FAQ: Which iPad to Buy

[Yorgaki1]

I would like to upgrade my setup. Currently have a 32gb 1st generation. Would like to bump to 64gb. Apple has 3rd generation 30 pin wifi 64 gb refurbs for $549 and 4th gen 64gb new conector wifi for $649. Any reason I should spend the extra $100?

Your thoughts are appreciated.

George

[RoadRanger]

What do you need 64 GB for ? I have 90 hours of music on my 16 GB iPad 2 and still have 5 GB free.

Obviously you need the 30 pin connector if you want to dock it to the DL1608. I have an iPad Mini with the "new" connector and it seems more durable and it's nice that you don't have figure out which side is which on the plug - it works either way .

[Yorgaki1]

I have about 30 gigs of mostly music plus apps. I play some out of town fetivals and would like to be able to record a substantial part of the gigs. I dont carry a laptop with me to off load the files. Plus I would like to be able to carry more music on the ipad.

Your thoughts between the 2 models?

[RoadRanger]

How do you plan on getting that music into the DL1608 if you get the "new" connector? Are you keeping the old iPad as a backup so you'll have something to dock if the WiFi craps out?

[Trshot]

How do you plan on getting that music into the DL1608 if you get the "new" connector? Are you keeping the old iPad as a backup so you'll have something to dock if the WiFi craps out?

RR, there is a $29 adapter you can buy, http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD823ZM/A/lightning-to-30-pin-adapter
  You can still slide your iPad into the mixer however there will be about an inch offset to the right with the adapter.

[Trshot]

I have about 30 gigs of mostly music plus apps. I play some out of town fetivals and would like to be able to record a substantial part of the gigs. I dont carry a laptop with me to off load the files. Plus I would like to be able to carry more music on the ipad.

Your thoughts between the 2 models?

I have 50G of music, I use Apples match to store it. http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/

 You can stream songs with an internet connection. If internet is not available, you'll need to make a playlist beforehand and download your songs directly to the iPad for the songs to play. Also,  with match, you can access all of your songs from any of your devices without using any storage space...

[LennyG]

I just got a 64GB iPad 4, and with the little adapter it has performed flawlessly in the DL1608, or undocked through an Airport Express.  While the older iPads work (and without adapters) I didn't already have an iPad.  I bought this strictly because I wanted the DL1608, and it made more sense for me than going with a Windows tablet and SAC software http://www.softwareaudioconsole.com/.  It just didn't make sense to me to buy an already obsolete model.  Of course, if you're really short of cash, an older model may make more sense.

[Kevin]

I'd go with the 64GB 3rd gen iPad  - that's what I went with when I bought my DL and no regrets (other than general annoyance about IOS way of doing things)

I'm only using about 16GB of it now, but for every computer I've owned in the past 20 years, I've always bought as much memory as I could afford and its always full within a few years. I doubt this will be any different.

I went with the 30 pin interface because there are more 3rd party devices that support it and 3rd gen was significantly cheaper than the 4th Gen for same memory. Dont forget to count the cost of the adapter. Also, from the bit I have read about the lightning interface, it is cool from a technical perspective and being able to flip the orientation of the plug is nice, but it seems like the main reason Apple went with it was to have more control over 3rd party devices. That could backfire if Apple tries to get too big a bite from 3rd party mfgs and 3rd party mfgs start looking at Android or Win8 tablets as the flagship hardware interface.

[RoadRanger]

Just for anybody who comes along later with a similar question :
I bought a 16GB iPad 2 (still available new) which works just fine with the DL1608 and has enough memory to store about 150 hours of music. The original iPad (only available used) presently has some issues with Master Fader buttons disappearing but we've been promised a fix in V1.4 . There's no advantage to an iPad 3 if you are only using it with your DL1608 and the latest model will not dock directly with the DL1608 without an adapter which results in the iPad not being able to be locked down - but most of us don't use the lock anyways as we want to be able to use the iPad to remotely control the DL1608 via WiFi. I also have an iPad Mini which won't dock with the DL1608 but I leave the iPad 2 docked and locked down to control the DL1608 when I'm at it and as a backup in case the WiFi or iPad Mini craps out. I have a Griffin Survivor case for the Mini that is both drop and beer resistant .

[mauijet]

Our band just went with the the iPad 2 (16gb), since it will be used solely with the DL, and Apple has refurbs available for a great price. I own an iPad 1, but figured a faster processor would definitely be worth it to run the DL. Works great...just waiting for the update, like everyone!