Using Multiple MIDI Devices: Interface, Dock, IDAM?

Enkerli

Is there a good solution to get multiple DIN-5 and USB-MIDI devices connected to an iOS device?

As a macOS user, strikes me that Inter-Devices Audio and MIDI can be a neat solution for me. Plugging a Lightning cable between my MacBook Pro and my iPhone means that any MIDI device into the laptop (using a USB hub) can communicate with my iPhone with low latency. (Since my iPad 4 doesn’t support iOS 11, it only does the previous IDAM, which didn’t do MIDI.)

Maybe there’s a better way to do things? One which also works with Windows. And Linux?

For instance, do iConnectivity interfaces (say, iConnectMIDI4+) allow for multiple USB-MIDI devices apart from the the DIN-5 ones?

Was checking iPad docks and such. Sounds like the Focusrite iTrack Dock is pretty much the only commonly available dock which works with Lightning (iPhone 5 or iPad 4 and newer). As people have pointed out on this forum at the time of the iTrack Dock release, though it does work as USB MIDI host, it only handles one USB-MIDI device at a time.

There’s also the Alesis iO Dock II which works with both Lightning and 30-pin, but they’re harder to find, potentially discontinued, and probably more expensive. Same thing for the Lightning version of the Belkin dock. Though Behringer announced a Lightning version of their iStudio dock a while back (iS202 Thunder), it sounds like it never made it through production (sounds like Behringer is good at overpromising and underdelivering). None of these allow for multiple MIDI controllers to be connected, AFAICT.

So… What are people using to get multiple devices working on an iOS device?

(My setup is such that switching between MIDI devices isn’t too much of a pain. But my midterm goal is to integrate things in a certain way.)

Thanks!

Will

I use the iConnectAudio 4 along with an old school 8x8 midi router for more DIN connectivity (the Audio only had a single DIN I/O pair). You can connect a USB hub to any of the iconnect devices and it will recognize up to 8 discreet USB MIDI devices.

You should be able to connect a class compliant multiport MIDI Interface into that hub and have all of the ports be addressable. I've never tried this but have seen the settings in their iConfig app that allows you to set how many inputs or outputs on a given USB device it should make available.

They're sort of made for and marketed at the problem you're aiming to solve. I'd start there. They have some shortcomings for sure but if you can buy it from a place with a reasonable return policy, yeah, start there.

Enkerli

@syrupcore said:
They're sort of made for and marketed at the problem you're aiming to solve. I'd start there. They have some shortcomings for sure but if you can buy it from a place with a reasonable return policy, yeah, start there.

Thanks! Does make sense.

What made things a bit more confusing to me, in the marketing material, has to do with features which overlap with IDAM (or Studiomux). Sharing the audio between an iOS device and a laptop/desktop is awesome, but it’s easily done without a hardware interface.

You do have a point, though. Some of those interfaces are reasonably priced, so maybe it’s justified.

So, what are some of the shortcomings?

Processaurus

@Enkerli said:

@syrupcore said:
They're sort of made for and marketed at the problem you're aiming to solve. I'd start there. They have some shortcomings for sure but if you can buy it from a place with a reasonable return policy, yeah, start there.

Thanks! Does make sense.

What made things a bit more confusing to me, in the marketing material, has to do with features which overlap with IDAM (or Studiomux). Sharing the audio between an iOS device and a laptop/desktop is awesome, but it’s easily done without a hardware interface.

You do have a point, though. Some of those interfaces are reasonably priced, so maybe it’s justified.

So, what are some of the shortcomings?

I use the icm4 and ica4+ , not many shortcomings, but I'll take a stab.

There is some compatability issue with the ica4+ and my monoprice powered usb hub, that i use in the host port, for using a few usb midi controllers. I have to unplug, and replug it, to get the ica4+ to recognize it, on boot up, or if you save your settings and reboot the interface. I'm trying a different powered hub to see if it fixes it.

If you have a second ipad, you have to pay for a second, special iconnect to lightning cable, and they're proprietary and expensive. I'm happy I did though, because now it charges the ipad. You can use a cck and regular usb cable, and it works fine, it just doesn't charge.

The ica4+ Audio mixer is sorta buried in their app you use to control it. The app is fine, but not great. The computer version is better.

