iPad or Something Else

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 12:04 pm

I think I am finally going to have to get an iPad or some other tablet device for music apps. Almost everything that's comming out is for the iPad with almost nothing for Windows or Android devices.

Does anyone see this trend changing in favor or Windows or Android or do you think that the iPad will reign as king in the music app world for a long time to come?

roblabs · Post by **roblabs** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 3:59 pm

Well, I only have experience with iOS...but I can tell you that the quality of music apps on here looks to be unparalleled. Apps like the iKaossilator, ielectribe, iMS-20, iPolysix, Roland Animoog, Arturia's iMini, etc etc etc...you're just not going to find these on any other devices. An iPad may be a bit pricey, but its definitely worth it when you consider the power of these apps.

*I once read something that the internal clock on iOS devices is much more stable than on others, this might explain why their music apps are so much better...

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:25 pm

There's one very big reason why music apps are dominant on iOS: 100 million iPads sold to date.

Most music apps need the larger screen of the iPad, and the iPad2's faster dual core CPU made a lot more synthesis and real-time audio processing possible.

Even if the Windows RT/8 and Android hardware is good enough to do music apps, the sales are split over endless configurations that are constantly changing, with no large established user base for any of them. Music apps depend on the hardware very closely. Well-funded developers have little incentive to make music apps for anything except iOS/iPad. Considering that the effort to produce software for each platform requires a relatively similar amount of effort, which platform would you target first: one with 100 million users with huge app sales, or one with far fewer users and only a low chance of selling merely several hundred thousand before the product is discontinued or changed? Android smartphone sales don't really count for music apps that require pad size screens to be useful.

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 1:11 am

Thanks for the feedback. It looks like there will be an iPad in my future.

AnthonyB · Post by **AnthonyB** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 1:45 am

Well, there's samsung galaxy note 10.1 (I have this one)with quad core cpu-twice that of ipad 4. Two gig ram, twice that of ipad 4, and very fast with jellybean 4.1.2. With "key lime pie" on its way
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and ... rs-1091500

Not to mention the popularity of android tablets now, and with googleplay outgrowing appstore. http://news.sky.com/story/1081350/googl ... wing-apple

And with apple profits down $2.1B this quarter alone. http://news.sky.com/story/1081755/apple ... n-10-years there seems to be a downward trend here

And its not just stats from news sites, but also on "user reviews" like amazon etc. Why should a ipad 4 ( or 3 even) cost more than an android tablet that does ***MORE*** ? (My note 10.1 does multi scrreen/multi tasking etc. Ok, there's the apple 'fanboy' base, which is "an apple a day keeps android at bay' etc, which is wearing very thin now. Theres also nexus 10/7, etc, all very good tabs. Ive been on pc forums and there does seem do be a downward trend, and THAT is mentioned by apple users. Did apple stop reinventing when steve-"midas" jobs passed away? Seems so.

Do I like Apple devices? Most definitely, and "MAY" be forced to buy one if I want ipolysix, korg ms et etc as an app. Will korg ever go android? Maybe not.

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:41 am

I have never been an Apple fan. But they seem to have done well with various music and art applications. The only reason I am even considering an Apple device is for the music apps. And not even so much to play music but more to run the editors. For example, I believe you need an ipad for the JP-80 editor if you want to do any serious synth tone editing.

xmlguy has a really good point about the many hardware configurations for Windows and Android making it more difficult to target those platforms. I've downloaded a few of the free synth apps on my Android phone and the results are very mixed. When you read the reviews you find that they behave better on some phones than others.

I will hold off on my final decision for a little while longer since I have other upgrades to get out of the way first but I don't have a lot of hope in the short term for any significant Windows or Android support from the major players.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:29 am

Perhaps I should point out that the only Apple products I have ever owned are an iPod Touch 3G and an iPad2. I've never been very "religious" about my choice of computers. I didn't see much point about trying to convince others to buy a computer just because I preferred it. Fanboys usually didn't know crap about their own choice, much less the choices of others. I've always recommend that you should first pick the software that you need the most, then buy the hardware you need to run it well. Buying hardware with the hope of future software usually doesn't pan out so well. If the hardware runs the software you need, then at least it does THAT. I hold that same philosophy today.

