AKAI Force integration with iPad Pro 2018

Hi all,

I ordered my Force a week ago and it’ll be delivered on Tuesday according to Fedex. While waiting, I have done extensive research on how to integrate my iPad Pro with the Force.

My goal is to be able to send the audio of iPad apps such as synths, or BM3 or AUM or others into the Force audio inputs, while being sequenced by a midi track in the Force.

The challenge was to find a way to send the midi to the iPad and then get the iPad audio back into the Force. My iPad Pro 2018 doesn’t have a headphones jack but fortunately I have a DAC with a iOS compatible USB port (Arcam irDAC), so the audio route was easy.

For the midi route, I think I found a solution using a Bluetooth midi adapter which plugs into the Force jack to DIN midi. It costs about 40$ on amazon and it’s on its way too. I’ll revert back when I’ve received everything and let you know how it goes.

Not everyone has an iOS compatible DAC, so I found an alternative that I will also try out : using an iOS compatible MIDI controller which also has an audio interface out (IK Multimedia iRig Keys 2 Pro (the iRig Keys I/O should work too). That should enable me to control the iPad apps via MIDI and send the audio to the Force through the audio out of the iRig Keys. In that scenario, I’ll have to figure out how to record the MIDI into the Force if I want to use the sequencer, I think I should be able to do so using Bluetooth midi out from the iPad into the Force but that will need some testing.

Any suggestions welcome!

Hervé

Hey,

Congrats on your new Force. I got one a month ago and my 2017 iPad Pro is the perfect companion. I'm using AUM, AB3, apeMatrix, and BM3 as well. Lots of AUv3s. AudioShare.

I bought an iConnectivity Mio MIDI interface cable, and a 3.5mm TRS to dual 1/4" TS cable (for iPad audio > Force). Nice compact setup - no USB hub required. I'm using the old USB 2.0 Apple CCK (the Mio is powered by the iPad).

The iPad's volume has to be set to ~80% and the Force's gain set to~80%, but the noise floor is below -90db.

Of course the newer iPad Pros don't have the headphone jack, so a powered USB-C hub would work, along with most class-compliant USB audio/MIDI interfaces, MIDI controllers, etc. MOTU, Focusrite, etc, should all work with the iPads, and the apps mentioned above should see all of the available I/O on the interface.

The problem with the iRig Keys I/O is that the audio input is mono. It's output is stereo, of course. And it doesn't have 5-pin MIDI DIN ports, so cannot be used as a conventional MIDI interface. IK has a new audio/MIDI interface coming called the 'iRig Pro Duo I/O'. And Zoom has the U-44. The old Novation X-Station still works great with iPads, and it has stereo I/O and 1 MIDI input and 2 MIDI outputs. I wish they would re-release this.

Personally, I'm waiting for iConnectivity to release their update to the iConnectAudio4+ which allows both an iPad and a PC to be connected, and it'll work as an audio/MIDI interface for both devices. Powerful audio/MIDI routing and USB host abilities as well.

Thanks a lot for your reply. I just received the Midi Bluetooth adapters, I’ll try this very soon.

For the 2nd approach I actually ordered a iRig Pro 2 which has a stereo output and no input (I don’t need the input because the Force has 2). I should receive it in a few days..

I’ll do some testing and update y’all.

Cheers,
Hervé