The audio/MIDI “swiss army knife” iOS app, musicIO, is getting a nice update tomorrow. If you’re not familiar with musicIO, the dynamic app allows an audio and MIDI connection between iOS and Mac OS X, or the PC desktop, using ordinary USB sync cables. Now here’s what they have cooking for version 1.4:
Enhancements:
» The combined audio and MIDI app is staying at $10 right now.
» The MIDI-only version will be free — “Users can check things out, with no risk, and no strings attached.”
» The iOS app now supports up to four effects apps per track — Thus, four tracks, up to four instruments per track, and four effects per track, (which is more than any iOS device can reliably handle —Ed.).
» Audio is sent at 44.1khz floating point, four stereo channels, and this is bidirectional – if desired. Audio is automatically up sampled or down sampled as needed, for both the Mac and the PC
» On the Mac, we now support multiple devices — up to four at a time, depending on how much power the Mac has (and the DAW, of course). The Mac has a separate server that handles all the connections, and then you get audio in and out of DAWs via VST or AU plug-ins.
» On the PC, it’s still one device at a time — but the engineers have improved the MIDI back end. They’ve licensed the MIDIloop library from Tobias Erichsen, so there’s no need for other MIDI loopback applications. Start up the VST, and a musicIO virtual MIDI port should appear. The DAW will be able to see that port, and connect directly. (This solves one of the big headaches for the Windows users. —Ed.)
» The plug-ins for both PC and Mac have been updated. Windows users will find many bugs squashed, especially on the iTunes install, network firewalls, and a few sketchy USB cables.
» The Windows side now offers better MIDI jitter management. A new technology, dubbed “BridgeClock,” has been developed to provide rock-solid clocking on iOS+Mac. According to the developers: “the Windows side has been hacked as well, so things should be very stable.”
musicIO Features:
» Low latency audio (4 separate stereo channel slots) from iOS to either Mac or Windows, with 32-bit resolution. Native support for IAA allows for the best possible audio quality, and seamless integration with iOS synthesizers and effects apps
» Connect your AU/VST DAW with complementary free plug-ins
» Send & Receive MIDI between any CoreMIDI apps over a normal USB sync cable (Lightning or 30-pin) with no perceptible latency or jitter
» Large sysex messages (eg. bulk dumps) handled seamlessly
» Choose send to ports (OSX and iOS)
» Choose receive from (OSX): route MIDI from anywhere to your iOS device
» BridgeClock, a inter-device MIDI-clock-synchronization technology, provides jitter-free sync between platforms
» Runs on iOS 7 or better, 10.7+ on OS X, and Windows Vista/7/8/10
» Sample rate conversion to use any sample rate on both Mac and PC
musicIO will arrive in the iTunes iOS App store tomorrow for $10.
The Future: Look for a companion app to MIDIbus in the next few weeks…
musicIO
