I-Pad choices

Re: I-Pad choices

Hi Mike,

For many mixers, the Ipad 1 is out, just not enough functionality.
Ipad 2 will run quite a few mixer apps, though some of them may be kinda slow.
Ipad 3 adds a nice high-res screen, but this may not make much difference with many mixer apps. It is about as fast as the Ipad 2.
Ipad 4 bumps up the speed.
Ipad Air gets another bump in speed, is thinner.
Ipad Air 2 is faster still, fairly light, has decent battery life. Everything boots a little faster. The Air 2 has a lower reflectivity screen, which helps outdoors.
I have a 3, an Air and an Air 2. Air 2 is my first choice.
The Minis are fine, though my older eyeballs appreciate the bigger screens on the fulls-size units.
The new Pro add some features, more screen real estate, and some apps make good use of the extra screen area. For me, I'm ok with the Air/Air 2, don't need the added weight.

Whether you need a 16, 32, 64, 128GB model depends on what else you are doing with the Ipad.
The 16GB models are probably plenty just for mixing.

My experience has been that the manufacturers write pretty good apps.
Apple then upgrades the Ipad firmware and sometimes cripples an app.
Then there is an app update and all is well again.
This bit me once, when I did an Ipad firmware update the day before a big show. Fired up the app and it appeared to be working fine. But at the show, with a bunch of channels going, it ran slow as molasses in the wintertime.
The most recent Apple firmware upgrade actually boosted the speed of all my Ipads.

Have used Ipads with the Yamaha 01V96 through VNC, LS9, original Presonus, QSC Touchmix.
Now mostly mixing on Mackie DL32R, and some on DL1608.

Thanks and good health, Weogo
 
Re: I-Pad choices

Being old and not seeing as well as I used to, the iPad Pro has been awesome to have. I use it mainly for running monitors with an XR18 for my band stuff. But it's been a lot easier to see with. And battery life is quite decent.

For 1060 bucks (with the LTE radio), it better be.
 
Re: I-Pad choices

The only problem I have with iPad mixing in the summer is the heat. If the sun is beating down on them, they can overheat (particularly here in Florida). My solution is to place 2 frozen bottles of water under each iPad. This seems to keep them cool enough.

Just my $.02.

Art
 
Re: I-Pad choices

After almost four years mixing on an IPad 2, I have moved to an iPad Pro. Big improvement in performance and I love the bigger screen. If you are going to mix on an iPad, the Pro is the way to go.
 
Re: I-Pad choices

Thanks for all the info!
Right now I'm leaning towards the A&H QU Pac for the mixer.

I've looked at the iPad Pro's, the big screen is nice but since I'm the type guy who likes back ups and sometimes back up for the back ups getting two standard size iPads will probably be the way I go. With Qu I could have both of them open looking at different screens, unless that would slow the system down too much.
 
Re: I-Pad choices

If you are worried about sunlight, the new iPad pro that was just released today is significantly brighter than the iPad air 2. The Air 2 is decent in sunlight, but can be difficult to see at times. Brighter is most certainly better.

If you are doing iPad mixing, it is critical that you DISABLE automatic updates. The last thing you want to have happen is your iPad to do an update between setup and showtime and have something bork up. Yes, it does happen.

For the size, I like using the mini for setup, and on stage ringing out the monitors. It's a little small to mix on though, so I prefer the larger iPad for that. The large pro is nice if you have a station to mix, but it's a bit big if you have to hold it all night.
 
Re: I-Pad choices

This is so true. My IPAD auto updated and I could use it for my gig because I had know way of doing a firmware update on the console. I wasn't to happy. I use an IPAD Air and I actually want a smaller IPAD to rest of the Side of my QU24. I find my one in the case is to large. The back light outside in Florida is pretty poor. I have had my IPAD over heat which wasn't good. I guess you need a cooling pack.
 
Re: I-Pad choices

Hi Jack,

In portrait orientation, on the regular size Ipad, the Mackie app has a little over 3.5" of fader travel, and landscape has just over 2".
I'm now used to the landscape faders and they work ok for me.
Running the app on an Iphone 5 it is about 2" in portrait, and a snug 3/4" in landscape.
For precise adjustments on the Ipad, one can simply tap on the displayed fader level, such as -4db, and then key-enter -2.5db or whatever number you want.

The QSC Touchmix app has a fine fader adjustment that lets you tap an up/down arrow for I think 1/10db steps.
Am sure others have various fine tuning methods.

Haven't used a mini.

Thanks and good health, Weogo
 
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