iTunes Match and iCloud are wonderful for the iPhone. Not so much for iPad.

[braddick]

Unless your iPad2 is 3G (mine isn't) I have found iTunes Match more troublesome than advantageous. Unless there is WiFi in the area I can forget about listening to music and even then, the lag on WiFi is a annoying.

I simply went back- after a complete restore as it is difficult to get iTunes Match off of the iPad- to the old fashion method of downloading music directly to the iPad.
I can also now go back to using music apps such as djay that were rendered useless with iTunes Match.

The iPhone 4S is a different story. Seems to work effortlessly and as described.

I'll try again in a few weeks but for now iTunes Match is more of a hassle than it's worth on a no 3G iPad2.

If anyone is having better results please share. I hate purchasing a service and not being able to use it to its full potential.

 

[PNutts]

Agreed. I turned on iTunes Match on the kid's iPod Touch just to see what would blow up before using it anywhere else. After playing with it I didn't bother enabling it on our wifi only iPad. With Home Sharing and Air Play I don't see much of a point (it rarely leaves the house). The kids aren't into music yet (but I'm working on the six year old with the Beatles and Aerosmith).

I don't have plans to enable it on my phone. I work from home (and there's wifi at the office if I go in) but I just don't listen to music enough to want to have the entire library at my fingertips. Just a personal preference but I see the value.

 

[verwon]

I use my 4S much more than my iPad for music, but I've used it a few times and haven't had a problem, so far.

 

[urkel]

I think one of the major differences between streaming and downloading through match is that streaming usually has lower bit rates and smaller files which makes on-the-go music easier on bandwidth and hassle. But when dealing with Match on the road then you're forced to download the original 256 file which can average 6-8MB/song. So the most efficient way to play your old playlists is to preload at home, and if that's the case then you might as well sync since its faster than downloading from the Internet.

I don't regret buying Match because for $25 I legitimized/upgraded 6000 songs, but I am going to start trying to figure out what spotify or rdio are because people seem to be praising those apps to be the true future of mobile music.