Members Bobby1Note Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I've been living in the techno-doldrums for quite a while now. I've never owned a cell-phone,,, I've never owned an iPod,,, and I don't own an iPad. I don't have a laptop nor a notebook. Things are about to change. I'm looking for a portable computing device, so I can run some tests using SMAART, or one of the freebie analysis programs that were recommended in the RTA thread. Will something like the 2nd generation iPad, be capable of handling this software? Are there any compatibility issues I should be aware of? (Mac/PC) I thought about a MacBook Pro, but boy they're pricey. Why a MacBook Pro? Because, I have quite a few FireWire devices. I have an Apogee Duet interface, and Alesis HDXR 24ch, the PreSonus 24ch StudioLive, etc. Mind you, I already own an iMac, with FW, so I suppose I could get by with the iMac, solely for those items. I wouldn't necessarily need the portability. As for the Mac laptops, you have to go with a MacBook pro, to get FW. What will the iPad allow me to do? Are there audio ins and outs? Can I playback music from an iPad? I'm considering a 2nd generation model with Wi-Fi, 32gb memory, and a dual-core A5 processor. $569. for a refurbed. Your thoughts/comments are appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al Poulin Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I don't like smartphones - as they seem to suck people into their world and then have them at their mercy.. constantly looking down at their screens typing/texting while driving, while talking with others, while doing anything. Constantly reaching for it in when it produces a sound in anticipation of an email that is received. The smartphone becomes their life. I find it so annoying.... I don't own a cell phone or smartphone. I never wanted an IPod because everybody had one. I didn't want QSC K series because it seemed at one time that they were the most amazing speakers ever created and everyone wanted them because of their 1000 watts of power. The advertisements with the 1000 watt number and people drooling over the number anoyed me so much I truly hated the K series even though I've always love QSC. Kind of like when Metallica started making mellower music to be more popular with the masses. To this day, if someone offered me a set of K12s in exchange for my affordable YX15Ps, I would probably tell them to keep their Ks. :-) I've always liked things that were different. I still use Minidisc as my main fromat for music playback and swear it is the most durable, reliable format ever created. 12 years of using it exclusively for all DJ jobs with not a single failure or skip is my proof. I like using RCF and Yorkville products because most people around here only recognize the JBL, Bose or Peaveys logos for some reason. Don't know where I'm going with this and I still don't understand WHAT it is you're trying to prove with you analysis of the NX55Ps frequency response since I now understand that you were actually talking about its response above 100hz (which I have never had an issue with) and I now have NO IDEA how this relates in any way to its premature limiting - which - as I've mentionned - mostly happen because of its processed deep low frequency boost BELOW 100hz. So, no you probably don't need an Ipad.... Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted December 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Yeah, I don't want a smart-phone, for all the reasons you listed. I couldn't agree more. Whatever mobile device I go with, I'd want versatility. If I can control my StudioLive,,, that's cool. If I can playback audio,,, great. Does it have the processing power to handle an RTA? That's what I'm trying to determine. BTW, this RTA thing, is not only about measuring the NX55p's. I'd also like to use it for other pro-audio applications,,, from measuring SPL at various locations of a venue,,, to setting EQ, etc. I haven't seen an iPad in-the-flesh (small town/ no Apple dealers). When I look at the product specs, I see no reference to a hard-drive (flash?) All I see is 16, 32, or 64 gb's. Apples' site doesn't show me what the i/o is like. I found that a bit odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reson8tor Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 You can use the iPad as an audio analyzer, yes. I don't know what the current state of the art is, but here's something I bookmarked a while back. Interface: http://www.studiosixdigital.com/iaudiointerface2/ Software: http://www.studiosixdigital.com/audiotools/ There are other interfaces out there, and I'm sure someone else here will have more info. There is no "standard I/O" on the iPad as such, it's just whatever the 3rd party manufacturers can manage to finagle with that single flat connector. On the more general question of an iPad's utility.... I just got one as an early Hannukah present from my sweetie. It's an iPad 2, 64 gig, Wifi but no 3G. I don't own a digital mixer yet, but it's in the back of my mind that it could be useful with one, down the road. Mainly what I wanted it for, was to replace set lists and charts on gigs. One of the groups I play in (not a rock band) uses the dreaded sheet music stands on stage, and this looks like a way to consolidate the paperwork and keep things a little more low-profile on stage. Also faster to flip to a different chart when the singer decides she's going to re-arrange our set list on the fly (grumble). I bought the K&M pad holder for a mic stand, and I've been fooling around with an app for charts and set lists called GigPad that looks good. In theory, it could replace the small iPod I carry for intermission music, and