Great software. Hate the subscription model.
I use Dorico 3.5 on my Mac. I also use Nuendo and Cubasis. Having this on my iPad is a nice convenience but I hate subscriptions. Renting software and being held hostage to monthly charges does not sit well me. You get 5 stars for great software and 1 star for wanting me to rent it! No way!
Long time Notion iOS, StaffPad, Symphony Pro and Music Scanner user thoughts
I gave up my MacBook and switched to an iPad Pro in a professional environment back in 2015. The experience has been mostly impressive.
I spent a couple of years hanging out with the University of Houston Symphony Orchestra and it’s conductor, Maestro Franz Krager. Basically I was studying conducting with the Maestro, but I also stayed for orchestra rehearsal, and during that time I experimented with scoring for full orchestra on an iPad Pro with Notion iOS. I had some other responsibilities but that goes beyond the scope of this review.
First, welcome Dorico. The iPad user experience can be excellent once the user takes the time to master the workflow. It’s not that hard, but like everything else associated with music, if you want to be good at it, practice. I’m very happy that serious competition has arrived. I’ve been using Dorico for macOS since the initial release.
If you’ve listened to the Scoring Notes Podcast with Daniel Spreadbury, you know about the history and reasoning of the design of the iPad OS app and the reasoning behind the subscription service for Dorico iPad OS. If not, I highly recommend going to scoringnotes.com and searching for “The history and future of Dorico for iPad.”
I’ll come back and add to this review with my in-depth thoughts later, but to summarize, I really like Dorico for iPad. Their approach to bringing it to the iPad OS platform was done very smartly, IMO. Basically they took the desktop codebase and worked really hard to adopt it to iPad OS. They had to clean up a few things and it seems like they did a great job. I’m still discovering these things myself. More on that later.
I have mixed feelings about the subscription service. I believe a better model is the one that gives the user the choice of choosing between a subscription and a license purchase, regardless of price. StaffPad for iOS is $89 with 3rd party sample libraries $99 each. I happily paid for it. Users need to get accustomed to pro apps on the iPad platform that cost $100 - $250, especially if they expect these developers to offer a purchase license.
Stay tuned for a full length review.
Regards,
Steve Steele
I spent a couple of years hanging out with the University of Houston Symphony Orchestra and it’s conductor, Maestro Franz Krager. Basically I was studying conducting with the Maestro, but I also stayed for orchestra rehearsal, and during that time I experimented with scoring for full orchestra on an iPad Pro with Notion iOS. I had some other responsibilities but that goes beyond the scope of this review.
First, welcome Dorico. The iPad user experience can be excellent once the user takes the time to master the workflow. It’s not that hard, but like everything else associated with music, if you want to be good at it, practice. I’m very happy that serious competition has arrived. I’ve been using Dorico for macOS since the initial release.
If you’ve listened to the Scoring Notes Podcast with Daniel Spreadbury, you know about the history and reasoning of the design of the iPad OS app and the reasoning behind the subscription service for Dorico iPad OS. If not, I highly recommend going to scoringnotes.com and searching for “The history and future of Dorico for iPad.”
I’ll come back and add to this review with my in-depth thoughts later, but to summarize, I really like Dorico for iPad. Their approach to bringing it to the iPad OS platform was done very smartly, IMO. Basically they took the desktop codebase and worked really hard to adopt it to iPad OS. They had to clean up a few things and it seems like they did a great job. I’m still discovering these things myself. More on that later.
I have mixed feelings about the subscription service. I believe a better model is the one that gives the user the choice of choosing between a subscription and a license purchase, regardless of price. StaffPad for iOS is $89 with 3rd party sample libraries $99 each. I happily paid for it. Users need to get accustomed to pro apps on the iPad platform that cost $100 - $250, especially if they expect these developers to offer a purchase license.
Stay tuned for a full length review.
Regards,
Steve Steele
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Like it so far!
Longtime Finale user just getting into Dorico. On first look it seems simple and intuitive. Looking forward to exploring more. I don’t mind the subscription - it’s reasonably priced and not so different from many other apps. The desktop version is no subscription and that’s great.
An outstanding accomplishment!
