AxePad - iPad controller for Axe-FX is launched!

[henryrobinett]

Damn. So I'm still not absolutely clear. I need TWO external devices plus a midi cable with one end the kind of square one? Is that the DIN? So I need, say the Apple USB Camera Connection Kit PLUS a midi interface? Have you tested the motu fastlane?

 

[henryrobinett]

Nobody??

I know it sounds like a silly question. But I need to verify.

Henry - yes, you need a MIDI interface. As above, I recommend the Apple USB Camera Connection Kit (which essentially gives you a USB interface into the iPad) plus the Alesis USB MIDI cable with the DIN ends.

So I didn't know what the Alesis USB midi cable was. That's a convertor cable that goes midi to usb and back, right? So in lieu of this I I'd need a midi interface?

 

[CyberFerret]

I'm seeing only 10 user cabs in AxeII mode - does AxePad only support elements that are common among all three models?

In the 'Settings' tab, make sure you have selected 'Axe-FX II' as the model at the top. You then have to tap 'Save Settings', and in the current version, you have to completely shut down the app (i.e. close, double click the start button, press and hold the app icon in the 'run' bar and tap the red 'x' to completely shut down the app) then restart it again.

I will change the app in future versions so that you don't have to go through the whole rigmarole, but it is to do with the way the software currently builds the screen views as they are slightly different for each model of the Axe-FX.

Once you do this, you should see the 70 cabs and 50 user cabs in the drop downs.

Does AxePad support the control of all parameters of each block such as the advanced parameters, dynamics and speaker tab in the amp block?

No, we don't go as 'deep' as Axe-Edit because we are limited by screen space/memory etc. on the iPad. Also, iPad is really intended for broader 'tweaking' especially at the gig site. My assumption is that you will spend a while in the studio making fine adjustments with Axe-Edit to perfect your tone, but use AxePad at the venue to make broader adjustments to suit the venue, e.g. is the sound guy tells you "Hey, you need more bring up your mids a little more"...

That said, if you have selected 'Axe FX II' in the settings, then the amp screen has a couple of the 'Dynamics' tab knobs on there.

 

[CyberFerret]

It is not a CoreMIDI issue; If you hook your AxeFxII up to your computer via US, and then switch the USB cable to the iPad CC, CoreMIDI sees the port and communicates with it just fine. I should say it does with MidiTouch; I've been unable to get AxePad to connect to my AxeFxII regardless of which MIDI adapter I use. It sees the adapters, but appears to be showing the destination port(s) as the only options for both the Source and Destination fields in setup (e.g., with USB it shows "AXE-FX II MIDI In" for both fields).

I also tried connecting it to another MIDI interface which is connected to my computer, and monitoring the ports--nothing is sent at all.

Edit: I'm hoping that AxePad will be successful and Devan will be able to provide some nice updates, so I'm hesitant to say anything prematurely that might put things in a bad light. I won't post an app store review until I've gotten a response from Devan. I will mention here that AxePad seems targeted at the Std/Ultra, not the II. For example, if you select Axe-Fx II for your model, the UI still shows only 10 user cabs; as far as I can tell, none of the UI changes. I'm hoping I'm wrong...

Hi LMO,

Did you manage to get MidiTouch to communicate successfully with the Axe-FX II via the USB port? I mean, by actually sending and receiving data through it? I ask because it hasn't worked for me. the CoreMIDI system will certainly DETECT the port, but cannot send or receive through it when I tested. I am guessing that it is not a 'standard' MIDI port unless you install the drivers that you have to do on the Mac and PC's. Unfortunately, we cannot install additional drivers on the iPad, so I could never get that port to work.

The issue with AxePad only showing the destination ports for the IN and OUT 'drop downs' is a display issue bug in the software - sorry about that. It actually connects to the right ports in the background, but when showing the list, it only shows the destinations. That will be fixed in the next release.

Regards not having any traffic - AxePad actually stays 'silent' and does not open and MIDI ports until you do something like select a preset or twirl a knob etc. Have you tried that to see if the MIDI traffic starts up?

