How reliable is mixing from an iPad?

[dickiefunk]

Hi,

I'm considering going the iPad route for mixing live gigs and am wondering how reliable this is?

Are there an stability/connection issues doing this?

Will this work on outdoor gigs?

Does the various different brands (Presonus, Behringer, Mackie, Allen & Heath and Soundcraft) vary in stability and reliability using an iPad?

[Bob Bickerton]

I have a Presonus Studiolive setup.

There are situations where driving the mixer from the ipad is really useful, but overall I would always prefer to have hands on the mixer.

Ipad control is extremely useful for setting monitors and this alone would be worth the investment.

Other uses are (mainly outdoors) when, for whatever reason, it's not possible or preferable, to have the mixer out front. It can be handy to tweak out front, but I only really do this when I've got a monitor engineer/stage manager, close to the desk to intervene should there be a dropout or problem.

I've never had a drop out yet, but I always feel more comfortable with copper than airwaves for driving a mixer!

Bob

[Sam Spoons]

I have the Mackie DL1608 and have done a few gigs now with no stability issues using an Apple Airport Express router.

The DL1608 forum documents 200 metre plus range with no problems using that setup, it's definitely rock solid at 20-30 metres. 5GHz is recommended rather than 2.4 as it's a bit less cluttered with smartphones etc.

The iLive system we use at work seems reliable too.

The main downside of iPad mixing (indeed digital generally) is not having a knob for every function so to sort feedback on an aux you may have to change pages/layers which takes a second or so.

For your setup I'd say the DL1608 would be pretty much perfect and until the Behringer comes out it's the only game in town (the Presonus 1202 has good rep and is about the same price but it only has 12 mic pre's, is a lot bigger and needs a PC connected to use wireless).

[Dave Rowles]

For simple gigs with no more than 16 channels and not a lot of fast changes needed then mixing from an iPad is a breeze.

However, if you're running a complex show with lots of different elements to get right, it is far faster and easier to mix on a proper mixing board or control surface. I wouldn't want to be solely on an iPad for anything over 16 channels, though as bob says it's extremely useful for monitors no matter what the channel count.

[Sam Spoons]

For simple gigs with no more than 16 channels and not a lot of fast changes needed then mixing from an iPad is a breeze.

However, if you're running a complex show with lots of different elements to get right, it is far faster and easier to mix on a proper mixing board or control surface. I wouldn't want to be solely on an iPad for anything over 16 channels, though as bob says it's extremely useful for monitors no matter what the channel count.

This would be my assessment too, the A&H iLive MixPad app is more complex and with smaller buttons and faders than the Mackie Master Fader because it has 64 inputs and 32 outputs against 16/8. I'm pretty relaxed about mixing 16 channels on the iPad but much less so if I had to mix 64.

All the apps are available for demo so try before you buy.

[TSH-Tim]

I guess the X32 must have some sort of ipad software thingy so i guess my next question is where is the best place to buy a used iPad ? Does it have to be a special one ?

[turtles]

See if you can borrow an ipad and try using AC-7 for half an hour with some multitrack stuff in your DAW, and see how you get on with an ipad as a mixing surface.
Personally? good for tweaks and twiddles once the main board is set up properly. I wouldn't want to rely on one to do anything bigger though.

[Sam Spoons]

I guess the X32 must have some sort of ipad software thingy so i guess my next question is where is the best place to buy a used iPad ? Does it have to be a special one ?

Depending on the desk you choose and wether you plan to use it for other stuff, I'd suggest either an iPad2 16GB new from the Apple Store at £329 or a new iPad Mini for £279. Used iPads command stupid prices for some reason (I know they're good but buying used to save 10% is foolish). Apple refurbs can be good value too if the right one is available http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad

[TSH-Tim]

Thank you for the heads up Sam

[sohowes]

Our DL1608 crashed last night for the first time since it came out...it has done a large amount of gigs in that time though. It was only the control that went, the mixer carried on fine. A little power off/power on sorted it out and tonight it was fine. I like the extra facilities on the iPad...gates, compressors, decent EQ let's you get a really killer sound.

[Scramble]

It would be good if these things had some feedback suppression built-in. I imagine trying to handle feedback wouldn't be the quickest operation with these units.

[robare99]

I've been mixing remotely for over 2 years, StudioLive 24.4.2 and a 16.0.2

Love it!

[TSH-Tim]

It would be good if these things had some feedback suppression built-in. I imagine trying to handle feedback wouldn't be the quickest operation with these units.

100% or some sort of feedback app thingy for doing monitors on stage ! Would be a lot of help and I am more than happy to pay £0.79 or whatever it is