Earplug is Rocking on the App Store for Free

In 2015 we released a simple, distraction-free white-noise app for iOS that we polished to perfection. We just dropped the price to $0 and are averaging over 3K downloads per day.

We’re so proud of the 5-star reviews that are coming in. Users understand what we’re trying to do!

confusionstudios.com/earplugapp


I really dig this soothing white/pink noise application a whole lot. It presents what the description claims to a tee in my opinion. No extra controls or other complications. Just simplicity and a great source of calming relaxation I’ve found here.

All you need to do is open this program up and it instantly starts playing the white/pink noise combination. The only other option is to pause the noise and that’s it. I like sleep sound applications that offer tons of features and options for sure. Especially ones that let me record my own sleep sounds. But, there is just something about this app’s no muss no fuss, simple setup that makes it easy to start it and hopefully have a good rest, night’s sleep or just as a great way to reduce environmental noise and distractions I think. Simple is definitely sometimes better I believe.

I like to use, Earplug, in conjunction with my Sony SRS-XB40 Bluetooth speaker and play it loud to help me zone out and relax when I’m stressed out. I really appreciate as well the many different ways that you can control and play this application.

I believe that if you want one of the best white/pink noise applications out there with just the most simple control scheme that you could imagine. That, Earplug, is probably going to be your best bet on the App Store.

Also I wanted to note and extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to the developer of this program for offering it for free today. Thank you very much for that generosity. Yet, seeing how well that I think, Earplug, performs now. Well, I would have gladly paid the asking price for sure. Many thanks, again, for offering this program for free today, for all of the time, hard work and passion no doubt put into building, refining and updating this application and God bless you and your loved ones :).

Seeing how well that Earplug performs made me also want to check out and possibly buy this developer’s cool looking MIDI controller app that I saw listed below. I wish that it had a demo possibly because the price is a tad high, though no doubt worth it from reading the reviews. But, it definitely looks rad and I as much as I love finding new sleep sound applications. I also love finding new music apps as well. Thank you, again, for this great app and I hope that you are doing well.

iPhone 13 Pro Max
iOS 16.3.1
by Joshua D.  •    United States  •  5 days ago
         
A necessity for those with Misophonia! I use this very often on my iPad to drown out external noises. I also use it on my iPhone for sleeping overnight when traveling. Highly recommended!
by BAR112  •    United States  •  6 days ago
I’ve been using this app for several years. I spend several nights away each month and can sleep soundly in any environment with this app.
by Bbeaudoin76  •    United States  •  February 4, 2023
         
In Spanish? Simple
by insainlewey  •    United States  •  February 4, 2022
I’m a nurse that works night shift. And, sometimes it is hard to sleep during the day. I’ve been using this app for over 2 years. I have tried other apps, but I always come back to this one.
by LP02SIS06  •    United States  •  July 9, 2021
         
This app is amazing. When I wake up in the middle of the night because of the noisy bar in the parking lot next to my apartments, this is the app I open. No brain power is required to use this app. Open it up and go back to sleep!
by CriticallyC  •    United States  •  May 29, 2021
         
Wow! Just arrived tonight in a noisy hotel, thought to myself "there has to be an app for this problem," found "earplug" and all I can say is wow! It works like a charm...with my headphones on all the background noise is covered up and I can get some much needed rest. Thanks for a great app!

Update, a few years later: I have been religiously using earplug every time I need to block out outside noise… And I have to say, not only am I better-looking than I ever was before, but I also feel more powerful, confident and successful! And I owe it all to this one app… Because if it didn't help me block out the noise that I need to block out in order to sleep the way I need to sleep in order to be as successful as I need to be, I wouldn't be anywhere.

All hail EARPLUG! May it be praised with great praise.
by iOSmusicMAKER  •    United States  •  May 24, 2021
This is my go-to for white noise. I have lots of (great apps) but this one has better sound and it does everything I need. Love the colors too.

(I find I can get more volume control using the slider on the Home Screen. The volume controls on the side of the phone are too coarse)

Anyway, lovely, thanks again
by Music This!  •    United States  •  May 24, 2021
“The app can help to hide:

Distant screams
Poltergeists
Sadness”...

😂🤣. I read sadness first as I was skimming and thought wow, bold claim...
by Codowlsky Polopumus  •    United States  •  December 14, 2020
         
This is the perfect app. Love the “pink” hues added to the white noise. Most helpful
by Laurielovesgolf  •    Canada  •  October 23, 2019
Suddenly it’s summer. In May Chicago was cool and inundated by daily thunderstorms, and Tornado Alley from Oklahoma to Ohio saw destruction by multiple tornadoes on a daily basis.

