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bluetooth headphones/speakers

Hello, is it posible to connect Orba to bluetooth speakers?


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It doesn't have Bluetooth audio out - the latency on Bluetooth audio is unacceptable for musical instrument performance - but does do Bluetooth MIDI, where the latency is much lower. So what you'd do instead is have it send MIDI over Bluetooth to your phone or other sound source, with a wired audio connection between that and your speakers.

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@Nick Lowe - if I were to link Orba to my phone, what would you suggest for playing MIDI on the phone to an output speaker?

If it's an iPhone, ROLI's free Noise app is an absolute must. Though designed for their own hardware, it's perfectly usable with other MPE controllers in its AUv3 mode (needs Garage Band or a third-party AUv3 host like AUM), where it splits into two instruments called NOISE Melody and NOISE Drums. The free selection of sounds it comes with are a good starter pack for Orba use, though the drumkits aren't as interesting as the built-in Orba ones; of the IAPs I particularly like Floatation and Hybrid Acoustic, and the free Pharrell pack is fun. Try it with something like the Strings & Horns in chord mode. The SWAM packs unfortunately only work with ROLI's own controllers.


They also do an older free app called Seaboard 5D with a slightly different set of sounds and without the drum engine. That one doesn't respond correctly to the Tilt gesture (CC1 mod wheel), but can (in fact, has to) be used in standalone rather than having to be hosted in another app, and will also run on older systems.


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How do I connect Orba To the I phone? Then to get sounds say using synth one?

Tap the little Orba symbol in the Orba app for the Bluetooth LE Midi connection or, if you use any Bluetooth Midi capable sound generator app, look for Bluetooth LE Midi in the app's settings. In Garageband, for example, 


https://artiphon.com/pages/orba-user-manual


Orba app:





Garageband:

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Synth One:

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Bummer. So I've just read this above and realize I can't connect my Orba to a nice bluetooth speaker. What about connecting it to a small acoustic guitar amp with a few buttons and whistles? I want more sound.

Yes, no problem – just run an audio lead from the Orba headphone port.

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Bummer x1000 

I also saw that bluetooth is only for midi. For audio output, you can use a bluetooth transmitter to connect to a BT speaker. There are a lot of such transmitters for aliexpress at a price of up to $ 10, I ordered one of these - I hope there will be no interference on the BT LE channel for Orba itself.


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