iPhone MIDI rig?

[ScreamCage]

I've got a Roland PC-200 and I was thinking about setting up a synth rig using an iPhone as the sound engine. Does anybody have any suggestions for the interface and what apps I should try?

[AnotherScott]

 

For the interface, the iConnectivity iConnectMIDI1 is probably the least expensive, though the iRig MIDI has an advantage in that you can also charge the phone while using it. (These assume you have an older iPhone with a 30-pin connector. You would need an adapter if you have a newer iPhone with a lightning connector.)

 

For apps, it depends what kind of sounds you want. Some recommendations: For general "rompler" sound module functionality, Sampletank. For piano, CMP Grand Piano. For custom sample playback, BS-16i. For tonewheel organ (and assorted other sounds), GarageBand, for transistor organs, Organ+. For mellotron, Super Manetron. For synth, I'd look at Magellan Jr., Animoog for iPhone, SunrizerXS, SAS-4As (you can evaluate it with the free Lite version). Obviously there are more options for iPad, which is what I use, but those all work on iPhone. In some cases, you can run multiple apps at once (and there are other apps you can buy to facilitate that), though some of these don't play well with others.

It can also be handy to have something like this on the output:

http://www.dsan.com/sc/shop/item.asp?itemid=76

[ScreamCage]

Wow, that's a lot of great suggestions. I especially like the looks of Organ+ and Magellan Jr.

I had assumed that I'd need a special interface specifically designed for iOS stuff, but would any MIDI to USB interface with a iPhone USB cable work? That would definitely expand the usefulness of the setup.