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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: Relayer35 on September 04, 2016, 01:26:51 PM

Title: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Relayer35 on September 04, 2016, 01:26:51 PM
I detailed my experience using my iPhone as a recording device with external microphones here: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=178930.0

I was using the line-in on the Blue Mikey but had an issue with quiet parts recording in mono. Just wondering if there is a similar product to the Blue Mikey out there, maybe without the built-in microphone, that just has a line in and connects to the iPhone with a Lightning connector. Does anyone know of anything similar?

Thanks.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: adrianb on September 04, 2016, 04:34:05 PM
I've tried a variety of line-in or mics for iPhones, and the one that I have been most impressed with and keep with me all the time is the Tascam iXJ2.

There's a decent review here:

http://www.provideocoalition.com/review-tascam-ixj2-preamp-ad-enables-dual-mic-2-channel-opportunities-for-i/

Unfortunately this was made for the old 30-pin iPhones, but it will work with an adapter and arguably a device like this is better hung away from the phone than directly connected anyway. Another positive about it being designed for the older phones is that it can be picked up very cheaply.

If you use it in conjunction with a preamp such as the Ugly, rather than just a battery box, and set the levels on the Tascam to zero, I think you can get results equivalent to using a recording device such as the Sony M10.

Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: rippleish20 on September 04, 2016, 07:06:51 PM
http://line6.com/sonicport-audio-interface/sonicport/

I use this to stream from a F8. The device has 1/8" stereo input, lightning connector to iphone output.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: willndmb on September 04, 2016, 11:49:37 PM
http://line6.com/sonicport-audio-interface/sonicport/

I use this to stream from a F8. The device has 1/8" stereo input, lightning connector to iphone output.
when you say stream, do you mean that you are steaming to the internet or you are simply steaming from the f8 into the phone and the phone is recording the signal?
Tia
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: rippleish20 on September 05, 2016, 10:32:23 AM
http://line6.com/sonicport-audio-interface/sonicport/

I use this to stream from a F8. The device has 1/8" stereo input, lightning connector to iphone output.
when you say stream, do you mean that you are steaming to the internet or you are simply steaming from the f8 into the phone and the phone is recording the signal?
Tia

I stream to the Internet using mixlr (which actually records it locally to the phone also). You could just as easily record it to the phone itself if you wanted.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: sunjan on October 11, 2016, 05:15:49 AM
There's a bunch of other "exotic" adapters here too, but not all of them are via Lightning.
http://www.sweetwater.com/c1058--iPad_iPhone_Interfaces/low2high
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Life In Rewind on October 11, 2016, 10:12:56 AM
This might fit your needs - maybe a little more than you want.

https://zoom-na.com/products/production-recording/audio-interfaces/zoom-u-44-handy-audio-interface
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: vegeta_ban on October 16, 2016, 03:20:40 PM
I love this one.

I've tried a variety of line-in or mics for iPhones, and the one that I have been most impressed with and keep with me all the time is the Tascam iXJ2.

There's a decent review here:

http://www.provideocoalition.com/review-tascam-ixj2-preamp-ad-enables-dual-mic-2-channel-opportunities-for-i/

Unfortunately this was made for the old 30-pin iPhones, but it will work with an adapter and arguably a device like this is better hung away from the phone than directly connected anyway. Another positive about it being designed for the older phones is that it can be picked up very cheaply.

If you use it in conjunction with a preamp such as the Ugly, rather than just a battery box, and set the levels on the Tascam to zero, I think you can get results equivalent to using a recording device such as the Sony M10.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: soundpro on November 08, 2016, 09:52:42 AM
Hello:

We now offer a line of stereo adapters and microphones for iOS devices. They all offer powered stereo microphone inputs:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category/9411

Thanks

The sound professionals

Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: aaronji on November 08, 2016, 10:36:47 AM
^ It looks like the adapter only puts out 2.2 V plug-in power?  Is it possible to make one that puts out ~ 5 V?
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: soundpro on November 08, 2016, 12:13:22 PM
Hello:

Not at this time, however, if you need more power for your mics, you can use a battery box between the mics and the adapter.