also the Peterson Stroboflip and StroboStomp tuners I use (with the Peterson app and a compact audio interface). But that seems like overkill, since neither application really needs that larger screen area. I'd rather just use those smaller dedicated devices for now, and have a little more redundancy. Trying to do too many things with one device makes me nervous, and I can already see the iPad is very tempting to use that way. Now, if someone would just release a nice compact 8-channel digital mixer where I could use an iPad as a remote control, that would be perfect for our gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted December 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Wow, great links Reson8tor, thank you. That interface looks like a cool little device, and it has phantom-power, which the RTA-M mic requires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scarecrowbob Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I really like having my phone-- it changed my world when I could get around by typing in an address into my phone and getting reliable graphical directions. And the best tuner I've ever had is on my phone. But to each his own... I feel a little stupid checking my facebook standing in line at the grocery-- that's a bit dumb. However, I'd encourage you to get a full-on laptop rather than a tablet, as they are quite a bit more useful without being all that much heavier or more expensive. I suppose that not having to cart around a keyboard is nice if you're looking for really, really small, but I gotta have a keyboard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted December 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 That's a thought, ScarecrowBob. A guy showed up at one of my gigs a while back, and we were looking for pre-recorded music to pump through the PA. He had a sweet little Mac laptop or notebook (don't know which model), and he was running a program called Virtual DJ, and he had something like 2500 songs loaded into that thing. I'd sure like to take a second look at that lil' beauty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reson8tor Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I suppose that not having to cart around a keyboard is nice if you're looking for really, really small, but I gotta have a keyboard... This seems to be the current hot solution for having it both ways; it's a keyboard built into an iPad case that connects to the pad via Blootooth: http://www.zagg.com/accessories/logitech-ipad-2-keyboard-case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted December 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Cool accessory. BTW, I'd also like to hear from the StudioLive guys, as well as the PC guys. I don't necessarily need FW, if it's just used for playback and running the RTA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scarecrowbob Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 The keyboard case thing is neat and a very cool design, but the more I think about it, that wouldn't get me all the way to "both ways". I made the majority of my income this year writing on a laptop, but for about the last three months I had a keyboard, mouse, removable hard disk, and extra monitor hooked up to the thing. The desktop I built is faster, and I'm glad to move to it... but for most purposes I felt that the laptop was a great equivalent to a desktop, except when I wanted to take it somewhere. It's logged a whole lot of hours running program music from itunes and just been an all around workhorse for me. It was't as convenient to, say cart around on stage with studio manager, but that is a tradeoff that I'm willing to live with, at least for my situation. I don't think that I could have gotten the same functionality out of a tablet, though, as they don't have as many connectors or a full operating system. A final thought-- if you already have a mac, you would probably do best to stay mac, either tablet or notebook... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drumstix Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 The new breed of Apple ipads, iphones and itouch products are pretty amazing. I just got a new iphone 4s. I just returned a brand new droid bionic. Ive only played around with the iphone on wifi and its very nice after a few hours. seems faster than the polished turd I just returned. Ive only used the siri software 3 times tonight. Ask for a starbucks and UPS store, pulled up quite a few of them in the area. Then to try to make things a little harder, I asked for a pic of a Osprey. In a split second the dam thing asked "do you want me to find pictures of an osprey on the internet? Yes, boom....about 10 pic's popped up! Pretty impressive. Several friends have ipads and they work very well for the short time Ive played with them. High on the want list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I have an iPhone 4, first gen iPad, MacBook Pro, Powerbook, iBook, Flat Panel iMac, iMac 17 and a MacMini. All running all the time. I use Remote at gigs to control the program music during breaks (adjust volume, change songs, pause, play all from over 100' away from the stage). I use my phone as a tuner (best damn tuner ever) and just the other day a friend of mine was talking about a song he played at the University of Wisconsin summer music clinic in 1977. He couldn't think of the name but he could hum the melody. I pull out my iPhone and he hums into it. 20 seconds later we are listening to Abandon's Bolero. It blew him away. Cell phones are evolving and they are starting to be more then a talking and texting device. It is the way of the world. You can resist but someday, they will get