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14 Day Test Drive of the new 2018 9.7" iPad
I pulled trigger on my iPad plans and got the new 2018 iPad model.
Best Buy gives me 14 days to resolve any buyers guilt and upgrade to the Pro models if
something bothers me.
Day 1:
I loaded all my music apps from iTunes and just kept launching them as I gave them
test drives. No crackles yet.
I bought the $99 pen:
It's pen action IS much slower than the Pro models. Like the signature screens
at cash registers. (I'm going to want to fix that sometime down the road).
ForScore music reading:
The notes are small but I can manage without reading glasses. I should be
memorizing a lot of these tumes so maybe that's OK. I can expand the screen
briefly to anaylse tricky passages.
ForScore intelligently move though the music but I can see that the Bluetooth page
turner is going to be very helpful.
So far it's a keeper because I'm expecting a new 12" Model to be announced next month and that's what my wife would need to play Moonlight Sonata with a Bluetooth page turner using the largest Colossus Piano model and some new sonically perfect headphones. She can benefit from my mistakes and I can provide tech support. I think she'd prefer one of those Fatar keybeds over her Korg RH3 too. Maybe one with some back up sounds in case the iPad needs re-charging (the cat eats the cords so I should plan for contingencies).
Day 2 of the Test Drive:
I spent the whole day waiting for the Colossus IAP dark brown „Colossus Concert Grand” model weighing in at 14GB to download to my new 2018 iPad and iPhone 5S. So, no AUM testing yet but my early reaction to the Colossus is positive. Seems to work on the 1GB iPhone5S so far... the odd note is that that iPhone Storage page reports that Colossus consumes 1GB of storage (400MB App + 600MB data). But installing it took my storage use from 12GB to 30GB so having 18GB free is probably a requirement... maybe more if there's some unpacking of a download file. Since it takes 12 hours to download I'm not doing that again until my 14 days are up.
I also dropped into the Apple Store to ask some questions:
Is there a new case for the 2018 Model that would hold my Pen too? Not yet.
If I got it at the Apple Store could I bring it back to upgrade to the Pro models
for 14 days? Yes.
Do you have the IK Multimedia Page turner in stock? No.
What's the advantage of the Smart Keyboard over my bluetooth Apple
keyboard? He gave me an answer that I don't believe so I'll keep asking
elsewhere.
I might just use my aging iPad case for the iPad 2 because it hides
my new iPad in a ratty case that makes it look like I haven't upgraded in 7
years. The case is just slightly larger internally and allows me to hide the Pen
on top of the new 9.7" iPad.
I'll probably spend Day 3 comparing Piano products.
So, far I'm happy with the 2018 decision but I could see me adding a large screen Pro if I want to go paperless, have a better Pen experience and do video or music production seriously.
Comments
The, now expected, excellent and detailed storyline! The Colossus info is amazing, as folks have said you can always uninstall, reinstall it. Yeah, every 12 hours. Still, it must sound amazing. Good luck and happy new gear!
also picked up a 2018 ipad a few weeks ago, and happy to report it's very capable - fulfills my needs/uses for sure.
As far as the apple pen goes, I borrowed one from a friend for a week or so. Personally, I have no interest in getting one after trying it out. I don't even think I'd use one if somebody gave me one free. If I did digital artwork/sketching then maybe... but for using the apple pen with music apps - my fingers work just fine.
Colossus dark brown Concert Grand does sound very good indeed on the iPad and iPhone 5S. But it's so big you'd want to have more than 1GB to do anything else and more than 2GB to use it in complex scenarios. The smaller White and Black sample sets are just less "airy" and distant as the number of layers and sample sizes reduces along with the cost. I suspect that the very bright sounding Black Piano will cut through nicely in a multitrack recording along side a lot of additional samples for other instruments in the mix.
I just love BS-16i as a MIDI/Soundbank for recording and playback environment. Bill Evan's MIDI files playing on the Colossus White or Black pianos sound great with Scott LaFaro playing bass and Paul Motian playing drums.
Anyway, balancing the tradeoffs of quick patch changes against
great sample libraries is going to take more than 14 days.
I have a long list of "test drive" experiments to conduct:
Test Gadget as a multi-tracking recording device with the 16 bars of 8/4 at 20BPM for 6+ minute potential loops. Gadget records MIDI events but the "tape deck" gadget might allow recordings to be created so the huge samples can be loaded and discarded before laying down the piano tracks.
VERDICT TO DATE: The new iPad is an amazing value at $429 with 128GB of Storage and a $99 Pen. I'm getting a lot of joy out of these amazing IOS Apps with the 9.7" User Interface and a Pen to tweak the knobs. Life continues to be good with a side order of frustration for confusing Application interfaces that can only be mastered with hours of focused effort.
PS - I bought Galileo for a better organ and it's everything the Forum said it would be. Those Yonac developers deserve a lot of credit for creating great tools that sound a "cut above" in each category: ToneStack Go, Galieo, etc.
