iPad pro (2020) struggling with MIDI output.

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almar12
Posts: 12

Post by almar12 »

I recently upgraded my iPad mini 2 to a iPad pro. Unfortunately, I experience some issues with synthesia and the iPad pro. It seems that the MIDI output is inconsistent, whenever I test the MIDI output in synthesia it will only send few sounds/notes to my digital piano. MIDI input works just fine, synthesia recognizes the keys I play on the piano etc.

I use the following devices:
- Yamaha YDP 163 digital piano
- iPad Pro (2020) 11 inch.
- Regular USB-B to USB-C cable.

I tried the following to troubleshoot:
1. Connected Iphone 11 Pro via USB-B to USB-A with a lightning adapter. [works with the yamaha control app, probably also with synthesia if it was available]
2. Connected to a Samsung A52 via USB-B to USB-C [Works with synthesia, both output and input]. (Same cable as the iPad pro)
3. Connected to a iPad pro (2020) via USB-B to USB-C [Only input works, output is inconsistent and only a few notes go through from synthesia to the piano]
4. Connected to a iPad pro (2020) via USB-B to USB-A with a USB-A to USB-C adapter [Only input works, output is inconsistent and only a few notes go through from synthesia to the piano].
5. Contacted Apple support. According to them it was an issue on the app side and recommended me to contact Synthesia support.

So it seems that the iPad or newest iPad OS is the issue. Anyone else experiencing similar issues or know how to fix this?

I also e-mailed you Nicholas, in case you read the e-mail before this post I'll update the post.

Thanks in advance!
almar12
Posts: 12

Post by almar12 »

Issue still persists. Anyone know how to fix this?
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

Sorry for the wait on this. (I've been dropping the ball repeatedly for the last couple months.)

This is curious because the recent iOS 14+ bug I'd heard about was the other way around: input was randomly dropped but output was still working fine.

That is great troubleshooting, by the way: testing each part of your setup in more than one place to rule out many of the possibilities. I was going to ask about the USB-C adapter, but I see that you already tested it against something else that worked. Now I'm even more perplexed. Hrm.
elvinXCs
Posts: 1

Post by elvinXCs »

I've just been approved to use this forum. I wanted to tell that I also encounter this issue. I'm using iPad Pro 2018 (iOS 14.2) and Synthesia skips so many keys. I switched to my Android 11 phone (OnePlus) it works totally fine.
almar12
Posts: 12

Post by almar12 »

Thanks for the reply! Since you also have it, it is probably something with either synthesia or ios.
almar12
Posts: 12

Post by almar12 »

@Nicholas,

I'll try an iPad 2019 running on the same software (ios 14.2) if I can get my hands on it.
Will try it with the lightning to USB connector since it doesn't have a usb-c port, This way I can rule out if it has anything to do with the iPad pros/USB-C ports. This way I can also test if it is an issue with iPad os since it works fine with my iphone. Will update this post later.

I also tried it with another midi test app called Midi Wrench. Same issue here so it seems like the issue is apple sided or both apps happen to have the issue.
Midi wrench reads any data send from piano to ipad, I can also send data from ipad to piano but not consistently.

EDIT: Changed iPad 3 to iPad 2019.Was referring to iPad 2019.
Last edited by almar12 on 12-19-20 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
paronym
Posts: 27

Post by paronym »

almar12 wrote: 12-19-20 8:18 am I'll try an iPad 3 running on the same software (ios 14.2) if I can get my hands on it.
As iOS 9.3.6 was the final version of iOS released for the iPad 3, I think you'll have difficulty getting your hands on such a thing.
almar12
Posts: 12

Post by almar12 »

Sorry, was referring to the iPad 2019. Just tried it with the iPad 2019, USB-B to USB A with lightning adapter. Running on iPad OS 14.2 works just fine. It seems that the issue is with the USB-C port of the iPad pro, no idea why or how but for some reason iPad usb-c cannot consistently transfer data to the digital piano.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

almar12 wrote: 12-19-20 2:22 pmIt seems that the issue is with the USB-C port of the iPad pro...
Well that's disconcerting. That sounds more like an issue to ask Apple about than anything we might be able to work-around in software. :?
almar12
Posts: 12

Post by almar12 »

Unfortunately it is near impossible to reach the right people at apple. Regular tech support will just blame the app. I have close to no knowledge about how it is supposed to work but I read somewhere that the USB-c port of the iPad pro is locked at 48hz when it comes to audio. Could this have anything to do with the iPad's inability to properly communicate with my piano?
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

It shouldn't. MIDI isn't audio in the traditional sense. It's a much slower, smaller, simpler data stream that was already easy for computers and equipment to transmit in the 1980's when it was first developed. That it's 40 years later with connections that are many orders of magnitude faster and new hardware has more problems than the older stuff is unfortunate.
almar12
Posts: 12

Post by almar12 »

Thanks for the reply! Guess the only hope is an ios update that will randomly fix this issue.
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