Midi Keyboard + Ipad Setup - Questions

[anotherscott]

Now this thread is just not now making any financial sense to me at all!

You compared the price of top of the line iPads with bottom of the line keyboards, so of course the keyboard looks like the bargain. If instead of comparing an iPad Pro to a Kross 2/Juno DS, you compared a more basic iPad to a Kronos/Montage, you'd draw the opposite conclusion. Neither comparison is terribly useful. But if the OP has a given budget, one could compare the iPad system you could get for that price to the keyboard you could get for that price. And each will be better than the other for some things.

You say a regular iPad screen is too small for you... but a Kross or Juno DS screen isn't?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I think what the screen is displaying will be a factor - menus for a keyboard that has other physical controls versus a soft synth where the screen tries to display the controls and settings. But having said that, I use a regular size iPad 2 and a regular size iPad 5; the iPad 5 is better than the iPad 2 of course, but as far as their screen sizes I find it easy enough to get around on them, especially if I'm holding them in my hand at reading distance.

 

[anotherscott]

I think what the screen is displaying will be a factor - menus for a keyboard that has other physical controls versus a soft synth where the screen tries to display the controls and settings. But having said that, I use a regular size iPad 2 and a regular size iPad 5; the iPad 5 is better than the iPad 2 of course, but as far as their screen sizes I find it easy enough to get around on them, especially if I'm holding them in my hand at reading distance.

Yes, it does depend on the specific application and ergonomic setup. For example, if you're playing softsynths and you want to use on-screen controls to manipulate the sound, a big screen is better. If you're not into real-time control tweaking but just mostly recall of presets you've saved, and/or if you have a controller with assignable knobs/sliders that you will use for real-time manipulations, then even an iPad Mini screen can be big enough (and still bigger than the screens on most keyboards). Big screens can also be better for things like reading charts/lyrics, but now you're talking about things that most keyboards can't do at all.

Similarly, the amount of storage space varies with your application. If your iPad is being used for music performance alone, even 32 GB goes quite far if you're not doing much with large sample libraries; with more/bigger sample libraries I'd say 64. If you're going to do a lot of DAW-style music production on it with audio tracks, then space can go faster. And of course, if your iPad is also going to be used for other purposes, you have to add whatever you'd need for your other purposes. (Video in particular can suck up the space, as can huge libraries of mp3s.) But even a 32 GB model would allow you to assemble a system that is sonically plenty competitive with a low cost board like a Kross.

 

[Biggles]

You compared the price of top of the line iPads with bottom of the line keyboards, so of course the keyboard looks like the bargain. If instead of comparing an iPad Pro to a Kross 2/Juno DS, you compared a more basic iPad to a Kronos/Montage, you'd draw the opposite conclusion. Neither comparison is terribly useful. But if the OP has a given budget, one could compare the iPad system you could get for that price to the keyboard you could get for that price. And each will be better than the other for some things.

You say a regular iPad screen is too small for you... but a Kross or Juno DS screen isn't?

Small screen. Yes it is if you want to get into more uses on th iPad, with the many uses I use my large screen iPad to display a music score and for me at 9.7” it is just to small to see what is displayed.

Use one for DAW and size equals ease of use.

Remember the iPad is not just for the Ops sole use.

For family use then bigger is better, the performance of the Pro is vastly better than standard and coupled with a smart keyboard its use then also becomes more akin to a laptop.

The new Pro version means that even though it is expensive it is as future proof as an iPad can be.

So yes I think I am perfectly valid to suggest that the Pro is a far better long term bet for the Ops family use.

 

[anotherscott]

Small screen. Yes it is if you want to get into more uses on th iPad, with the many uses I use my large screen iPad to display a music score and for me at 9.7” it is just to small to see what is displayed.

For you, okay. But for lots of people, the 9.7 (or even the Mini!) has been just fine. And we do not know if music score reading is one of the things he needs. If it is, the Kross 2 or Juno DS you suggested as better priced alternatives won't help him ether.

Use one for DAW and size equals ease of use.

Yes, but again, we don't know if that's a need, and if it is, that rules out the Juno DS too. And while the Kross does have a workstation sequencer in it, I'd prefer the screen on even a non-Pro iPad.

Remember the iPad is not just for the Ops sole use.

Even if music is not the sole use, many other common uses work just fine on a non-Pro-sized screen (email, music player, basic web browsing, GPS, etc.).

For family use then bigger is better, the performance of the Pro is vastly better than standard and coupled with a smart keyboard its use then also becomes more akin to a laptop.

The new Pro version means that even though it is expensive it is as future proof as an iPad can be.

