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Xw and yamaha sequencer on ipad


Leon

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I got a Lenovo Miix 8 tablet which has a full version of Windows 8.1 on it, I loaded a copy of Sony Acid Pro 7 on it, which has a very nice sequencer on it, it was only $199 at Best Buy and makes a very good mobile sequencing solution

 

Having the full version of Windows in a tablet it pretty cool

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Grasspike

 

Can you connect the Lenovo to the XW-P1/G1 via USB-MIDI ?  Sequencers that are only internal to the tablet are of limited value to a keyboardist.  That is the problem with the iPad.  The iPad itself can connect to the outside world via USB MIDI, and there are a lot of really nice controller apps that will use that connection, but most of the sequencer apps are either primarily or totally internal to the tablet - as with the Yamaha Mobile Sequencer.  I am very interested in your answer on this, as I have been a Sony Acid Pro 7 user for some six or seven years now.  To be able to put that on a $200 tablet and USB-MIDI connect it to my keyboards would be absolutely great !

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That's a really inaccurate assessment of Cubasis. It totally IS a stand alone DAW. It is not a one to one port of Cubase, but it has most of the functionality. You can open Cubasis projects in Cubase, but it absolutely does not require "being umbiliculed to a PC running Cubase"

And you can of course control external hardware with it.

Zymos

I was not judging the iPad. I was judging the apps that run on it. I even mention that even though the iPad connects to the real world, very few of the current crop of apps take advantage of that, and as the original question was about the Yamaha Mobile Sequencer, I addressed that. Even so, the exception you mention, Cubasis, is not a full fledged stand alone DAW app. It still requires being umbiliculed to a PC running Cubase. Actually, it's not much more than a remote controller for Cubase. I am looking for a full fledged DAW, complete with sequencer that I can connect to my keyboards and run just like with a laptop. When I see that, I will know that the tablet market is finally looking at the current music world realistically.

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Thanks, Zymos

 

That is not how Cubasis was presented to me on another forum and shame on me for not checking into it deeper on my own, which I will certainly do after your words here.  It sounds like it might be most of what I am looking for over and above the Yamaha Mobile Sequencer, but once again, if it sounded as though I was originally being critical of the iPad, I certainly did not intend that.  I bought this thing on a fluke to help a cousin learn hers, and I got so hooked on the thing that I won't go anywhere without it.

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Grasspike

 

Can you connect the Lenovo to the XW-P1/G1 via USB-MIDI ?  Sequencers that are only internal to the tablet are of limited value to a keyboardist.  That is the problem with the iPad.  The iPad itself can connect to the outside world via USB MIDI, and there are a lot of really nice controller apps that will use that connection, but most of the sequencer apps are either primarily or totally internal to the tablet - as with the Yamaha Mobile Sequencer.  I am very interested in your answer on this, as I have been a Sony Acid Pro 7 user for some six or seven years now.  To be able to put that on a $200 tablet and USB-MIDI connect it to my keyboards would be absolutely great !

yes you can, it has the full version of windows 8.1 it has a micro usb port, and you have to use a micro usb to usb host adapter, I got this one

 

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-5in-Micro-Host-Adapter/dp/B00B4GGW5Q/ref=pd_sim_e_12?ie=UTF8&refRID=149874RFHK7MWRBKJPTZ

 

can plug right into the XW-PI and since it's windows you can also use the casio windows software. it's actually a pretty sweet setup you can run any usb device, I have also plugged my USB interface into it for controlling multiple synths via midi, works great

 

the only downsides are it only has 2gb of ram, so it's hard to use ram hungry plugins in your daw, and it only has one micro USB port which is also used for charging, so you need to make sure it's fully charged before your gig, I have not tried using a powered USB hub with it, that could possibly work. However it seems to want more juice than my LG Android phone, when I use that phones charger it takes much longer to charge than the charger that came with the tablet

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Grasspike

 

Many thanks !  I am really interested in that Lenovo, but with what you say about the limited memory and battery life, I think I will hang on for a bit and see where they go with it.  If they are like other manufacturers, they will most likely start offering some "upgraded" models for a few $$$ more.  Other than those two items, everything else about it sounds great.

