Recording - April 2015 - 63

A few years ago, I reviewed an innovative iPad app called touchAble that
provided a fairly complete interface to Ableton Live without the need for any
additional hardware. Its unique quick-switching view system allowed you to
move within your Live session in a different (but still somehow familiar) way,
and it quickly became a staple in my studio and live performance setups.
Recently, touchAble got a bump to version 3, and with this update we get
new features and functions that will help it maintain its position as a top iOSbased controller. I updated the app for this review, but it has now overtaken my setup as controller-of-choice for all but the most complex of Ableton
sessions.
What's got me so excited? There are many new features, but there is one
functional change that has really got me wired. That change is, in fact, a
wire! More specifically, I'm talking about the ability to have a hardwired connection between your iOS device and your computer, rather than depending
solely on a wireless connection.

touchAble 3

BY DARWIN GROSSE

Price: $24.99; Live Device Template Pack,
$21.99 in-app purchase
More from: touchAble, www.touch-able.com

This is a stunning improvement, because the connection between my iPad
and Ableton Live is now rock-solid and much less subject to disconnection. It
requires no complicated setup and is not subject to disturbance from an electrically noisy environment. While wireless connections are still supported, I'm
not sure that I'll ever choose to worry about ad hoc networks or communication latency again. Replacing a network with the same USB cable you use
to charge your iPad or iPhone is an undeniable win.
The other massive update is going to cost you a bit of cash. The sole inapp purchase available for touchAble 3 is a $21.99 monster, called the Live
Device Template Pack, that includes an interface for almost every device provided with the Ableton Live Suite. These are device-specific templates that
eliminate the use of "generic" interfaces for devices, and provide full access
to the parameters of heavy-duty devices like Operator and Sampler.
The cost of this add-on is easily justified the first time you use these templates. I found I could combine touchAble's quick-change display functionality with the new device templates to fly between clip performance and
device editing. The integration of these templates into the system is seamless, and the custom user interfaces mirrored the functionality of the devices
in almost all cases.
I was a little disappointed that one of my favorite Live devices (Looper) wasn't
supported with a template-and that no Max for Live devices were supported,
either. But the ease with which I was able to dial in content-specific Flanger settings, record automations in the Filter Delay, or tweak Reverb settings, made this
template pack well worth the cost.
In my original review, I strongly recommended touchAble for the iOS-minded studio owner. Now I can doubly recommend it; between the hardwired
connection option and the deep set of device templates, I couldn't be more
sold on an app. Add in new features like the ability to combine multiple iOS
devices as a single controller and a completely rewritten host server application, and it leaves me with just one bit of advice for you: Buy it now!
RECORDING April 2015

http://www.touch-able.com

Recording - April 2015

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