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The iPad seems to have quite a few remote automation controllers for DAWs, and it's hard to know which one is any good -- they are all fairly pricey (even by iPad app standards).

Anyone have experience using these and/or a link to some honest reviews, since it's pretty hard to "try before you buy"?

And example of an app I'm talking about it is ProRemote

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  • A little augmentative...
    – Pelle ten Cate
    Commented Dec 8, 2010 at 9:37
  • I'm not looking for a list, but some resources OTHER than the vendors sites. What's the best way to ask this? "Sites that review software remotes?" This market vis-a-vis iPad-based systems is obviously new, but how can I get LINKS to info, not necessarily info here?
    – davetron5000
    Commented Dec 9, 2010 at 2:03
  • Is there anything else besides ProRemote? I took a look at the iTunes store to no avail.
    – Sklivvz
    Commented Dec 20, 2010 at 0:12
  • maybe you can ask this question on apple.stackexchange.com
    – Sklivvz
    Commented Jan 2, 2011 at 14:58
  • I think this would be okay as long as all answers are in the form of a community wiki. One app per answer.
    – Ian C.
    Commented Jan 3, 2011 at 20:29

2 Answers 2

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TouchOSC

http://hexler.net/software/touchosc

Pros:

  • Incredibly flexible. You can create your own custom interfaces and assign all kinds of control to the sliders, knobs and buttons
  • Reasonably priced. Especially given there's an editor, the iPhone/iPad client, and then the receiver on the machine you're trying to control.
  • Mature. It's being used and developed actively.
  • A long list of supported apps you can control.

Cons:

  • The UIs you build are nice, but simple. They don't look like ProTools.
  • It can be a little laggy at times.
  • You have to to do some work to get it set up and running the way you like with your DAW and VSTs and what not.

I'll admit, of the slew of control apps out there, this is the only one I've used. But that's because I really, really like it. Works well and once you get the hang of the UI it's very, very powerful. I ditched my wireless DAW controller once I got the hang of TouchOSC because it does remote start/stop/arm/pause/playback so much better than the dedicated hardware I had did, and it's more extensible.

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  • This is the one I looked at, and recently purchased for my IPad. There are others, but this one seems to have a good price point, and the style of the controls meshes well with Abelton Live.
    – Robert Harvey
    Commented Jan 5, 2011 at 15:47
  • @Robert Harvey, I cannot say I'm not biased (it's my app), but check out my software. Link is below in my "answer" to this "question." My stuff is DEFINITELY not laggy...
    – Yar
    Commented Mar 8, 2012 at 22:42
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Disclaimer: I make this software myself.

I recommend MIDI Designer. It has many advantages over all the other offerings out there, but the best one is: a free Lite version that really does EVERYTHING the Pro version does. It's got two limits (no more than 12 controls and no "colors" for background pages), but aside from that it's the real thing, so you can try before you buy. I cannot imagine not giving users this choice.

I made it for my own music making (I use Ableton Live, mostly) and for my band (we use hardware on some rigs, hardware and Reaper on others, and hardware and Cubase on others). This doesn't mean it's got to be good, but it means it's got to be performant.

Also, the developer -- me -- is directly available, not just to answer questions, but also to respond to feedback about the app. 70% of the features I've added recently (about to show up when 1.03 drops) is directly culled from user feedback (and direct interaction with my user-testers).

But again, try the Lite version for $0 and see what you think.

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