 

 

Zymos

 

I went to the Cubasis website and really liked what I saw, but at $49, I am afraid it's going to have to wait for a bit.  Like everyone else, this is always a "tight" time of the year for me.  Medical and pharmaceutical insurance deductibles reset.  Auto license renewal comes due.  Income taxes come due, and I always seem to end up owing them a couple hundred bucks.  AND . . . this year, the price of propane blew a lot of people's budgets right through the roof, so it will just be a while yet for Cubasis, but at least it gives me something to look forward to as I muddle through all this other stuff.  Then there is always that competing interest (temptation ?) that Grasspike has just thrown in front of me.  Many thanks for the info, anyway.

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Grasspike

 

Many thanks !  I am really interested in that Lenovo, but with what you say about the limited memory and battery life, I think I will hang on for a bit and see where they go with it.  If they are like other manufacturers, they will most likely start offering some "upgraded" models for a few $$$ more.  Other than those two items, everything else about it sounds great.

 

agreed, I originally got this for work use, not music, however don't let the ram limitations stop you from using this as a midi sequencer, As a test I had it running 50 different midi tracks, a few wav files and a few VSTs at the same time and it had no issues, it only slowed down when I started to apply effects to the wav files using plug ins

 

the battery is claimed by Lenonvo to run for 7 hours, in real world use I get 5-6 hours of actual use, in the test I ran above i set up the DAW in a playback loop with the 50 MIDI files, 4wavs, and two VST synths, I let it run for 4 hours in constant playback and still had battery left

 

You could easily run an entire gig right from it and still have plenty of battery left

 

It would however struggle with soft synths like Diva, or Omnisphere that are real system hogs, but in a live sequencing situation, you could just render those tracks on your main DAW system to audio and play back wav or mp3 files anyway

 

which brings up another major plus to the system, since it's windows 8.1 setting it up to share and swap files on a wireless network could't be easier or faster. I just created a folder on my main DAW and everything I put in it, the Lenova can instantly see

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Thanks, "Grassy" !

 

This thing is starting to sound better all the time.  VST plug-ins would not be a problem for me as I am an old "dyed in the wool" hardware guy that is just not into soft synths.  That's why I am so set on a sequencer that will output to my various keyboards and sound modules.  I did find a workaround, though, that has been there all the time.  When I got the iPad, the first app I installed was Symphonix Evolution.  I downloaded it for the piano voices to supplement those of Garage Band, that I really didn't care for all that much.  I never even noticed that it had a sequencer.  I was just noodling around with the thing this morning and stumbled across that.  It's pretty much everything I have been looking for, and best of all, it's already paid for, but one item you mention about Win-8 on the Lenovo - the iPad, by default, comes with no file manager whatsoever, so I had to install "Fileapp" to get MIDI files into and out of Symphonix, which only uses "in app" storage.  "Fileapp" is one of the very few, if not the only, file manager that will show "in-app" files.  The others just show the stand alone (common/normal) storage folders.  It will use either hardwired USB or WIFI for file transfers, and it works OK, but it is still no Windows Explorer like the Lenovo would have.

 

I guess I am going to have to give this some serious thought.  If I am thinking about the Lenovo which would run the Sonar-X1 that I've already got, I certainly don't want to layout $50 for Cubasis, but I think Symphonix already put the kibosh to that idea anyway.

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one other thing you will need, but you might have already is a usb dvd/cd rom drive as there is not one with the lenova, you will also probably want a micro sd card. It comes with 32gb of built in flash memory, but has a micro sd card slot as well, Windows sees it as another harddrive, and as you mentioned you have the regular windows file explorer with it

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