Also, see my above note about completely shutting down the app and restarting it if you make any changes in the 'Settings' screen. A pain I know, and I hope to alleviate that in a future version.

Best of luck!

 

[CyberFerret]

Here's the deal with the Apple Camera Connection USB adapter and USB-MIDI interfaces. This is not specific to Axe-Pad application, it is an issue that applies to any device that you might plug into an iPad via the camera connection adapter.

When you plug a USB device into a host system (computer, or iPad Camera Connection adapter), the host system receives a block of information from the device that lets the host system know what type of device was just attached. Contained in this block of data is a value called MaxPower, which specifies the device's maximum operating current.

The industry standard for low power USB devices is MaxPower = 100mA.

But with the iPad + Camera Connection adapter, the highest supported MaxPower is 20mA. Even if the USB device reports MaxPower=100mA and does not actually use more than 20mA, the iPad will not recognize it. My test results suggest the iPad does not measure the actual output current, and it can supply significantly more than 20mA before the USB +5VDC starts to collapse.

So, a MIDI interface plugged into the iPad via the camera connection kit will be recognized if and only if:
1. It is a class-compliant USB MIDI interface (i.e. no host driver required)
2. The reported MaxPower is <= 20mA

This is great info Scrutinizer!! Thanks for sharing your technical knowledge... Appreciated!

 

[CyberFerret]

Damn. So I'm still not absolutely clear. I need TWO external devices plus a midi cable with one end the kind of square one? Is that the DIN? So I need, say the Apple USB Camera Connection Kit PLUS a midi interface? Have you tested the motu fastlane?

Nobody??

I know it sounds like a silly question. But I need to verify.



So I didn't know what the Alesis USB midi cable was. That's a convertor cable that goes midi to usb and back, right? So in lieu of this I I'd need a midi interface?

Henry - apologies for the delay in getting back to you! I am working 'on the back of the clock' here in Australia, and only just woke up (6am here)

Yes, basically at the end of the day, you need something with the 2 x circular MIDI connectors to connect to the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT ports on the back of the Axe-FX.

The Alesis MIDI cable that I use (and for some silly reason I CANNOT find the pic on their website today) has the flat USB connector on one end that fits into your PC, or in our case, the Apple Camera Connector Kit dongle, and the 2 x circular MIDI connectors on the other end.

You can certainly have another device in the middle, for example, you may have a MIDI device that has USB in and MIDI ports out so you can go USB -> USB between the iPad and the MIDI device, then USB -> MIDI DIN from the middle device to the Axe-FX. The main thing is that at the end of the day, you need to have connection with the round MIDI IN and MIDI OUT ports on the Axe-FX.

During testing, we had the following setup at one stage for a wireless connection:

iPad -> Wireless Router -> iPhone -> Camera Connector Kit .> Alesis USB MIDI Cable -> Axe-FX

and it worked beautifully, without missing a beat!!

 

[yek]

Bought the app. Now awaiting the delivery of the iRig adapter.

 

[brokenvail]

During testing, we had the following setup at one stage for a wireless connection:

iPad -> Wireless Router -> iPhone -> Camera Connector Kit .> Alesis USB MIDI Cable -> Axe-FX

and it worked beautifully, without missing a beat!!

I kind of saw this on your site. Can you give us more details. This sounds awesome.

Also have you seen this post? http://forum.fractalaudio.com/other...xefx-via-wifi-iphone-ipad-android-device.html

Would this integrate with what you're doing?

 

[CyberFerret]

I kind of saw this on your site. Can you give us more details. This sounds awesome.

Also have you seen this post? http://forum.fractalaudio.com/other...xefx-via-wifi-iphone-ipad-android-device.html

Would this integrate with what you're doing?

Hi brokenvail - Yes, I saw the post about TouchOSC and the 'Missing Link'. I had one here for a few days that a Beta tester kindly lent me, and I had issues with receiving SYSEX messages via the device. I checked with the manufacturers, and they told me that the Missing Link didn't support returned SYSEX. Also, the device only supports OSC, so I would have had to build in a whole MIDI -> OSC conversion engine in the software, which is no trivial task.