Outside my windows it was as quiet as winter, save for the cozy thunder.

Today I threw the windows open to catch the fresh summery air.

Children are shrieking,

A man is singing,

People are yelling and talking loudly,

The loudspeakers at the train station are announcing,

The motorcycles are out again.

I tap my Earplug and put it in my
shirt pocket, the speakers peeking out at the top.

The suddenly-summer noise vanishes.

—Chicago Blue
by Czyunnddj  •    United States  •  June 3, 2019
Minimalist app that does one thing really well
by boweni  •    United States  •  October 7, 2018
         
Love this app. It just plays white noise. No faffy settings or unnecessary features to fiddle around with and get distracted by.

One piece of feedback I have is: stop playing when headphones are disconnected (physical or Bluetooth). Quite annoying to have to press pause; every other audio app pauses on disconnect.
by beingmrkenny  •    United Kingdom  •  August 13, 2018
From the moment I started using Earplug, I started sleeping so much better. I really depend on it now for a good night’s sleep.

I already was running my air conditioner fan at night to create white noise. In addition, I have a white noise machine which I have had for number of years.

But lately, my air conditioner has been noisy. I just wasn’t getting a good night’s sleep. I decided to give this app a try.

The combination of white and pink noise is just perfect for cutting out all unwanted noise around me.

I live near an Air Force Base, and I no longer need earplugs. I put my iPhone about a foot or two away from my head and go to sleep. I like that the app is extremely simple to use, without a lot of fuss or controls. It just works perfectly.

To the developer: please continue to update this for all future iOS versions, because at this point I cannot imagine sleeping without it. Thank you!
by badkitty_  •    United States  •  May 28, 2018
I don’t understand. There is no settings it’s just white noise. It’s useful I’ll give you that, but is it just an mp3 that plays on repeat? Is there no settings or function to this app other than that? A small set of instructions in the iOS AppStore or in the app would really help users know what they’re dealing with. Please think of the end user development team
by cdmix99  •    Canada  •  April 24, 2018
         
Extremely simple to use, no annoying ads. I couldn't ask for more!
by Acemon  •    United States  •  May 8, 2017
       
Please add sleep timer.
by Alex.mslv  •    Russia  •  May 3, 2017
       
Add timer
by sx007-ivan  •    Russia  •  April 14, 2015
         
Great, simple app! So easy to use, no complicated choices, just a smooth sound to block the noises from outside. Great colors, too. I was having trouble sleeping because of the guy next door who plays his guitar all night! Badly! So, I downloaded this app, and didn't need to choose anything, getting confused with all the options. I just opened the app, and no more off-tune strumming. I was asleep in no time. That easy. I'm sold! And it's so cheap, love it!!
by SNL4life  •    United States  •  March 1, 2015
Posted in iOS

MIDI Designer Pro 2 Version 2.3300 Released

This is our 88th update.

Our Product and Engineering Teams went through the user requests and took no prisoners. Meaning we implemented a lot of stuff.

Enhancements That Make More Things Possible

  • MIDI Message Feedback is now possible: see midiDR.com/qa/9524 for more details
  • Randomize Subcontrol: have any subcontrol switch to a random value on button press
  • Enable/Disable Button midiDR.com/qa/8783: allow a control (or subcontrol) to be turned OFF dynamically
  • Shorter “Snap to Value” times for returning to default or snapping subcontrols to a value (midiDR.com/qa/8908, thanks 5din)
  • Allow for wider labels and add option for bold Multiline labels

Other Enhancements

  • On iPad and iPhone, Swipe Up and Swipe Down will no longer interfere with your performance
  • Mac: lots of enhancements and polish including a fix for the glaring window-size issue
  • iPad: finally, a better fix for 3-dots More-button issue since iPadOS 15. Now swipe-down to access More menu
  • Mac, iPad, iPhone: Open layout from Files menu when App is not open is fixed
  • And many smaller enhancements, fixes and under-the-hood changes prepping for the future of MIDI Designer

More details about the updates in our user manual.

This demo layout walks you through the new features.

12+ years, 88 updates, still going strong, and more to come!

Thanks!

MIDI Designer Team

Stand-alone MDs now available for MDP2

The former stand-alone MIDI Designer applications MDXG and MDClav are now available as layouts to use in MIDI Designer.

