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Pros/Cons of AEM?
I've read through just about every DAW comparison thread in the archives and there are only positive comments about Audio Evolution Mobile, but there's never really much in the way of details. I'd like to know what the pro/cons of this DAW are, including stability. Why isn't it a major player on the scene?
Context: I'm 99.9% looking at audio tracking/editing/mixing and am currently using the non-pro version of Auria. Auria does everything I need but I get the sense it's not maintained enough to avoid falling behind. It has not been updated to use the current version of AudioBus, for example. I don't use midi for anything other than triggering the transport controls from another app (which is not mentioned in the AEM documentation). I use a 2020 iPad Air.
I see Cubasis 3 just got a huge update and would like to know how AEM stacks up to it, as well as Auria.
Comments
I think the main thing is just the branding as far as why it’s not as known or mentioned in the same breath as some the others. It works very well in my experience and I’ve personally never been a fan of Cubasis but they must have improved a lot because I’ve been using it for the first time in over a year without any problems, it’s actually been very nice (first time I’ve said that about Cubasis, historically, hugely underwhelming to me although I know a lot of folks like it - now I think I’m starting to understand which has been nice!)
I’ll be curious what the more experienced members have to say about this question as I was just wondering the same thing the other day as I was using AEM. I didn’t realise how many built in effects it had until recently and the add-on effects are extremely low priced (the brand name fx from Toneboosters for example are anywhere from $1.99 - $4.99 depending on whether it’s the newest version or a legacy version). I own most of them for iOS already but still nice to be able to pick up the ones I didn’t have to use in this app specifically for so cheap.
Another one to keep an eye on for what it sounds like you need in a workflow would be Roland Zen Beats. AEM has been improving pretty steadily from what I’’ve seen for quite a while now. Roland Zen Beats has been improving in leaps and bounds in a short timeframe. I think there are some limitations with the bus routing in some of these but I don’t use any of them as my main DAW so I’m not sure the technicalities there. I think you could do worse than AEM for audio tracking. To me, it “feels” the most similar to Auria but I’ll allow the technical experts to expound more on why that is so I don’t make a fool of myself!
Not sure if you’ll be using AUV3 Fx and instruments but I really dig the viewing options available for 3rd party apps in AEM. Full screen views for 3rd party apps that I can’t recall ever seeing a full screen view for on any of the other iOS DAWs. Oddly, I’ve also had luck with a couple of AUV3s that I’d labelled as “problems” when using in the other DAWs. The most recent example is Axon 2 (AI Drums) by Audio Damage. I’ve never really gotten this to work in other hosts but I fired it up on a whim in AEM the other day and it works for me perfectly all of a sudden. It was also pretty stunning to see it in full screen view on the 11 inch screen for the first time after only ever (trying) to use it in other hosts where full screen isn’t possible or if it is, it’s not obvious/defaulted. I feel like there’s another example of an app that I’m used to running poorly that worked well for me in AEM recently but I’m drawing a blank. It does make me wonder if there will be others that don’t work so well... almost seems like it’s interfacing in a different way than the others or something (but now I’m out of my element - no idea on how this all works to be honest).
Hope this helps you at least a little on some aspect of your decision.
I would agree that a lot of it is a matter of branding. Had I known of AEM, i would never have bought Cubasis. I won’t complain much since I got it on a 50% sale, but Cubasis never worked for me. One thing I can’t avoid saying about Cubasis is that it is really frustrating that the devs seems to give no importance to offering tempo/time-signature changes
All i’m waiting for in AEM is tempo/time-signature changes, and the dev said he aimed to implement it within the next 2 months.
Definitely seems like the dev of AEM is all in and quick to make improvements. I’m easily distracted as iOS music is still sort of new to me (2 years roughy I think), I bounce around way too much checking out all the different options but seems like every time I return to AEM, there’s some major update with a message from the dev on all the things they’ve implemented. Really seems to me that if there are some notable shortcomings compared to other options, that gap will continue to shrink. They’ve just consistently improved for quite a while at a pace that is not common from what I’ve seen on this platform.
