I have Cubase Pro at home, but would like to compose ideas while traveling or playing poker at a casino in Vegas. My setup needs to be small, so Bluetooth and power considerations are essential.
Can anyone recommend a good micro keyboard? Bluetooth would be best for my iPad(A16), but I would already be using Airpods too, so hopefully it wouldn’t cause any latency.
My vote goes to Novation LaunchKey 25 Mini Mk4…
…with the Cubasis’s built-in HUI support close to zero mapping is needed.
One thing to keep in mind (it’s even mentioned over at Novation support) is that assistive touch needs to be enabled if the on-screen keyboard needs to be used as the Mk4 controllers can also transmit key-strokes that can potentially hijack the iOS/iPadOS on-screen keyboard…
I was also considering the Arturia Minilab Mk3 which has slightly bigger keys and a few sliders to boot, it also supports HUI but requires a few more button presses.
I decided to go the novation route. Just got my launch-key mk4 with the wheels instead of strips.
2 questions:
What settings did you use to get the transport controls to work? Did you still have to use the MIDI learn on that?
I use Bluetooth AirPods for my monitoring, and the performance latency is bad. Trying to record MIDI drums on the pads is unplayable atm. Works perfect if I listen on the iPad speakers, so obviously it’s a Bluetooth audio problem. Does anyone have a fix for this?
Under Settings Midi enable Mackie Control / HUI and under ports select tap utility You see HUI next to both of the DAW ports on the LaunchKey Mini (see attached image).
Once done the LaunchKey will switch over to HUI mode.
When the ‘knobs’ are set to ‘Mixer’ (Shift + Pad 2) the knobs control Pan & Volume (use the arrows to switch), when sent to ‘Sends’ (Shift + Pad 3) the knobs control Send A & B when set to ‘Transport’ (Shift + Pad 4) the first knob controls the playhead position.
When the Pads are set to DAW (Shift + Pad 9) the pads are used to select & arm tracks and Func switches between Select/Arm Tracks and Mute/Solo Tracks.
The arrows left of the pads are used to select which tracks are show when more than 8 tracks are present in the project.
What I would love @LSlowak and Team to add in the future is ‘auto-mapping’ of the knobs to the currently selected plug-in when ‘Plug-In’ (Shift + Pad1) is selected for the knobs as well as more Transport related controls (Loop Start, Loop End, Next / Previous Marker (When that feature gets added), Tempo, Loop On/Off etc.).
The Play button starts playback, Shift+Play stops (This respected the ‘Return to Start Position on Stop’ switch under under General), Rec starts recording and tapping REC again stops recording without interrupting playback.
You may have to mess a bit with the iPad’s Accessibility settings in case the on-screen keyboard goes ‘missing’, (Enable ‘Shown Onscreen Keyboard’ under Accessibility and Touch) and in cases where the on-screen keyboard doesn’t pop up enable and then disable ‘Assistive Touch’). This happens because the LaunchKey is detected as a ‘Keyboard’(it can be programmed to send key-strokes) and this confuses iPadOS
By chance, do you ever use Bluetooth for headphone monitoring? I have that audio lag/latency, which creates performance issues when I use my AirPods. Does anyone know a workaround?
BlueTooth audio always adds a fair bit of latency making it less than idea for real-time applications, there’s really no way around it…
…I’d suggest using wired headphones with a USB-C → 3.5mm dongle if no proper audio-interface is available, for that a USB-C ‘hub’ is needed in order to be able to connect multiple devices at the same time.
Look for a USB-Hub with a USB-PD port so You can keep the device charged at the same time.
I’m with @Samuel_Lindeman on this. Bluetooth headphones introduce latency inherent to the BT audio protocol, which makes them less than ideal for real‑time tasks - and a DAW like Cubasis relies on precise, low‑latency audio performance.
Of course, you can use Bluetooth headphones or speakers for checking mixes or for situations where latency isn’t critical. But for anything timing‑sensitive, wired headphones will always be the better choice.
That said, there are a few Bluetooth models offering ultra‑low latency (such as Yamaha’s YH‑WL500) which are exceptions to the rule.
While the Yamaha WL500’s do have a low latency the latency figures only apply when using the dedicated dock which doesn’t use BlueTooth to transmit low-latency audio to the headphones. In practice you feed the dock with an analogue signal that gets transmitted to the headphones using a proprietary protocol on the 2.4Ghz band (similar to wifi).
When using BlueTooth audio devices with the headphones the latency is still very much present…
(I’ve tried these at the local Music Store and there’s a definite latency difference when transferring audio from the iPhone to the Headphones over BlueTooth compared to connecting a USB-C→3.5mm from the iPhone to the dock).
I do feel that ‘Audio over Wifi’ will get a re-bloom now that Ableton is adding bi-directional audio support to the Link Protocol
(Think of all the fun things that can be had by using Link to send audio between devices!).
Bluetooth, no matter which specialized codec or brand of earbuds you pick, will always introduce a fair bit of latency with audio in particular.
I recommend a 2.4ghz wireless audio transmitter/receiver pair, they’re often made for IEMs and stage performers. You can find them affordably on marketplaces under numerous sellers IE: Lekato and M-Vave, make sure you get one with stereo if needed. Latency can be quite low in ideal conditions.
I personally use AIAIAI Studio Wireless that also have 2.4ghz connection between headphones and transmitter, the latency is remarkably low and the sound is very serviceable.
