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DAC + audio interface ?
I'm primarily an iPad musician but I'm looking to add my first analogue synth into the mix. I've never used a hardware synth before, and just learning how to get the inputs and outputs set up to play nice with my existing gear has a learning curve - and I don't even have the synth yet!
I don't have an audio interface, but I do have an external DAC (Topping D10) that I use with balanced XLR cables and the camera connector kit to get sound from my iPad to my monitors.
So I don't have any way to get line input from the synth into my digital environment. I was looking into adding something like the iRig Pro to get audio from the hardware synth into the iPad, allowing me to process/effect/mix/record it before sending it to my speakers. I would need to get a USB hub to connect both my DAC and the iRig at the same time.
But I remember a few years back, it was only possible to use one external audio interface at a time with an iPad. Is that still the case? Because if I understand this right, that would mean there's no way for me to use the iRig and my DAC at the same time in this setup. So instead of buying the iRig, I would have to buy a more capable audio interface instead. Something like the MOTU M4 or Audient iD14 looks like it would be sufficient and give me plenty of room to grow.
Could someone please confirm that I'm understanding the logistics of signal flow and routing correctly, as far as adding a hardware synth to my iPad setup goes?
Comments
You are correct. Except for in Logic Pro, you can still only use one audio interface at a time in iOS. Last one plugged in wins.
The exception might be if your DAC is purely an audio output and has no input capability. In that case, if you plug it in after the interface, it might work. Probably not, but maybe.
Thanks @wim. Indeed my DAC has no inputs, so I'll keep looking to see if I can find any info about possibly using it in conjunction with an iRig or similar interface.
Going to be pretty hard to get two different audio interfaces (the DAC is essentially a very basic (albeit nice) interface) to play well together in the iPadOS environment I think. Personally I think if you're going to be looking into buying something else to let you record into the iPad, then I'd try to make sure it's outputs are pretty good as well to match what you'd have to leave behind without the DAC.
IE, try to get something that works well for both input and output connections, instead of trying to find something that MIGHT also work with your DAC.
weirdly I have found that with the latest updates Logic doesn‘t let me choose a different audiointerface for in and out, anymore. BUT it is now possible inside AUM: settings - output route/input source.
Try this with your DAC, it might save you some money.
Cheers, t
I ended up pulling the trigger on a used TASCAM US-2x2HR. Its analog-to-digital conversion is just about transparent and the price was right ($100), but the audio output is still slightly more noisy than my Topping DAC, but really, between these two devices, the difference in audio output quality is negligible.
I did some testing/experimentation with my new setup. Using a powered USB hub, I can plug in both my DAC and my interface, and no matter which order I plug them in, I can only select one or the other as my output device within AUM. If I set the DAC as the output, then the TASCAM disappears from the MIDI Routing matrix. Seems impossible to use both at the same time in AUM. (Although I think in Audiobus, the multi-route audio feature would solve my problem. I haven't bought it so I haven't tried yet.)
But @wim, your comment makes me wonder what would happen if I had a simple USB class compliant audio input device with no outputs. Would it be possible to use this input-only ADC in conjunction with an output-only DAC?
My hope is that I can add a greater number of input channels to my mix without sacrificing audio output quality, and to stay within a reasonable budget. Since I already have an excellent DAC, I don't need to improve its quality - I just need to add more inputs without adding another cheap DAC into the signal flow. And in theory, if I understand the limitations of the iPadOS platform correctly, I wonder if maybe this could work. Since the last-plugged-in audio output device overrides the previously-selected output device, I wonder if plugging in an input-only audio device would avoid this unwanted behavior. And since audio over USB (ie. from the elektron model:cycles, from what I've seen) can be used together with an external interface, I wonder if audio over USB from a simple ADC with many hardware inputs would work just the same.
Has anyone tested using a ADC with audio over USB and no output channels works together with a 0ch-input DAC on iPad?
Any device that has an input is going to take over. Even earbuds with a mic. You can only have one input device active at a time (except possibly in Logic Pro).
Right. So my question is, if I have one input device and that device has no audio output, will I be able to use another separate audio output device at the same time, provided that the output device is NOT an input device?
Probably. In theory. Testing is the only way to find out. iOS isn't always predictable in such general terms, at least in terms of what will work. What won't work is a lot more certain.
my 0,05€: I used to do this all the time: have seperate audio-ins and-outs, so I think this should work nowadays, as well (the way you described it).
Apart from this: within iPadOs 17 you can choose different in- and outputs inside AUM.
Last time I tried to do this inside Logic4i, it didn‘t work, anymore. If this happens to you, you can reset Logic in iPad settings, so you can choose your interfaces at will, again. Good luck testing, cheers, t
Thanks for the encouragement! What specific hardware devices were you using to make this work, and how did you have everything wired up?
Would be great if you could recommend any affordable input device (ideally >2 input channels), as I'm totally in the dark on this. It's not been easy for me to find ones with analog input and digital output only.
EDIT: The E1DA Cosmos ADCiso seems to be by far the highest quality ADC in this price bracket, and it has no audio out except over USB. The catch seems to be it's usual output impedance level of 3.5 KiloOhm, so usually requires additional gear to be safely compatible with regular musical/studio equipment. I think it's designed mainly for the purpose of analyzing and testing gear.
well, I used to do this with iPads that also had a headphone-out. Nowadays I would try to use a dongle with USB and headphone-out, connect USB to an Interface first, and then my output device to the headphone-out via TRS (NOT TRRS since this will also steal the input-channel as well… ). I wouldn‘t know about a USB device with output only. I work with multichannel audio (iConnectivity Midi/Audio and Kmix) nowadays, not sure about simpler interfaces, sorry.
cheers, t
But, as I said, its possible in AUM to select your interface as wished, in „AUM-settings-output route/input device“. This might do the trick for you…
thanks @animal, I didn't know about the TRS (not TRRS) trick! I actually have a 9th Gen. iPad with built-in headphone jack, so it should be applicable in my situation.
if I was a little more ambitious, I would try using a chip like this in a DIY project: PCM6260-Q1