Multi route audio files

Krystofur · March 29, 2019, 05:45:43 PM

Arlo....help!

iPad thru ioDock2

Using the 2 tracks starting at same time feature
Multi route audio ON

I'm sending 2 backing tracks.

Track 1 is stereo track - click L / track R

Track 2 is a Stereo track audio only both sides (no click)

Scenario A:
I have track 1 RIGHT sent to ioDock output 2 and the LEFT (click) is unassigned
I have track 2 left and right both sent to ioDock output 1

Result = track 1 RT plays as desired through ioDock output 2, however LT (unassigned) plays thru ioDock output 1 (the other output or the left output channel when for example only 1 track is used at a time). This is obviously undesirable.

Track 2 plays only out of ioDock output 1 only as desired.

Everything comes thru the headphone jack - which is what I want

Scenario B:
Same as above EXCEPT Track 1 LEFT is also assigned to ioDock output 2 (which is the right out on ioDock)

Result= track 1 right is where I want it, track 2 is where I want it. There is NO click playing over either, BUT it is also now no longer coming thru the headphone jack which is what I need.

What I want:

Track 1 right only plays thru output 2
Track 2 in its entirety plays thru output 1

Track 1R, Track 1L and Track 2 all come thru headphone jack.

I know I'm missing a click somewhere. Please help.

Thanks.

Krystofur · March 29, 2019, 06:08:57 PM

Arlo

One more thing...I can't select the headphone output as an output for either track.

Thanks

arlo · March 29, 2019, 06:46:08 PM

Please submit a help ticket and then submit the troubleshooting info for that ticket:

https://helpdesk.arlomedia.com/arlomedia

Krystofur · March 29, 2019, 08:31:28 PM

Done. Thanks!

arlo · March 29, 2019, 11:59:38 PM

Got it. You might be running into some natural limitations of what the audio system can do. First, I wouldn't expect that you could play the same signal through multiple routes, although you say you're doing that in your Scenario A. Second, I wouldn't expect that you could leave a channel unassigned as a way to mute it, which might explain the behavior you're seeing. I think the behavior of Scenario B is correct: since everything is routed to the iO Dock, nothing comes out the headphone jack. And the behavior of Scenario A is the result that you get when you break the system by leaving some audio unassigned. I'm guessing in that case iOS decides to send the unassigned channel somewhere, which happens to be the headphone jack, and then because it doesn't really know what it's supposed to do in that situation, it sends all the audio there along with it.

To get the result you want, I think you would need to send both channels of one track through the iO Dock, send both channels of the other track through the headphone jack, connect both of those outputs to a mixer, and do whatever mixing and routing you need from there.

That leaves us with the question of why you can't select the headphone jack as an output route. Is something plugged into the headphone jack when you set that up? I seem to recall that it only appears as an option if something is plugged into it.

Krystofur · March 30, 2019, 05:45:51 AM

hi arlo

so yes. i agree with you about what's happening. if the headphone jack was coming up as an output route i would be golden.

but it's not. and i even have a cable plugged into the jack on the ioDock2. i have musician friends who are doing this (and told me about the same thing you did about something needing to be plugged into the jack too) and it is working for them. they even sent me their screen shots of it being available in the menu of outputs. they are using ioDock1. i have the ioDock2. i'm either missing something or it's the i versus the ii.

and just to cover this too - the headphone jack works flawlessly on the ioDock. i use it nearly every day without issue.

i would love to get this working. any ideas or suggestions would really be appreciated.

thanks!

arlo · March 30, 2019, 08:50:57 AM

Do you get any different results when connecting cables directly to the iPad rather than going through the iO Dock connections?

Krystofur · March 30, 2019, 09:39:03 AM

when the ipad is out of the dock i get speaker 1 or speaker 2. i have not tried it yet with anything in the headphone jack of the ipad yet. ill try that next. i'm also going to run over to a friend who has an iodock1 and see what happens.

i remember once before needing to use midibridge to get a wired footswitch to work with the iodock2 and SLM. could this be a similar scenario/problem? what do you think? could the i vs ii be routing differently internally? have you seen multirouting with the ii work before?

ill report back on the above...

