iPadOS 16 and AudioDriveKit compatibility with Pioneer DJ controllers.

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Level 1

16 points

iPadOS 16 and AudioDriveKit compatibility with Pioneer DJ controllers.

I am a beginner DJ. I have been researching which hardware is compatible with an application called Djay by Algoriddim. Here is the list of compatible controllers and hardware with iOS and iPadOS under their Pro and free subscriptions: List.

I prefer being able to use my iPad Pro 11-in 2018 model with this application but don’t have the capable DJ controller or hardware to pull that off. I have a Pioneer DJ controller and the model is a DDJ-800. It is currently not compatible. I know it is possible to individually map every single knob and fader but that would take way too long. What I would like to do is to use the MIDI Learn feature that Djay gives to controllers that are compatible. It would also be cool to use built-in effects from this controller instead of the ones that are only in the application.

Aside - In a time of subscriptions, Pioneer DJ is now charging an arm in a leg for Rekordbox 6 and Djay is more appealing at $30-$50/year, charging half or a third of Pioneer’s base subscription “Core” plan ($100/year) and bringing features like DVS for mobile and audio visuals to the forefront.

Anyway - I started thinking. I looked over to my controller and noticed on the jog wheels a message appears when connected to the iPad. It says that there is “No Audio Driver.” So I did a little bit of research and came across this video in WWDC22 and this article there as well called Creating drivers for iPadOS.

To summarize in iPadOS 16 and above there will be an iPadOS version of DriverKit and more specifically AudioDriverKit. With this software people can create audio drivers to complement certain pieces of hardware (MIDI controllers and such). There is a but however. To access this new feature one needs to have an M1 iPad (Air or Pro for now). As someone who doesn’t like planned obsolescence, I found this disappointing from Apple’s part.

I guess my question is how does a person who has an iPad with an M1 chip create an audio driver specifically for the Pioneer DDJ-800 using AudioDriverKit? Or a Pioneer DJ controller in general that isn’t compatible with Djay? I believe this move to bring DriverKit to iPad is a push to integrate Apple’s DAW Logic Pro in the future as well.

Thoughts and comments? Thank you for your time.

Posted on Sep 14, 2022 4:18 AM

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Answer 1

Renzoco Author

Level 1

16 points

Sep 15, 2022 4:20 PM in response to Renzoco

Ok Anders, one of their support staff from Algoriddim, said this:

"Thanks for your message! It’s indeed great to see Apple adding support for audio drivers on M1 with iPadOS 16, which can be used to add support for audio devices that are not USB class compliant, but writing drivers would be up to the hardware manufacturers."

"We have let Pioneer DJ know about this upcoming possibility, but we have no insight into their plans regarding this. Please feel free to also reach out to them directly to let them know your interest in this."

So I am going to ask Pioneer DJ themselves LOL. Given that they have competing software they portably won't integrate the DDJ-800 with Algoriddim. We shall see but I have my doubts.

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Answer 2

MrHoffman

Level 10

145,903 points

Sep 14, 2022 8:30 AM in response to Renzoco

US$100 per year is a little past a quarter per day.

You’re going to spend way more time and effort here creating and debugging and supporting this driver.

Your path is headed for thousands of dollars in developer time and effort, alone.

Add the costs and ongoing effort as Apple updates and as the external audio hardware updates.

And budget for developer program membership, if you decide to distribute the results of these development efforts. And for a Minshara-class, err, M-class iPad.

Whether this might be planned obsolescence, or differing hardware I/O features or limitations across older and newer, or part of some hypothetical longer-term plan or strategy for audio I/O, or something otherwise, Apple’s requirements are what they are.

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Answer 3

Renzoco Author

Level 1

16 points

Sep 14, 2022 11:08 AM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you for your realistic comment. I realized this conundrum after posting this. It would take a lot of time and money to invest into an audio driver like the one that I am talking about. I asked Algoriddim themselves in their forum if they were planning to do this for future controllers like my own.

You make the $100/year sound appealing LOL. I was being half true when I said that that was their base plan. It's actually their based paid plan. Their base plan is actually Free and through Hardware Unlock you can unlock services like Performance Mode. At that same token $30/year (which is my subscription plan on Djay) is less than dime per day.

I will pick the cheaper one personally.
I also gravitate to touch functionality more than the dreaded butterfly keyboard.
There are arguably more features that Djay offers.
My iPad is quicker as well since it is running the latest iPadOS version and doesn't heat up as much as my intel based MacBook Pro.

The ironic thing is that I am still on Rekordbox 5 and not reliant on the subscription based model Rekordbox 6 to begin with which is a plus for me. I am scot free in terms of paying for subscriptions. But I again just gravitate to the idea of using a more "mobile" setup.

Anyway, thanks again MrHoffman.

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iPadOS 16 and AudioDriveKit compatibility with Pioneer DJ controllers.

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