Korg Gadget - what are the most CPU hungry Synths/FXs in there?

Pummelfee

Do you still use an old device for it and if yes, how?

ATM i have an old iPad mini 2 sitting in an iTrack Dock that is connected by old-school MIDI to an also old MacBook Pro. In the MacBook i use about 3-4 Synths (in Reason) at a time and 4-5 Gadgets in the iPad. I think, although (for example) Helsinki is very simple to use, it is CPU hungry on the other hand. But several instances of the iM1 („Darwin” in Gadget) are running well.

What are your experiences when we talk about older gear and what are your strategies… (not only Gadget-related if you want…)?

Spidericemidas

I found the Lisbon gadget to be the most taxing on my old iPad Pro 2016. A few instances of that one with a few other gadgets running will start to cause audio glitching on my iPad.

R_2

Yes, Lisbon is the most CPU heat/battery for me too.
Ironically the animated visuals in the background are the main reason for it. When I close Lisbon and go back to the main screen the cpu heat/battery usage is much less.
Same for the Ebina gadget with its background visuals.

The standard gadgets that come with the main app are lightweight in my experience.
Warszawa is also easy on cpu

MisplacedDevelopment

In the non-Gadget category, have you considered using soundfonts instead of synths? It is not suitable for all use-cases, for example where you need to control one of the synth parameters in real time. The resources needed to play soundfonts should however be (much?) lower than running a full-blown synth in most cases.

Once you get the workflow down to create your own then you open up a number of options, e.g. running a soundfont created from a desktop Falcon synth patch in Audio Evo Mobile on Android or iOS. That soundfont is yours forever, even if the synth goes away.

It is surprising how little storage you need to sample a synth so that it sounds good enough, some just need a single sample. Using the SF3 format, courtesy of KQ Sampei (SF2->SF3 conversion via the desktop Polyphone app) reduces storage requirements even further.

senhorlampada

I have an iPad Mini 2 too... If I don't go all FX crazy on a jam, it goes well (with any apps)
In gadget it performs really well overall. Lisbon is one I never got even on sales because of the performance/resource hogging people reported. And with so many other options on iOS, it didn't seem to matter

My performance struggles generally are in Beatmaker 3 or Cubasis if I put a lot of tracks with multiple FX. Nothing that freezing or bouncing can't handle.

Overall I still dig my mini 2. It was a huge leap performance-wise from my iPad 2 to the mini 2. Only issues nowadays is the battery life and not getting the apps or updates for iOS 13 or above

Pummelfee

@MisplacedDevelopment said:
In the non-Gadget category, have you considered using soundfonts instead of synths? It is not suitable for all use-cases, for example where you need to control one of the synth parameters in real time. The resources needed to play soundfonts should however be (much?) lower than running a full-blown synth in most cases.

Once you get the workflow down to create your own then you open up a number of options, e.g. running a soundfont created from a desktop Falcon synth patch in Audio Evo Mobile on Android or iOS. That soundfont is yours forever, even if the synth goes away.

It is surprising how little storage you need to sample a synth so that it sounds good enough, some just need a single sample. Using the SF3 format, courtesy of KQ Sampei (SF2->SF3 conversion via the desktop Polyphone app) reduces storage requirements even further.

I also heard good things about bismark bs-16i - is this also SF3 compatible (i don’t know much about the soundfont format…)?

Pummelfee

@R_2 said:
Yes, Lisbon is the most CPU heat/battery for me too.
Ironically the animated visuals in the background are the main reason for it. When I close Lisbon and go back to the main screen the cpu heat/battery usage is much less.
Same for the Ebina gadget with its background visuals.

The standard gadgets that come with the main app are lightweight in my experience.
Warszawa is also easy on cpu

I looked at my workflow an i'm afraid that very long release times and excessive use of delay/reverb makes every gadget hungry...

MisplacedDevelopment

@Pummelfee said:

@MisplacedDevelopment said:
In the non-Gadget category, have you considered using soundfonts instead of synths? It is not suitable for all use-cases, for example where you need to control one of the synth parameters in real time. The resources needed to play soundfonts should however be (much?) lower than running a full-blown synth in most cases.

Once you get the workflow down to create your own then you open up a number of options, e.g. running a soundfont created from a desktop Falcon synth patch in Audio Evo Mobile on Android or iOS. That soundfont is yours forever, even if the synth goes away.

It is surprising how little storage you need to sample a synth so that it sounds good enough, some just need a single sample. Using the SF3 format, courtesy of KQ Sampei (SF2->SF3 conversion via the desktop Polyphone app) reduces storage requirements even further.

I also heard good things about bismark bs-16i - is this also SF3 compatible (i don’t know much about the soundfont format…)?

I believe KQ Sampei is the only iOS app that is SF3-compatible. bs-16i or the SoundFonts (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/soundfonts/id1453325077) app are other good choices, though SoundFonts minimum iOS is 13. They all have their own strengths but KQ Sampei is my first choice at the moment as it ticks all of my boxes.

The current version of KQ Sampei requires iOS 12.4 and bs-16i requires 12, though I am pretty sure I was able to install an older version of bs-16i on an iPod Touch 1. iPad Mini 2 looks like it supports 12.5.5 so you should be fine with either.