IOS Emulation on PC?

[Cinebient]

Believe it or not. I had an iPad Pro 10.5" and compared to my macbook pro from 2013 i can run indeed 10 times more on my macbook.

I have less problems believing that, depending on the specifics - your Macbook Pro might be running a 4960HQ which is still a rather fast chip even by today's standards - and assuming you were testing it against a 1st gen iPad Pro, which has a much slower CPU than the current one, and depending on how you tested it, etc.

Mind you, I have no first hand experience with anything else than my age old low-end iPad mini, but I think it gives me some insight into what to expect from the current high-end iPads.

Yes but the thing is you won´t get 15X the power in reality maybe.
From what i see there also in other forums there isn´t a big difference between the latest 3 generations.
The thing is also even if it could run more than the latest i9 6-core in theory it lacks the tools i want and a DAW like Logic would be anyway terrible to use on a small multi-touch screen.
I love iOS for what it were made for at the beginning. Running a few unique apps which are optimized for multi-touch. This whole iPads can replace a notebook is silly anyway. Different tools for different tasks.
The good thing it might that the latest beta solved the audio core issue.
Don´t read just too much in these useless geekbench points. Makes only sense comparing devices from the same architecture and even here you won´t know how it works in real usage in certain areas.
However i think also the iOS hardware exceed by far the crippled iOS which is the break here. Plus the unhealthy market with these app pricing.
Off-topic anyway. Anyone should just use what fits them best but beware of believing things you don´t experienced yourself.
I also think on a PC these lite versions of some DAWs are better and even a DAW like LOgic can be so simple as GarageBand or as complex as you want it.
IOS DAWs are made for using on a touch screen and i think they mainly are no fun to use on a notebook or desktop. One exception for me is NanoStudio (here is all started for me in general with music creation).

[jens]

Well, for me it might just be a matter of time until I move over to Auria Pro. The currently existing plugins already go a long way (Fabfilter, Overloud, PSP, FXpansion) and generally speaking I love touchscreens for DAWs instead of using the mouse. Right now I mainly use Studio One on a convertible (a fast Asus Flipbook) but it's not quite there yet (almost though). My current main audio-interface (Audiofuse) should work nicely with an iPad too. There's manly two things holding me back:

1) I use Superior Drummer (and Addictive Drummer) and on IOS there currently doesn't seem to be anything similar.

2) I invested heavily in VST plugins and while I could sell them that would mean I couldn't run my existing projects properly anymore. I'd have to stem-convert them all and I'm probably too lazy for that. We speak about a lot of music.

[Cinebient]

Well, for me it might just be a matter of time until I move over to Auria Pro. The currently existing plugins already go a long way (Fabfilter, Overloud, PSP, FXpansion) and generally speaking I love touchscreens for DAWs instead of using the mouse. Right now I mainly use Studio One on a convertible (a fast Asus Flipbook) but it's not quite there yet (almost though). My current main audio-interface (Audiofuse) should work nicely with an iPad too. There's manly two things holding me back:

1) I use Superior Drummer (and Addictive Drummer) and on IOS there currently doesn't seem to be anything similar.

2) I invested heavily in VST plugins and while I could sell them that would mean I couldn't run my existing projects properly anymore. I'd have to stem-convert them all and I'm probably too lazy for that. We speak about a lot of music.

I think i could use iOS only as well (which i did for some time) if i would use only synths.
There are a few top class synths on iOS but since i use about 50% sample libraries these days and there aren´t really any good for iOS i migrated to mac.
Auria would be my last DAW for creating but i think with the Fabfilter and PSP tools it´s the best thing for mixing/mastering on iOS.
I use mainly my iPhone for iOS and combine that with mac. I really love the 3D touch on my iPhone with brings real MPE to it.
I love multi-touch for some things but also it´s just terrible and so much slower for other tasks. Windows multi-touch apps are a joke for me mostly.
Good that we have so many choices today and they are all just computers with different workflows and depending on what kind of sounds you want it might be just a matter of taste anyway in some years.

[jens]

Drums aside I usually don't use any MIDI at all - if I use any keys at all, it's normally some kind of hardware instrument, so soft-synths do not really matter much too me (curiosity aside - even though I own a bootload of VSTis )

[jens]

Good that we have so many choices today and they are all just computers with different workflows and depending on what kind of sounds you want it might be just a matter of taste anyway in some years.

This!

[bmanic]

The iOS system has caught up with most of the major DAWs very rapidly over the past few years. I don't see anything in that sector changing, unless Apple somehow screws it up (they don't seem to take creative professions like audio and video all that serious any more as they used to, unfortunately).

