iPad or iPad Pro For Music Prodution ?

[ProgRocker]

Which iPad would you suggest I would need for music production ? Would the iPad be enough, or would I need a Pro to accomplish the more cpu intensive work ?

So far I'm looking at Auria Pro and Cubasis. Both are multitrack digital DAWs. I'm very new to all this and never owned an iPad, so please elaborate as to why either would be preferable.

Thanks...

 

[akash.nu]

I’d go for the pro if music production is your main use.

 

[Hym tix]

Nice! You aren’t entering into a level of usage that can push the iPad harder than most users. I would go for a 2017 Pro, either size. The main reason would be the 4GB ram, but also CPU will make a difference.

 

[mofunk]

Anything with Pro is best for Music Video and Photography. If you are trying to render anything you want the Apple product with the fastest processing. So a MacBook Pro iPad Pro or iMac Pro will work. Make sure you get the 125Gb or higher.

 

[ProgRocker]

Thank you all for your advice.

Could someone explain the differences between the CPUs in the iPads vs the iPad Pros ? I understand the Pros are more powerful, but I'm not clear as to exactly why that is. And how that relates to music and video production.

 

[mofunk]

CPU is basically the engine or the brain of your system. The CPU carries out any task. If I hit ENTER, the CPU tells the computer what to do with that information. Depending on how fast your CPU is, the faster it will complete that task. Basic stuff like typing or surfing the web doesn't use a lot of Processing. However, recording or rendering or editing (manipulation) of images requires more "information" so the CPU needs to be faster or you will be sitting there waiting.

For example, if you give a package to an elderly man to run two blocks to deliver vs a younger man..which will complete the task first?

When you record there is more things involved. You have the midi, tempo, vocals, etc....All of this is put on a Bus which takes it to where it needs to go. If that information gets there late you will have some lag (latency). With a fast CPU that latency will be less. Plus time is money. If you are waiting for your computer or iPad to render the sounds, thats a lot of time wasted. I remember back in the day I was using a PC with Windows 98, the thing kept crashing because the PC either lost the info while on the BUS or just couldn't take all that info at once, so it shut down.


So when you are recording, the more information (instruments) you add the faster your processor needs to be. If you want to record on iPad its best to get the fastest that out there. If you have an idea you want to put down, you shouldn't have to wait for the iPad to load. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Jimbo Limbo]

I recommend the 12.9 iPad Pro for music purposes. You will want the extra screen space for displaying and adjusting mix channels in auria. In Garageband, larger screen means more autoplay chords in tracks mode, and accessing more loops at once in loops mode for performance. Likewise, if you use notation software, you will want to see more of the document.

I use 12.9 Ipad Pros at my work place for these purposes. I am planning to buy a 12.9 2017 soon. I was hoping that a new update would be announced soon, and that Apple would restock the refurbished store with 12.9 512GB LTE models.

 

[Eric5273]

I own a music production company and use my iPad Pro 10.5 as my main computer. I can’t really comment about the music creation aspect, since my business partner handles most of that and he uses a Mac along with Logic Pro.

I handle the the distribution and packaging of the music and I can definitely recommend two free file management apps that will help you a great deal....

1) First there is AudioShare. My understanding is that AudioShare plays well with many other audio production apps. I just use it as a standalone app, but I find it great as just a music player that is able to tell you all the specifics of an audio track — things like the sampling rate which are typically not shown in other iPad music player apps. It also works as a great general file manager for your library of audio tracks. Once installed, the built in iOS Files app will show AudioShare as a folder and will allow you to copy files into and out of AudioShare from iCloud or any other cloud services that you use.

2) Documents by Readdle. While this app duplicates much of the functionality of the built-in Files app, it allows one very important (for me) function that Files does not — it allows you to upload and download files to and from FTP sites. Again, just like AudioShare, once installed, the built-in files app will show Documents as a folder and allow you to move files to and from your Documents app.

So typically my workflow is to download music files from FTP using the Documents app, copy them to AudioShare using the Files app, and then for distribution I do exactly the opposite. It’s a very clean workflow and works very well for me.

I hope this helps!

 

[ProgRocker]

Thanks again guys, that was very helpful !