NanoStudio 2.1.2 now available
Hi everyone
I'm sure many of you can attest that the last 18 months have been unusual. I've been unable to dedicate much time to NanoStudio 2 so I had a think about some popular feature requests I could add in the limited amount of time I had available and came up with these:
- Ableton Link Start/Stop Sync support
- MIDI clock and start/stop events are sent to all hosted AUs (any AUs which rely on MIDI clock may slave to NS2's master clock).
- MIDI clock and start/stop events may be sent to MIDI outputs, with a user-adjustable time offset. External hardware MIDI devices may slave to NS2's master clock provided their MIDI clock is set to 'external'.
- Improved latency compensation on metronome output
- Improved drop down menu layout on iPhone 12 Mini
- Ableton Link SDK updated to 3.1.5
For more information on how to send MIDI clock to external MIDI ports, latency compensation and the limitations of MIDI clock, check out the updated section in the user manual.
NEW - Studio Drums IAP Soundpack
Steve from Platinum Audiolab has been working on a new IAP soundpack for some time which contains 10 really nicely recorded drum kits. If I've done my homework correctly, it should be available in NS2's Store page once you have updated NS2 to v2.1.2.
The Studio Drums IAP will be introduced at HALF PRICE to say thanks the loyal NS2 users (normal price is 4.49/4.99 EUR/USD/GBP).
All the best
Matt
Comments
@Blip Interactive Glad you're ok! Hope the family is too! And nice to see some activity with NS2.
Question, does this update allow us to have midi playhead control where a midi controllers 'play' button will enable 'play' in NS2? Also, can we get QWERTY keyboard support like Cubasis, spacebar support, keyboard shortcuts etc?
I've had a sort of third-hand report that the latest update may not be working on devices with the M1 processor, which are:
If anyone has those devices I'd be grateful to hear about your experience with the latest update. If there are new problems then I'll look into them.
Good to see your back on it!
King
Thanks man. I've been back on it a little but I can't guarantee much beyond making sure everything in the app works as it should and adding smaller features here and there.
One day some music app developers will have to say the 's' word. By this I mean subscription. It's the only way to make future updates less, er, 'weak'. Charging £99.99 or more would also work, like on desktop. Another way to do it would be as a loss leader funded by a high-priced desktop PC/Mac version.
Otherwise these shenanigans ain't gonna work.
Well Matt, I'll be the one to say it, but I think you should give us some more ways to give our financial support to you and the NS2 app besides high quality IAP packs offered on the cheap. Like an optional in-app subscription that allows us to send a small bit of money per month in order to help you pay annual developer fees and all that. Or some sort of Patreon deal if you don't want to do the monthly payment in-app subscription, with the incentive that we have our names added to a "thank you" section in the manual or something like that.
AND/OR start a GoFundMe so we can get NS2 up to speed with Audio Tracks.
(Not that I needed them to remix a song by Sash! in Uplifting Vocal Trance genre, but I would prefer to master my audio in NS2 than Cubasis 3. 
)
Cheers.
EDIT: I hope your family is okay as well as your mental health mate. Cheers again.
I would happily support you via patreon. NS2 is my go-to app for music creation!
Matt, seriously this app is very good. Many users will attest to that. So, if the volume of sales is not high enough to enable an acceptable living, please please look at alternative routes and don’t let the code and project die. Kickstarter? Go fund me? Sale of code and IP to another developer? Why not mail your users and ask how much they would pay? This is a strange situation because on the App Store I wouldn’t pay £99 on the open market. But being part of a ‘club’ that funds you, I would consider it. Because there is a connection and investment there.
Thanks for the update. Good luck!
I like the democracy of Patreon (and similar), but I'm concerned that the generous few may end up paying the way for the majority. Also, I know I'd feel guilty if some subscribers had paid a fair amount of money and I felt like I hadn't produced enough - somehow it makes it all far more personal.
So ultimately I think the only way to do it would be to formalise it through existing app store mechanisms. Maybe the app would still cost something to initially download, and then users could optionally subscribe for further updates. If at any point they unsubscribe then they shouldn't lose the ability to use the app - instead, it would just stay in its current state and not receive updates.