Can anyone verify if the transport controls can be triggered via midi?
How well does it interface with Audiobus and/or AUM?
Also, the AEM app itself is only 75mb. Auria is almost 1gb. What's up with that?
Auria includes a wonderful Salamander piano instrument which is quite large.
There are SF2 sound libraries available within AEMS as IAP’s and a small default General MIDI library. The SF2’s you can find on the net are easy to add using WeBDAV protocols. There’s a free salamander piano for example that’s 500+ GB.
If you don't have the "pro" version of Auria (I don't) you can't use that instrument and still have a 1gb app.
I checked out Zenbeats but it looks like it's more about sampling, looping, etc., rather than audio multi-tracking. Would be interested to know if I'm mischaracterizing it.
AEMS is 20 years old and the work of a solo developer that has made windows, Android and IOS products. All requiring updates and new features. It’s the Top DAW on android I think. Late to the IOS party but working hard to gain market share.
Like all DAW’s you will get out of it what you put into learning it and you will either love the workflow or not. It’s old school since it has it’s roots in the 90’s.
I can vouch for Davy at Audio Evolution being unbelievably responsive, this last update had two of my requests. I realize other folks might’ve had the same requests...
Have you looked in the Auria folder to see if the instruments are deletable?
You probably have a general MIDI sound Set with Auria.
Wow! 🤯
Love AEM! Davy is a great, responsive developer and a super nice guy in my correspondences with him.
I have a plan to use AEMS in AUM to record individual channels of instruments driven by Atom2. I keep my AUM effects routing, get an audio timeline, and a MIDI tool par excellence.
AEM is the first DAW I bought on iOS. It is also the only one that is completely unusable for me. The strange thing is that I think it is only bad for me. I get constant stuck notes, recordings starting seconds after the record button has triggered...events disappearing when I move them.
I went back after the latest update, stuck notes were better, but other weird glitches and timing issues were happening within minutes of using the app.
I never hear anyone else having issues with AEM, so I find it weird that it is so whacky for me. On the other hand, everyone else seemed to have serious stability issues with Cubasis 3 after launch, and it was perfectly stable for me...strange.
I looked briefly at one of the tutorials for this app and it seems that you can open AUM IN AEM?
if I understand the use correctly it’s the same way that I use group the loop.
Essentially it turns AUM into a DAW with Group the Loop in an output slot.
Can anyone using AEM confirm that?
Look through this thread
https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/41000/did-you-know-that-aem-can-record-separate-aum-channels-simultaneously
A lot of useful information there. Thanks for that.
Just started using MTR lately but this looks a little meatier at first glance.
Something it has over all the other DAWs is a really flexible effects bus. It's unlimited and supports parallel routing. That alone I think is one reason to try this application. This is a nice demo (with a certain Youtuber you may recognize doing the tutorial):
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6LNT1og43jE
I didn't love the MIDI editing in the past, but I know there have been some improvements there. I really need to dig in.
I wrote the developer and he responded immediately. I asked if the transport controls could be triggered by another app and he replied that that feature will be ported over from the Android version soon.
@FriedTapeworm wrote the only comment I've read about bugs and stability. Has anyone else had any issues?
I do find that Auria crashes fairly regularly and has a lot of audio issues when recording if I go above 44k sample rate. I've never lost any data, however.
@audiblevideo @Ben , I'm interested in how to use AUM and AEM together. I'm not quite seeing how I would use what you are describing with real instruments, however. Do you hit record while in AUM and it starts AEM recording? While in AUM, can you hear the tracks you are recording against that are playing in AEM or do you have to output the master mix from AEM to a track in AUM to hear it?
If you can hit "record" in AUM and it sets AEM, in motion, this would contradict what the DEV wrote about being able to trigger the transport from another app.
EDIT: The dev actually said the transport can't be triggered via MIDI, which is specifically what I asked. He did say it supports audiobus, suggesting it could be triggered that way.
