Members ElectricPuppy Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 Am I alone in thinking that these iPad accessories are ridiculous? If I want more than one thing to run at once, I need buy an iPad for each function ($$$) and the gizmo, too. If it can then only do one thing and costs that much, I'd rather have a designed-for-the-purpose machine. And what happens when iOS 6 or 7 comes out, do these gizmos still work? I dunno. it smacks of hipster gimmickry to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members r05c03 Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 Are you referring to apps or hardware accessories. Some apps can be run simultaneously, even controlled with MIDI while other are apps open (though latency can be a problem). I use my iPad and the synth based apps on it as a source of sounds for my Octatrack. I do not think my use is gimmickry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted January 19, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 Mostly I whine about the hardware add-on thingies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members donaldcrunk Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 haha, i was just thinking that. yes it is getting ridiculous. srsly, wut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted January 19, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 Dat Behr mixer. Seriously, they put all that work into the rest of the hardware design and then said, "Oh but it's too much trouble to embed a controller and touch screen and write software for it. Instead, we'll make an iPad slot and write software for that instead." Exactly how does making this thing an iPad dock a value-add? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members donaldcrunk Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 i haven't even looked at the stats or features or anything. i assume it just provides like 2in/2out with the ipad, so you can... uh.. record the stereo output of your giant new behringer ultradesk to garage band. or maybe run some behringer plugins so you can further EQ your mix, the Behringer way. i.e., with way too many extra steps. i have no idea. the alesis etch a sketch is another one so, you're a guitarist. you can spend 800 dollars on an ipad and this thing, and have a multieffects unit. or, you could spend that same amount and get like... you know... a ton of REAL guitar equipment. i get the whole amp modeling thing, especially for home studio use, but come onnnnnnnn it's just a gimmick! just buy a damn POD or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cresshead Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 aleis Drum dock http://www.alesis.com/dmdock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cresshead Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 akai mc fly [back to the future maybe!] http://www.akaiprompc.com/mpcfly.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members donaldcrunk Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 i do kind of like the Fly, simply because they did a nice job of integration. alesis, you did not. sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mildbill Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 I don't get any of the 'Ixxxx' stuff. Probably because I never had an I-phone, I-pad, I-anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 I like the Fly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hogger Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 I can see how initially one might think the iPad gadgets are senseless, but I see a lot of benefit to musical gadgets that outsource functionality to an iPad. Why does every device need its own brain, its own attempt at touchscreen, its own hi-res color display, etc..? For many things it makes good sense to outsource those to something that has a lot of processing power, a great (if not the best) touchscreen and display, wifi, bluetooth, audio i/o, video out, and storage? Not to mention, it's portable and can be used away from the iGadget. The IODock, for instance, is very useful. MIDI-latency aside, it (plus an iPad2) creates one of the most portable sample players available. I don't think I'll be carting my Akai S6000 around any more once the MIDI latency issues with the iPad+ioDock+Bismark are addressed. For a mixer, I can hardly wait until someone offers a 2-rackspace 16 channel mixer that is nothing but XLR/hi-z I/O, DSPs, and is completely controlled via an iPad over wifi. The soundman sits with an ipad across the room controlling everything. No light needed, no sound booth needed. Build the thing with, say, six aux sends, and each performer can control his own monitor mix via his own iPad if desired. How could it not be very useful, and very affordable. This concept removes practically all of the moving parts in a mixer, a huge amount of the circuitry is no longer needed. Now that I've said all that, I don't get how somebody couldn't "get it" when it comes to iPads as remote mixer controllers. Like I alluded to above though, the MIDI latency is an issue with the IODock. I gave mine yet one more chance at a gig last weekend, and wound up ignoring the thing after the 1st set. I've got a wonderfully-sounding rhodes multisample on the iPad, but the MIDI latency is just unbearable for me. Way too noticeable. I don't know if it's caused by the iPad's processor limitations, its audio out limitations, or Alesis's audio or MIDI implementation. If they (Apple, or Bismark, or Alesis) gets that fixed, then the iPad can be killer sample player. Sunrizer is a pretty killer virtual analog synth too. Now, regarding trying to do multiple things with an iPad at once, I can understand that being pretty iffy. Say you're using it as a synth via IODock, and you're using it as a mixer controller via wifi, is it reasonable to think you could switch back and forth between those apps anytime needed? Dunno about that one. If you're the keyboardist AND the soundman, it sounds like quite a pain in the ass to accomplish with one iPad. It could be done though, depending on how much mixing you really need to tweak during a show (hopefully not much). All-in-all, I'm in the camp that thinks we'll see a lot of iPads being used in music. Time will tell... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members donaldcrunk Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 i don't think ipads are not useful musically, i think putting a dock on a giant piece of crap mixer so you can 'draw' your EQ curves (one channel thru at a time probably) is not adding value. a mixer like the behringer above doesn't benefit from this addition. it's a mixer. a rackmount mixer with wifi control like you described would be a completely different story, and those do exist in the audio installation world aplenty. i wired some up in a megachurch south of Indianapolis once. control wasn't via Ipad back then, but it probably is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Metrosonus Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 i do kind of like the Fly, simply because they did a nice job of integration. alesis, you did not. sorry. my assessment entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hogger Posted January 19, 2012 Members Share Posted January 19, 2012 a mixer like the behringer above doesn't benefit from this addition. it's a mixer. I agree. That's just not helping much. It's huge, is basically the same as any non-iPad'd mixer, especially if the faders aren't motorized. The iPad-controlled mixer I'm thinking of wouldn't need any physical faders, and you could save all the settings after a show. Next time you play that venue you plug everything back into the same spot as last time, recall the mix from the last show, and you're off to a really good start, mix-wise. Give each musician a little micstand-mounted powered monitor like the Mackie or the Behringer B205D, fed by a separate aux send on the mixer, and you've got yourself a very cool setup. My band has three of us using those little micstand-mounted monitors and we have freed up all kinds of space, and the stage volume is quieter. Getting separate mixes to each is the only hurdle we've got left regarding our monitor issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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