Maybe thinking about getting an ipad/mini ipad

[Eurikon]

@ChamomileShark
Hi, i been using Windows and PC since the early 90's. Been always biased in favour of Windows.
Even-though i did find MAC OS better at integrating audio hardware and software at core level (opinions may vary at this, but that is fine with me).

1 year ago i got the iPad 2018 for a bargain price (they are now even cheaper 2nd hand), wonderful machine. I was already impressed on how fast and great tha audio apps are moving forward on IOS in this last decade.

And i must say getting that iPad was a great choice! It actually made me crossover entirely to Mac at the end of 2020. It is a refreshing breath and i am enjoying the combination of the iPad and Mac Mini M1 very much.

Of course this experience may vary from person to person, but after nearly 35 years of PC, i can say that this switch has been very refreshing for me.
Also enjoying the silence of no fans or machine noise, is such a treat by itself.

If you have the finances look for an iPad pro 2018 11 inch. It will suit you well for a long time. And they go for bargain prices nowadays as many Mac users quickly change to the next iteration.

Good luck on your journey!

[Dasheesh]

it used to be great fun and very creative when studiomux let you plug it into your pc, but apple didn't like us having fun, so they killed support for pc, and now my ipad is a paperwieght. studiomux is no longer supported, and i have found no way to plug it into pc currently.

[ChamomileShark]

it used to be great fun and very creative when studiomux let you plug it into your pc, but apple didn't like us having fun, so they killed support for pc, and now my ipad is a paperwieght. studiomux is no longer supported, and i have found no way to plug it into pc currently.

So is there now no supported way of getting audio or MIDI from an ipad/mini to a PC?

[Dasheesh]

@shark

not that i'm aware of rn. i used to be able to plug it into my pc and use it as an external device until they pulled studiomux. now i use it to look at weather radar lol. there might be a way one of these script kids can come up with, but i'm not that proficient at that stuff.

[Halma]

it used to be great fun and very creative when studiomux let you plug it into your pc, but apple didn't like us having fun, so they killed support for pc, and now my ipad is a paperwieght. studiomux is no longer supported, and i have found no way to plug it into pc currently.

So is there now no supported way of getting audio or MIDI from an ipad/mini to a PC?

https://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/rtpmidi.html

At least Midi worked for me a while back.

[mindnoise]

it used to be great fun and very creative when studiomux let you plug it into your pc, but apple didn't like us having fun, so they killed support for pc, and now my ipad is a paperwieght. studiomux is no longer supported, and i have found no way to plug it into pc currently.

So is there now no supported way of getting audio or MIDI from an ipad/mini to a PC?

this is a widespread problem. Studiomux filled a big gap.

the other option are only interfaces that support 2 computer hosts at once which are only from iConnectivity.com iConnectAudio4+/2+ & iConnectMIDI4+/2+ and Metric Halo 3D.

Audio+ supports 3x times more streaming channels between iPad and PC / Mac than MIDI+ but otherwise there are no differences if you use a 2+ or 4+ device in that regard.

Of course price is the pitfall here and some devices from iConnectivty are already out of production and can only be bought second had. (59 to 400€ for iC and €1600 for MH 3D)

Sonobus app might be a solution but it only supports 2 channel per client.

If Apple would decide to put native AVB into iOS like they already have with MacOS this problem would be null.

PS: and get ONLY original Apple Lighting USB3 adapter if you need it or Griffin iPad stuff.

[zacha]

If you have the finances look for an iPad pro 2018 11 inch. It will suit you well for a long time. And they go for bargain prices nowadays as many Mac users quickly change to the next iteration.

This is a really good suggestion. The internals are almost the same as the 2020 line and (effectively) very similar to the iPad Air 4, but with all the extra useful hardware features of the pro line.

There are a few tiny downsides - less RAM, slightly slower at sustained tasks, and be aware that there are a few USB-C docks that don’t work happily with the 2018 line - but none of these outweigh the discount, if money is an issue, If you have more money & can wait the 2021 iPads would be worth waiting for, but the 2018 line is still a great bargain if you can find them cheaply.