I'm not sure the app store would support the model I describe. Maybe it can be created artificially to some extent by drip-feeding new IAP to fund the main app development, but it's a surprising amount of work to put together one of those packs and I'd want to feel that the content they offer is worthy of their price and not just a cynical cash cow milking exercise.
NanoStudio 1 sold well (iOS was very young then) and its sales not only funded a 4-5 years of updates to NS1 but also fully funded the development of NS2. The funding from NS1 has now run out, and NS2 brings in about 5% of the revenue of NS1. So it's do it for the love (difficult, I have a family and I'm time poor) or as a hard-nosed businessman (difficult, I have a hate for freemium/subscription models and risky as it may not be acceptable to users).
This is not meant to be a sob story, just an honest report of the experience from my side.
The few paying for the many sounds perfectly fine to me. I would not mind one bit if something I helped pay for became a free update for someone else. In fact, call me crazy, but I would be proud to know I helped fund something like audio tracks in NS2.
Yah it is tough though. Whatever method one uses someone will always be put out at some point in some way. Sucks being a perfectionist!
I get some very angry mails about not providing updates for the decade-old NS1, sometimes threatening legal action. I'd share them but it would be unprofessional. Juicy though.
Anyway, getting back on track ... I've had some reports of the latest version not working on the latest iPad Pro's with the M1 processor. In all the cases I've heard of so far, iOS 15 beta seems to be involved in the mix. Having tried the iOS 15 beta today, I can see that unloading AUs seems to cause a nasty crash deep in some Apple code where there be dragons.
Is anyone able to confirm that the app works on an M1 iPad Pro using iOS 14? These devices are:
(I heard folks mention that Bm3 / AUs was barfing on the iOS 15 beta as well)
Good man, it only just occurred to me that asking how other apps are fairing on iOS 15 would be a good question to ask. From what I can see at my end, I would expect other apps to crash at the same point too.
It may manifest more seriously in NS2 because it scans all installed AUs for their patches at start-up whenever the app's updated. However, if this scan fails to complete then it should skip it on subsequent start-ups to avoid a dirty start-up crash loop. You don't want one of those on your hands.
I've got an 11 inch 3rd gen Pro on 14.7.1. After reading someone today on AB forums say theirs crashed running a demo project, I upgraded NS2 (thank you, BTW) and opened and played all the demo projects without issue.
Right, thanks so much for that. I think we can all agree this is a Good Thing.
Are you able to host Audio Units without problems? This seems to be the thing causing the problems on the iOS 15 beta right now.
Before today, I auditioned a whole bunch of effects plugins I have loading and unloading them. I just put Factory and Synthmaster 2 on a couple tracks and put in some notes to play. Seems fine. The project saved and reloaded after closing NS2 and relaunching it.
Then again, the people who would subscribe to such a Patreon (myself included) would understand that updates wouldn't be a consistent thing and that the reward we'd get (besides eventual updates) is a thank you shoutout either in the manual, in the app, on the forum in a "current Patreon adopters" pinned thread, or something like that. A small token of thanks so long as a person remains an "adopter". I know it doesn't sound like much, but a lot of us are willing to help fund NS2's further development, knowing that updates will not be extremely immediate.
In terms of revenue streams I wonder if you can could make some of the synths stand alone audio units, with maybe an IAP to upgrade to NanoStudio 2 at later date.
I for one would still love to have Nanostudio 1s Eden synth as a stand-alone audio unit.
It’s the one synth I really miss. As I can’t re-create the sounds that it had, my skill level isn’t that high.
And obsidian would be great standalone too as it has features that don’t exist elsewhere.
Once people find their favourite daw they tend to stick to it. So it would be nice to bring a bit of NanoStudio to them in an audio unit.
Just making export to Ableton Live would be amazing. Like NS1, I just like using NS2 stand alone. Being able to export out to ableton to finish ideas I start in NS2 would be great. I’d gladly keep paying for additions to NS2 like the reverb module. And man....charge more. People will pay it.
