Addendum: how I use the iPad with Ableton Live

Answering FAQs and sharing new insight from my previous video

Update, May 27, 2023: I have uploaded a video addendum to the original, detailing a lot of these settings and configurations. It’s linked here: watch on YouTube

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Almost a year ago now, I published a video on YouTube that provided a demonstration of how I use the Apple iPad as a central part of my music-making process. The key to this process is the iConnectivity Audio 4c audio interface, which allows for sharing of audio and MIDI between 2 computers/tablets. This way of working has been a game-changer for my creative process, and it has sparked a lot of questions whenever I share it or perform with it live.

This post is organized into several sections:

1. Background of the process and video

2. Answers to common questions I received

   1. Audio 4c interface deep dive and review

   2. Settings I use in Ableton Live and Auracle

   3. Other options

   4. Laptop and iPad hardware recommendations

   5. Favorite apps I use and recommend

   6. Additional demonstration with Loopy Pro controlling Ableton Live effects over USB MIDI

Here’s the video, if you haven’t already seen it. Feel free to subscribe to my channel while you’re there!

Background

My original intent for the demo was a little selfish. I wanted to save time responding to questions about the workflow that I received on Instagram and at shows I played. It’s way easier to send a link to a video than it is to type a detailed essay every time. The video caught on much faster than I could have anticipated and now has something like 20k views and 250 comments, not to mention all the offline conversations I’ve had about it. That’s not a huge number in the world of big-time YouTubers, but it’s been a lot for me to keep up with!

I think the written format here presents a great opportunity to expand on this video in a couple of ways. I’ll definitely address some of the questions it brought up, but I’d also like to take the opportunity to offer some more generalized insight about the iPadOS ecosystem and things I’ve learned since then.

Before moving on, let me say I will definitely be making videos in the future that go even deeper on some of the topics here, especially Audio/MIDI Routing & Preferences Setup as well as specific apps I love.

Update, May 27, 2023: I have uploaded a video addendum to the original, detailing a lot of these settings and configurations. It’s linked here: watch on YouTube

Let’s dive in…

Most common questions I’ve received

A very hastily-assembled photo collage of a few comments I snipped from the YouTube video.

In no particular order, here are a few of the recurring themes from the comment section:

About that Audio 4c interface from iConnectivity: is it any good? How’s the latency, build quality, etc.?

It’s built well, and latency is fine, but the software is annoying to use.

TL;DR: I definitely recommend it for anyone using iPadOS for music-making in tandem with a laptop.

Extended thoughts follow…

Build/Form

iConnectivity is a small company making niche products, so unfortunately there aren’t a lot of reviews and demos to look at online. They seem to have built up a solid market for themselves among “arena/stadium sized” artists and stage production teams, who typically have very complex performance setups and intricate MIDI dependencies. Some of their gear is explicitly marketed on the webpage as the centerpiece of a live “failover” rig in order to support a show’s continuity if the main computer fails. So, it makes sense that the Audio 4c is physically very solid. It’s built like a tank with a sturdy aluminum casing, screwed tightly together, and has some legitimate heft and weight to it. I’ve tossed it around quite recklessly on tour with no issues to show for it. Build quality and form factor is superb and there are some nice touches included, like the included power adapters for various global standards (for the touring artists and travelers out there) and the mic stand adapter on the bottom (in case you want to mount it). I love that the back panel, sides, and top are all completely flat with nothing protruding, so it can lie flat in a bag. It’s reassuring to know that the iPad is charging when connected to USB Port 2, as well.

The smooth, rectangular form of the Audio 4c is great. The rear jacks are flush to the surface, and the flat top means that small devices like phones, pedals, etc. can be placed on top. On the right, an example of a tiny portable rig I've used before - the flat surfaces of the Audio 4c help it slip into protective cases and camera bags like this.

Audio Quality

On the audio side, it’s perfectly fine, but obviously not in the same league of premium sound as RME, Motu, and other high-end DACs. The spec sheet shows that the noise floor and signal-to-noise measurements aren’t world class on paper, but in practical terms, it would take a remarkably discerning ear (and probably some confirmation bias from measurement graphs) to notice these deficiencies in a real-world situation. If you are regularly in sessions and rooms where ultra fine degrees of performance matter, you’re probably not considering a $399 USD budget interface to begin with.

Latency

Latency is OK, but not perfect. I get 16.9 ms round-trip according to Ableton Live, when used at the settings below (48khz / 256 Samples buffer size). This could be cut in half with a lower buffer size, but truthfully I really don’t like adding stress to my CPU in this way. Occasionally, I’ll have to nudge my audio and MIDI clips in Live to ensure that the timing of a recorded part aligns precisely to the start of a bar (see below, again). This is most noticeable when I’m recording audio from the iPad and into the laptop; it seems as if there is a tiny bit of lag when this data exchange from an iPad happens, but I haven’t rigorously tested this with other computers or bothered to investigate further. I only notice this when percussion is involved, and I want my sequenced parts to start exactly at the top of a bar for mixing and synchronization purposes.

Latency isn’t something that enters my mind most days, but I do want to mention it.

Left: at these settings, things feel "good enough" enough to my ear that I don't notice latency. It's certainly not lightning fast, though, so take heed. On the right: an example of iPad audio and MIDI sent back to the MacBook Pro with a fractional bit of lag beyond the start of the bar. For crisp, tightly synced percussion, I sometimes have to do some alignment or quantization to tighten things up.

Software/UI

The biggest weakness of the Audio 4c is the software used to control it, called Auracle. It suffers from occasional freeze-ups that force restarts of the Auracle program (this doesn’t affect audio playback, don’t worry), but the most annoying thing is that it forces you into choosing 4 preset routing options for audio. These are most likely fine for the majority of users, but if you’re like me and want to know exactly what’s happening under the hood of the mixer and tweak things as you go rather than trusting presets, it’s a bit of a letdown.

The previous version of the software, iConfig, was really rough around the design and UI edges, but it allowed for much greater control of the internal audio and midi assignments. Fortunately, a previous iteration of iConfig has been made open-source and is now actively maintained by a developer community. It’s called “reconfig” and is available on the Apple App Store. I’m not sure if a similar version exists on Windows, but if you’re a Mac user, I’d highly recommend downloading this app to unlock the full potential of the matrix mixer, MIDI mapping, etc.

On the left: Auracle, the factory packaged software from iConnectivity. You're locked into choosing one of 4 possible preset routing configurations. For deeper control and full access to the routing matrix for all ins/outs, you definitely want to grab the reconfig4audio software on the App Store (seen on the right).

At the end of the day, the Audio 4c has some issues, but I’d still highly recommend this interface to anyone pursuing a dual-device workflow. The possibilities and workflow improvements it unlocked for me have been so much greater than any technical faults I’ve found. I think the $399 price tag (as of this writing) is more than worth it.

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Can you share your audio/MIDI settings in Ableton Live and the Auracle software?

I wanted to include a deeper breakdown of the settings in the video, but it was already running a little long. Here’s exactly how I set up my sessions to facilitate my workflow.