Still, I wouldn't rule it out altogether. Wireless seems to be a high priority with AxePad users and potential users, so it might be something I will revisit again as wireless hardware improves over time. If you know someone who has established two way sysex conversations with the Missing Link, let me know!

As for what we have done wirelessly so far, I've put most of the details on our web site already:

Wirelessly connecting AxePad to your Axe-FX | AxePad

You will basically need the iPad running AxePad, but also another iOS device (iPad/iPhone/iPos) that will act as the 'receiver' and be hard connected to the Axe-FX. Surprising how many people out there have an older iPhone or a second iPod lying around!

In a nutshell, you will need to be running an app called MIDIBridge on both devices (I think it is around $10 - if both devices are linked to the same iTunes account, you only need to but the app ONCE and load it onto both devices).

MIDIBridge basically acts as the wireless link between the two iOS devices. The only other caveat is that the devices don't actually talk directly to each other, but do so via a wireless router, so you will need to ensure that your venue has a wireless router and you can join up to.

Detailed step by step on setting up MIDIBridge etc. is on the above link at our website. Our examples there has the iPhone device using the iRig MIDI connector, but we've also done it using the Camera Kit plus USB MIDI cable.

 

[brokenvail]

Hi brokenvail - Yes, I saw the post about TouchOSC and the 'Missing Link'. I had one here for a few days that a Beta tester kindly lent me, and I had issues with receiving SYSEX messages via the device. I checked with the manufacturers, and they told me that the Missing Link didn't support returned SYSEX. Also, the device only supports OSC, so I would have had to build in a whole MIDI -> OSC conversion engine in the software, which is no trivial task.

Still, I wouldn't rule it out altogether. Wireless seems to be a high priority with AxePad users and potential users, so it might be something I will revisit again as wireless hardware improves over time. If you know someone who has established two way sysex conversations with the Missing Link, let me know!

As for what we have done wirelessly so far, I've put most of the details on our web site already:

Wirelessly connecting AxePad to your Axe-FX | AxePad

You will basically need the iPad running AxePad, but also another iOS device (iPad/iPhone/iPos) that will act as the 'receiver' and be hard connected to the Axe-FX. Surprising how many people out there have an older iPhone or a second iPod lying around!

In a nutshell, you will need to be running an app called MIDIBridge on both devices (I think it is around $10 - if both devices are linked to the same iTunes account, you only need to but the app ONCE and load it onto both devices).

MIDIBridge basically acts as the wireless link between the two iOS devices. The only other caveat is that the devices don't actually talk directly to each other, but do so via a wireless router, so you will need to ensure that your venue has a wireless router and you can join up to.

Detailed step by step on setting up MIDIBridge etc. is on the above link at our website. Our examples there has the iPhone device using the iRig MIDI connector, but we've also done it using the Camera Kit plus USB MIDI cable.

I have not bought the app yet because I don't have my ipad yet but I will ask. What parameters are in the cab block? I am not a huge advanced tab tweaker but I use the speaker cab's high and low cut on all my patches.

Also no new on maybe something like midi via bluetooth out there?

Speaking if blue tooth when using your above trick using an iphone and ipad but they don't speak so they need a router have you tried to see if you can use bluetooth to make them communicate? If that worked they no wife is needed. If it doesn't work maybe we can suggest it to the makes of midi bridge to see if support can be added

 

[CyberFerret]

I have not bought the app yet because I don't have my ipad yet but I will ask. What parameters are in the cab block? I am not a huge advanced tab tweaker but I use the speaker cab's high and low cut on all my patches.

Also no new on maybe something like midi via bluetooth out there?

Speaking if blue tooth when using your above trick using an iphone and ipad but they don't speak so they need a router have you tried to see if you can use bluetooth to make them communicate? If that worked they no wife is needed. If it doesn't work maybe we can suggest it to the makes of midi bridge to see if support can be added

Hi and Low cut are on the cab block (for the Axe-II model). So is Balance, Room Mix and Room Space. If you can think of one or two more parameters that might be useful in the cab area, let me know and I will see about adding it in.