I've looked and see no way to delete anything other than AU presets and IR files for the native reverb app (and my own project files, of course)
@Sabicas I have always found AEM to be stable and amazing value for money even before you consider the ongoing improvements. I have never been a fan of the piano roll but now we have apps like Atom which can replace DAW native piano rolls then this is less of a concern.
I wasn't either in the past, but I know he's changed some things. Have those improved things do you think?
One of the things I see that's interesting is the EQ sliders on every channel. I'm not sure why that's there as it takes up screen real-estate and it's not something we need to see on the fly when looking over tracks. I'd just have it in the effects popup with everything else. Doesn't look like a very flexible EQ, to boot.
Not a big deal, just interesting to see something I've not seen in any other DAW.
I realize I'm putting a lot of thought into a $10 app, but it's more about committing to learning a new DAW and having to possibly change to another DAW mid-project.
+1
It has been a while since I tried to use the piano roll and to be fair, having spent a few minutes reacquainting myself it is not as bad as I remember. The editing side is actually pretty solid, it is the feeling of “where am I?” that I get when I use it that I have a problem with. I cannot quite put my finger on it but I think it is the lack of visual cues such as the note names on the piano, lack of inter-bar timing markers and the fact that it allows you to venture beyond the clip into the “red zone” either side which puts me off:
Fortunately you can now have it looking like this:
There’s a button on the settings where you can make that EQ part disappear.
👍
Okay, so I'm going to say some negatives, but before saying anything I want to say some positives. First of all the developer of this app is great. Every time I open this app I can see significant improvements, and I can tell he really cares. At a technical level it seems solid and lightweight. I think UX is not his strong suit unfortunately, but this too is improving.
As an audio DAW I really like AEM. The audio routing/chaining is great, it has nice built in effects and from memory when I last used it the audio editing was pretty good. It works well with IAA/AUM (for me this already opens up interesting possibilities). Plugins seem fine, it has automation and even has keyboard shortcuts. Really - what's not to like. I'm sure there are things here that can be improved, but I dig that side of it.
On the MIDI side unfortunately things are definitely weaker. First the positive. It has a drum sequencer which from memory is pretty decent - though I need to play with it some more. I find drum sequencers incredibly useful, so I like that.
However for the piano roll I agree with everything @MisplacedDevelopment said above. The 'red zone' thing in particular is annoying, and should at a minimum be optional (with the default being don't do that). I also find some of the choices a little hard to wrap my head around. For example - if I've chosen my note input to be 1/4 notes, every other DAW I've ever used will update the grid so that it's at 1/4 notes. But for some reason AEM doesn't do that, and it's disorientating. I spent ages trying to work out why my notes were not going where I expected them to be, before realizing that I had chosen 'bar' length, rather than 1/4 note. Also the bar markers could be clearer and bar numbers would be really nice (am I in bar 2, or 3, of my clip? Who can say). I'm a piano player so the lack of note names there doesn't really bother me, though I think making the octave label a little larger would be nice
Another issue is that a some interactions with the piano roll require double clicking - and it's very hard to know what a double click is in practice (as a UX 'architect' I agree with Jeff Raskin - double clicking is evil). Though I'm not sure if I need those. And certain interactions, such as merging clips, are a little baffling to me. What is an overlapping clip? Maybe this needs more practice, but I've used a lot of DAWs over the years so I feel it should be more obvious.
There are also some design issues with the the CC/velocity editing, where selecting and adding values can be quite hard in practice (I really struggle to select the markers sometimes), and visually it can be a bit hard to process.
That said, it can do a lot and it does get quite a bit right. The way you add and extend notes (other than the grid weirdness) is good, selection is fine. It has some nice tools for things like humanization, changing notes, etc. I feel the piano roll could be pretty good if this weirdness was addressed, and maybe the design for the CC/Velocity stuff was improved. It's close, it's just not quite there yet.