MIDI Designer XG (MDXG) provides easily access the often hidden YAMAHA XG sounds built-into YAMAHA’s XG compatible instruments, including all CVP Clavinovas, and certain top end CLP Clavinovas, Avant Grands, Portable Keyboards and Workstations.

MIDI Designer CLAV (MDClav) provides convenient access many of the voices and functions available in the Clavinova’s built-in LCD screen located to the left of the keyboard. MDClav brings these functions (and many HIDDEN ones) FRONT AND CENTER on an iPad placed on the instrument’s music rack.

These layouts are provided courtesy of thepianoguyspianostore.com contact: craig [at] thepianoguys [dot] com

Update to a classic layout – RD 2000 Manager

The RD 2000 layout has been one of our classics since the first version was uploaded in 2018.  There were multiple updates until the layout was mature (and completely full) in 2020.

Usually, when a board gets to ~ five years old, you do not expect much new content from the manufacturer.  However, Roland recently released a V-Piano expansion pack for the RD 2000, based on a German Concert Grand.  It includes 17 new tones built on the German Concert Grand model.  (The supporting software update for the RD 2000 has two new expansions slots, so hopefully we will see another V-Piano expansion.)

The original update intent for the RD 2000 Manager was simply to add the 17 new tones to the picker.  However, the improvements in MDP2 since the last Manger release meant there was lots of opportunity to improve functionality of the layout.

Updates include:
– Support for German Concert Grand
– Sound Chain Functional View
– Sympathetic Resonance Editor (from the RD 2000 Piano Manager)
– Interface Upgrades and simplification

Sound design capability with the V-Pianos is nearly unlimited.  While Roland provides 17 new tones, you can use the V-Piano Designer and Individual Tuning to create your own sounds based on the German Concert Grand.  The RD 2000 Piano Editor layout provides a set of tools to simplify customizing your piano design.  (Check back – we expect an update to the Piano Editor based on the new German Concert Grand content.)

See more at midiDr.com/qa/6548

Learn about the Roland V-Piano


— New sound chain functional view

And don’t forget, MDP2 now runs on Apple Silicon Macs.

Happy Holidays & 2022 In Review

Happy Holidays from Confusion Studios

During 2022, we released three major upgrades and several bug fixes

New capabilities and improvements:
– Mac M1 capability, file handling improvements
– Ableton Link integration
– Control “loopers” – adjustable length, reloop, mute
– Transparent panels
– Transparent X-Y pads
– No MIDI Send / Receive control option
– Propagate MIDI min-max changes to Display Min/Max/Ticks
– Log enhancements

More coming in 2023!

Join our conversation on Q&A, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

#communityPowered #dreamCreatePlay #iosMidi

MIDI Designer and StreamByter

MIDI Designer Pro 2 provides a flexible, customizable MIDI control surface.

StreamByter, by Audeonic, provides processing of a MIDI data stream.

Working together, they provide a complete MIDI processing and control solution.

Example use combinations
– SB decodes a SysEx status dump from target hardware into individual MIDI commands for display in MDP2
– SB remaps MDP2 controls to different target addresses (e.g., one set of controls for part and master effects)
– MDP2 provides control of SB channel cloning / remapping
– SB provides advanced relationships for MDP2 controls

StreamByter is built in to MDP2 as an in app purchase for input and output processing.

For more advanced processing, add the stand alone version of StreamByter, for looping output back to input.

MIDI Fire adds other tools, such as flexible MIDI routing, with multiple StreamByter modules.

See more about StreamByter.

See MDP2 layouts using StreamByter.

If you need help, post your question on our Q&A forum

MIDI Designer Pro 2 for the Transitioning Lemur User

Liine have announced the end of support for the Lemur MIDI / OSC controller application – see liine.net 

MIDI Designer Pro 2 offers the Lemur user an alternate application that supports many of the use cases of Lemur.

Lemur MIDI Designer Pro 2
Control surfaces for MIDI devices – Buttons, knobs, sliders, lists, VU meters, dynamic labels, XY controls, accelerometer
– Eight banks with up to six pages each
– Abstract visual style controls ? – MDP2 focuses more on hardware realistic interfaces, some abstraction possible
Advanced relationships between control settings – programming required – Super / sub control relationships and named ticks provide no-programming implementations for preponderance of controls
– StreamByter for advanced control relationships 
Open Sound Control – MIDI only
Sequencer, Multi-Ball Controls ? – MDP2 does provide control loopers, but no direct sequencing
iOS Supported, M1 Mac Provisional – M1 is provisional, functional, with in-work interface improvements
End of Support – MDP2 continues active development and support, most recent update in July 2022
?  Active application help and user groups – MDP2 has active users, FB group, shared layouts, and developer provided support
? – Library of user shared layouts

There is no conversion capability to convert a Lemur application into a MDP2 layout.  But with MDP2 you can build a layout without any programming – place controls, adjust settings, connect, and take control of your devices.