The Sound Professionals
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: adrianb on November 27, 2016, 05:54:55 PM
If anybody would like to consider using an iPhone as a recording device here is a comparison I've done:

https://soundcloud.com/quisquose/stealth-concert-recording-sony-pcm-m10-versus-iphone-tascam-ixj2

I have recorded a concert using thesame mics (CA11) going to the same preamp (CA Ugly 2) then split into two recording devices simultaneously, the Sony PCM-M10 and an iPhone 4s using the Tascam iXJ2 as described previously. Stealth away :)
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: gursky on November 28, 2016, 10:12:41 AM
I have recorded a concert using thesame mics (CA11) going to the same preamp (CA Ugly 2) then split into two recording devices simultaneously, the Sony PCM-M10 and an iPhone 4s using the Tascam iXJ2 as described previously. Stealth away :)
We had a few PM conversations about the iXJ2 and appreciated your advice and now I just wanted to say thanks for posting this A/B comparison.  It's great to know that the iXJ2 really can hold up against a dedicated unit like the M10. 
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Relayer35 on January 27, 2017, 02:59:54 PM
Hello:

We now offer a line of stereo adapters and microphones for iOS devices. They all offer powered stereo microphone inputs:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category/9411

Thanks

The sound professionals

I purchased one of these, and took it out for a test run last night. Set up was CA11 > CA-UBB > SP-iOS Adapter > iPhone 6 (using Twisted Wave app for recording, same app as I use with the Blue Mikey)

Bottom line, was it didn't work.

First issue, was that when the device was attached to my iPhone 6, it drained the phone battery even when not in use. I started out with a freshly charged iPhone on Airplane mode with no other apps open. Plugged it in about 15 minutes before the show started, but the battery was down to 89% by the time it started.

I recorded the opening act, who played for about 45 minutes. Battery was down to 64% after. My usual battery drain when recording with the iPhone using the Blue Mikey (with the Mikey's internal microphone or the line-in) is 10% an hour. This dropped about 15% in 45 minutes. I'm guessing this thing draws power from the lightning port. Not enough to power the Mics without a battery box, but enough to drain the battery.

When the main act came on stage, for whatever reason the iPhone stopped detecting the device and would only record from the internal phone microphone (yuk!). Tried rebooting the phone, no luck. I was running my usual PCM-M10 rig as well, so I didn't miss the show....but I didn't wind up recording any of the main act with the phone. I tried to get it to work during the set break, and it looked like it was recording, but then wouldn't record once the show started again. The iPhone 6 I was using is my older phone. I tried it on my regular iPhone 6s as well, and it wasn't detected there either. Also tried without the battery box, but no luck.

As for the recording quality, I did successfully record the opening act. Unfortunately, there was a lot of hiss in the recording. Much more than I get with the Blue Mikey line-in, or my regular PCM-M10 set up.

I am going to do some further tests just to make sure it's not the app or the phone (unlikely, because I tried two different phones). I guess it's back to the drawing board.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: adrianb on January 27, 2017, 04:05:38 PM
I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing experience Relayer35. Is it possible the recording software is to blame rather than the hardware?

Anyway, before you possibly give up on this here is a recording I did on my iPhone 6s last year:

https://soundcloud.com/quisquose/test-live-recording-iphone

Church Audio CAF mics > Church Audio Ugly II Preamp > Tascam iXJ2 > iPhone 30-pin to Lightning Adapter > iPhone 6s

Rode Rec App

I went into the show with battery at, or close to 100%. It was in Airplane mode throughout. As we left the venue 3 hours later the battery had dropped to 49%, so it does use quite a bit of battery life but nothing like your experience, and no hiss.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Relayer35 on January 27, 2017, 04:59:49 PM
I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing experience Relayer35. Is it possible the recording software is to blame rather than the hardware?

Anyway, before you possibly give up on this here is a recording I did on my iPhone 6s last year:

https://soundcloud.com/quisquose/test-live-recording-iphone

Church Audio CAF mics > Church Audio Ugly II Preamp > Tascam iXJ2 > iPhone 30-pin to Lightning Adapter > iPhone 6s

Rode Rec App

I went into the show with battery at, or close to 100%. It was in Airplane mode throughout. As we left the venue 3 hours later the battery had dropped to 49%, so it does use quite a bit of battery life but nothing like your experience, and no hiss.

The 30 pin thing kills the Tascam for me. The idea is to be able to bring less equipment into a venue, and stuffing a battbox/preamp, tascam, phone and a 30 pin adapter in my pocket is kind of much. I'm still going to do some tests.....I read somewhere that perhaps the lightning port needs to be plugged in a certain way, it's supposed to be reversal. So I'm going to test that out. That could totally explain my problem. Won't help with the hiss or battery life.