So yes I think I am perfectly valid to suggest that the Pro is a far better long term bet for the Ops family use.

I was not diminishing the appeal of a large screen, or other features of the Pro. Sure, it has lots of advantages. I just think it's wrong to say that it's a must and therefore buying a keyboard (i.e. Kross/DS) is necessarily a much more cost effective solution (i.e. where you said, "this thread is just not now making any financial sense to me at all!") Kross and Juno DS are great boards. At about the same price (or even less), you can get a non-Pro iPad and a pretty flexible controller (like a Behringer U-Control or Motor, or a Samson Graphite 49)... and each setup will have advantages over the other. Sure a Pro is better and has more long term potential than a non-Pro. A Kronos is also better and has more long term potential than a Kross. But that doesn't mean you can't do lots of stuff with a non-pro iPad or a Kross.

 

[Biggles]

Its a MUST .... no it is not.

Its a case of bringing everything relevant to the Op so they can make a balanced judgement that suits their requirements.

Its easy for a respondent to say that there are a lot of Synth Apps available and there are but an App that meets the Ops needs is not a Synth App, in fact an iPad App that does meet their needs is not one that I have found found.

The fact is I doubt that the Op will find what they are searching for without buying a keyboard and a Tablet and forgetting the MIDI controller and iPad route for now or by changing their requirements.

Certainly with a dedicated keyboard if it does not have the Instrument Voices they seek the chances are that someone has produced a Patch and a hiunt on the likes of Rolandclan forum or looking through the add on patches on the Roland website or it could be a case of tweaking the existing Instrument Voice to give the sound that they require and then saving it as a custom User voice.

On the MIDI front then maybe a Native Instrument Komplete package and Laptop could be the way forward? It will certainly be an area of research that I put forward to the Op

 

[anotherscott]

an App that meets the Ops needs is not a Synth App, in fact an iPad App that does meet their needs is not one that I have found.

We know very little about the OP's needs. Only that it is for live performance, has to be user friendly, and he needs good strings and brass. (And we didn't even know that much when you said that an iPad made no financial sense and that he should get a Kross or Juno DS instead.) Which of those requirements do you think cannot be met by an iPad?

The fact is I doubt that the Op will find what they are searching for without buying a keyboard and a Tablet

Okay, so you've changed from saying he should get a Kross or DS instead of an iPad (because the iPad approach doesn't make "financial sense"), to now saying he should get a keyboard AND a tablet, which is great, but of course, is more expensive than EITHER of the other solutions!

The fact is I doubt that the Op will find what they are searching for without...forgetting the MIDI controller and iPad route for now or by changing their requirements.

What requirement has he put forth that you think need to be changed?

Cons is you need to buy many apps for different kind of sounds. I am not sure if you can find sweet brass ,string sounds. I am obssessed with them.

There are single apps that have lots of sounds, you don't necessarily need to buy many apps. But to get "best of each" for a variety of sounds, you may get more satisfactory results from multiple apps. If you're going to be running multiple apps at once, it's preferable to have more RAM. All reasonably modern iPads have at least 1 GB RAM, but to run multiple apps, I'd suggest a model with at least 2 GB RAM.

Questions:

* Besides strings and brass, which other sounds are especially important to you?

* Do you play one sound at a time, or do you need splits and layers?

* Does it matter to you whether you would call up your iPad sounds from the keyboard's front panel controls vs. calling them up from the screen of the iPad itself?

 

[Biggles]

Anotherscott ...... You are now Trolling.

Personal attacks on fellow members are junvenile and totally not productive.

The Op has the info they now need to make an informed decision.

End of my responses to you.

 

[MikeyParent]

So you are butt hurt cause he called you out for your narrow minded response? And calling in a mod? I dont even know what to say dude. What he said was not a personal attack. He "attacked" your argument, not you.

Wow

 

[Elamshin]

Well Ok Guys. This has turned into argument. But your answers from both sides helped me a lot. I couldnt find this deep answers anywhere else. I asked few local boards for both options if there is anyone who uses this setup and kross 2 and krome. I am going to try both in real before final decision. Thank you for all help.

 

[Biggles]

So you are butt hurt cause he called you out for your narrow minded response? And calling in a mod? I dont even know what to say dude. What he said was not a personal attack. He "attacked" your argument, not you.

Wow

Who asked for your opinion I certainly did not.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I think the pros and cons which have been given by everyone have been helpful for anyone thinking about using an iPad for playing soft synths and samplers, but it's time to lock the thread. The OP now needs to decide what he and his wife want to do, taking all suggestions and comments into account.