Sorry - only just saw this update news so I’m a little late.
Fantastic to hear 1. you’re ok Matt; 2. NS2 is still being developed.
I’m holding out on buying the IAP until it goes to full price - it’s nice that you offered the discount but I’m happy for you to have the full amount for it as I suppose every little helps.
I’ve not read the full thread yet but am happy, should you find the appropriate mechanism that you are happy with, to pay additionally for future updates. Heck - as NS2 is the epicentre of my music production I genuinely feel like the original purchase price was a steal tbh.
So, yeah - there you go. It’s great to have seen this and it’s great to have heard from you 👍👋🙂
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat
The quote I thought of when reading this gem was "How old are you? Seven?". But yours is much more erudite. 🤝
hi matt
i'm so happy to hear you
i have a very simple question
you write that "...NS2 brings in about 5% of the revenue of NS1..."
how is that possible?
NS2 is a much better app (the best music app, as i wrote in my appstore review)
NS2 is more expensive
NS2 reviews are excellent (and rightly so)
there are so much more ios devices around and they're so much powerful
music apps are now part of many musicians workflow
...
i'm just curious
In the early days of the App Store, there weren't that many apps, so visibility was much higher. As a result a popular app could sell in vast numbers.
This is no longer true, simply because there are tens of thousands of apps now, so visibility is non-existent for most devs.
Back in 2010-2011 apps like NS1 were visible in the App Store to millions of iOS device owners, who consequently bought the app. Now NS2 is one of thousands of apps and casual users will never find it, so sales now have to rely on hardcore music nerds instead, which is a much smaller market than the casual app buyer.
@Matt> @Blip Interactive said:
IMO you might want to consider leaving NS2 as it is, and launching NS3 or NS2 Pro (with audio tracks) as a subscription-only app at whatever price actually makes the project viable. £20 a year, or £5 month, or whatever works so that those of us who are actually willing to support you can do so.
iOS is still screaming out for a viable DAW. NS2 is already so close to being the one, I just think it would be a tragedy if it didn't realise its potential. If that means subscription then so be it, if iOS musicians want a DAW that works then they need to fund it.
Ignore the pitchforks, you can never please people who feel entitled to free updates forever on an app they paid £10 for. Screw them, they ruin everything for the rest of us.
I think a number of factors are at play. NS1 was early did particularly well> @richardyot said:
I was about to write pretty well the same thing!
When the App Store moved exclusively to iOS, discoverability of new apps disappeared overnight. To get to the music section it's Apps->Scroll down to near the bottom->Top Categories->See All->Music.
Once you get to the music section you're typically spammed with the same handful of usual suspects - dJay, Simply Piano, Auxy etc. They have been there for years and years (literally, no exaggeration). Some of them have been there so long it almost feels like a 'special arrangement' has been made. The store promotion model seems to form a positive feedback loop, where certain apps are promoted, they sell well, so they continue to be promoted etc.
Apple removed their affiliate support to bloggers and special interest websites, forcing the smaller guys who found and promoted the new apps (eg. Discchord, Jacob Haq) to go to Patreon etc. Meanwhile, having saved a lot of money that way, they realised they could actually double their money by charging developers to advertise/promote on the App Store. This charge is made per click, not per sale - I tried it early on to promote NS2 and lost a few thousand over a couple of months.
I think I got lucky with NS1 and my experience with NS2 is par for the course.
I see it a lot over at the Audiobus forums: people who have paid hundreds & thousands of $ for their incredibly expensive iPads and/or incredibly expensive iphones - and with expensive hardware midi controllers attached to their devices in a lot of cases - moaning that some auV3 effect or synth is too expensive because it is $10 - although they are happy to pay $80 or $100 for the same plugin on their desktop Mac or PC !
There is even a thread there that is very popular where they post when a synth or effect or whatever has dropped in price from, say, $4 to $3 !!