Day 3: I loaded the Colossus IAP dark brown „Colossus Concert Grand” model weighing in at 18GB on my iPhone 5S that has 1GB RAM and 64GB Storage.
To be sure it would install I deleted dozens of installed App (knowing the Apple Store will give them back and IAP"s can be restored).
After installing my storage setting showed a change from 12GB to 30GB but the iPhone stage page shows that Colossus consumes 401.6MB. All the piano samples are treated as data and end up in the "other grey" area.
So, I had 34GB left so I reloaded:
the black "Classic B Grand" piano (1.6GB?) which took hours to install again
Korg Module with IAP's (1.42GB) and Gadget (889MB)
iGrand 635MB
and a dozen music Apps like AUM, audiobus3
I'm at 40GB so I'm going to re-load the Colossus White "Baby Grand" at 6GB(?) and see how my battery fairs while I let this run all day. I usually just start at bedtime and wake up with a new instrument in the house to test drive.
NOTE: Switching between Colossus Piano models is really slow so an iPhone per Piano would be recommended for live work so I need to test powered USB HUB's to try it. I have one around here somewhere or maybe in storage (we moved). Much faster to just buy one on Amazon, right? But that also takes time. The local Radio Shack isn't dead yet.
But battery life with live performing is important and I really hate being chained to a wall power source. So, I'm testing power banks I have handy to develop a correlation between time and mAH's (mili-Amp-Hours). Time is relative and apparently warps so... YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).
OK. White Baby downloading. Back to the iPad...
Today I think I'll test some guitar/bass recording using the iPad as a Looper with the iRig HD interface.
OT(Off-Track): I need an intervention.
I just wandered into a dark corner of the web for a GearHead with Irritable GA Syndrome (say the "GA" out loud even though it means "Gear Acquisition"). Later we can save some time and use IGS. Don't you hate mixing acronyms with actual words. I get PO'ed. I also hate 4 letter acronyms: so don't use IGAS around me.
Is there a filter to prevent me seeing this type of thing?
https://jonnyelwyn.co.uk/film-and-video-editing/ipad-apps-for-film-editors/
I bought the wrong iPad for sure (Just wait. It's coming soon.)
I'd like more RAM for tons of quality samples, Screen Size for reading sheet music and STORAGE to allow lots of recordings/music. But Apple's WWDC is June 4 and they HAVE to announce something new in the iPad line, right?
My 14 days end on May 20.
If I get another 14 days to test the iPad Pro it will end on June 3. Close but no cigar.
I think I'll test the 10.5" next and then test the 12.9" which can take me past the WWDC announcements and allow my investment to be applied to a new model (assuming it ships at announcement). Either way I'll resolve all my questions with real experiments and keep the right option for me.
I loaded the Colossus White 1.8 times on the iPhone 5S. The iPhone battery failed at dinner at 80% loaded. The extra battery wouldn't light it up because the cable I grabbed was bad. Hours wasted as it turns out.
NOTE: The Colossus re-load when I got home started again from 0%. He's paying for that bandwidth every time I re-load these beasts. Adding a "resume" capability could fix that.
I'll try to backup and restore Colossus from my MacBook just to see how long that takes. Can you save versions of Apps with different data images and re-load from those imaged Apps?
White Piano storage stats - 40GB before loading and 45.3 after.
I'll add the Digital Pianos package next. I already have Korg Module with IAP Ivory Piano, Vintage Organs, Orchestra and Scarbee Rhodes loaded. I have Gadget loaded as well.
If I can get multiple devices on the same USB hub from my controller(s) I'd like to have some of these iPhone Pianos velcro'ed to my controller cause they are small but sound great.
The screens of course are impossible to get anything done.
Audiobus set ups might be the trick to fast configs. I'm sure you can tell me when I get there in my testing.
What is zippy when a device is shiny new is not the same a year or two down the road. It is like road construction in underdeveloped countries - they construct roads just for the "now" (without any future thought) and they become too congested after a few years.
A regular iPad can be upgraded up to 2 major versions from the version it came originally with - without many issues. An iPad Pro could possibly be upgraded 3-4 major versions without many issues and would last longer with better performance and an overall higher ROI for processing-intensive apps such as music, flight simulation, games, etc.
Everytime I switch to Cubasis on Air 2 with iOS 11, it reloads from the splash screen - restored from the memory swap file due to insufficient memory (similar to freezing tracks in a DAW). My 2 year old iPhone 6s with iOS 11 does not respond to 3D Touch as quickly as it used to, anymore! It takes a while (dare I call it Latency? LOL) to popup those menus on force-touching the app icons. That does not make sense in apps that have 3D touch implemented, does it?
BLUETOOTH: By the way, turning off Bluetooth from the Control Center does not really turn it off completely anymore! It still keeps it on for iWatch, EarPods, HomePod, etc. To turn it off completely (if you are not using iWatch, etc), go to Settings > Bluetooth and turn it off from there so your battery can last longer. It is dumb of Apple to keep Bluetooth on in the background even when we do not have any iWatch, etc. registered on our account or paired with the device.
