Input options and microphones

[dominicperry]

Although this is a bit of a PITA in one way, in another it's a welcome evolution - you will be able to use external A/D and D/A convertors on an iPhone. There's really no way the in-phone convertors and their associated analog circuitry are anything other than mediocre. The iAudioInterface (and other interfaces) improve on the analog circuitry (transformers, line drivers etc) but there's no way to improve on the A/D & D/A on a 3GS. So, on an iPhone4 you now have two options - if you want quick and dirty, but nicely convenient and portable use the headphone/mic jack. If you want sky-is-the-limit quality then use external mic-pres and external conversion.

Dominic

[jorgren]

pwnified,

I'll document the reverb in a format that's generic (i.e. not just a Reaktor layout) and send it over. I was obsessed with efficiency as I developed it, because the platform I use (Reaktor) is not all that efficient - so my design has to be as simple as possible. It's built with about a dozen allpass units, which are nested (x3) and cascaded (x4). Each allpass is slowly modulated in delay by a fraction of a millisecond, and the modulation is equal and opposite on alternating allpasses, so it masks any pitch changes (which would be tiny anyway). Also, I have an early-reflection filter which is 3 cascaded 8-tap delays (equivalent to a 512-tap FIR). The allpass lengths and the FIR taps are exponentially spaced.

[jorgren]

I've actually been quite impressed with the A/D on the dock port, and I appreciate the tiny size of the mic I can use with it. But if we are required to add our own from now on, so be it. As long as Apple doesn't screw it up again with each succeeding release. We need some kind of stability, or our market will never develop; there will be endless compatibility issues. You know, like Windows machines.

[andydoc]

Hi, I have a Blue Yeti and camera connector, which work fine with other Ipad recording apps, such as FiRe, but every time I try to use the Yeti with DAW Multitrack, I just get the universal red circle and slash for "prohibited" over the input fader. No messages about low power are displayed, and no improvement even without any monitoring headphones connected to the mike at all. Initially, I *think* the mike would function briefly for a second or so, but I'm not really sure. Varying the mike gain setting, use of stereo vs. mono patterns, use of headphones, using different headphone volumes, all change nothing. I reset the Ipad, and actually did a full restore, with no improvement. If I pull out the USB connector, the DAW Multitrack switches to the Ipad's mike, the input fader has a signal and the red circle/slash vanishes, and all operation is as expected. Reconnect the Yetti (even with a powered hub) and The "Halt" symbol reappears, and recording is no longer possible. If I change to another (simple) recording app, the Yetti works just fine. Changing settings such as buffer size or auto input doesn't help.
I have an ex-jailbroken (no longer) 32GB wifi/cellular Ipad, an earlyish model running 3.2.2(7B500). Changing cords or wiggling connectors does nothing. As I want to do multitrack recording, you can imagine how frustrated I feel. If anyone has any ideas about fixing the problem, they would be very much appreciated, as I am at my wits end...Thanks, Andy

[dstole]

Hello again,

Quick question.
Has anyone tried the new MOTU Microbook USB interface with the USB connection Kit?

The documentation states it is...
- 4-input, 2-output bus-powered "plug-and-play" USB audio interface for Mac and Windows.

Would that mean it is compliant with the iPad?
Any thoughts?

More info at http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ ... mmary.html

Thank you in advance.

[pwnified]

Reconnect the Yetti (even with a powered hub) and The "Halt" symbol reappears, and recording is no longer possible. If I change to another (simple) recording app, the Yetti works just fine.

If you tap the input fader, are there 2 buttons labeled left and right? If yes, make sure they are both selected.

[pwnified]

I'll document the reverb in a format that's generic (i.e. not just a Reaktor layout) and send it over.

Sounds awesome jorgren. Currently I'm in optimization hell (ok it's not hell, it's heaven it's actually fun to work on). MultiTrack actually imposes a bunch of extra constraints in addition to the ones already in the system.
A reverb of that complexity is going to be tough. I'm not sure I can use the optimization techniques I used on the eq and compressor on a reverb (or any effect with a tail). The last thing I want is a progress bar, but if we want to keep quality and also support older devices it might be required. The only other alternative is to do an autofreeze in the background per track and that uses a mass of filespace and all the associated file management headaches. Reverb is the most requested effect, but it's also the most processor intensive and hardest to do right. I'll try to think of something.

[andydoc]

To Pawnify:

"If you tap the input fader, are there 2 buttons labeled left and right? If yes, make sure they are both selected."

Thank you so much. PROBLEM SOLVED!

Andy

[beyond]

Hello again,

Quick question.
Has anyone tried the new MOTU Microbook USB interface with the USB connection Kit?

The documentation states it is...
- 4-input, 2-output bus-powered "plug-and-play" USB audio interface for Mac and Windows.

Would that mean it is compliant with the iPad?
Any thoughts?

More info at http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/ ... mmary.html

Thank you in advance.

This looks good, but my concern would be whether it would work without drivers. That's what I like about the cakewalk usb interface cable with 1/4" input, as it works fine with no drivers. HOWEVER, I will say that the cakewalk interface does include drivers, but it has a specific switch in case you're unable to load the drivers, which is perfect for the iPad.

Would be interested to hear more about this microbook though, since it has four 1/4" inputs instead of just one -- that could enable realtime, multipart recording via MultiTrack!

Seeing as it's $250 (2.5 times more than the cakewalk ua-1g), I won't be the guinea pig on this one, but if someone else has a positive experience with it, I'd love to hear about it!

In case anyone's wondering what the cakewalk cable/interface is that I'm mentioning, here it is at guitar center:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Cakewalk-UA ... 1448466.gc

[DavePDX]

I just tried Ampkit with the MobilePre USB interface on my iPad, and I'm amazed. This app is incredibly versatile, and sounds fantastic. I've joined the write-in campaign to get them to add copy/paste so we can use it more easily with MultiTrack. Better still, maybe Harmonicdog should work with them to create a plug-in version of AmpKit for Multitrack!