How I've been choosing an audio interface for my iPad

[Wilbury]

I wanted to write a big post about my enthusiastic attempts to find an appropriate audio interface for my iPad to turn it into a full-fledged multi-track recording studio, - a promise contained in many product brochures. But I think that it would be more useful to start straight from the outcome. All my searching has been waste of time. Having tried quite a number of iPad audio interfaces, of which I'll briefly write below, I got myself two DEDICATED pieces of hardware that now constitute the heart of my home studio. These are BOSS BR-800 and Roland SD-50 (the latter being a sound module). End of story.

But before this outcome became obvious, the following iPad "solutions" have been tried and found unsatisfactory:

1. Behringer iS202 dock.
Pros: Inexpensive, about $150. All required connections.
Cons: Poor build quality (30-pin connector is loose and iPad itself does not sit firmly in the dock's tray). The output sound is "contaminated" by electric hissing, expecially the trebles.

2. Alesis iO Dock.
Pros: Same as Behringer. Build quality is okay.
Cons: Output sound goes on and off, MIDI keyboard is not recognised at all (tried different models). To be sure, both the iPad and the dock had the latest firmare as of May 2013.

3. Miditech Midiface II
Pros: Cheap (about $40), has a coaxial SPDIF out.
Cons: Poor connectivity (just line in, line out and phones out), poor ADAC, no direct monitoring, mediocre build quality.

4. Tascam iXZ.
Pros: Inexpensive (about $60), connects to iPad via phones 3,5 jack (leaving the main connector free and making it suitable for all iPad generations).
Cons: Cheap piece of plastic, average build quality, sound "leakage" when overdubbing (a feature of iPad's 3,5 connector).

5. Focusrite iTrack solo
Pros: Nice-looking, iPad-specific.
Cons: No line-in, iPad connection cable is ridiculously short.

So my current impression is that at least thus far there is no complete _solution_ that would enable one to turn iPad into a versatile multitracker with a minimum set of inputs and outputs. On the other hand, the two dedicated boxes (BR-800 and SD-50) seem to provide all I need for high quality home recording. Would be glad to be proven wrong. ))

PS Never tried Griffin's dock, but it does not have MIDI that I consider a must for my particular configuration.
PPS I have not given much attention to interfaces that require camera connection kit, because it just does not feel right to me. If you are not concerned about that as much as I do, you might try functionally similar Roland's Duo-Capture Ex and Focusrite's new Scarlett 6i6.

[dasilvasings]

Thanks a lot for the post - I was about to buy the iS202 or the Alesis. Guess I'll wait for more reviews.

Alfredo did a nice review of the apogee. I stupidly bought the iRig by impulse, and I really regret it. It is very noisy, and I really don't like all the wires around.

[alfstone]

Thanks a lot for the post - I was about to buy the iS202 or the Alesis. Guess I'll wait for more reviews.

Alfredo did a nice review of the apogee. I stupidly bought the iRig by impulse, and I really regret it. It is very noisy, and I really don't like all the wires around.

Yes. IMHO, IF (underlined 100 times) you decide to use the ipad as music recorder, the best solution is the Apogee Jam (if you're a guitar/player) or the Apogee Mic (for voice or acoustic recordings) AND Auria as DAW.
The following article is very interesting:

http://www.iosmusician.com/2013/06/smite-matter-auria-interview.html

But anyway, a completely different world from things such as BR-series recorders...

Alfredo (from the ipad... )

[Wilbury]

Yes, I forgot to mention that Apogee devices were not within the scope of my investigation for a simple reason -- their price that is comparable to the price of iPad itself. Although the quality of this brand is reported to be excellent.

...

And a little update after a few days... I've suddenly stumbled upon a new and seemingly attractive gadget from Line 6, - a new guitar interface for iOS devices called Sonic Port. What I liked about it is that it has a 3,5 line-in connector. Also it doesn't require CCK because it uses a proprietary cable. In fact, it ships with two cables to accommodate both the older 30-pin iPad/iPhone connector and the newer Lightning one, which is cool.

I've ordered the thing and will report my impressions in a few days.

[Wilbury]

Okay, today I got my new Line 6 Sonic Port. And my first impression is that the thing is just great! Reasonably well built, is compatible with both older and newer iPad/iPhone connectors, has a 3.5 stereo line in jack.

I briefly tried it with Garageband and Multitrack DAW. Both work just fine. Also, the Sonic Port can be used with such free apps from Line 6 as Mobile Pod and Jammit.

In all the above applications (except Jammit which I haven't tried so far) the sound quality was very good, way better compared to all other interfaces that I'd tried before (pls, see my initial post in this subject). I even turned off Noise Gate in GB with no apparent humming or hissing to follow.

And one more thing. To be on the safe side, I wanted to buy a spare cable because Sonic Port has a proprietary connector. For the time being though, such cables are not sold separately (at least not in my area), which is probably due to the fact that the interface is very new. However, I ventured to buy a spare cable for Line 6 Mobile Keys as it looked very similar to the one that comes with the Sonic Port. And yes, it works (though Line 6 customer service says it does not).

All in all, I remain convinced that BR800 coupled with a computer is a better music production solution than iPad with all the available peripherals. But iPad can still be used as a mobile alternative, but only in case one has a good interface. And the only good interface that I've come across thus far is Line 6 Sonic Port. I can recommend it.

[DannyB_KY]

Thanks a lot for the post - I was about to buy the iS202 or the Alesis. Guess I'll wait for more reviews.

Alfredo did a nice review of the apogee. I stupidly bought the iRig by impulse, and I really regret it. It is very noisy, and I really don't like all the wires around.

---


Which iRig? They make several models...iRig. iRig HD, iRig Pro, ect....

[dasilvasings]

Hi Danny,

It was the standard irig ($29.99).

In the meanwhile I bought an apogee jam (+/- $100), and I am very happy with it.

In terms of daw, I also got Auria... and now I am starting to understand Alfredo's advice: "IF (underlined 100 times) you decide to use the ipad as music recorder"...

Even with audiobus, there is always quite a bit of interaction between music software and the daw, whetether it is Auria, HarmonicDog DAW or other (perhaps Garageband is the one requires less interaction).

I don't know about others, but moving between apps breaks my concentration. I think I will try to use the ipad only as a source for the microBR or something like that.

Dunno... the ipad is great, but like any tool, you have to know how to use it and how it (will) fit your work method.

[dasilvasings]

Oh, and after almost 1 year with the ipad, Garageband is still a fantastic application.

[64Guitars]

Thanks a lot for the post - I was about to buy the iS202 or the Alesis. Guess I'll wait for more reviews.

Now there's another dock to consider - the Focusrite iTrack Dock.

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=17202.msg249102#msg249102