Dorico for iPad is an impressive achievement. It is the first app for iOS that has allowed me to do serious work and complete projects from start to finish. Although it is designed to function without any external peripherals, I personally prefer to use an Apple keyboard to type in my shortcuts; but it works surprisingly efficiently without it. With an active subscription, it could be called Dorico Elements+ for iPad. Although it has a simplified engrave mode and a limit of 12 players with a subscription, the full richness of Doroco’s features (gorgeous automatic engraving, playback controls, flows, and so much more) is available to users through a splendid UI, thoughtfully ported from the desktop application. I have completed two fairly significant test scores with it, and I am presently using it when I have some free time during a short mountain trip because I still don’t know how to take a real vacation! On top of it, the subscription cost (unavoidable in the iOS world to support real development) is very reasonable. I really must congratulate the Dorico team for such a tremendous accomplishment. I was sceptical at first, but I am now a true believer: it’s an iPad miracle!
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Response from developer
Thanks for your positive feedback, Claude. "It's an iPad miracle" – hope you don't mind if we quote you on that!
An amazing port of desktop Dorico to the iPad
When Dorico 1.0 first came out for the desktop, its first year showed amazing growth which continued in subsequent years. Considering where Dorico for the iPad has begun, it is clear amazing things are in store. The free app reflects the Dorico SE capabilities, and for c. $4 a month or $40 a year, the app expands to resemble Dorico Elements, but in both cases the iPad version shows hints of capabilities like the on-screen keyboard, fretboard, and drum pads still to appear on the desktop versions. I can only imagine where this app will go in the coming year(s).
I am not a fan of subscription payment models, but Dorico could hardly offer a one-time app purchase for anything like the $4/month or $40/year subscription rate to account for the Apple Store’s lack of an upgrade path. If one wants to rely on the app while away from one’s desktop, the cost hardly seems prohibitive.
Given digital music’s sometime disagreement whether middle C is C3 if C4, I’d like to see a different color key for middle C on the on-screen keyboard so I could easily spot it when sliding the keyboard around to reach various notes, and tool-tips on the various buttons would help those new to the app; but this is an app worth owning and one worth supporting for the kind of further development the Dorico Team has shown with their desktop program.
I am not a fan of subscription payment models, but Dorico could hardly offer a one-time app purchase for anything like the $4/month or $40/year subscription rate to account for the Apple Store’s lack of an upgrade path. If one wants to rely on the app while away from one’s desktop, the cost hardly seems prohibitive.
Given digital music’s sometime disagreement whether middle C is C3 if C4, I’d like to see a different color key for middle C on the on-screen keyboard so I could easily spot it when sliding the keyboard around to reach various notes, and tool-tips on the various buttons would help those new to the app; but this is an app worth owning and one worth supporting for the kind of further development the Dorico Team has shown with their desktop program.
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Response from developer
Thanks for your positive feedback, javProjects. We'll definitely think about potentially differentiating middle C in the on-screen Keyboard window.
Brilliant
As a long-time Dorico power user, I admit I was skeptical when I heard about this. But I’m really, really pleased at how it turned out. Note entry, editing, play mode.... It’s... Dorico, just on iPad. It doesn’t feel like a compromise at all. Bravo to the team.
Amazing iPad implementation
If you use Dorico on a laptop or desktop computer, you will be amazed at how well Steinberg has brought the desktop experience to the iPad. And if you haven’t used Dorico before, the iPad app is a fully featured, powerful composing tool - score, parts, beautiful layout, the works.
You can write for 2-4 players for free, and the subscription model (the Apple store makes it impossible to pay for updates, so subscription is the only possibility for Steinberg) lets you write for 12 players (this number may increase in the future). Totally worth it in my opinion, and of course you can unsubscribe at any time.
You can write for 2-4 players for free, and the subscription model (the Apple store makes it impossible to pay for updates, so subscription is the only possibility for Steinberg) lets you write for 12 players (this number may increase in the future). Totally worth it in my opinion, and of course you can unsubscribe at any time.
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Response from developer
Thank you, Stephen. We're delighted you're enjoying using Dorico for iPad so far.
