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MIDI connection between two iPads : I tried a few setups, what works best for you ?

Hi,
I ‘m looking for the best MIDI connection between 2 iPads., so I’m asking users who are used to do it, the pros and the cons, because I tried a few but nothing satisfies me so far. Yet I’ve got fiber and my wifi speeds like a Formula 1... But even with a dedicated private network, I’ve got way more lag and sync issues than with Bluetooth. Plus I prefer not using a Mac. So here’s the kind of setup :
- a MIDI app on iPad 1 (Xequence, Polyphase, Gestrument, LK...) controlling apps on iPad 2 (AUM, AB3, Gadget....).
I tested Bluetooth, it works but the synchronization is bad. Even with midi utilities like Apollo or midimittr.
- It seems that the best solution is midi over USB. But all the topics I red were about iPad to Live.
So, if you have a solid configuration where your iPads can talk to each other, to your gears, using a Mac, hub and cable or not, I would be more than happy to benefit from your experience !
Thank you !
PS : please no iConnectivity involved !

Comments

  • wimwim
    edited September 2020

    WiFi simply won’t work well enough in my experience, and I know a lot about WiFi optimization. There is no USB to USB solution. So, if Bluetooth, iConnectivity and a Mac host are ruled out, that leaves Ethernet, or a midi capable interface on each end. Ethernet I’ve not tied, but have always been curious whether it would work well or not.

    So, as far as I know, two Midi capable, Class compliant interfaces is the only way to go unless you have an Ethernet switch (or maybe a crossover cable) and a couple of USB Ethernet adapters and are willing to do some experimenting.

    With Ethernet you may also need a bridge app like MidiFire because even though most apps “see” the network connection, relatively few can actually initiate it. But, if you’ve experimented with midi over WiFi then you probably already know that.

  • Just like wim said, WiFi is simply not reliable enough for time sensitive things. BT is much better but far from ideal. I'm using BT only for non time sensitive stuff (Lemur controllers) and iCM4+ for everything else. My experience with iC is a mixed bag, not sure if I would recommend them but that's seem to be best solution (FWIW, mio series seem to be more reliable). Cross connecting two midi interfaces, depending on required port count could end up with way too many cables but if 1 port (16 channels) is enough than it's not too bad/expensive. (avoid the cheapest usb-midi interfaces, they tend to mess up notes across channels)

  • when both iPads (in my case an Android phone and an iPad Pro) run Lemur, the connection between the two devices can be done inside Lemur. From Lemur, the MIDI data can easily be routed to the destination app.

  • @Phil999 said:
    when both iPads (in my case an Android phone and an iPad Pro) run Lemur, the connection between the two devices can be done inside Lemur. From Lemur, the MIDI data can easily be routed to the destination app.

    Didn't work for me.

    Does anyone have success in connecting android device to iOS device via Bluetooth midi?

  • @israelite said:

    @Phil999 said:
    when both iPads (in my case an Android phone and an iPad Pro) run Lemur, the connection between the two devices can be done inside Lemur. From Lemur, the MIDI data can easily be routed to the destination app.

    Didn't work for me.

    Does anyone have success in connecting android device to iOS device via Bluetooth midi?

    I researched it pretty well awhile back and it didn't look like there was any practical method.

    Lemur can do OSC, right? I wonder if that might be an option. I was testing TouchOSC controlling the beta test version of Loopy Pro between devices and it was very direct to get the two devices talking with no Bluetooth. It just worked. That wasn't from Android to iOS, but I expect it would work similarly. So Lemur OSC > Lemur OSC > MIDI to app. Might work.

  • @wim said:

    @israelite said:

    @Phil999 said:
    when both iPads (in my case an Android phone and an iPad Pro) run Lemur, the connection between the two devices can be done inside Lemur. From Lemur, the MIDI data can easily be routed to the destination app.

    Didn't work for me.

    Does anyone have success in connecting android device to iOS device via Bluetooth midi?

    I researched it pretty well awhile back and it didn't look like there was any practical method.

    Lemur can do OSC, right? I wonder if that might be an option. I was testing TouchOSC controlling the beta test version of Loopy Pro between devices and it was very direct to get the two devices talking with no Bluetooth. It just worked. That wasn't from Android to iOS, but I expect it would work similarly. So Lemur OSC > Lemur OSC > MIDI to app. Might work.

    Thanks but there is no Lemur app in Play Store. Am I missing something?

  • @israelite said:

    @wim said:

    @israelite said:

    @Phil999 said:
    when both iPads (in my case an Android phone and an iPad Pro) run Lemur, the connection between the two devices can be done inside Lemur. From Lemur, the MIDI data can easily be routed to the destination app.

    Didn't work for me.

    Does anyone have success in connecting android device to iOS device via Bluetooth midi?

    I researched it pretty well awhile back and it didn't look like there was any practical method.

    Lemur can do OSC, right? I wonder if that might be an option. I was testing TouchOSC controlling the beta test version of Loopy Pro between devices and it was very direct to get the two devices talking with no Bluetooth. It just worked. That wasn't from Android to iOS, but I expect it would work similarly. So Lemur OSC > Lemur OSC > MIDI to app. Might work.

    Thanks but there is no Lemur app in Play Store. Am I missing something?

    Lemur was made by Line. Line after languishing corporately was recently bought. Lemur will be supported by the new company but I wouldn't put bets on it making a reappearance on the Apple store any time soon.

  • thanks @audiblevideo, I forgot about that. So Lemur is not really an option. However I’m working on a template for MIDI transfer between devices. One needs to create scripts for each MIDI message type, then devices can communicate via Lemur. It’s mostly done, there is still a problem with note-on/note-off messages (hanging notes, or notes not playing). CC messages work fine.

    But isn’t there an AU plugin where you can program MIDI effects? I don’t have it, but maybe this could be a solution? And what about bluetooth?

  • edited March 2023

    @Phil999 said:
    But isn’t there an AU plugin where you can program MIDI effects? I don’t have it, but maybe this could be a solution? And what about bluetooth?

    Programing MIDI effects:

    Mela 3 (a synth with audio and MIDI components) has a robust MIDI effect AU is which you can link things like transpose, range, key, duration … etc

    Mozaic (Bram Bros) has a respository on Patchstorage and a list of effects on the Audiobus wiki. You can literally program MIDI with it

    Bluetooth MIDI works well with very little lag

  • edited March 2023

    ah yes, Mozaic is the one I didn’t remember. Sidecar, Apollo, also comes to my mind.

    Bluetooth might be more convenient than wifi, and indeed the latency for MIDI is very low.

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