iSyn for iPhone and iPod Touch

[jstilger]

Just saw this at audiomidi.com. A new app for the iPhone/iPod touch from Audiomidi.com and Virsyn. It seems like a pretty sweet program while out away from the studio.

the link is below if you want to check it out.
http://www.isynapp.com/

2 synths and a drum machine- basic tools for building on the go for $4.99.
Just though I'd share.

[speak_onion]

Would be more useful if it had some MIDI export features.

[jstilger]

yeah, midi output would be much more helpful, but it seems like it could still be fun if you didn't have anything else.

Jason

[musicmachine]

What's the audio quality like on the itouch? I was reading it was pretty bad. I wouldn't mind one for the audio stuff.

[musicmachine]

...

[jcwillia]

What's the audio quality like on the itouch? I was reading it was pretty bad. I wouldn't mind one for the audio stuff.

i'm not sure what "bad" really means, but I have mine pretty much 24/7 and it's as good as any other portable MP3 player I've ever heard.

In spite of my interest in music, I'm no audiophile so maybe I'm not the right person to ask.

[Tone Deft]

I can't find any solid info on this.

can someone get a 'pink noise' wave file and play it out of their iPhone and into Live. then look at the result with Spectrum and post a pic?

[jcwillia]

I can't find any solid info on this.

can someone get a 'pink noise' wave file and play it out of their iPhone and into Live. then look at the result with Spectrum and post a pic?

ok so pink noise is pretty simple to find I think

Record into Live is the part where this breaks down for me - how do you know whether the line in signal is any good?

[Tone Deft]

pink noise wave files
http://www.google.com/search?q=pink+noi ... =firefox-a


regarding the level... use brute force, record it at a low level, medium and high level. no thinking involved.

there's another element, how your recording input colors the sound. do the same test but play it back from a playback source that you feel is very good. maybe just put the same wav file onto a CD (not mp3) and play it back from a CD player. from there you can see what reality is. or put it on an mp3 player with no EQ applied, play it as a .wav, not mp3.

it'd be really cool if someone could do this.

[jcwillia]

i might have time to do this but i have no faith that the line in my pc-standard sound chip is even worth the effort.

[john gordon]

i bought it.its garbage.

[Tarekith]

I've actually been curious about this myself, so I did this for you. Pink Noice generated as a 16/44.1 wav file in Wave Editor, loaded into a 1st Gen iPhone, played back via the headphone out into Live 8.01 via a MOTU Ultralite. Not too bad, I'm actually surprised.

[Tone Deft]

very cool man, thanks! not as bad as I was led to believe. a pretty linear 10dB/decade drop, EQ accordingly.

[jcwillia]

i guess here's my question :

how do you make something THAT small sound REALLY good

AND

still have it basically act as a miniature personal computer

AND

sell it for a price where enough people will buy it so you will actually make money?


The problem with demanding a high quality audio out on a device like this is that you would have to pay THROUGH THE NOSE to get it because there aren't enough other people like yourself who would also pay that premium to defray the cost.

(Sorry, putting away the Econ professor soapbox now)

[LoopStationZebra]

It's funny. When you hear folks complain that the audio quality of the iPhone or iTouch is shit, you'd think that what they were hearing was HALF as good as that pink noise test. lol.

Oh, here's something. An iPhone app for acoustical analysis. 'Professional grade', lol:
http://www.studiosixdigital.com/rta.html
These guys make a lot of audio test apps. I couldn't find any results comparisons on their site (iPhone app vs real testing hardware).

I've also done a search for some kind of mp3 player comparision chart - where someone actually puts all the current units to the audio quality test. Couldn't find anything.