[dougjg]

The iPad is the best synth + MIDI controller you can buy it today. I'm being 100% serious.
Drambo, Model 15, Model D, Zeeon, StepPolyArp, ChordPolyPad and many MANY more amazing tools are not present in Mac/PC world (not so true anymore, the first ones are actually being ported to Mac).
If you use LPX, you are wasting every minute that you don't a have an iPad.

[Cinebient]

I also agree the iPad is the best synth

I like the (older) iPhones more since they still have 3D Touch and can do much better MPE. Even a MacBook track pad can do that.
I really hoped iPads would get 3D-touch to bring them to the next level but that looks not good since Apple left it.
Actually I like the combination of trackpad, Touch Bar and keyboard input a lot more and let me play more expressive.
But for everything X/Y related iPads are fantastic and it really shines with the right apps like Borderlands Granular.
I find a lot of the newer iOS apps are not really multi-touch optimised and the good old apps like Animoog, ThumbJam, DrumJam, Samplr (but there is even a mini Samplr version for the touch bar available) are still the best for this usage.
And of course you could get all similar tools on Mac and much much more.
But Drambo is a special for me and wished it would run smooth as AUv3 inside Logic (but it does not).
Works great as standalone version and it is nice in full screen mode.
The thing iOS lacks for me is a really full featured DAW. Auria Pro might the closest but is terrible on a touch screen for me.
NanoStudio 2 is great but lacks audio tracks.
BeatMaker 3 is nice and awesome as sampler but not quite there for me.
Cubasis 3 might it....but it lacks so many standard features I would like to see.
To sum it up, after about 10+ years of iOS and iOS music app usage, creating even albums on an iPhone I hoped it all evolved a bit more.
I think it is super great but more as companion tool rather than a workhouse.
Of course that is just me and others make awesome pro productions with an iPad alone. For me they still shine more when I use single apps and when I try to connect many apps, always something is not working, missing or get in my way.
But I really love AUM for a kind of DAWless jamming and if you own an iOS device and Mac there is IDAM and you get indeed the best of both worlds.
I like to stay on one device and two my surprise these new M1 MacBooks are way away more versatile and even cost not more than a similar speed iPad Pro.
I am still interested in the next iPads and hope finally for multi-core support which seems not there yet and kind of M1 performance.
I think the iPad Air 4 is the best choice yet since it performs great, is not that expensive and indeed it is like a hardware synth and midi device which can transform in 1000 ways (of course it lacks tactile feedback which is important for me but maybe not for others).
Still would love an Apple hybrid device where MacOS is running in an iPad (which will never happen maybe).

[Shane Sanders]

I don't know if this will help you, but it's food for thought:

I only want to compose in a real computer with a DAW that I am used to for the most part. But, I like cool synths and there are many great ones on iOS, and some of them are free.

So, when I realized that my ancient but cool Axiom 25 controller wasn't going to be the main input device any more (too few keys, though it does have aftertouch), I bought a cheapo Yamaha PSR-E463 keyboard which has 61 keys that are velocity-sensitive. Then, as part of a master plan, I got the special cable that allows me to power an iPad while also connecting it to receive MIDI in from the PSR-E463. After a few minutes with the manual, I learned how to turn off the internal sounds of the Yamaha and then sent the audio output of the iPad Pro into the auxiliary input of the Yamaha (of course, I can send that to my DAW, too, with a few cable changes). That's when I started having fun with the iPad. I'd fire up all these synths, using Beatmaker 3 as the host, and find my favorite presets--this allowed me to set up large collections of things within Beatmaker 3 that only require me to tap on the iPad screen to change, not only presets, but the entire synth since each synth has its own channel and is easily accessible. I liked that. I noticed I was playing more (and I'm a guitarist, not a keyboardist) and playing started leading to ideas using synths I don't have on my PC and to simply coming up with cool ideas due to the convenience.

Long story short: My crappy PSR-E463 and an iPad is probably more powerful than a lot of the $3-4k workstations simply because there's more stuff to choose from and the GUI is almost always superior to any menu-driven system on an LED. Plus, if you get GAS, it's painless to blow $5-30 on a new synth app. Conversely, there are so many freeware VSTs now that are top-notch that none of this is necessary. However, I enjoy my iPad and need it for painting (Apple Pencil), browsing anywhere, and commercial music playback, so the investment in it is manifold--it's not just a toy for music.

[Dasheesh]

@cinebient: a lot to read these days, but a fantastic post.