android vs ios for music making

[rec-tec]

hi

i am about to upgrade my phone. i am agonising over a phone that can support music production apps and allow use of midi keyboard, external per-amps and all that is out there to do with music. common sense tells me to go for an iphone5 (hmm...) - but what i really want is a sony xperia z2 or htc one (M8)(the later of which has a 40% lower screen latency than the iphone 5 46ms compared to 75ms) - so........ is android still not up to the job of having latency free music apps. there are lots of apps which are described as being next to useless for real-time use do to the latency problems with the operating system that are yet to be resolved by (whoever makes) android.....

i welcome thoughts and experience to the contrary (most things app-related for android are described as "quite good" - but that does not equate to playable!)

so are there any android phones that can really be used for music - is iphone/ios the only way to go?

cheers

RT

[BJG145]

IOS

[shufflebeat]

Android for Irealb, Chordbot and intrgated file moving, iOS for recording audio.

[rec-tec]

hi guys

this kind of confirms what i thought...

although not an iphone fan (quite the opposite really - apple = corporate individualism!)- looks like it may be the most practical for my needs

cheers

RT

[rec-tec]

in that case

can any body suggests apps that are a bit like a DAW (preferably like ableton) that:

1) allow recording of external audio
2) allow use of midi keyboard - like the i keys, etc -
3) have a beat making facility
4) has some audio editing facility
5) can export stems of songs (as wavs/aiffs) so i can use them in ableton

the usual stuff i guess

cheers RT

[Richard Graham]

Android for Irealb, Chordbot and intrgated file moving, iOS for Garageband, Korg iElecribe, iMS20 and PolySix, Moog Animoog and Filtatron, Propellerhead Figure, Arturia iMini, NI Traktor DJ, DrumJam, Novation LaunchKey, AudioBus, Cubasis, TouchOsc, Yamaha TNRi, etc etc etc. ... and recording audio

Fixed that for you, Shuffle.

[Richard Graham]

in that case

can any body suggests apps that are a bit like a DAW (preferably like ableton) that:

1) allow recording of external audio
2) allow use of midi keyboard - like the i keys, etc -
3) have a beat making facility
4) has some audio editing facility
5) can export stems of songs (as wavs/aiffs) so i can use them in ableton

the usual stuff i guess

cheers RT

Garageband can do most of that, although number 5 can be a bit of a faff (you'd have to solo the tracks you wanted to export as stems).

For drum loops you want DrumJam really, and FingerLab's DM1.

I don't know of anything like Ableton for iOS though.

[Scope]

apple = corporate individualism!

RT

What?
And Google aren't?

Android is not Linux for phones, Google are just as profit orientated, plus they collect data from users covertly for "marketing purposes".
Hmmm.

The fact is only iOS is supported by the main software houses at the moment. So 99% of useful music apps are iOS only.
Eventually the android and windows RT app stores will catch up, but right now the choices are woeful in comparison.
So I bought an iPad and Rebirth which is just brilliant.
Question is, which app next ?

I have heard there is Cubase for iOS !

[Richard Graham]

hi guys

this kind of confirms what i thought...

although not an iphone fan (quite the opposite really - apple = corporate individualism!)- looks like it may be the most practical for my needs

cheers

RT

It's been done to death in here, not least by me, but there's no competition between iOS and Android for making music, though apparently some Android fans seem to live in an alternative reality where Android is a contender.

I have an Android phone and i like it, in fact I've got Androids for the rest of my family as well. nothing wrong with Android for the things Android can do... but they aren't for making music with.

[Scope]

Cubase for iOS £35 on the App Store
Would appear to do it all !

[Richard Graham]

Eventually the Android and windows RT app stores will catch up

Not until Android sorts out it's audio latency issues... which may be never.

Not sure what's out there for Windows RT, but if you want to be making music on a tablet in the next few years, you need an iOS device.

[Richard Graham]

Cubase for iOS £35 on the App Store
Would appear to do it all !

£35! Jesus!!

But if it does the job... it's weird how expense is relative. I'm a Reaper fan and my perception is that £35 is cheap for a DAW... but the same thing on iOS and I think "eek!"

I do like GarageBand, and you can export iOS GB tracks to Logic for tweaking. That of course involves getting deeper into the corporate Apple thing... Noooo!

