.

So why shouldn't anybody be able to make professional sounds with iOS ?

great point, tablet are way more advanced than anything in the not too distant past.

The best point is this:

Professional is about the user, not the (i)OS ...

A crafty person will always be able to make great results nevertheless the equipment

This is true for just about any artist. What i've learned is that if you have the talent, you will be able to find creative ways around most limitations.

With that said, it's really up to you and your goal-based decisions which will ultimately get you closer to your intended outcome. If you want to create a piece of meaningful art, you will find a way trust me. I personally know a two-time Juno nominee artist (This is like the Canadian Grammy btw) who focuses on writing the story and making the music good first and foremost. Once he has the "art" down he fills in the blanks by getting help with the technical stuff. I guess what I'm saying is that if you are concerned about sounding professional over making a good piece of relevant art at the get-go then you're doing something wrong. It's not wrong though, it just depends on what you want in the end.

Lots of award winning artists recorded their first albums with horrible sounding equipment, but the thing is that they had the goal of focusing on the music first. Once they got that right, they knew they had the ability to go and turn that into something more.

[Perceptualization]

Edit

[Perceptualization]

Running a iPad Pro 12.9" here and I can get a pretty decent sounding jam with custom samples and Korg Gadget. This is probably pretty obvious to most, but remember that your software performance depends on what kind of iOS device you own. If you want to replace your laptop with an iPad then I would recommend getting the Pro version with the most space you can afford.

As for sound quality, well it turns out that the iPad pro uses a built in cirrus logic codec. https://jp.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad+Pro+Teardown/52599

If you want to improve upon the quality of the internal DAC then pick up a Apogee Duet for iOS and use that for your Sennheiser headphones. I have the Duet for iOS and it works surprisingly well and improves the overall quality.

I was a bit reluctant to think of the ipad as a capable computer for making music on, but once I tried it I was pretty convinced that this is a useful tool for computer musicians.

Thanks for the reply. I checked out the Apogee Duet. It's a bit pricey for my needs, as I'm just looking for audio out. But the quality looks to be the same -- both use Sabre-32 chip. I'm waiting to hear back about the price of the Spectra though.

So do you just work with your iPad Pro now?

[Perceptualization]

A lot of the best drum and bass of the 90's were made using trackers on Amiga or ST, with like a meg or two of RAM.

So why shouldn't anybody be able to make professional sounds with iOS ?

Well, this is it. I grew up watching my mates using hardware to make techno and jungle. But I've always wondered whether the sound quality could have been any better with the output. So I guess I'm wondering whether this Spectra would improve audio output for headphones and speakers for mastering tunes.

[sprnva]

The Apogee stuff is pricey but you can connect any class-compliant audio interface to an iPad. My Scarlett 6i6 works fine with it.