you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mutha Goose Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I use the StudioLive with a MacBook Pro and an iPad. I have a freeware RTA in my iPad that I use for wringing out monitors (on occation). There are a few things to note: Just because a computing device has a FW input does not mean you will be able to control your SL with it. The processing requirements are relatively high, so you need to make sure it can handle the overhead. Also, in order to use the iPad with the SL, you must have a computer (PC or MacBook Pro) as far as I am aware. The iPad works pretty well with both platforms, though there may be some benefits with using a Mac (I don't know for sure, but that is the Apple way). And yes, the iPad can play and store music. Additionally, with various 3rd party applications (Touch OSC is particularly powerful) you can use the iPad as a highly configurable midi controaller or to control many other programs on your computing platform. All in all, I have found this worth the investment, but as always YRMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rezrover Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I got a friend with Apple/Mac everything and I hate it. I have trouble just getting the cursor moving around and "windows" will minimize and change and do everything I don't intend on doing. So, as much as he's trying to sell me on Apple/Mac stuff, it just sells me more on PC based stuff, just hate the interface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mutha Goose Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Rezrover: I'm with you. I am not a Mac fan at all. But sometimes you gotta use what you gotta use. Luckily I got my MacBook Pro, fully tricked out for gaming, for a song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rezrover Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Good, I'm glad it's not just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mutha Goose Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Yeah, their interface is completely non-intuitive to me, but then again I began with PCs. The whole Apple concept of "you don't need to know because we do it all for you" just doesn't sit well with me. Not on my computers, and not in my government :-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted December 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I should point out, that although I'm considering a Mac,,, I'm usually on my PC. (like right now). I bought my iMac, strictly for recording, and it's downstairs in the music room. I haven't got it connected to the net, so I seldom ever use it. So far, I've watched a few movies on it, and that's about it.(superb display btw) It'll be a good while before I finish my renovations, and have the recording studio completely set up. My iMac is a 22" flat-panel, and I've loaded it with 4 gigs of RAM, and I have an external drive, Logic Studio, and an Apogee Duet interface. I bought the Duet, for recording acoustic-guitar and vocals, and I later bought the 24 channel Alesis HDXR for band recordings. Later on, I added the 24ch StudioLive. I'm getting there slowly but surely, but at one point, I'm definitely going to need some help integrating all this gear, into a functional recording studio. I've got over 30 mics now, along with large boom-stands, cabling, monitors, etc. I still need a keyboard, percussion, racks, a desk, and room treatment/ booths. Most of the backline gear is already in place (20+ hi-quality guitars, mandolin, ukelele, 6-piece drum-kit, basses, combo-amps, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I'm equally comfortable on both platforms. If I need to really get something done quickly with high quality I use a Mac. I'm talking Pro Tools, Logic, Final Cut, Premiere, DVD Studio Pro, Peak, Photoshop, After Effects, etc... Everything is just so much more logical on the Mac side. I still use PCs everyday but whenever I get a rush project, not is done on Mac. I do understand the learning curve, though. It can be steep if you are fighting it. I've talked dozens of people through it, including 2 at work that bought their first Macs ever last week. They are both having small issues but they are already at a point where they have no more interest in going back to Windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 The whole Apple concept of "you don't need to know because we do it all for you" just doesn't sit well with me. Not on my computers, and not in my government :-). Yup!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted December 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 . The iPad works pretty well with both platforms, though there may be some benefits with using a Mac (I don't know for sure, but that is the Apple way). And yes, the iPad can play and store music. Additionally, with various 3rd party applications (Touch OSC is particularly powerful) you can use the iPad as a highly configurable midi controaller or to control many other programs on your computing platform.All in all, I have found this worth the investment, but as always YRMV AHA !!! I thought so. I was thinking about that last night, when I went to bed. That changes things (possibly). In my studio, I could use my iMac with an iPad, but on the road, I'd need a laptop for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrcpro Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I've been living in the techno-doldrums for quite a while now. I've never owned a cell-phone,,, I've never owned an iPod,,, and I don't own an iPad. I don't have a laptop nor a notebook. Things are about to change. I'm looking for a portable computing device, so I can