When advanced control relationships are required:

  • Super / sub control relationships provide basic control interconnection
  • Named ticks provide scaling, arbitrary relationships, control down-sampling, and more, without writing any code
  • StreamByter provides advanced control relationships with straight-forward lexicon

MDP2 is not a one-for-one replacement for Lemur, but can cover many use cases.

Our user group and support team are standing by to help you transition.  

Check out our Q&A site for help and user layouts – midiDr.com/qa/

Join our FaceBook group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/mididesigner

StreamByter is a audeonic.com product, included in MDP2, available stand-alone and in MIDI Fire

MDP2 – a capable SysEx solution for device control

Many current and classic boards provide ability to edit settings via System Exclusive (SysEx) messages.  SysEx provides more data options than Continuous Controller (Cc) or Registered Parameter (RPN/NRPN) messages.  Instead of two MIDI bytes, the data field can be (somewhat) unlimited, allowing for exchange of patch, performance, or even complete system backup.

MDP2 SysEx message format provides for up to four Data bytes, and an extra “channel” byte, for five selectable bytes in a message.

MIDI is already a somewhat non-standard format, since it uses 7 (vice 8) data bits in a message byte.  MDP2 automatically handles conversion from decimal to hex for typical 1 to 4 byte values.  But many manufacturers use even more complicated formats, such as “four bit” encoding (used a lot by Roland), or even somewhat random encoding.  MDP2 has you covered in these cases with “named ticks” – supporting manufacturers completely arbitrary encoding concepts.  In the Roland four-bit per byte case, we can provide a spreadsheet to do the required numerical conversions to load the named ticks.

Many board will have a “transmit edit” setting that will send messages, often SysEx, when edits are done on the board, to keep a MDP2 control layout in sync.  But what if it doesn’t automatically send?  MDP2 can generate the required interrogation messages to obtain status to synchronize the layout.

A board can report data with individual SysEx messages for each parameter, or a longer combined message with multiple values combined.  Each is supported by MDP2.

For individual messages, the board response does not require any translation – with a SysEx address match and MIDI receive enabled, the appropriate control will update.  But, say you need to request 200 parameters, that is a lot of coding.  No problem – a SysEx scanner (https://mididesigner.com/qa/6964) will let just a few controls (typically one for each data byte length) do all the work for you.  (Example – RD-2000, X(m) and RD-88 layouts.)

For a single combined message, the work of separating the single message into individual control messages is done by StreamByter.  Ugh, but now I need to handcraft 200 lines of StreamByter code.  Nope – again, a spreadsheet can automatically generate the needed SB code.  Each situation is slightly different, but we can provide an example if needed to get you started.

Often a manufacturer uses the same SysEx code for a new board, just with different addresses.  In this case an existing layout can be quickly extended to the new board.  But, now you have to change umpteen controls to the new SysEx address format, even though all the data formats are the same.  Nope – SB code can translate the messages in both directions, allowing the layout to be used unchanged with the new hardware.  (Example – some pages in RD-88 editor)

We do have a few limitations.

  • We only process data values up to four bytes, and a fifth “channel” byte.  Again, there are work arounds. One is to have StreamByter compressi data inbound to process, re-expanding outbound.  (Example – eight bytes required to select ZEN-Core waves in X(m) ZEN-Core editor).  Other methods get around the limitation of trying to manipulate a >four byte value range on a single MDP2 control.  Again, using SB, split the inbound data into smaller pieces (say, digits of timecode) for display and control, reassemble on outbound.  Some data may be more amenable to using a section of the data to show/hide controls for the remaining range – an alternate solution to the ZC wave selection problem.
  • We have a current bug where a few specific cases of V and L are not recognized (https://mididesigner.com/qa/9013)
  • We cannot pull out complete patch names for display, or enter patch names, but this in in our think-about pile.  We have several examples of using individual controls (by letter) as a work-around.
  • We do not provide storage for SysEx backup, but MDP2 can be the front end to request patch/performance/board backups to be recorded in a separate SysEx librarian.

MDP2 SysEx controls, supported by named ticks and StreamByter code should be able to handle your most complex board implementations.  If you need help, post a Q&A.