iOverbridge?

Elektron Software Overbridge
#1

Hi everyone,

I think Overbridge looks interesting and i’d be happy to use it with my Analog Rytm. I also own an Octatrack and later i’m interested in acquiring the Analog Four as well.

However i got sick of using a traditional computer for music a few years ago. I went full hardware, then i added an ipad which i like to use.

I just wanted to say i’d be really happy if Elektron would release Overbridge for iOS (and other mobile supports if anyone cares).

If some of you would like to have Overbridge anywhere, please spread the word so Elektron could see the interest!

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Overbridge news
#2

Sounds like a lot of people are supporting this idea already. How to get the message across…?

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#3

and iOS app also for the iphone to edit perfomance and scene macros etc. would be a really great addition!

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#4

If Elektron get’s Overbridge working for Logic Pro X with Audio Units the bridge is there for iOS.

iOS 9 works with Audio Unit Extensions:
http://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2015-508/

And if Elektron also adds Ableton Link we have ultimate jamsessions.
http://www.ableton.com/en/link/

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#5

An iPad editor for A4 would be very useful. My eyes do struggle with the screen. Some of the parameter abbreviations don’t always make sense either.

#6

not quite - you can’t install drivers on iOS (and knowing Apple you never will), it will only talk to a subset of so called “class-compliant” USB devices.
such devices adhere to certain known protocols for communication, and the OS just has to support the same protocols.
This is low-level hardware communications stuff and I don’t know much about this.

you can use class-compliant audio and MIDI devices with iOS, e.g. a lot of USB soundcards just work.
same with MIDI things, you can connect most MIDI devices and go.

if Overbridge mode is not enabled, AR/AF/AK act as class-compliant MIDI devices.

But with Overbridge mode enabled, they are not class-compliant USB audio-or-midi devices anymore, and iOS won’t communicate with them. On a desktop, you have to install a custom driver from Elektron for Overbridge, because they use their own communication protocols, most likely to get the lowest possible latency and probably to support custom data transfer things which are synced to the audio.

I have no idea about that, the only thing I know is it definitely doesn’t work with iOS and likely never will, unless Elektron will make the USB communication class-compliant, which I’m not sure is possible due to Overbridge’s feature set.

#7

Further to void’s answer, and just to manage expectations…

On top of the technical limitations that are going to exist as void has described, once you go into a “just a midi device” scenario, you are going to be limited by what is actually accessible via the midi specification of the device in question.

I’ve had the same scenario with the Octatrack/OctaEdit that a number of people have requested an iPad version, but the reality is that what can be achieved is limited via the midi specifications of the Octatrack.

So whilst in direct or overbridge mode, you can do a lot more, in “midi” mode you can only do whathever is available via the midi specification for the A4/AR/OT…

I’m not familiar enough with the midi spec of the A4/AR, and void knows a lot more about the AR spec then I do, so I defer to him and his greater knowledge in that regard.

But I can say from an Octatrack point of view, that if i was to build an iPad version of OctaEdit, I’d only be able to provide < 10% of the functionality that I can achieve via desktop based.

The same scenario would apply to Overbridge in an iOS environment, you can only access what is available via midi cc messages, as opposed to using the Elektron drivers which Overbridge uses.

So you may have an iOS version, but that might only provide < 10% of the functionality.

Knowing all that, knowing that it is still a significant development effort (thus time and cost), you are adding another platform / OS to support, maybe a second one as well (because Android/WinPhone users would want theirs as well), and that it is not a core part of your business process or stratergy (I assume/presume)…

Would you go to make that investment for such little ROI?

Hi void, we should talk again sometime soon… :wink:

#8

^^^ This. I’ve been waiting since early 2014 for Overbridge to work, iOS development…meh. We’re already waiting almost 1/4th of a year for a x.1 update and El Capitan capability.

#9

I agree it’s kind of pointless on the OT. The OT is just too deep. And I think if I had another platform to edit it next to the OT it would probably just add to confusion instead of productivity.

But with the analog devices it’s a different story. The screen sizes are a joke. A powerful touch template would help a lot. I already tried my luck with lemur but for reasons that were debated on here many times before i had to give up.

I don’t care too much about audio interfacing into iOS. I don’t use it for serious recording work and Elektron is already struggling with supporting desktop OS with Overbridge so I doubt audio iOS interfacing will ever happen.

#10

OT doesn’t have the same CC implementation than AR and A4 and that’s probably why Elektron couldn’t make overbridge compatible with the OT.

And you’re talking about your third-party experience. Now i’m talking about Elektron doing a first party iOverbridge, for AR and A4. Even a lighter version of overbridge would be welcome (i mean, i don’t really expect audio over usb hub through lightning cables, but i expect something close to Strom : import samples into AR, control AR/A4, build your sequences with the touch screen then send it to the machine’s memory, etc), as long as it manages to integrates seemlessly the AR/A4 within IOS DAWS such as Auria and Cubasis. If Void managed to program a third-party software for the AR on the ipad, i just don’t see why Elektron couldn’t do it too.

Since Void doesn’t seem to work on Strom anymore, i wish Elektron would take over. If you think that’s a waste in their business, you should wonder how many people actually bought an AR over any other drum machines just because there was Strom. It is the sampler the standalone hardware misses so bad and it adds a few tricks here and there that makes the box a ton more fun to use. If Strom loses compatibility with next IOS releases and nothing comes to replace it, it will be a shame for every AR/ios users.

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#11

There are already lemur and touchOSC templates for various Elektrons, all of which are limited for the reasons set out earlier in this thread. This one for the A4 is one of the most comprehensive looking ones, but while I’ve downloaded it I’ve never used it, still haven’t gotten around to incorporating lemur and touchosc in my workflow, Touchable is easier if you’re using Live and pretty painless to set up. Anyway: https://liine.net/en/community/user-library/view/593/

To be honest, a comprehensive iPad template for overbridge would probably be the most you could hope for in the short to medium term.

#12

Hi void, we should talk again sometime soon… ;)[/quote]
:D~

#13

I guess this topic might be still relevant (even after 3 years). Is anything hindering Elektron to make an iOS Version of Overbridge (besides the obvious fact that they have to finish it in the first place)?

Connecting an Elektron directly via lightning cable to an ipad and recording single channel streams would be pretty cool. What do you guys & girls think?

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#14

Yeah, I really want this. @Ess, I know you can’t stay anything about future plans etc, but please let us know that this is in the backlog, at least!

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#15

IIRC this is already stated by Olle as being impossible. Let it go, there is nothing to be done until iOS starts supporting drivers for USB devices. Maybe get a surface instead?

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#16

I would be more than happy if we could get only stere output via usb to iOS devices - but I don’t think that will ever be possible either… it’s not such a big deal for me anyway, but it would be nice

#17

I would be thrilled with an AuV3 Overbridge device. Can you imagine having the AR or Digitone in AUM

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#18

This is the dream but sadly unlikely to ever happen. As tsutek said, a MS Surface is the only solution.

#19

Well Zoom H recorders can act as audio interfaces on the ipad and I wondered why it should not be possible. Probably there is a need to have a ausio interface host. Mhh…still something like an overbridge via raspberry pi might become more feasible (and an ipad as display for the sake of being mobile). Well just a thought…

#20

yep, some kind of overbridge hardware device might be a viable solution. It would have to be USB class compliant and do the overbridging internally, just presenting class compliant audio streams to the iOS

1 Like