iPad sampling

Hangover Clouds · 2025-04-17T19:34:35+00:00

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I have a iPad with a USB-c connection, and want to sample directly into maschine plus stand alone.
have tried various cable connections, but they sound is either too quiet or poor quality. I think I might need same sort of powered connection. Anyone got any recommendations? The more portable the better. Thanks In advance

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PK The DJ

Please provide more details about the "various cables" that you tried. What inputs on the M+ are you connecting to?

6xes

you likely require the apple usbc to 3.5mm adapter

then you would feed it into your input

rephazed

I’ve used this to sample iPad and iPhone: https://a.co/d/4wstEdo

But as you discovered, the signal is pretty low. In fact I have to: up my volume in source device to highest, up the line input to highest, and even then, lower the threshold in sampler to very, very low. But after recording & normalization, it’s loud and the noise factor for me hasn’t been an issue. If it’s too quiet to hear you could also route the output to a channel, use mixer and/or add compressor or limiter on and then sample that internal channel rather than line in. For on the fly, this is fine, but in the studio I added a small mixer and use it to amplify the signal. Someone here mentioned the Zoom Livetrak 6 which can be powered off the M+ USB and expand the number of inputs. The line in on M+ is pretty low, so at least for my ears, needs a little tricks like this.

LostInFoundation

As already said by the others, low level inputs is a known factor. But as rephazed said, normalizing after the recording gives good results.

Both suggestion given are valid. 6xes’s Apple original adaptor is known for having good quality DAC and amplifier inside of it, despite its minimum size. It could improve the situation.

Rephazed cable looks very flexible (no pun intended) with all those different connections type.

But the low input will probably always be there. Improving? Yes. Completely solving? Difficult

Hangover Clouds

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/44513/ipad-sampling

Tried a USB-C to phono jack cable initially, then just a standard cable with a USB-C to jack adapter. Rephaze's explanation of the issue is clearer than my original post, so it's good to know I wasn't imagining things! "

6xes’s Apple original adaptor is known for having good quality DAC" - I think using cable wsith poor DACs is my issue

PK The DJ

What you have to bear in mind is that there are two standards for audio I/O levels - consumer and pro.

→ Wiki page about line level ←

LostInFoundation

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/222484#Comment_222484

Don’t spend money based on my opinion ☺️

As said… low input IS a thing. Can be maybe improved a little bit, but not completely eliminated, I’m afraid

Flexi

You are over thinking it, if you want to multi sample instruments on IOS, synthjacker is a vastly superior version of autosampler, if you want to just sample phrases etc, then do it internally on the iPad.
Once you have your samples, just pass them over to the M+.

LostInFoundation

What if he wants to sample from other sources than apps?

Or to use M+ to control iPad apps, having the audio going in the M+ and sampling it? Maybe effected by M+ FXs?

Or simply avoid the uncomfortable way to import/export things from the M+ (using SD card, or putting M+ in storage mode and having to turn on the computer, plug M+ into it,…)

Saying do things “internally on the iPad. Once you have your samples just pass them over to the M+” is a little bit like saying “we don’t need Massive, Kontakt, Reaktor, Expansions,… on the M+ itself” because we can play them on the computer, record there and then “just pass them over to the M+”.

Btw: I had a look at Synthjacker. How can we use the sampled instrument to play it in M+ as an internal instrument?

Flexi

You could still use the M+ to control iPad apps, and still record it in realtime, you can use a wide range of effects available on the iPad and then also use the M+ effects once you have passed the samples over.

Switching to storage mode with iPad connected and then passing the files over, not entirely sure that is uncomfortable, considering the iPad has to be connected to do direct sampling anyway?

Interestingly we do not in fact need Massive/Kontakt/Reaktor/Expansions on the M+ itself, and as you quite rightly point out, you can in fact play them on the computer, record or auto sample there and then pass to the M+, this is one of the super powers of the M+, having the desktop environment to create content that can then be passed to the M+ to be played.
While the instruments mentioned above are great for sure, the more you rely on the sampler in the M+, the happier you will be in terms of resource usage.

Synthjacker creates multi samples, you can map these simply using the sample mapping in the M+, or you could even map them in BM3 on the iPad to make it easier, then use something like Kit Maker to convert them to Maschine.

The only real advantage to direct sampling would be gained with an older iPad and using the headphone output, while it is not the secret weapon iPad 2 with its slightly driven output, every iPad with a headphone output had one of the highest quality audio outputs ever available on a consumer device.

iPad Pro Audio Quality & Measurements

While that is for the iPad Pro, it is the same across the entire older range with headphone outputs, all but the iPad 2, which is known as the secret weapon by older iPad musicians, the headphone output on that was actually designed slightly wrong and had some little overdrive built in, some people swear by it, for apps that still run on it.

LostInFoundation

To each is own… but I think that if you remove all those things from M+ and you use so many outside things to then just move the results to the M+… it loses 3/4 of the reasons why I bought it. If I had to use 1000 other tools to achieve what I can do with M+… I wouldn’t need M+. Anything else could do.

I see your suggestion like someone saying “You don’t need an electric guitar. Buy effects and use them on your acoustic guitar and it will sound similar”. Or “You don’t need a violin. Play very high notes on your cello at it will sound similar”.

Or…an even better similitude, but in another ballpark: Someone telling you “You don’t need a mobile phone. Reach your car, drive home for 45 minutes and there you can use your house landline phone to make the call”.

Of course you can…but…

Btw: I still have my iPad 2. I struggle to see what you say “older iPad musicians” see. And I’m an “old iPad musician” myself…as old as anyone else can be, since I bought the first music apps that came out for it at day one.

The thing about Storage mode working when connected on an iPad is a good tip… in facts…I just discovered yesterday that it works, thanks to Tetsuneko ☺️

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