Krystofur · March 30, 2019, 11:31:08 AM

update: ipad out of dock with headphones plugged into 3/8" jack i get to select headphones left or right. iodock channels are still there from when docked. so i set up the headphone outputs as i want this to work when IN the dock. place the ipad in the alesis and it functions like scenario A as if i unassigned the click (L of track one) so it now plays over the backing trax and thru the headphone on the alesis.

when i go back into audio/midi and make changes - with selection of outputs the headphone jacks disappear from the output options. for whatever reason it will not give me the headphone jack of the alesis as an available output. which would solve everything for me. i just need the 3 assignable outputs. any other ideas???

Krystofur · March 30, 2019, 11:38:34 AM

Update 2: found a really small headphone jack. Plugged it into the iPad AND then docked it. Headphone L/R is now selectable. No click bleed into either of the other outputs - but the click is inaudible (it's there but useless) in the headphones I attached directly to the iPad (which I expect since the lightning port is now taking all output from the iPad itself) but no click from the iodock headphone jack - just the other tracks also playing thru the main outputs.

So it's an assignable option - but it will not recognize the headphone out of the iodock by itself.

So. Weird.

arlo · March 30, 2019, 02:47:06 PM

Can you clarify what you have now and how that differs from what you want?

Krystofur · March 30, 2019, 02:53:46 PM

i basically have nothing. so far all that i've tried above isn't working. the basic problem is that SLM will not recognize the headphone out jack on an iodock2. i've tried other ipads. i've tried my other iodock.

i'm about to go meet with a friend who has an iodock1 to see if my ipad works in the earlier version of the device. if suddenly it does - then we know it's that. and if that works - i would love it if there was a way to find out how it could work with the iodock2.

maybe newer isn't always better?

do you know if SLM is compatibile with any of the iConnectivity products?

Krystofur · March 30, 2019, 11:55:22 PM

so. file this under "there's always more"

my musician friend is using the ioDocki (1st gen). but when he said he was using the headphone out what he really was doing was using the headphone jack on the actual ipad itself while it's docked. not the headphone out on the alesis dock. how you might ask? well. on the iodocki(1) the pad sits in the dock with home button to the LEFT so the headphone jack is exposed on the open end (where you slide the pad in) on the right. on the iodock ii (2) the home button is right when docked and the headphone jack ON THE IPAD is LEFT and cannot be used because the chassis supporting the left edge of the ipad while in the dock is simply in the way.

i'm going to modify my dock (basically drill a hole) so i can pass a cable to the headphone jack on the ipad itself. i tested this and it works. however...arlo...genius arlo...is there any way that you could possibly think of some way to make the headphone jack on the alesis idock itself assignable as an output too???

what an adventure! i had to drive 3 hours to test this!

arlo · March 31, 2019, 09:33:43 PM

I don't think I could change that behavior. Apparently the iPad is somehow sensing whether something is connected to the headphone jack, and the iO Dock is engineered in a way that the iPad doesn't detect it. Both those factors would be beyond my control. I do like the idea of drilling a hole in the case.

Krystofur · April 01, 2019, 04:58:09 AM

being very careful (as i approach these things) i gradually drilled an neatly placed hole directly in line with the ipad headphone jack to access it while it is plugged and docked into the alesis iodock2. works great with now all 3 out puts accessible. so despite being connected by lighting to the alesis - the headphone jack on the actual ipad works too - if you can get to it! this is the big difference between the iodock i and iodock ii - the reverse docking (the 32 pin dock position is left with home button Left when in the iodock1 leaving the ipad headphone jack exposed and available while the iodock ii mounts oppositely using lightning with the ipad headphone jack hidden by the alesis chassis).

so right now i have these output routes accessible:
(2) outputs native to the alesis (main left and rights out)
headphone jack on the ipad itself

so the ipad headphone jack works and is accessible when docked. however, do you think there would be a way to make the headphone out on the ALESIS dock itself (not ipad) accessible as an assignable output? if possible, this adds tremendous potential (i would imagine this would be the case for other docks like this). you would have another assignable output with a separate volume control.

i'm always amazed by tremendous functionality in your products. thanks!