A lot of users wish to use the USB Audio output to record their music directly to their phones (iOS / Android / iPad) for social media. Often this seems to work but there are some issues:
Audio crackling issue (see below)
Device not showing up
Users are assuming that the devices are USB Class compliant. Is this the case?
What should this feature achieve?
Clarify if the devices are actually USB Class compliant
Make sure audio crackling is removed
Ensure that most common Brands are supported (Samsung/Apple)
Are there any workarounds?
Right now itās hit or miss.
Any links to related discussions?
There are many topics on Backstage regarding Mobile Device usage.
Any references to other products?
ā
This wish was originally a Bug Report what follows below is the original report.
There are issues with the audio transmitted via USB to mobile devices.
Connect the Tracker via USB to a smartphone or iPad (like external audio interface) that supports external audio interfaces.
Open the standard video recording application.
After recording the video, audio glitches can be heard.
These glitches are not audible during playback.
This bug is critical as it prevents the full use of an external audio interface on mobile devices.
Issues with the smartphone itself are ruled out, as connecting other audio interfaces in the >same way does not cause errors
I tested on the following devices:
Samsung S24 Ultra
iPad Pro
I tried different USB cables, but the problem persists.
Connecting the Tracker through a Hub instead of directly - also did not produce any results.
I just tried it on a MacBook - it works fine. There are suspicions that the issue might be related to power implementation.
You can try it yourself - just connect the Tracker to the phone, open any project, and record a video using the camera. Youāll hear periodic crackling and glitches.
Again, I want to emphasize that when connecting the phone to other devices that support audio interfaces, everything works without glitches, whether itās an external sound card, Elektron Digitakt, Analog Heat, or any others.
Thank you, I will try. However, the fact that other devices work fine without such issues indicates that there is a definite shortcoming on Polyendās side
Iāll repeat once again, this should work when recording video, not just in a DAW. I have an SSL+ sound card, which has only one USB connection. The SSL+ connects to a mobile phone without any issues and allows you to record audio in any software and in any way without glitches.
I understand, but as stated - iOS and Android are currently not officially supported.
With that in mind - i will have to close this report as it is by-design
if you feel this should be rectified, please feel free to create a Draft wishes entry.
and point to this topic if you want to.
I think itās unfair to close the topic. There is no concept of āofficial support for iOS or Androidā; there is the concept of an external sound card. This functionality is claimed, so it should work properly on all devices. For SSL+, smartphone support is not claimed, for example, but operation via USB as an external interface is stated.
The functionality is fully operational, the only issue is a bug. I want to know if it can be fixed or not. Otherwise, I will have to remove this feature from the ākiller featuresā list.
If i misunderstood your usecase, then i apologize. But If you are connecting the device via USB to an external soundcard, then it is not a supported use-case, as Polyend states here:
Based on that, anything else but using USB Audio on Windows or macOS is thereby not supported at the moment and would have to be considered a feature request.
If you are having issues connecting to your external interface via a 3.5mm or 6.3mm jack connections? Then yes, then it would be a bug.
That is Ableton running on either macOS or Windows.
And iām not closing this issue based on that. Iām closing it based on the fact that you are claiming it to be a bug affecting iOS or Android - which are not supported.
I have a feeling we are not understanding eachother here
Do you have an audio issue when using USB Audio with Windows? Then itās a bug
Do you have an audio issue when using USB Audio with your Mac (OSX)? Then itās a bug
Any other device you connect your Tracker+ to and attempt to use USB Audio with, is not officially supported and thereby not a bug, but a request for new functionality that does not exist yet.
Iāve just removed the closing-timer, so you donāt feel pressured.
Mac and Windows do not have issues. Yes, I understand you, if you interpret it that way, you could say that mobile devices are not part of their responsibility.
On the other hand, the Tracker works as an external USB audio interface, and that fact implies that I can connect it to any device.
The Tracker is the only device that has glitches in the sound, and I have many, believe me. All these devices are not divided into āofficially support mobile devices or not,ā they are simply external USB audio interfaces and transmit sound without bugs.
So, for me, itās a surprise; the interface is there, it works, everything is fine, but it have glitches.
If it were not supported, this feature simply wouldnāt be available. But itās an audio interface, and it works like all audio interfaces do on any device.
Itās not my interpretation. Iām just telling you what the official stance/word is
Wellā¦ technically itās not that simple. But that is beyond the scope of this discussion (iām looking at Windows specifically).
i understand youā¦ again. iām just telling you what the official stance is.
As stated earlier, you can probably get it to work on iPad using AUM and making sure sample rate is also set to 44.1khz. USB-C capable iPads seem to work better than the ones that use Lightning.
But beyond that, my hands are tied and iāve offered you all the possibilties i can give you.
This reminds me of the story with Line In, which had glitches that were eventually fixed in the beta version. I have a feeling that history is repeating itself here.
Itās surprising how long Line In had issues, and not many talked about it.
Anyway, Iāll wait for the official response. I believe such a feature, which allows direct recording of audio and video for social networks, shouldnāt be discarded, as it directly influences brand popularization and, consequently, sales growth.
Okay, I will write them an official letter about this.