If you get one, you MUST plug it into a computer and change the interface's name to something shorter, BEFORE you ever plug it into your ipad. Otherwise the ipad remembers the names of the 30 midi ports forever, and in plenty of apps, you have a list that looks like:

iConnectaudi...
iConnectaudi...
iConnectaudi...
iConnectaudi...

Other than those things it's great. They're the interface for anyone going deep with midi and audio routing in ios.

Enkerli

@Processaurus said:

So, what are some of the shortcomings?

I use the icm4 and ica4+ , not many shortcomings, but I'll take a stab.

Thanks a lot! Those do help me a lot. Got an iPad and an iPhone. Would probably like using both at the same time, on occasion, especially since the iPad 4 doesn’t support iOS 11 but there are several iPad-only musicking apps that my iPhone 6s Plus doesn’t support.

Something which wasn’t clear to me (and still isn’t fully confirmed): the ICA4+ can work with a USB hub but the ICA2+ can’t, right? So it’d be possible to use the ICA4+ to connect several USB-MIDI devices to an iOS device but the same thing isn’t true of the ICA2+?

Since NAMM2018 is coming up soon and it’s quite possible that some manufacturers could announce a MIDI interface for iOS, will wait a few weeks before making a decision. It does sound like the ICA4+ would be a great addition to my setup, though it might be a bit big for my space. Will probably buy a new iPad once the next models are announced, so waiting until then might also work.

Thanks again!

Will

Yep, that stuff!

And, in general, the iConfig app is just a bit of a bear. Slow and kind of overwhelming.

The minimal amount of physical controls for audio IO on the iConnectAudio can be a bummer too. You can adjust the levels from the front panel but you have to push buttons to select Ins or Outs, then select the channel 1-4, then turn the single continuous knob. I rarely need to mess with the IO to be honest so it's not a big deal but...

Isn't there also an issue with the iConnectMIDI having to do with using an audio interface on the iPad? Something like it takes over the audio from the iPad and requires a computer to covert and output? I don't own one but when it came out I recall something along these lines was a deal breaker for me. I could have this totally wrong or there could be a work around at this point so grain of salt, etc.

I don't mean to crater on its shortcomings. I'm totally happy with my iConnectAudio4+.

knewspeak

In my experience it can be really hit and miss, what hub or device you are connecting may work on one iPad but not across all iPads, recently I needed to connect a hub to connect another USB midi device this works fine with my iPad 1, Mini-Retina, intermittently with the Pro 10.5, but not at all with my iPad 4.

Enkerli

@knewspeak said:
In my experience it can be really hit and miss, what hub or device you are connecting may work on one iPad but not across all iPads

Oh! Really good to know. As @syrupcore said, better deal with a vendor which accepts returns. Amazon.ca is probably my best bet, then.

Processaurus

@syrupcore said:
Yep, that stuff!

Isn't there also an issue with the iConnectMIDI having to do with using an audio interface on the iPad? Something like it takes over the audio from the iPad and requires a computer to covert and output? I don't own one but when it came out I recall something along these lines was a deal breaker for me. I could have this totally wrong or there could be a work around at this point so grain of salt, etc.

Yeah, you can't send audio out the headphone jack, when you're plugged in, with the lightning cable. No way to just do midi, because iOS reads it as an audio/midi interface, and doesn't give you options for which hardware to use as audio out.

I was using icm4 with a mac, so was able to make an 'aggregate device' with it, and an actual audio interface. Worked great, the iPad audio comes in on a channel after the physical audio ins. It sounds great, too, keeping the audio digital, 32 bit, the entire path.

Wanting something that didn't take a computer led me to the ica4+, which was a way to get 2 iPads hooked together, and get sound in and out, with one box.

animal

Using ICM4+ here, aggregared with kmix for audio. The great thing about the ICM4+ is the ability to plugin Mac+iPad+iPad, with audio internally routable from any device to any device... . All working greatly here. The trick with audio in/out is, you need to plug in a device, which does ONLY in or out at last. iPads simply rout the last-plugged-in-device, thus, if you plug in an only-out-connection (like the old A/V-cables by Apple), the iPad will still retain the inputsignal, which has been plugged in before, and use the last connection for output. I do this sometimes, works reliably... . Cheers, t