AUM (and Audiobus) and IAA

Harro

Since we have AUM (which I like very much and want to use more and more!), I am more aware of how different apps have implemented IAA to behave as IAA-client in AUM as IAA-host. And many times the IAA-integration of apps in AUM fails to work properly. Some examples: Fugue Machine (just updated) doesn't show a IAA-transportbar, nor AUM's (host)icon and doesn't respond to AUM's play-button; Elastic Drums (also just updated) idem dito; Mitosynth (also just updated) shows the IAA-transportbar only on it's Performance-page, but it's always 'grayed out' and shows a half (!) AUM (host)icon; Alchemy has a free movable IAA-transportbar without AUM's (host)icon and idem is always 'grayed out'.; iSymphonic - after start up - always (!!) shows a dialog asking if I want to use 'IAA MIDI only' or 'IAA MIDI and CoreMIDI' and after confirming that I want 'IAA MIDI and CoreMIDI' (because 'IAA MIDI only' never works) shows no IAA-transportbar, but only the AUM-host-icon (better than nothing)... And so on and so forth... Grrr., you never know what you get.
Some apps load directly as Source or Insert in AUM and others fail to do so (as IAA app) and have to be loaded outside AUM first (like f.i. DM1 (updated a few minutes ago) - has to be loaded before AUM, but starts perfectly after hitting AUM's play-button). Grrr, because I never remember which ones do or don't...

It seems to me that IAA-apps in Audiobus work better. Fugue Machine reacts to the AB-playbutton, DM1 loads after hitting AB's +-button and reacts to the AB-playbutton, etc, etc. And most (maybe all) of the AB-apps show the AB-panel!

Is IAA so hard to implement in the right way for a dev.? Or is this an IOS-thing that will be solved with IOS 10? Or is it my iPad Air? And am I the only one who's bothering this?

In the meantime I had a great session with Fugue Machine with 4 midi-channels to 4 parts in iSymphonic Orchestra through AUFX:Space (all) in Audiobus! (Which I first set up in AUM, but couldn't start FM from there and had to switch to FM via the iPad's Home-button-doubleclick (grr).

j_liljedahl

Indeed, what you see is the result of bad documentation and lack of communication of "best practices" for IAA.
The reason it works as expected in Audiobus is because those apps have first and foremost implemented the Audiobus SDK, which builds on IAA for the actual streaming of audio, and thus gives the basic IAA compatibility "for free", but does not use any of the other IAA mechanisms available, such as host transport panel, switch-to-host, switch-to-other-node, host sync, and IAA-MIDI. So, most IAA compatible apps might not have even been tested in IAA hosts like AUM, MTS, Cubasis or Auria, and are thus buggy or bad behaving in those setups.

I'm planning to write a complete guide to implementing all parts of IAA (combined with Audiobus) as well as Ableton Link, feel free to send devs my way and maybe I can help them out a bit

rt1zan

@j_liljedahl Question. When I choose any of the AUFX apps as IAA in a host, I usually see an option that has "(MIDI)" at the end of it and one without. How do the two options differ?

j_liljedahl

@rt1zan said:
@j_liljedahl Question. When I choose any of the AUFX apps as IAA in a host, I usually see an option that has "(MIDI)" at the end of it and one without. How do the two options differ?

The MIDI ones are "Music effects" instead of just "Effects", meaning that they can take IAA-MIDI input, which is a way to send MIDI directly to a hosted IAA app instead of going through the hassle of Virtual MIDI.

JC_vt

Thanks for these explanations. Could you explain why it is not set up to allow midi generators like Fugue machine to stack on top of synths? Easy in AB, the way I usually work

Harro

See the answers to your own question here: https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/comment/210678
And thank you @j_liljedahl for answering mine.

j_liljedahl

@JC_vt said:
Thanks for these explanations. Could you explain why it is not set up to allow midi generators like Fugue machine to stack on top of synths? Easy in AB, the way I usually work

AB has no idea of MIDI so I'm not sure what you're talking about. See my answer for your other post of this question, that Harro pointed you at above.

rt1zan

Thanks for the explanation @j_liljedahl. Keep up the brilliant work as always!