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USB: connecting my MIDI controllers to two iPads at the same time?
I have two iPad Pros (2017) and I have all my MIDI controllers connected to one of them using the USB3 CCK and a powered USB hub. I would like all the MIDI controllers to also show up on the second iPad.
I had imagined they would do so if I plugged the second iPad into the USB hub with a USB-A to USB-A cable and the old (unpowered) CCK, but they don't. Why doesn't this work, and is there some other way to do what I want?
Comments
This doesn't work because USB is a master-slave protocol, one master, many slaves. That's why most USB cables have different connectors on each end. The USB port on the hub that you tried is a slave port, and your second iPad wants to be a master.
Edit: When you connect an iPad to a USB master, e.g. computer, it behaves as a slave, responding to commands from the master, e.g. iTunes. But this behavior is of no use for MIDI.
You might be able to route your controllers to Network MIDI using Audiobus, AUM, or MIDIFire, then connect the second iPad to Network MIDI. There will be some lag, and the messages will be merged, only distinguishable by MIDI channel number. Someone else may have the best solution for this.
Oh, bummer. Connecting by BT MIDI in AUM does work, but it's more fiddly than I'd like.
@MarkH
You could get a second usb to midi
interface and do it that way.
I have two iPads linked in such a way.
One iPad has two midi controllers
and an audio interface with midi in/out
which sends midi info to the other iPad
which also has it’s own audio interface
with midi in/out.
Before I got the second audio interface
I was using a straight forward usb to midi cable.
That sounds promising. What audio interface do you have, and can you be more specific about the 'usb to midi cable'?
That's actually a good idea. You could get two USB to 5-pin MIDI adapters. These usually have two 5-pin male connectors, one for MIDI out, one for MIDI in. Connect one adapter to the hub, one to the other USB adapter. Get a 5-pin female to female cable and connect the out from the first iPad to the in on the second. Route the sources in AUM and the MIDI should reach the second iPad. As before, you'll need to use MIDI channels to identify the sources, since they'll be merged into one MIDI stream. Not sure how easy the 5-pin female cable will be to find. These adapters are generally made to connect directly to hardware synths which have female connectors on the back.
@MarkH @uncledave
The ones I have are generic ,’usb to midi cables’, easily found on ebay.
Here’s an example.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124825215732?hash=item1d1029a2f4:g:SawAAOSwpfJhDMX~
I also got these to connect the usb midi cables together.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283155635120?hash=item41ed641bb0:g:nbAAAOSwGUhbmL~J
In regards to audio interfaces…
Zoom U-44
Komplete Audio 6 mkii
Behringer Q802USB
Soundcraft Notepad 5
OK thanks, I will think it through.
No worries.
@gravitas, youre link is broken here so can tell which one, but be careful with some of those cheap usb midi cables.
I have fried some equipment with them. A lot of them dont even follow the midi spec:
http://www.arvydas.co.uk/2013/07/cheap-usb-midi-cable-some-self-assembly-may-be-required/
Right. This double female adapter was the missing link for me. That's perfect to join the USB-MIDI adapters. These USB adapter cables are also available from Amazon, so they're easy to obtain.
The iconnectaudio 4+/ 4c can share a midi host port between 2 devices, and on this port you can have up to 8 midi controllers.
On top of this you can route audio from one to another, with up to 10 stereo channels total.
This is not the cheapest solution, but it save you a lot of hassle and offer you physical inputs, and headphones which new iPads don't have.
The iconnectmidi 4+ does the same but can only passthrough audio.
The link was active when I ran the search on a Ebay.
Thanks.
Oh yeah, that looks great but it costs as much as a Korg Minilogue! And only the USB-C one seems available now, so that would be a whole other headache
If you only have two MIDI devices to share between your iPads then there are a couple iConnectMIDI2+ boxes for sale on eBay right now.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/iConnectivity-iConnect-MIDI2-MIDI-Interface-With-Lightning-USB-Cable-In-Box-/403067755984?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-iConnectMIDI2-in-Box-w-Charger-Excellent-Condition-Working-/384330415644?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0
For a free solution, you could connect them all to one iPad, then connect that iPad to the other with Bluetooth MIDI. You would then use whatever host you're using to route the controller to the other iPad. This is easy with AUM and Audiobus, and should be doable in other hosts as well.
Performance will be much better than trying to use Network Session, and setup will be easier.
If you have a Mac and are willing to add that into your setup, you can also use IDAM to connect the iPads to the Mac over USB, connect the MIDI devices to the Mac as well, and then in Audio MIDI Setup on the Mac you can route MIDI from all your controllers to both iPad IDAM connections.
@orand - that seems like it would work, but it doesn't. While you can route internal Mac MIDI to iOS in this way, you can't route an external controller to the iPad like this. The connection isn't available.
However, using the free app MidiPipe, this is possible. I can describe that method here, but first want to check if you've actually routed external controllers over iDAM to iOS, and if so, how. No point describing a workaround if I'm just missing something.
Hmm, I got my info from the second response here. https://www.midi.org/forum-old/1217-linking-an-ipad,-keyboard-and-mac-together
But perhaps it doesn’t work….
A what?
Yeh, that doesn't work. It works for MIDI originating in the Mac. It also works to send from controllers attached to iOS to the Mac. But it doesn't work for "thru" MIDI from external devices attached to the Mac.
Here's a wiki article on how to make it work using MidiPipe: https://wiki.audiob.us/doku.php?id=mac_midi_controller_to_ios_via_idam
Yes, but I believe the OP's MIDI devices are all USB MIDI. They're connected to a powered USB hub. So 5-pin MIDI gear doesn't really meet the need.
Very cool. Thanks for writing that up.