Need help recording iPad vocals: Mics, Interfaces, Preamps

jesse_ohio

It's proprietary. There are 4 jacks on the One itself:

1. DC power input jack
2. USB input/output jack. This is a proprietary connection, roughly the same size as a Mini USB jack but unique to Apogee
   • You can plug either the Lightning adapter cable, the 30-pin dock adapter cable, or the standard USB cable nto this jack.
   • The standard USB cable (Apogee proprietary jack to USB) is for connecting the One to a Mac for use in a desktop DAW or for firmware updates.
   • Plugging the standard USB cable into a 30-pin/Lightning CCK/USB adapter will NOT work on the iPad. You must use the native Lightning or Dock adapter cables.
3. Instrument input jack. This is another proprietary jack which the One's breakout cable plugs into (which has one 1/4" guitar input and one XLR mic input).
4. 1/8" Headphone jack, on the bottom of the One.

Thanks for the compliment. I'm still learning the best way to use the One, so I'm hoping to improve. It turned out a lot better than it would have using my old hardware though, for guitar and vocals both.

Yes, at the discounted price the One is a no-brainer assuming you are aware of its shortcomings/frustrations and are okay with living with them. I knew about a couple of them ahead of time because I researched it meticulously. So I'm okay with it overall.

Where are you ordering from? I suspect most music-oriented retailers like Sweetwater will have new stock. Amazon, being pretty much a big box warehouse retailer, was probably the worst place to buy mine, but I had a large gift card balance, so it made sense for me. Thankfully they went above and beyond to help defray the cable price.

Ringleader

Uh oh, that's a deal breaker if I can't use the usb connector with the ipad! Even with a powered usb hub? If so, looks like it will be going back after all. :-(

jesse_ohio

Ringleader said:

Uh oh, that's a deal breaker if I can't use the usb connector with the ipad! Looks like it will be going back after all. :-(

Let me be clear: You can definitely use the device with the iPad as along as you use the included cables (Lightning or 30-pin). There is a third cable which connects the One to a regular old USB-A jack, for use on a Mac only.

Why is that a dealbreaker if you don't mind my asking?

Ringleader

It is a deal breaker because I built a custom midi footcontroller that only has a usb connection (no midi connectors). I want to use it simultaneously with the one for loopy HD. If I use the one's lightning cable, then I won't have a USB port available to plug in the midi controller (or my fishman triple play for that matter) so all connections have to be usb. I realize I lose the ipad charging capability of the one when I incorporate a CCK into the equation, but I'm in it for the converters and built in mic.

jesse_ohio

Ahhh, okay. I guess I should have read the rest of the thread more carefully, ha!

Just to be certain I just tried it again. And it looks like I lied before, because it DOES work -- just not the Maestro app.

I've got the One plugged into my iPad Mini using the standard USB-A cable into the Apple Lightning USB adapter (CCK). The One has power and the internal mic level LED indicators are working correctly, but the Maestro app does NOT register or display the One as being connected.

However, GarageBand still recognizes that there is an input device attached. I can select instrument channels and stereo input channels the same as I could through the native Lightning cable. I just recorded some test audio into the internal mic with no problems. I don't have an instrument handy but it looks like that would work just fine too.

So I think it may actually work for you, as long as you can live without the Maestro app. The only limitation might be depending on the DAW you use, it might not support switching the One's instrument input types. GarageBand allows you to choose between:

• Inernal Mic + Instrument
• External Mic + Instrument
• External 48V + Instrument

And then you can choose the Input channel (Left, Right or Stereo). This is essentially the same thing the Maestro app does. So WORST case scenario, you would have to use GarageBand to control which of the One's inputs is active if you are using a DAW that doesn't offer this selection. Does that make sense?

Ringleader

Ok that is what i was also worried about. Without maestro, you will always get direct monitoring I assume? So I couldn't use jamup on the guitar signal (100% wet daw sound) in combination with vocals through the built in mic with direct monitoring (100% direct to avoid latency). Dang it this is already getting to be too complicated now that you confirmed that maestro won't work on usb. Thanks so much for this info jesse_ohio!

jesse_ohio

Since I don't have my guitar at the office with me today I can't check that for a certainty. GarageBand does have a Monitor on/off toggle, and I think that does respect the One's selected input channel.

In theory, you can get it to work:

• If you selected Instrument + Internal Mic as the input channel, and then selected the Right stereo channel (which IIRC is the Instrument input), and turned monitoring ON in GB, you would get wet guitar monitoring and dry "direct" monitoring from the internal mic input.
• If you selected the Left stereo channel (which again IIRC is the internal mic channel) with monitoring ON in GB, you would get wet mic monitoring and dry guitar.
• If you selected Stereo input in GB with monitoring on, you would get wet monitoring for both.

You can control the input volume from the One itself using the rotary knob. So you can turn up the internal mic on the One while leaving the guitar input set at wherever you like.

In fact, I'm pretty sure this will work right, because when I was recording that song, I noticed that the internal mic was picking up my guitar strumming (real world acoustic sound being fed into my monitoring headphones). Even though I was only recording the guitar input, I was still monitoring the dry mic input. So I just turned that input down on the One itself with the knob so I didn't hear it in my monitors.

I think you should try it. I bet it will work and not be that complicated in the end.

Ringleader

I have a tascam us-800 and the main issue with that is there is no way to disable the direct monitoring, unless you bypass the built in outputs and monitor from the ipad headphone jack (which defeats the purpose if you ask me). So when plugging into jamup you hear the direct squeaky clean signal mixed in with the processed signal. I still suspect that this is how the one will react without maestro, and what you said kind of confirms it. You heard the direct monitoring even when you weren't expecting to. I'll take another look at the manual and see what that level control on the unit actually controls and might still try it - especially if it has already been shipped.

jesse_ohio

The level knob on the One can control any of the levels. You physically push in on the knob to cycle between channels:

1. Internal Mic
2. External Mic
3. Instrument
4. Device outptut (this is the "total volume control", and is the same as the volume rocker buttons on the iPad)

So if you wanted to hear the wet guitar mix in your monitors, you would just have to turn monitoring on in GB for the guitar channel. You would only hear the dry mix from the One's mic, NOT from the guitar input. If you don't want to hear the dry mic, simply turn the mic input down.

Ringleader

jesse_ohio said:
You would only hear the dry mix from the One's mic, NOT from the guitar input.

Really?! Now that is interesting. I didn't realize that the two inputs were handled differently inside the unit. There's hope yet!

jesse_ohio

Yes. Hopefully we're on the same page now, haha, sorry for the confusion. Keep me posted with your results!

A couple more items in the "positive" category that I forgot to specifically mention this in my review above:

• The sound quality of the One as an output device is simply fantastic. Using this as a DAC for music listening is heavenly... I've got a good pair of IEMs that aren't that impressive on the iPad's headphone amp alone, but man, they're beautiful through the One.
• The built-in charging is really handy. Of course since using batteries with the One is next to impossible, it's a small victory.