I wasn't sure if this was going to work, but since it was cheap, it was worth taking a chance and I ordered a few cables which I got today.

After testing them out real quick, I am pleased to report that it works! heh

It's real simple and real cheap.

You buy 2 of those Midi > USB cables that can be found online many places. I got mine from Amazon, $5 each.

You buy 1 or 2 of those Female MIDI to Female MIDI Connectors. I got mine from Amazon, about $4. If you want both Midi in & out, then you need 2, if you only need in or out, then 1 is sufficient.

You connect the 2 Midi> USB cables together, using the Female MIDI to Female MIDI connector in the middle.

You plug one end into your computer and you plug the other end into your iPad with the camera connection kit. No drivers needed, no USB hubs needed. It's instantly recognized by both my Mac and my iPad.

I fired up a Yamaha arpeggio/drum/keyboard app on the iPad and I was controlling Logic perfectly recording awesome arpeggios within seconds.

So, if anybody is looking for a real cheap MIDI solution for iPad that works, then I thought that I would pass on what I found out.

Cool

some one to try it on PC?

What about MIDI over WiFi?

I don't have any PC's to test it on, but the description does say that it is compatible with Vista and XP at least.

USB MIDI Cable Converter PC to Music Keyboard Window Win Vista XP, Mac OS

Here's a link to what the cable looks like:

http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Converte.../dp/B0017H4EBG

And here's a link to what the female MIDI connector looks like:

Amazon.com: Hosa GMD108 Female MIDI to Female MIDI Connector: Musical Instruments

That works fine too. The main reason I wanted wired MIDI, is that not every app works with WIFI core midi.

This means that if I just want to use it with midi synths than I just use the camera connection kit.

I use this cable :

MUSONIK International - Terrasoniq Midi One

It's seamless and works way better than the cheap one (the exact 5$ one you linked that a friend tried it on his Virus and the usb to midi couldn't handle all the midi dropping notes etc)..

So this means that all I need is a camera connection kit!

Thank you so much!

Yes, to connect a midi synth to the iPad, that cable which you linked to and a camera kit looks like it should do the job nicely.

The cheap cable which I linked to does do one thing which the other cable can not. It can both send and receive Midi at the same time.

If somebody is just going to connect a midi keyboard to an iPad, then a one way connection is probably all that's needed, but for my needs, I need the midi signal going both ways, as I want the iPad to both send Midi messages and to receive Midi so that it can sync to external clock.

Good luck!

So, is the advantage of using the Ipad the fact that there are a lot of cheap apps that you can use to control your DAW?

That's one use for it, there are others also.

Using apps like Touch OSC, I basically use the iPad as a big remote control for Logic, and I can control fader levels, EQ settings and third party plugin parameters from the iPAD wirelessly. It's useful when doing your own vocals or recording instruments as you can control the DAW from anywhere in your house or studio.

I can also use the iPad as a Midi controller, controlling other softsynths and hardware synths directly from the iPad. Using drum pads on the iPad to trigger drums on a sampler and switching to arpeggios for example to control synths which don't have such features built in to them.

I can also use the iPad and treat it as a regular hardware synth, sending Midi into the iPad and recording the audio out from the iPad into a DAW. There are some decent synths and apps on the iPad that have no counterparts on any other platform. The multitouch screen opens up new possibilities for expression. Apps like Animoog are a good example of this.

Thanks man.

I have an EMU X-Midi that has both ins and outs so that would work well for receiving and sending.

Actually I'm thinking to get another Terrasoniq and have them connected like you said with a female to female.

That should work using just two of them because the Midi One both receives and sends.

I think it should work to send messages both ways!

sounds like some cool stuff, especially being able to record own vocals or drums. This beats hitting record and then running to the mic or drum set!

Also, the Animoog is one app I definitely could see recording.

If you already have a MIDI interface on your computer (as most of you probably do) then you can just get one of those cheap USB to MIDI cables which has MIDI in and out on it and plug it into the camera kits USB as I've mentioned in previous topics here... I got one on ebay for $2 shipped.

That's the same cable I used, though it looks like I paid $3 more for mine. I already own multiple midi interfaces. I got two of those MIDI>USB cables, to eliminate the midi interface from the picture. I just wanted a cable that goes directly from the computer and into the iPad, without using any hardware midi interface box and two of those cheap USB>MIDI cables gives me that.

Is it possible to connect your ipad to your computer via usb? I wanna use it as a midi fighter with no latency

TouchOSC supports MIDI over USB.

Really? Is this recent? I was going to get an ipad to use as a controller for my pc but when I tested the latency through wireless there was too much to be used as a controller. When I looked for USB connections I only found one solution and it required some serious adjustemets to your USB conncetion to be workable and many users were experiencing difficulties as the ipad doesn't have a standard USB port.

Anyways as a remedy I recently purchased a widows 7 tablet and i am really happy with the results. Smithsons emulator is way too awesome, how do you like having ableton and your custom touch screen interface all on one slate and then hdmi out to a separate screen to see your daw. I'm using ableton, reason, trillian, omnisphere, zebra flawlessly. With an i5 processor it can actually handle a good load of vsts and channels with dpc latency staying in the green. Ipad will never be able to have a full fledged daw from a touchscreen input who's touch sample size is that of a finger tip. To make precise changes that high powered instruments require you need a wacom pen.