I didn't buy an iPad just because it was cool or trendy or whatever. In fact, that's why I didn't buy the iPods before the Touch 3G or the original iPad. I've never used an iPhone - since I didn't want to buy into the AT&T contract. I could run most everything from the iPhone on that iPod, but with Skype via WiFi. The iPod actually saved me money vs. any cell phone contract. The music apps were a great bonus. NLog Free Synth, Wivi Band, and NanoStudio were my first music apps that convinced me of the audio quality for synthesis on iOS. The first iPad didn't appeal to me because the music apps took quite a while to come out to make use of the larger screen. The iPad2 was co-released with GarageBand and iMS-20 was a major factor in my purchase. I already had used the DS-10 and DS-10+ quite a bit, and iMS-20 was clearly inherited from it, but with a lot more capability. iMS-20 and NanoStudio are both truly incredible. NanoStudio on iPad2 can easily replace the EMX and ESX electribes and is much more powerful than them in most respects.

So if someone doesn't buy an iPad for this awesome software because it's an Apple product, no problem. Your loss. Good luck trying to find anything as good on other pads. It's one of the best purchases I've ever made. And I still don't own a Mac. I also use the iPad for NetFlix to stream HD movies to a projector and big screen LCD , saving me the cost of a Roku or other set-top streaming box. I didn't upgrade to the iPad 3Gen or 4Gen since the retina display isn't a benefit to me. The iPad2 still seems like the best value for music apps. I did get the 3G model since it doesn't require a long-term contract with its inexpensive month-to-month subscription. Music apps don't need 3G since WiFi is fine.

roblabs · Post by **roblabs** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:49 pm

I don't think any other tablet or touch screen portable device has better apps than what iOS can offer. The only reason why I even considered buying the ipod touch and ipad3 was for music apps.

When it comes to all of these touch screen devices, I think most people just follow trends. The funny thing is that I see so many people doing things on these devices that could easily be accomplished on a laptop, which would easily be a better value. On the other hand, if you buy one for a particular reason, I think it becomes quite clear how valuable and useful one can be.

Enter the ipad, for instance. For music production, there is simply no competition. As I said before, the choice of apps is first rate, with frequent updates and user support. I've also found the apps to be very stable.

Ultimately, the choice is yours but if you're interested in music apps, I don't think you would need to look any further; Apple has this market locked down tight. Most of the major players like Arturia, Roland, and Korg have such amazing apps that even if another company did eventually start winning the tablet war, the iPad would still be a worthy investment. As an example, you can buy a camera connection kit (apple or 3rd party), and a USB-midi device and you'll now have an outstanding virtual synth module for under $50

axxim · Post by **axxim** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 4:46 pm

Bald Eagle wrote:I think I am finally going to have to get an iPad or some other tablet device for music apps. Almost everything that's comming out is for the iPad with almost nothing for Windows or Android devices.

Does anyone see this trend changing in favor or Windows or Android or do you think that the iPad will reign as king in the music app world for a long time to come?

It not only depends of how fast(er) or better the hardware from Win/Androids is.

The fact that IOS devices have a strongly "regulated" compatibility for its audio interfaces/drivers as well as programming options (which means any IOS app should work with each* iDevice hardware) while Win/Android systems are from different manufacturers with maybe their own way of "standards" for such applications (which may result in incompatibility issues between different hardware) is what probably makes that developers feel they will have more success and less issues programming their apps for IOS instead for W/A. Once they get that success, they may adapt and issue a version for W/A as a additional incoming source but this may be optional.

I think that the app/software compatibility between the different hardware models is the most important fact that will ensure the future of every manufacturer of such devices. At the end the user wants to download and run the application/program without having issues nor starting to download drivers/update/fixes/patches or browsing thru forums in search for (in)compatibility lists, etc. with the hope, that the purchased SW will work several hardware generations.