I have a sneaking suspicion that Nano Studio 2 will be a huge deal in 2019 and 2020 considering the workflow and how easily you can put things together. Sure these DAWs might not rival Pro Tools, Reaper or Cubase in a while (multitrack and mixing workflow) yet but does it really matter? I think those kinds of concepts are a bit outdated. People produce music differently now than they did when multitrack recording was the norm.

In my opinion iPads have definitely been 100% viable as serious studio kit already for a couple of years and considering the rapid improvements in this sector it's bound to overtake the age old dinosaurs at some point. The traditional DAW will slowly but surely fade away at some point in the not too distant future.. which is of course pure speculation on my part but I don't think it's all that unrealistic of a prediction.

.. and this is the opinion of somebody who doesn't even have a working iPad any more (my kids wrecked mine a year ago).

[Cinebient]

The iOS system has caught up with most of the major DAWs very rapidly over the past few years. I don't see anything in that sector changing, unless Apple somehow screws it up (they don't seem to take creative professions like audio and video all that serious any more as they used to, unfortunately).

I have a sneaking suspicion that Nano Studio 2 will be a huge deal in 2019 and 2020 considering the workflow and how easily you can put things together. Sure these DAWs might not rival Pro Tools, Reaper or Cubase in a while (multitrack and mixing workflow) yet but does it really matter? I think those kinds of concepts are a bit outdated. People produce music differently now than they did when multitrack recording was the norm.

In my opinion iPads have definitely been 100% viable as serious studio kit already for a couple of years and considering the rapid improvements in this sector it's bound to overtake the age old dinosaurs at some point. The traditional DAW will slowly but surely fade away at some point in the not too distant future.. which is of course pure speculation on my part but I don't think it's all that unrealistic of a prediction.

.. and this is the opinion of somebody who doesn't even have a working iPad any more (my kids wrecked mine a year ago).

Maybe but for things using big RAM, multi-monitor set-ups, if you want to use extern SSDs and whatever it´s lightyears away. A lot things just works 10 times faster even on an old laptop but i think also that the new generation of bedroom producers might go more and more into this tablet mobile production where you even don´t need a midi controller.
The apps are cheap and synth are already on par mainly with the best available for desktops (and often are even better optimized). Mostly better GUIs and more fun to just play around. I think NS2 is as great as it can get for me on a tablet or smartphone (plus a few things which i miss now will be added in the future).
And there is always the way to take things further on a notebook or desktop if it doesn´t is enough. But apps like the coming Drumbo (Beepstreet) and the Obsidian synth in NS2 and some other which already exist already exceed a lot "bigger" desktop tools for much less and are so much more fluid to use at the same time and sound as good as them too.
Like i said, if i would not be so "bound" to Logic and would not be using 50% sample libraries these days i would have no problem to ditch the mac already.
But in some years i hope Apple anyway finally found a way to combine the macOS and iOS in a good way (not like windows did).
There is also the sark side of iOS with the bad app prices and market for developers and no demos all the tiny IAP. Some apps even can cost more than a big plug-in sometimes. Forced updates and hardware getting old even faster in the mobile world and at the same time a new iPad costs more than a good (windows) laptop too. Some innovative apps get fast abandoned for some reasons and some more....
It´s all relative and i think both workflows will exist together.
Also the old dinosaur DAWs are not standing still. Indeed some of them have made amazing progress while a lot iOS DAWs could be more after all the years.

[bmanic]

The iOS system has caught up with most of the major DAWs very rapidly over the past few years. I don't see anything in that sector changing, unless Apple somehow screws it up (they don't seem to take creative professions like audio and video all that serious any more as they used to, unfortunately).

I have a sneaking suspicion that Nano Studio 2 will be a huge deal in 2019 and 2020 considering the workflow and how easily you can put things together. Sure these DAWs might not rival Pro Tools, Reaper or Cubase in a while (multitrack and mixing workflow) yet but does it really matter? I think those kinds of concepts are a bit outdated. People produce music differently now than they did when multitrack recording was the norm.

In my opinion iPads have definitely been 100% viable as serious studio kit already for a couple of years and considering the rapid improvements in this sector it's bound to overtake the age old dinosaurs at some point. The traditional DAW will slowly but surely fade away at some point in the not too distant future.. which is of course pure speculation on my part but I don't think it's all that unrealistic of a prediction.

.. and this is the opinion of somebody who doesn't even have a working iPad any more (my kids wrecked mine a year ago).

Maybe but for things using big RAM, multi-monitor set-ups, if you want to use extern SSDs and whatever it´s lightyears away. A lot things just works 10 times faster even on an old laptop but i think also that the new generation of bedroom producers might go more and more into this tablet mobile production where you even don´t need a midi controller.