BATTERY: Check Settings > Battery to see which apps are consuming more memory and close them to extend your battery.
BACKGROUND: Background processing is defaulted to ON in some apps such as GeoShred (turn it off from its settings - every time) and hardcoded as ON in some apps such as Syntorial (for use as IAA - close the app after use).
I experienced these device patterns with Intel-based computers from 1985 to present.
Software developer's test their software on the latest hardware but are forced to test it a few rev's back. They create great performance on the newest chips and accept degraded performance on the older models since their current revenue streams derive from the sales of the new models. The older models are often support burdons (thought paid for support was a hugely profitable business).
Some of these effects trained the users not to pay for support and just buy the new widget to get stability and performance.
Users outsmarted the system by cancelling support contracts.
Software developers continue to add new software features into the base "control software" know as the Operating System (i.e. iOS). The new features create new capabilities like "Wireless Input Brain Implants" (WIBI) (oops,I let that slip). Don't spread that around, OK?
LEGAL TEXT: Un-announced features may not see public release.
So, far these implants are causing brain tumors but we'll keep working on the implementation. It shows great promise for what was traditionally called a "Band". The "virtual speakers" can leverage "Internal Electronic Ear Webs" (IEEW). Oops, see LEGAL.
Again some literal "bugs" to be worked out before this technology will be released on an unsuspecting public. IEEW can also allow Service Providers to monetize customers as remote "sensors" so the business model might allow free implants to grow the "Internet of Tools" (IOT). LEGAL: change Tools to Customers.
Anyway. Where was I before I released our product plans?
Oh,yes. Stability and Performance are moving targets... moving money from the "Audience" to the "Company" based upon traditional economic models.
Batteries, by the way, will become less of an issue when we stabilize the ability to tap into Blood Sugars to power the internal "Net" with the "Electronic Internal Environment of Input and Outputs" (E-I-E-I-O)... code named "Old MacDonald".
So, the pattern leveraging Moore's Law is Next Year you'll get more performance at the same or lower cost. Smart minds just wait... some have been waiting since the first iteration of the "PC" and saved a small fortune overtime. Of course, typewriter maintain costs have consumed all their savings.
FYI: Did you know that BlueTooth is called that due to lab subjects teeth glowing faintly blue in darkness. Turn the lights off... Can you see it?
I hope this helps.
Great story, but it’s actually named after a viking king.
Turning off Bluetooth does not help your battery life on your new iPad. You may consider this because of privacy concerns, but not because of saving battery power.
Yep, it is named after some Cnut.
Yes. Cnut also had teeth that glowed in the dark... right?
(Hopefully someone understood that was a joke about the
E-I-E-I-O stuff).
But seriously, code writers consume all the power of new chips and make the older chips run their code anyway and you think you are trying to kill off the older model. But they are just making new functionality to encourage you to upgrade.
On another Forum someone advised me to try Ravenscroft 275 and forget the Colossus "large" download Pianos.
TESTING. TESTING. Is this Mic on?
I'm done testing and I'm keeping the $429 2018 iPad.
It's the best value. What I loose by not upgrading to the Pro models:
But laying the 2018 on it's side (Landscape mode) produces larger
Music fonts than the Pro's BUT it requires more ForScore gestures (or
Clicks on a BlueTooth footswitch which I'd like to have money for)
I want more system RAM than 2GB but I can get it by:
Upgrading my iPhone to a Phone 8 Plus, iPhone X or iPhone 7 Plus w 3GB
This Slow behavior is the best iPad Pen I've ever experienced so I'm not testing this
anytime soon and it's fine for tweak the GUI on App Knobs and Sliders.
2GB is not an unnatural constraint in a iPad for most workload/workflows
To make it fail I have to load a lot more samples than I really need.
So, I am holding pat and waiting to see what new options the WWDC gives us on
June 4. If there's a some benefit to a new model I'll go to Best Buy and offer them something in exchange to allow an upgrade.
WWDC came and no new hardware was announced. I'm sticking with the 2018 iPad but I do want more RAM but I have discovered the power of IDAM to use more devices with the MacBook Pro as my recording DAW.
I don't use any sheet music or read sheet music on iPads, but I was just curious about one thing.
Why would the 2018 9.7" iPad produce larger music fonts in landscape mode than the 10.5" Pro or the 12.9" Pro in landscape? I'm not sure that I understood that completely.
I was implying that the 2018 in Landscape has larger fonts than the Pro's in Portrait mode.
People tend to buy the Pro's just to see somethng like a printed page but showing that page in a scrolling window (which is how I view the 2018 in Landscape) is an acceptable approach at 40-60% off the price of the Pro's. Does that help clear up any confusion I created? Then the scrolling view of the page is controlled by the paging App. ForScore advances scrolling when the whole page is not in the view window.
Ok, I understand what you meant now, thanks!
@u0421793 watches his joke disappearing in the distance unnoticed. (Not by everyone though).