* Of course here "each" is meant similar technology and hardware levels/generations which is valid for all systems

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Tue May 28, 2013 4:51 pm

Well, I did it. Bought an iPad Retina with 64gb. I already installed iMS-20 and Animoog. I had my doubts at first but I'm loving this thing.

roblabs · Post by **roblabs** » Tue May 28, 2013 10:02 pm

what did we tell you?

glad youre happy with your purchase tho!

shaneblyth · Post by **shaneblyth** » Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:04 am

Latency seems to be an issue with music apps on Android. Was looking at an Android tablet and found some tech articles on it and the crazy thing that things like the Nexus 7 1st gen had lower latency than the second gen ones! Compared to the iPads it seems Android music apps still have much larger latency times. Sent mine back and got an iPad mini with retina display screams along compared the the Android tablet and as people have pointed out the apps on IOS for musicians wow they blow me away in comparison.

MusiKman · Post by **MusiKman** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:23 am

Bald Eagle wrote:Well, I did it. Bought an iPad Retina with 64gb. I already installed iMS-20 and Animoog. I had my doubts at first but I'm loving this thing.

Me too

I love the iPad especially now with Korg Gadget in it! it rocks brotha!

daveham · Post by **daveham** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:11 am

AnthonyB wrote:Well, there's samsung galaxy note 10.1 (I have this one)with quad core cpu-twice that of ipad 4. Two gig ram, twice that of ipad 4, and very fast with jellybean 4.1.2. With "key lime pie" on its way
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and ... rs-1091500

Not to mention the popularity of android tablets now, and with googleplay outgrowing appstore. http://news.sky.com/story/1081350/googl ... wing-apple

And with apple profits down $2.1B this quarter alone. http://news.sky.com/story/1081755/apple ... n-10-years there seems to be a downward trend here

And its not just stats from news sites, but also on "user reviews" like amazon etc. Why should a ipad 4 ( or 3 even) cost more than an android tablet that does ***MORE*** ? (My note 10.1 does multi scrreen/multi tasking etc. Ok, there's the apple 'fanboy' base, which is "an apple a day keeps android at bay' etc, which is wearing very thin now. Theres also nexus 10/7, etc, all very good tabs. Ive been on pc forums and there does seem do be a downward trend, and THAT is mentioned by apple users. Did apple stop reinventing when steve-"midas" jobs passed away? Seems so.

Do I like Apple devices? Most definitely, and "MAY" be forced to buy one if I want ipolysix, korg ms et etc as an app. Will korg ever go android? Maybe not.

Wow Anthony, with all that momentum going for it you would think that the brilliant music apps. will begin showing up for Android tablets any day now!

Not so fast buddy. Hardware specs. mean very little if the operating system and applications are not cohesive and elegantly designed. The Android platform is wayyyyyyy too fragmented for music application developers to waste their precious resources on. Sure you will have the occasional dedicated developer willing to develop and support a labor of love and produce a gem like Caustic. But the bottom line is that Apple gave the developer more tools (core midi,IAA,etc.), a stable hardware platform, consistent user interface, outstanding storefront and millions of customers.

Every year we hear that Android is working on those issues and when Ice Cream Candy or Jelly Bean Sandwich or Honecomb,etc. comes out Android music production apps. will take off. It has not happened and folks are still waiting.

My advice would be to cut your losses, swallow your pride and move on to the Real Deal Holyfield of portable production devices. BTW, have you seen Korg Gadget? You want it don't you?

shaneblyth · Post by **shaneblyth** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:21 am

I sold my high spec android tablet and bought the ipad mini retina and it's night n day when it comes to music apps. I too did a bunch of research and the low latency is still a bit of an issue on the latest android OS release. I think if your serious about music apps then Android is miles behind in this area. It's a pity would of been nice to get my Android cranky but the ipad kicked its butt in this area for sure.

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