MIDI controllers with best integration for GarageBand iOS

Hi everyone.

I’m looking for a MIDI controller that can integrate with GarageBand on iOS/iPad OS to the max. Talking about the AI instruments, the sampler, the Step Sequencer and other really great features GarageBand offers on portable platforms.

I’ve been using DAWs and MIDI controllers for the past 20 years now. But up until now, I can’t say I’ve found THE gem.

There are always drawbacks.

Now, granted, the touch screen is able to provide a great experience. And you shouldn’t need nothing more than a great keyboard with good action, a mod wheel for pitch bends and some knobs to fiddle the sounds while playing.

But.

GarageBand (and Logic Pro, btw) offer many great options that can only offer a full experience when used with some kind of hardware feedback.

Here are the first scenarios that comes to mind :

• Alchemy and its XY matrix is a perfect way to learn and use sounddesign. But try playing on a 25 keys keyboard and automating the XY matrix on the screen and you’ll see how inconvenient that is.
• Playing the keys on the screen is horrendous at best.
• The Step Sequencer is a great way to learn and use Beat Making techniques but it requires way too much sub-menus fiddling and loses its core « ready to go » raison-d’être.
• The on-board Sampler is amazing. From reversing to granular, it does it all. But it’s fiddly at times and playability takes a hit when trying to play and edit at the same time.
• The Smart Instruments are a great way to compose easily. My 4 yo students can craft a rhythm arrangement in a matter of seconds. But it just misses that hardware touch, being able to MPE the heck out of it.
• Drums are great, they are crazy good. You can tailor more than demo tracks on GB alone. But most of the times, it is a pain to route them to some pads. And finger drumming on a screen is just not great. Lacks feedback, it’s fiddly at best and I’ve witnessed accident happen more than often (one kid even broke the screen when trying to hit a snare the hardest way possible….with a drum stick).

I could go on.

So here I am. Asking you guys what is your take on this.

I’ve tried many variations. The Akai mini range (from the mkII to the Play series), some Nektar ones (cheaply made but with tight LogicPro integration for 101 duties), tried some M-Audio, some Arturias and even some Novation pad controllers.

But they all lack many things down the road.

The only things I haven’t tried yet are MPEs. And that’s because for now, it’s either too expensive a set up to cover the basic needs or too complex to set up - so complex, in fact, that neither the MPE controller nor GB understands one another.

I hope this bottle in the sea finds you well soon since Apple seems to close discussions with little to no traffic.

Thanks for your time, guys.

Oh. And please. Do not reply with some links from the first Google page. Been there. Done that. Thanks!