The most powerful creator app I’ve used
Because it’s the most closest to the desktop version. Photoshop, Lightroom, Numbers and many other apps for doing work are either stripped down, or have greatly different interfaces that frankly are too hard to work with for any serious business. The Steinberg team did an amazing thing here in that the app is just like the desktop version, minus features which were pulled for the first release (mainly Engrave mode).
I’m completely impressed with how much they managed to do on an iPad, it’s finally (with Dorico) fulfilling it’s promise that you can do work on the device. In my experience, other than word processing, the iPad is only good for content consumption.
Since there’s a subscription model, I wouldn’t be surprised if it more or less gets parity with Dorico pro, minus the sample library handling of course being we’re on iOS. But meanwhile it’s allowing me to ditch the paper and pencil finally for initial sketching out. So pull out a MIDI keyboard and computer keyboard paired with your iPad and you’ll forget you’re not using Dorico on the desktop.
I’m completely impressed with how much they managed to do on an iPad, it’s finally (with Dorico) fulfilling it’s promise that you can do work on the device. In my experience, other than word processing, the iPad is only good for content consumption.
Since there’s a subscription model, I wouldn’t be surprised if it more or less gets parity with Dorico pro, minus the sample library handling of course being we’re on iOS. But meanwhile it’s allowing me to ditch the paper and pencil finally for initial sketching out. So pull out a MIDI keyboard and computer keyboard paired with your iPad and you’ll forget you’re not using Dorico on the desktop.
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Response from developer
Thanks for your review. We are working hard to continually improve Dorico, and your feedback that the app is working well for you is really helpful for us to read.
Satisfactory, but subscription puts out my flame
The Dorico interface is certainly my favorite, and I work most efficiently using this app, but I will be forgoing the subscription.
### New users beware:
After spending the time required to become quick with Dorico, you will not enjoy other engraving applications. Do not get hooked on this software until they release a proper buy-it-for-life option. In the long run, this vote withholding our dollar will save us in the long run.
### To the porting team:
A magnificent job. I cannot wait to properly sing your praises when I can pay for the full-version with a single-purchase.
### Rambling
I have already read the response to the other reviews, so I would like to clarify the frustrations that many experienced users are likely feeling. If you would like to have a free version for trial, that is possible without the implementation of a subscription. If mobile-only customers want to opt for subscriptions, let them, but I have already paid around one thousand dollars for single-device licenses to desktop applications. This long wait has resolved about as bitter-sweetly as I could have imagined.
### New users beware:
After spending the time required to become quick with Dorico, you will not enjoy other engraving applications. Do not get hooked on this software until they release a proper buy-it-for-life option. In the long run, this vote withholding our dollar will save us in the long run.
### To the porting team:
A magnificent job. I cannot wait to properly sing your praises when I can pay for the full-version with a single-purchase.
### Rambling
I have already read the response to the other reviews, so I would like to clarify the frustrations that many experienced users are likely feeling. If you would like to have a free version for trial, that is possible without the implementation of a subscription. If mobile-only customers want to opt for subscriptions, let them, but I have already paid around one thousand dollars for single-device licenses to desktop applications. This long wait has resolved about as bitter-sweetly as I could have imagined.
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Response from developer
Thanks for your review, TGuyM. I know that subscription pricing is not to everybody's tastes, but we have tried to price our offering fairly, and we will ensure that the app is updated regularly with new functionality so that we continue to deliver good value for the asking price. We chose not to use a single in-app purchase to unlock the full features of the app precisely because we intend to regularly add new features and functionality to the application. On the desktop, we have the flexibility to choose whether or not to charge for those new features by selling an update. This business model is not available on the App Store, and we feel that the user experience of having to release whole new apps at the point at which significant new features are available and then asking existing users to make a whole new purchase is not ideal. So we are using subscription pricing as a way to balance the need to deliver from revenue to pay for the development effort that goes into producing a deep, professional-level app like Dorico with trying to deliver a positive, simple and streamlined user experience to our customers. We hope that we will demonstrate our commitment to delivering value to our customers with forthcoming updates, and perhaps you might reconsider.
A massive achievement
This is very impressive, especially considering that it’s a first release. It works beautifully with the desktop software and I can see multiple uses for it. The whole Dorico project just gets better and better.
Response from developer
Thanks for your review, Catshead. We are very pleased to hear that you are enjoying using Dorico so far!