run some tests using SMAART, or one of the freebie analysis programs that were recommended in the RTA thread. Will something like the 2nd generation iPad, be capable of handling this software? Are there any compatibility issues I should be aware of? (Mac/PC) I thought about a MacBook Pro, but boy they're pricey. Why a MacBook Pro? Because, I have quite a few FireWire devices. I have an Apogee Duet interface, and Alesis HDXR 24ch, the PreSonus 24ch StudioLive, etc. Mind you, I already own an iMac, with FW, so I suppose I could get by with the iMac, solely for those items. I wouldn't necessarily need the portability. As for the Mac laptops, you have to go with a MacBook pro, to get FW. What will the iPad allow me to do? Are there audio ins and outs? Can I playback music from an iPad? I'm considering a 2nd generation model with Wi-Fi, 32gb memory, and a dual-core A5 processor. $569. for a refurbed. Your thoughts/comments are appreciated. My thoughts (strong thoughts!) are to get a notebook first. Tablets are fun little secondary devices, but at this point that's all they are. You don't need to go Apple. My work computer is a Toshiba Qosmio (Firewire, i7, backlit keyboard) which I picked up for around $1000 last year. It also has a backlit keyboard which I highly recommend for anyone doing club work. Macs are good though - not taking sides here - just pointing out that there are PC alternatives for half the price. My tablet is a Samsung Galaxy 5 - kind of my new toy. I like the 5" screen size - just big enough to do things but small enough to put in my pocket. I haven't fully discovered all it can do, but so far I'm very impressed with it - and Google Voice (I can't believe this is free!). I'm hardly using my cell phone at all anymore, and I'm seriously thinking about canceling it out after this billing cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I use a first gen iPad with my SL24.4.2 After reading about compatibility issues with different FireWire chipsets, and not wanting to spend an arm and a leg, I picked up a used Mac Mini for $400. It's not the newest generation, but back one gen. I also have a dedicated N-Band router for it as well. They are both mounted in the back of my light controller case, for easy setup. I have a monitor, Bluetooth mouse & keyboard, but I'm about to give those up, since I can now control the MacMini from an app called SplashTop. It's great being able to record gigs, and to mix remotely from anywhere in the room... Some pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reson8tor Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I don't think that I could have gotten the same functionality out of a tablet, though, as they don't have as many connectors or a full operating system. Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that the bluetooth keyboard solutions would let everyone have it both ways. We all have different needs. It would work for me either, as a full substitute for a laptop. One of the things I'm having a little trouble getting my head around, is that you don't have full access to an underlying OS and file system on the iPad, like you would on a laptop. Each app runs its own little locked-off file management system. For example, I've moved a bunch of PDF's into that sheet music app I'm testing, and it will let me create internal folders ("binders") and set lists. But if I decide I want to use another app for this, I'll have to do that all over again -- import PDF's to that other application, create new internal set lists, and so on. There is no underlying file system tree where I have access for file storage. Its' all based on individual apps. The closest thing you have to a general file system is Apple's "cloud" where they want you to store data from things like the music player (ugh). I understand why they designed it this way -- partly for app stability and partly because it's aimed at people who don't want to dig under the hood and want everything to "just work." But I'm a a longtime PC guy who grew up with CPM and DOS, and I'm used to dealing directly with the OS' file system. So it's a little grating to be dealing with apps that have their data in these walled-off gardens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Yeah, their interface is completely non-intuitive to me, but then again I began with PCs. The whole Apple concept of "you don't need to know because we do it all for you" just doesn't sit well with me. Not on my computers, and not in my government :-). IMO, this is a gross oversimplification. The non-intuitive interface is kind of funny. Where do you think the idea for windows came from? As for the philosophy, there's more to the restrictiveness on apps and hardware than "we do it all for you". Not to get too political on a sound forum and, for the record, I'm a pretty staunch conservative, but I agree that Mac keeps a tighter lid on things. If that makes Mac more of a socialist hardware/software philosophy, then Microsoft is one of almost total anarchy. That said, you can't really compare the business models to governments. I don't really want the government telling me what's what and restricting my rights, blah blah blah. When it comes to a product however, it is often better to have standards and guidelines versus allowing everything under the sun with little to no regard to quality control or compatibility. Having control over hardware and software means better compatibility and tight integration with nearly zero compatibility issues. Resale is also much much better. A 2-3 yr old macbook can still fetch 2/3 of the original price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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