Code takes as long for a developer to write whether it is for desktop or iOS, but the prices that the developer is forced to sell at on iOS (forced by the market forces of the guys on the Audiobus forum, for example) is totally unsustainable for all except those companies that are happy to have their iOS products as loss-leaders for their desktop products.
So, I get very, very angry when some entitled tosser on a forum writes “weak” as a review when an iOS developer has chosen to give away FOR FREE the result of their own hard work by way of a free update to their software that is/was so ridiculously under-priced in the first place.
Yes - money is tight for people it can be argued, but not so tight as to still be able to afford an iPad or iPhone to run the iOS apps in the first place (or to write their “weak” review).
I understand you’ve been in the foxhole so you probably missed this:
As I said, That was serious. If you want the $1000 we can start the 30 day clock today! We wanna see NS2 developed and properly maintained. It has all the potential to be the best on iOS period. But it isn’t FINISHED! We as users were given a roadmap early on and we patiently waited thru setback after setback after setback.
If it’s been about lack of funding just say that! We’ve long advocated for you making MORE money with this app somehow someway. IAP, sub, raise the price, I don’t care, just get us to the promised land!
Some of us are die hard ns2 power users who simply want to be in communication with the dev and have our issues & feature requests addressed, not radio silence and being ignored. Respectfully, you’ve really left us in a state of suspense for a long time. People have written essays on this forum begging for an understanding on NS2 updates. The world nearly ended so I get it, but it’s been a lot of anxiety as to if we’ll ever get an update again.
One solution is to leave NS2 where it’s at and introduce NS2.5/ NS3 which would be the same app with audio tracks etc added on a subscription model or whatever. You could also make it m1 Mac compatible and charge Mac prices for it there.
And finally, How much money would it take to get audio tracks very soon? Can we start a gofundme based on that, with a timeline that will be honored? And with a donor tier that can beta test? Also, maybe a donor tier that gets to have more weighted input on feature requests that can then be voted on? Please let’s get the ball rolling on this, we’re ready.
weak.
Guys,guys(and gals),calm down. I said “weak” out of disappointment. I want constructive comments. You want constructive comments. This whole courtroom wants constructive comments. I love comments. I use comments in Windows a lot still.
Link start/stop in Aum+Audiobus: we've got a Link-wide global/multidevice automatable synchronous timeline now. Wowie Zowie, next dimension sequencing ... thanks @ Matt (:
@Blip Interactive
Figure out how much you need and put up a proposal. Include money to pay other devs to implement your design. That would take some time heat off of you personally. If not enough people sign up then you really haven’t lost anything.
1. Thank (fill in preferred deity here) you are still here! I have been worried sick that I would lose my only viable means of making music on an iPad. Solid, efficient, stable, flexible, intuitive and untouchable workflow. Thank you thank you for renewing hope!
2. I will pay for a subscription right now. Screw the idiots who complain about cost. There is no free lunch. Publish a list and we will set them straight
3. IAPs are fine and I will do my part even if I don’t need them, but it’s maintaining and improving NS2 editing, workflow, obsidian, slate, stability and the outstanding built in effects that I will pay for. It’s what you should charge for.
4. I might be wrong but It seems the looming power of IOS music is just waiting for a truly professional app to take it to Mac levels. NS2 is right on the goal line ready to be kicked over. I don’t know of any others that are even close.
5. Again I might be wrong, but I suspect a significant piece of pro Mac music software cost is preventing theft. I assume the app store lock out concept removes that cost. You can’t steal somebody else’s copy of an iOS app. That should help keep the iOS cost down a bit compared to Mac OS.
6. I like most all the money suggestions made here. I especially like the idea of a lite version and a subscription pro version. Since I spend hours every day with NS2 a subscription makes sense for me. I also like the Kickstarter/go fund me concept to get you going until you have a subscriber base. Based on the quality of your work I would have no qualms about investing in you. You could create investment tiers where $x gets you a 3 month subscription, $y gets you 1 year. $Z gets you an autographed photo of you coding
7. Generate interest on the Audiobus forum. I think it did wonders for atom2. Personally not my preferred workflow. I suspect there are just as many “dedicated DAW” people like me out there.