[Pat]

I have android phone and tablet, and whilst they work for me (I mainly want a browser/iplayer platform, but also noodle with chordbot and caustic, both of which can be got for ios) I don't think they will do what you want.

One other option...

Depending on the price diff on the contract you could go for the android phone (which may be cheaper, especially if is a refurb (eg I got an HTC one with decent minutes txts and a good amount of data and paid abit 10 quid a month less by choosing "refurb", which was basically a brand new "returned" phone) you could then spend the difference on a wi fi only iPad (i see Tesco have wi iPad minis for 250 quid).

Realise that that involves some upfront cost, but I would have thought that doing any more involved tunage on an iPhone (or an android with equivalent screen size) would be a bit like wall papering the hall through the letterbox.

Or don't upgrade phone and go SIM only, and get iPad.

Cheers,

Pat

[shufflebeat]

Android for Irealb, Chordbot and intrgated file moving, iOS for Garageband, Korg iElecribe, iMS20 and PolySix, Moog Animoog and Filtatron, Propellerhead Figure, Arturia iMini, NI Traktor DJ, DrumJam, Novation LaunchKey, AudioBus, Cubasis, TouchOsc, Yamaha TNRi, etc etc etc. ... and recording audio

Fixed that for you, Shuffle.

Yes, point taken.

However, how many of us are running away from the endless possibilities presented by modern tech.

My most satisfying and successful work has all been done with pen and paper. Computers don't make music, they just make things easy/complicated. Android does some things really well and there are many folks out there who are already locked out of the Apple 'family'.

I'd probably choose an iPad, though.

[Scope]

I think it's a case of what ever works for you.
I bought a dx7 a week ago. I plugged it in, tweeted a voice and wrote a track.
No sign of logic or a mac, or my ipad or any of the many toys collected over the 30+ years I been making noises.

How very refreshing!

[Mixedup]

Given a choice of iOS or Android for music making, I'd pick... OSX or Windows

Android's OK for controller apps — things to control what's going on on your computer. I use mine for controlling Cubase, for example. It can also do recording, and most phones have USB built in, which can be pressed into service for interfaces (as on my Galaxy S3) but it's fiddly and in general, Android sucks for music.

iOS has some great plenty of very functional music-related apps — but the best stuff, bar a few guitar and pedal-related gadgets, really requires an iPad because the iPhone screen is so bloody small (it's not just about the pic, but about where you plump your fingers). It's a shame, really, as there's some very capable Android phone hardware out there, with large enough screens that they wouldn't be such a pain in the ass to use for this sort of stuff, with built-in USB etc... if only the software did the job you needed.

Short story - if you really do want a phone for music stuff, get an iPhone. But do you *really* want to do music on your phone? I know I don't!

[Richard Graham]

Given a choice of iOS or Android for music making, I'd pick... OSX or Windows

Android's OK for controller apps — things to control what's going on on your computer. I use mine for controlling Cubase, for example. It can also do recording, and most phones have USB built in, which can be pressed into service for interfaces (as on my Galaxy S3) but it's fiddly and in general, Android sucks for music.

iOS has some great plenty of very functional music-related apps — but the best stuff, bar a few guitar and pedal-related gadgets, really requires an iPad because the iPhone screen is so bloody small (it's not just about the pic, but about where you plump your fingers). It's a shame, really, as there's some very capable Android phone hardware out there, with large enough screens that they wouldn't be such a pain in the ass to use for this sort of stuff, with built-in USB etc... if only the software did the job you needed.

Short story - if you really do want a phone for music stuff, get an iPhone. But do you *really* want to do music on your phone? I know I don't!

Yup, that gets my vote. iOS with an iPad, for very mobile music. Otherwise Windows or OSX.

[muzines]

I bought a dx7 a week ago. I plugged it in, tweeted a voice and wrote a track.

That's pretty forward thinking that the DX7, made in 1983 can send tweets - before the public facing internet, websites, or Twitter even existed!

[Scope]

You'd better believe it !
My dx7 has Ethernet, thunderbolt, hd screen, Bluetooth and wifi.
Sorry, that's my MacBook Pro, running FM7.

So let's try again
I tweeked a sound & ....

( bloody auto correct tried again to re tweet !)
What a load of shot !