Darkglass Elements question

[fretmeister]

Is it external power supply only or can it be bus powered via USB-C from an iPad or similar?

 

I'm thinking about options for mobile recording without mains power.

 

ta

[Quatschmacher]

From the manual:

 

Power: Use a 9-12V DC power supply (center negative 2.1/5.5 mm barrel plug)

 

USB: One USB-C port for transferring impulse responses and firmware updates.

 

So no USB power. 

[fretmeister]

ah well.

 

Thank you.

[tayste_2000]

The only negative about this unit. I love mine so much I bought a second, I can’t express how useful this pedal is. Everything a spicy Di (Di with some eq, gain, cab sim) to an IEM Mixer live.

[tayste_2000]

If you’re only recording bass and want the smallest no power solution I’d recommend the Boss Katana Go

[fretmeister]

12 hours ago, tayste_2000 said:

The only negative about this unit. I love mine so much I bought a second, I can’t express how useful this pedal is. Everything a spicy Di (Di with some eq, gain, cab sim) to an IEM Mixer live.

I might have to get one anyway.

[fretmeister]

The DG website doesn’t mention iOS devices. Only windows and Mac.

Do you know if the Element can be used an iOS interface?

[MrDinsdale]

29 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

The DG website doesn’t mention iOS devices. Only windows and Mac.

Do you know if the Element can be used an iOS interface?

Yeah you can edit via the Darkglass Suite on iPhone. 

[fretmeister]

25 minutes ago, MrDinsdale said:

Yeah you can edit via the Darkglass Suite on iPhone. 

I mean as an audio interface to record on iPad / iPhone. 

[MrDinsdale]

Ahhhhh sorry, I misread!

 

There's a thread here which said they could record but couldn't get monitoring working https://www.talkbass.com/threads/darkglass-element-as-ios-interface.1489650/

 

It must be possible though surely?!

[fretmeister]

I’ll send a message to their support.

If it will do it properly then I’ll buy one.

[fretmeister]

I've had an email chat with Chris Kollias at Darkglass.

 

He even sent me a load of photos about using the Element as an iOS interface into garage band - that's all cool.

 

I then asked him about audio routing with the iOS Camera/Video app that has no controls for balance / forcing mono etc meaning that iOS takes 2 inputs but hard pans them left and right. So backing track in 1 ear and bass in the other sort of thing.

 

He actually went off to find an iPad to test it for me. Alas, the same problems happen when using the Element as an interface - to get a proper mix the headphone out has to be used into a separate interface, which is what I'm doing with other kit already. It's not a fault of the interface or the Element, it's just the way the iOS Camera/Video app deals with audio.

 

So, although it won't do exactly what I want I have to say I'm very impressed with Chris for going above and beyond for me. Many makers would have just emailed a "We have not tested that" response.

 

I'm still tempted by the Element for the IR loading and so on. I'll have to wait and see.

 

Three Cheers for Chris though!

[tayste_2000]

Would something like https://audiob.us potentially work with having the routing through that and ending up in the Camera/Video app?

 

Obviously you’d have to check to see if that app is available as an output, but if it is another app in the chain could solve the issue.

 

Even as an absolute Darkglass hater, I could gush about how great the Element is for hours and hours. I haven’t tried it as an audio interface though yet but I’m excited for it’s ability to record a bass with and without ir at the same time along with bluetooth audio so I don’t have to rip tracks from the net for playalongs.

 

Final option, use something other than the default camera/video app, I don’t have any suggestions past that but I imagine there are some available for your use case.

[fretmeister]

I was not aware of Audiobus - I'll have a look. I kind of doubt it as there are no settings in the iOS vid app to change the input source.

 

I have looked for other video apps and I've tried a lot of the free ones but so far I haven't found any with any audio routing controls at all.

 

I have a very janky solution at the moment as shown here: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/509698-ios-video-app-audio-stupidity-work-round/

 

I'm trying to cut down the amount of kit - so if I added an Element I would still need to go into a separate interface from the headphone out on the Element to make it work.

 

As far as I can tell the cheapest option to get rid of the interface would be a Line 6 Stomp. That would allow backing tracks coming through unprocessed, and bass sounds with / without IRs and feed them as equal mix to both sides so iOS doesn't split them hard left and right. Then I can use the Stomp for the bass sounds too and further cut down on stuff.

 

I'm not against that idea as I already use a Helix Rack as the heart of my home recording set up, but it's also a lot more money to spend.