That was kind of my point yes.. music itself is not dependent on tons of RAM and big SSD drives. There is a lot of new music being produced that isn't done at all the traditional way. Also thinking that everything has to be stored locally in this day and age is a bit old school.

Traditional music production in some genres still require hefty hardware (try making a cinematic orchestral score on an iPad.. ) but just because one can't do one particular type of production doesn't negate the tool. This seems to be one of the arguments used by various entities who try to discredit iPads as not capable of production ready material. It's all in the perspective though, isn't it? My guitar can't be used alone to create a cinematic symphonic epic. Neither can my voice alone.. yet both are perfectly capable of producing quite valid professional production, within context.

iPads are more capable now than ever before and should definitely not be disregarded as toys. I'm not saying you imply that.. I'm just stating the obvious here for those who still can not understand the iOS music ecosystem and disregard it all as something irrelevant.

Cheers!
bM

[Cinebient]

The iOS system has caught up with most of the major DAWs very rapidly over the past few years. I don't see anything in that sector changing, unless Apple somehow screws it up (they don't seem to take creative professions like audio and video all that serious any more as they used to, unfortunately).

I have a sneaking suspicion that Nano Studio 2 will be a huge deal in 2019 and 2020 considering the workflow and how easily you can put things together. Sure these DAWs might not rival Pro Tools, Reaper or Cubase in a while (multitrack and mixing workflow) yet but does it really matter? I think those kinds of concepts are a bit outdated. People produce music differently now than they did when multitrack recording was the norm.

In my opinion iPads have definitely been 100% viable as serious studio kit already for a couple of years and considering the rapid improvements in this sector it's bound to overtake the age old dinosaurs at some point. The traditional DAW will slowly but surely fade away at some point in the not too distant future.. which is of course pure speculation on my part but I don't think it's all that unrealistic of a prediction.

.. and this is the opinion of somebody who doesn't even have a working iPad any more (my kids wrecked mine a year ago).

Maybe but for things using big RAM, multi-monitor set-ups, if you want to use extern SSDs and whatever it´s lightyears away. A lot things just works 10 times faster even on an old laptop but i think also that the new generation of bedroom producers might go more and more into this tablet mobile production where you even don´t need a midi controller.

That was kind of my point yes.. music itself is not dependent on tons of RAM and big SSD drives. There is a lot of new music being produced that isn't done at all the traditional way. Also thinking that everything has to be stored locally in this day and age is a bit old school.

Traditional music production in some genres still require hefty hardware (try making a cinematic orchestral score on an iPad.. ) but just because one can't do one particular type of production doesn't negate the tool. This seems to be one of the arguments used by various entities who try to discredit iPads as not capable of production ready material. It's all in the perspective though, isn't it? My guitar can't be used alone to create a cinematic symphonic epic. Neither can my voice alone.. yet both are perfectly capable of producing quite valid professional production, within context.

iPads are more capable now than ever before and should definitely not be disregarded as toys. I'm not saying you imply that.. I'm just stating the obvious here for those who still can not understand the iOS music ecosystem and disregard it all as something irrelevant.

Cheers!
bM

In general i agree of course. While iOS can be a real bitch it also has some good things like you can load any app on any of your devices. No license limit. Some needed workarounds from the past like Audiobus actually created some of the most interesting workflows for just jamming and stuff.
I say again that my perfect device would be a super iPad mega pro which runs mac as notebook but simple could switch to iOS for tablet mode. That would be some innovative Apple magic. Sadly as great as iPads can be i also see a big loss in quality in general about Apple devices and software. At least that is my experience using mac and iOS side by side mainly for music creation and sound design since years.
But we have so much choices today and it doesn´t matter how a track was made. I often have the feeling that a lot people using iOS putting the stamp "it´s made only on a tablet/smartphone" to it, which is not needed these days. The great thing is whatever you use and learn it mostly helps you for the future whatever os, device or instrument you might use.
A Logic Pro X for an iPad would be a killer (if clever ported). Logic just has so much to offer and can be so easy or so complex like you want. I wonder why we see not such pro apps from Apple yet. But it might kill the iOS market then for a lot independent developers.
And here might be another dark side which could happen if famous brands go full iOS as well and people going crazy over it. Massive X for iPad, why not. But it could cut into the wonderful independent developers like Beepstreet which already creating DSP on the highest level. The only reason i stay mainly on mac is just indeed that i can´t get 90% of my tools for iOS. That might change someday and then i´m ready.....
Oh and yeah, i saw people jamming more expressive on an iPhone with 3D touch as with a 88 keys midi keyboard. It feels indeed like "future" to have all that inside one flat and very light machine without annoying fans