As for Bluetooth, at this stage iOS only supports Bluetooth as a network device, not a MIDI device, so CoreMIDI does not pick it up as a valid port. If someone can write the software interface to use Bluetooth over Network MIDI then I am sure it will work. I believe there is someone working on a kit MIDI device that will link to iOS as an external bluetooth MIDI device but AFAIK that is still in development and not released to the public yet...

 

[CyberFerret]

Heads up everyone - I just heard via PM from another member here that the M-Audio MidiSport 2x2 does NOT work with AxePad at this point in time. Apparently doesn't detect enough power from the iPad..

 

[Izzy]

Thanks for that info!

 

[henryrobinett]

Heads up everyone - I just heard via PM from another member here that the M-Audio MidiSport 2x2 does NOT work with AxePad at this point in time. Apparently doesn't detect enough power from the iPad..

Whew! I just returned the smaller brother M-Audio USB midi 1x1 and the camera kit. It just made more sense to go with the iRig Midi. At least I KNOW that works.

 

[vaultnaemsae]

Anyone tried the Line6 MIDI interface with Axe-Pad? Success?

 

[CyberFerret]

Anyone tried the Line6 MIDI interface with Axe-Pad? Success?

Hi vaultnaemsae - We've had a LOT of people asking about the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer. The short answer is: We haven't actually tested with this hardware yet, but I've been checking out the manufacturers support forums, and it looks like the MIDI Mobilizer II supports CoreMIDI and SYSEX, so it *should* work. Not the model 1, but the model II only.

I am hoping someone who has actually tried it with this device will email or PM me with some more information. As soon as they let me know yay or nay, I will post here and on our web site so that we can give people a definitive answer.

 

[LMO]

Hi LMO,

Did you manage to get MidiTouch to communicate successfully with the Axe-FX II via the USB port? I mean, by actually sending and receiving data through it? I ask because it hasn't worked for me. the CoreMIDI system will certainly DETECT the port, but cannot send or receive through it when I tested. I am guessing that it is not a 'standard' MIDI port unless you install the drivers that you have to do on the Mac and PC's. Unfortunately, we cannot install additional drivers on the iPad, so I could never get that port to work.

From comments on the forum, it appears Cliff had some issues with the Windows class driver, so on Windows FAS supplies a driver. On the Mac it uses the standard class driver, so no driver installation is required. However, it does require that a daemon be loaded that initializes the port somehow, perhaps by downloading some code or parameters. Once the port has been initialized it functions as a class-compliant USB port for the Mac and iOS devices.

I have controlled the AxeFx using MidiTouch over the USB port after initializing it with my Mac. I don't know if this (initializing the port) works with a PC or not, but I could test it.

Regards not having any traffic - AxePad actually stays 'silent' and does not open and MIDI ports until you do something like select a preset or twirl a knob etc. Have you tried that to see if the MIDI traffic starts up?

Yes.

Also, see my above note about completely shutting down the app and restarting it if you make any changes in the 'Settings' screen. A pain I know, and I hope to alleviate that in a future version.

I'll do some more testing today. I have another powered USB to MIDI adapter I can try as well.

 

[henryrobinett]

I'm finding the lack of instructions for a mind like mind an oversight. I can't get it to work yet with iRg Midi. I'll futz with it in my off time.

 

[favance]

Question: have you considered extending the app to "remote control" midi from the iPad (i.e. connect to a Macbook Pro wirelessly to the AxeFX II USB?

Other apps, like TouchOSC use this technique.

The reason I asked for this is that I'm a Presonus StudioLive user. I use the iPAD to Wireless Remote Control my MacBook that controls my mixer via firewire. The Macbook is setting on top of my Axe-FX II rackbox and it would be killer to drop a USB connection from the Macbook to the Axe-II and then control everything from the iPad (mixer, Axe II, Lighting, etc.)!!!

 

[henryrobinett]

Anyone else using the iRig Midi with an iPad2? I can't seem to get them connected. The iRig Midi says it's not connected. I assume they mean it's not in the usb slot correctly. But I can't get it any more snug. But it's not all that snug. I took the case of the iPad. Unless I'm trying to put in it upside down, which I cant see because it won't go in at all that way. I'm sure I'm doing something very stupid.