I have a show coming up that I would love to stealth, but it's going to be near impossible to get stuff in, so I may wind up just using the Blue Mikey internal mic and living with it.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: adrianb on January 27, 2017, 05:25:40 PM
The 30 pin thing kills the Tascam for me. The idea is to be able to bring less equipment into a venue, and stuffing a battbox/preamp, tascam, phone and a 30 pin adapter in my pocket is kind of much.

The setup you were running with was:

CA11 > CA-UBB > SP-iOS Adapter > iPhone 6

If you were to gaffer tape the 30-pin adapter and iXJ2 together you get a "new unit" with similar dimensions to the SP-iOS Adaper, so:

CA11 > CA-UBB > New Unit > iPhone 6

:)
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Relayer35 on January 27, 2017, 05:49:37 PM
The 30 pin thing kills the Tascam for me. The idea is to be able to bring less equipment into a venue, and stuffing a battbox/preamp, tascam, phone and a 30 pin adapter in my pocket is kind of much.

The setup you were running with was:

CA11 > CA-UBB > SP-iOS Adapter > iPhone 6

If you were to gaffer tape the 30-pin adapter and iXJ2 together you get a "new unit" with similar dimensions to the SP-iOS Adaper, so:

CA11 > CA-UBB > New Unit > iPhone 6

:)

Well "New Unit" is a bit bigger than the SP-iOS Adapter....but I just caught an iXJ2 on eBay for under $25, so I'm going to give it a whirl!
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: adrianb on January 27, 2017, 06:16:16 PM
....but I just caught an iXJ2 on eBay for under $25, so I'm going to give it a whirl!

Cool. Make sure you get a genuine 30-pin adapter (if you don't already have one) because non genuine ones won't work. I suggest the 0.2m version. It's going to cost you more than the iXJ2!!!!

Let us know how you get on.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Relayer35 on January 27, 2017, 09:08:40 PM
....but I just caught an iXJ2 on eBay for under $25, so I'm going to give it a whirl!

Cool. Make sure you get a genuine 30-pin adapter (if you don't already have one) because non genuine ones won't work. I suggest the 0.2m version. It's going to cost you more than the iXJ2!!!!

Let us know how you get on.

I already have the adapter, and it is a genuine one. Not going to another show until the end of February. I should have a chance to try it then.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Relayer35 on February 03, 2017, 05:25:10 PM
Okay, so the iXJ2 came in the mail today. I bought it used, but it was shipped in the original box, had all the instructions, and looks to be in perfect condition. I hooked it up to my phone, and tested that it can record and it all seems to work great. It was smaller than I expected, so that's a plus.

I have a few questions.
1. Battery drain? Will this drain the iPhone battery? I know that the answer is "yes", but maybe a better question is how much will it drain the battery? An upcoming show I plan on recording may go 4+ hrs long. Will the battery be sufficient? I plan on using a fully charged phone in airplane mode. (EDIT: Never mind, I see you already answered this)
2. I notice that this has plug-in power. I'm assuming that the plug-in power is probably not sufficient to power mics without a battery box. I am also assuming the plug-in power would drain the battery of the phone even more?
3. Is there any particular recording app you recommend. I used TwistedWave with the BlueMikey, but if there is something better, I will look into it. I like Twisted Wav, as it can record large files and I can transfer them to my PC via network share over Wi-Fi.

Thanks for all your help.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: adrianb on February 04, 2017, 06:02:28 AM
1. Last concert I did I was recording solid for 3 hours. I went in with battery at 100%, airplane mode on obviously, and as I left the battery was 59%. I use an old 4s which still has a great battery life for it's age, but a new phone should be at least no worse.

2. I have used PIP and I thought that I wasn't impressed, but I was have since realised that all my earlier recordings had hiss noise reduction on my app which was not a good idea. So I might give it another go.

3. I use the Rode Rec app. I already had the premium version because I have the Rode iXY microphone, but you might be interested in the following:

http://www.provideocoalition.com/review-tascam-ixj2-preamp-ad-enables-dual-mic-2-channel-opportunities-for-i/

Just going to check the PIP voltage on the iXJ2 now ...

Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: adrianb on February 04, 2017, 06:11:45 AM
The plug in power on the iXJ2 is 2.49 volts

Edit: Just had to check because I noticed that I had already measured this and on another thread said it was 3.56 volts. Definitely 2.49 volts again, and by way of comparison I measured my Sony PCM-M10 and got 2.95 volts and Sony PCM-D100 and got 4.91 volts.

Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Relayer35 on February 05, 2017, 06:17:05 PM
Thanks for all the information. I have a show later this month that I can test this with, while still running my regular rig just in case. I will let you know how it works out.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Relayer35 on February 24, 2017, 11:15:19 AM
Hey adrianb,

Just wanted to let you know that the iXJ2 worked out great the other night.

Recording was CA11 (omni) > CA-UBB > iXJ2 > Lightning Adapter > iPhone 6 (TW Recorder App)

Recorded for 2 1/2 hrs total, starting with 100% battery on the iPhone in Airplane Mode with Background App Refresh turned off for most apps.

Battery was at 77% after the 2 1/2 hours....actually a little better than the Blue Mikey was doing. Seems like I should definitely be able to use this for longer shows as well.

Only issue was I had the levels too high. The volume in the venue was rather low, except for about a 1 minute section of the show that got really really loud. I clipped that 1 minute section, but the rest of the show was fine. I had the levels set to 6 on the iXJ2. I was also using a new CA-UBB (warranty replacement) for the first time, and didn't really have a feel with what the levels should be set at. It was a strange show because the volume was really low for the whole show except for that 1 minute section. If I had the set the levels lower, I'm not sure the rest of the show would have come out as nice. I'll probably set it at 4 next time.

Thanks for all your help.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: adrianb on February 27, 2017, 11:43:19 AM
Hi Relayer35, pleased to learn you had some success with this. I note that you just used the battery box. When I tried that I thought that it was a bit muffled, and then tried the Ugly pre-amp (setting the iXJ2 to zero) and was much happier with the results. Comparable to using my Sony M10 at least.

Whilst I still think using the pre-amp will give better results, I now realise that I had the 'hiss reduction' setting set on the Rode app which gives a rather muffled recording. So I will be interested to try again with just the battery box. It will certainly be more stealth friendly with just the battery box.

I've got two gigs coming up soon.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Relayer35 on March 15, 2017, 07:53:14 AM
Hi Relayer35, pleased to learn you had some success with this. I note that you just used the battery box. When I tried that I thought that it was a bit muffled, and then tried the Ugly pre-amp (setting the iXJ2 to zero) and was much happier with the results. Comparable to using my Sony M10 at least.

Whilst I still think using the pre-amp will give better results, I now realise that I had the 'hiss reduction' setting set on the Rode app which gives a rather muffled recording. So I will be interested to try again with just the battery box. It will certainly be more stealth friendly with just the battery box.

I've got two gigs coming up soon.

I've actually done three shows with this device now, and am probably going to use that setup as my primary gear from now. I varied the microphone, battery box combination at each show to see what works the best, and every combination worked pretty well. In fact, I used my M10 as a backup for those three shows and actually screwed up the M10 recording at my last gig with the cord coming out midway through the show. Juggling two rigs at each show was a little bit of a headache! I'm satisfied with my results using a battery box, and as you say, easier to stealth than a pre-amp.

Good luck with your recordings.
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: Zeppelinmad on February 02, 2019, 09:52:36 PM
Hi,

Really interested in how you run this rig.   I currently have CA11 Cardioids isn’t a church ugly BB and then into a PCM M10, which I’m very happy with - however, wanding is now the norm at all the venues I go to - and the pcm plus my phone plus the batter box plus the mikes - wires everywhere etc - and gestapo security wandering round pre show - I’m interested in a simplification if it saves on gear and makes stealthing less obvious...

I’ve got an iPhone X and have downloaded the app TW recorder.   My plan is to run the ca11s > CA UBB > iPhone X via a lightening / headphone adapter supplied with the phone....

My worry is level of recording,   I can’t see how I can manually adjust the recording levels up or down depending on what happens when the lights go down.   With the PCM I always set it up recording at about level 4, if I’m earlier enough to see support then I can adjust to see an occasional flashing red on the LEDs by turning the wheel - but I can’t see how I’m going to do that on the app on the phone.

I’ve tried to test it at home to see levels but there does not seem to be an adjustment to levels you can make once the recording has started..

Any advice / instructions would be useful and appreciated.  I’m seeing Greta Van Fleet on Wednesday at Festival Hall here in Melbourne, Australia - I’m guessing it’s going to be loud, don’t want to get home and press play just to here 2 hours of digital clipping.  Don’t want to set to auto either - need to be able to slide up or down depending on how loud it is when they open....

Cheers
Andy
Title: Re: Does this exist? Stereo Line-In for iPhone
Post by: jerryfreak on February 03, 2019, 12:11:51 AM
however, wanding is now the norm at all the venues I go to

ive noticed the same. sux