Edit: sorry if that sounds negative. Ipad and touchscreens are awesome as controllers when you have huge buttons/knobs but not with wireless latency

Yes really. It's had that feature for a while.

You can easily use an adhoc network directly between the ipad and the computer without a need for wifi or a router for low latency wireless connection.

You just need the CCK adapter which gives it a USB port. Works great with no complications.

How is the battery life on that thing?

5 hours for battery life (samsung series 7 slate, I beleive it's rated higher but u know real world usage is whole nother) I've read those adhoc connections don't work for everyone and can lead to frustration. So you use the camera kit to get the USB out of the ipad to the computer?

Yup. Audio/MIDI in and out.

great.

I had hotspot/ad hoc issues during gigs (crappy network card), looks like i'm going to use TouchOSC wired now.

I was considering getting 2 midi interfaces (one for the ipad, one for the computer) and I'm glad I don't have to.

are you sure it can work only with the CCK and an USB cable ? (without any usb to midi + midi USB adapter trick)

I got a CCK and it doesn't work at all with a USB cable alone.

just got confirmation from the guy who makes touchOSC that it doesn't work and that you still need 2 usb to midi interfaces.

(update) : and from the guy who makes rtpmidi

Hi,
I'm unclear why the USB to Midi and back to USB cables are necessary.
I tried hooking up a USB to USB cable from my mac to the ipad - it doesn't work. I'm using a 5 In One Camera Connection kit and the iPad sees it, but the Mac doesn't. Is the "Official" Apple kit the only one that works?

I'm dying to have this situation solved. I've tried 3 different Alesis IO Docks (all kept losing synch), I've tried iConnectivity iConnectMidi and it doesn't work either. Even though my Mac recognizes it in the USB tab of the System Info list and the iPad sees it as well. They don't talk.

Can anyone shine a little light on the above cable thing.
Much appreciated...

That's why they're necessary, you tried USB to USB and like you found out, it doesn't work.

I don't know the technical reasons why, but AFAIK, I haven't heard of anybody getting MIDI to transmit through a USB to USB cable, from iPad to computer.

I'm guessing that it has something to do with the Mac and iPad needing to see a Midi interface, and just plugging in a regular USB cable into your Mac or iPad is not going to be recognized as a Midi interface.

i haven't gotten that to work at all with any of my midi usb devices, i have a motu microexpress, an akai mpk61, novation stuff, maschine etc, never would send or recieve midi, i think the only way to go is the cheap 2 midi interface route, barring of course you have something like the alesis io dock etc.... anyone else have any luck with the abovementioned interfaces?

The Alesis IO Dock is very impressive in so many ways. I've had 3. The first crapped out when I installed the latest firmware. The other 2 wouldn't hold midi synch for more than a minute or so. Alesis just scratched their heads and recommended I have it repaired...NOT!

Can't recommend it. Don't waste the money.

I am eager to use my iPad as a control surface. My "studio" is super basic: a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface, M-Audio Uno, an iPad, and an Alesis Micron. I have TouchOSC and MIDI Studio for iPad, and I'd love to figure out the cheapest way to create a hard-wired connection between the iPad and my Macbook, so I can use iMicronit to edit patches in the notoriously difficult-to-program Micron, and do a bunch of other MIDI stuff through and in Ableton.

I'm not too concerned about latency, so I would use Wi-Fi for MIDI, except I'm on my landlords' guest network and they don't want to turn on the setting that allows devices to communicate with each other. I can't use Apple's Remote app on my iPad to control iTunes, for example, and I can't send and receive MIDI over Wi-Fi. I've tried setting up an ad-hoc network and creating a Bluetooth PAN, both to no avail because of the way my landlords' router is set up (I think).

So it looks like a wired connection is my only option. But I'm not sure what the cheapest way to do it would be. I have the Camera Connection Kit, and use it with my Uno MIDI interface to send and receive MIDI messages between my iPad and Micron. It looks like I'd have to buy one more cheap MIDI-to-USB cable, plus two female-to-female MIDI connectors to connect the iPad and my laptop via the CCK. (Wouldn't that mean there are two interfaces in the connection? The Uno and a cheap one. And would that create any problems?) And then I'd still need a MIDI-to-USB interface to connect the Micron to the computer via a USB hub to use something like iMicronit.

Before I start buying cheap cables from Amazon, can anyone tell me if this sounds right? It definitely sounds pretty ugly, but whatever it takes. Thanks!

Stupid question but if I want to control soft synths with soundprism, I need 2 usb cable and 1 female to female adaptor?

Do the female adaptor go to both midi out ends of the usb cable?

I did as described and I'm having difficulty. I connected two MIDI-USB cables - MIDI OUT of iPad connected to MIDI IN of MacBook. I get the OUT light flashing with a message from the iPad, but no IN light for the one on the computer. If I connect the iPad cable ends together (IN to OUT) both lights flash. Am I doing something wrong? Why is the MIDI not being read on the other side? Please advise... I've been trying to google an answer but nothing!