Controling 2 Ipads with Bluetooth ?

MusicMan81

Hello, I've been using ST3 for 2 years without complaints, is just a F... amazing app.

The only concern i have and always had, is that since is an software app it can crash an any given point, not that it has done it, so far is been working flawlessly, but i think if the app suddenly crashes because a spike in electricity or by mysteries of the universe or a 1 in a million time i would face my worst fear on stage...

There is some hardware becoming famous for backing tracks but i found them quite "stiff' because you cannot move between audio regions, loop, or simply "see" where you are, so for me ST3 is and always be my #1 choice.

So, I found a hardware, done by ( IConnectivity AUDIO4C ) and has a fail safe option that is simply amazing, since we can run 2 iPads, or 1 iPad and 1 phone at the same time as a fail safe option and that will give me peace of mind, but i cannot get my iRig Blueboard that i use to control ST3 to launch, loop, stop without needing to stop playing my guitar.

Is there a way in which i can connect my iRig Blueboard and control 2 iPads at the same time? So 1 Bluetooth Send to 2 Bluetooth receiving.

Lishy

MusicMan81 why not use the network sessions feature?

MusicMan81

Lishy The host session? if that's what you meant, the host session doesn't allow the slave iPad to reproduce sound unfortunately, that would be hands down the best solution.

I'm thinking using a midi controller with the Iconnectivity Audio 4c. any thoughts?

Lishy

MusicMan81 Interested as to why you need both to reproduce sound?
You can’t connect your Irig to both. If I recall I did try this via midimittr but wasn’t reliable.
I have however just tired this successfully with my Morningstar mc6 pro with one iPad being controlled via Bluetooth and the other hard wired.

peter

Maybe this will give you some peace of mind: the current AppStore data indicates that ST3 crashes once every 1000 sessions. This is last weeks data which contains a bit more crashes than usual:

And from the crashlogs that I see, most of these crashes happen during editing and not during performance. So if you run the app daily, you will see it crash once every 3 years on average.

I don't think the AUDIO4c has a failsafe option. The old PlayAudio 12 had one and the current PlayAudio1U has one but they need support for that in the app which ST3 does not have. So automatic failover is not possible with ST3. Manual failover should work. Automatic failover will most likely be possible in version 4. Depends a bit on whether I will be able to get my hands on a test device from iConnectivity.

What you would need to make this work is a midi pedal that is connected to the audio interface. MIDI commands from that pedal would be sent to both devices simultaneously. Bluetooth is always a point to point connection and not point to multipoint. So you cannot use that to trigger two devices at the same time.

MusicMan81

peter I know the app is super stable and as i said i have never experienced any issues with it, but i'm about to start playing a really important gig with a famous singer, and we will use backing tracks for certain things, and i don't want to risk it, i do have 2 iPads and everything copied in both.

I can get my hands on a PlayAudio12 that i saw online, and if using a Midi foot controller is the best way to control both ipads with the playaudio12 and works with ST3 thats my go to with no problem, i was just asking in case i can make the rig more "wireless" on the things that i can, but is not a must...

"they need support for that in the app which ST3 does not have" can you explain please?

The automatic failover i know is something ST3 don't have, so that's why im looking for the playaudio12 as the main interface to control both ipads. will that work?

peter

Automatic failover works by both devices sending a continuous sine waveform to a dedicated channel on the audio interface. The interface monitors this signal on the main device and in case it no longer sees this signal, it will switch to the secondary device. So Stage Traxx would need a signal generator running continuously sending the signal to a specific output only for this to work. In theory.

Yes, I think using the PlayAudio 12 with 2 iPads running ST3 simultaneously and sending midi start / stop commands to both iPads via a midi pedal connected to the interface should work. In case of a failure you would need to switch manually. See here for the failover features: https://iconnectivitysupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/26886643674395-PlayAUDIO12-Failover-Settings

MusicMan81

peter First of all, Thanks for all the responses, this is helping a lot.

Ok, is more complicated than i though lol... let me see if i get it correctly.

The failover setting will work IF the PlayAudio12 is constantly receiving a sine audio from Channel A, and when this one fails it changes to channel B, this is a "rough" idea right?

So, i know the failover works with the "lifesine" tone generator for Mac, but just wondering since I'm not using all 8 channels on the ST3, can I dedicate 1 of them to be a sine wave that i can upload, and this sine must be present from 0 to 100% in every song I'm playing? and also i need to route this sine from the headphones out from the iPad to the control jack correct? or can it work via the usb port as the rest of the tracks? that way if the playaudio12 at some point stops receiving that sine audio it will automatically change to the channel B iPad, right? did i get it right?

And i can also as a last resort, can set the laptop on stage to use the lifesine and use the ipad as the backup "B" channel?

And I can also have the option to manually trigger the A/B change, in case that 1 out of 1.000 does happen and i cannot set the auto failover.

peter

It is even a bit more complicated. Using a track for the lifesine signal will not work as there will be no signal when playback is stopped which will trigger the failover. The signal needs to be running the whole time. Even when playback is stopped.

Using the lifesign plugin on a computer in parallel to ST3 might work, but not reliably as the signal will keep running even if ST3 crashes. In order to work reliably the signal needs to originate in ST3. So if ST3 crashes, the signal will stop.

Regarding the manual a/b trigger, you need to check with iconnectivity how to do that.