Ipad Experience comparison

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scatcher
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:26 pm

Ipad Experience comparison

Post by scatcher » Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:35 pm

I've signed up for Playground Sessions, and I'm quite happy thus far. Because I am using a Hammer Pro 88-key device, it's impractical to move it on front of my monitors, so I've been using the iPad application. Aside from some minor annoyances, it has been pretty good.

However, I have an issue with digital noise entering the sound. I an force it by pressing many keys at once, and the samples break down pretty significantly. Sometimes, though, the samples will fail and distort with only a couple of keys. I have an iPad - 8th generation (only a few months old).

Before I drag my oscilloscope out of the closet and check the signal for clipping, is anybody else experiencing this?

EFlatMajor
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2017 2:51 pm

Re: Ipad Experience comparison

Post by EFlatMajor » Wed Jun 30, 2021 2:01 pm

Scatcher,

Your question might be best answered by customer service at
support@playgroundsessions.com as these forum boards are mostly end users.

Before you send out that email, consider the following:
All electronic keyboards have a maximum number of keys that can be played simultaneously. I do not know anyone with more than 10 fingers, but if you hold the sustain pedal while playing, the number of sounds playing simultaneously can rise dramatically. For my keyboard I think that max is 64. I have no idea what it is for the app.

As a test I set my instrument to "Strings" so that the sounds did not fade. Press the sustain pedal and press these notes at the very left of the keyboard - A,C,E,A. Once you confirm the sound stays steady, start pressing keys at the other end of the keyboard, very lightly so they make little to no sound. Keep doing that and at some point the first few keys you hit (A,C,E,A) will go silent. It is my understanding that after you reach the max number of keys, it is FIFO (first in first out) when additional keys are hit.

You might try setting the piano volume in the app to 0 and turning up the volume on your piano keyboard. Then you can put your arms on the keyboard and see if the sound degrades.

In any case, you'll get a better answer from the support team.

Good luck.

scatcher
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:26 pm

Re: Ipad Experience comparison

Post by scatcher » Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:57 pm

Thank you for the advice. As it turns out, it appears the model of iPad I was using is just a little underpowered. A new iPad Air has no difficulty unless you really stress it unreasonably.

It wasn't a showstopper though - just a minor annoyance from time to time.

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