Thanks to the earlier post about the Shure MV88 M-S mic for iPhones with lightning connectors, I decided to go out and grab one of these and give it a whirl.
http://www.shure.com/americas/motiv/overviewFirst impressions:
It's a compact, well-made mic that comes with a robust-looking windscreen. It's easily positioned just about however you need, since it rotates 90 degrees and you can plug it into the lightning connector in either direction (i.e., facing or away from the iPhone screen).
To operate it, you apparently don't *have* to use the free Shure "Motiv" software, but you'd be crazy not to. Again, the software is a free iTunes Store App, and it's quite easy to use. It's also the only way to get all the options you want (see below).
The show:
I went to tape a local punk show at a venue I visit regularly. My main rig -- Schoeps MK41V>KCY>PFA>R-26 -- was set up in the usual spot on the venue balcony, clamped to the corner of the SBD and aimed slightly down toward the stage. I tested the Shure mic during the first two songs.
The software is extremely easy to use and provides a lot of flexibility. You can go 16/44.1 or 24/48, and save in WAV, AAC at various bit rates, or ALAC. There are a variety of modes, including stereo (e.g., decoded M-S), raw M-S, mono cardiod, or mono Fig-8 (mainly useful for recording a face to face interview, I'd think). You can adjust the width of the decoded image on the fly, if you like. There are also settings to add compression -- "light" or "heavy" -- EQ (both manual and pre-set for various situations), and wind noise reduction. It allows you adjust levels with a single slider and contains level meters that are easy to read.
Being a fairly informal comp, I kept things easy and just use the stereo/90 degrees setting, 16/44.1, no EQ, no compression. I would probably use the compression in the future, and for a loud rock show with a mostly non-panned PA, I'd probably narrow the image from 90 degrees, I think.
For song 1, the MV88/phone combo was held in my hand on the balcony to the immediate left of the MK41Vs, pointed ahead.
MV88:
https://soundcloud.com/acidjacknyc/mv88-song-1MK41V:
https://soundcloud.com/acidjacknyc/mk41v-song-1For song 2, I went down the floor and stood FOB/DFC, or roughly under and a bit in front of where the 41Vs were. I also aimed the mic upward somewhat so as to be aimed partly at the stacks. Most guitar sound was coming from the stage.
Combo "playlist:":
https://soundcloud.com/acidjacknyc/sets/mv88-vs-mk41vInitial reactions:
This was a loud punk show, and I do not see evidence of distortion from the SPL limit of 120dB being exceeded. However, one thing that was bizarre to me is that I do not think the level meters are very accurate. I had them reading consistently in the "zone" (-12dB to -3dB) yet the final waveforms indicated mild clipping at several points. I would recommend running the mic less hot than it appears on the screen.
The software was quite easy to use; one thing I'd note is that if you disconnect the mic, you lose your settings (such as levels), so keep that in mind if you're going to disconnect at any point.
In terms of application, it's obviously even easier to just turn your phone into airplane mode (recommended by Shure) and run this mic than even to use some clip on mics, a BB, and a recorder. On the downside, it is somewhat noticeable to hold this thing in your hand. You could best "Stealth" by putting it in a shirt pocket or running it from a table or balcony. The fact that this occupies your phone the entire time is both a blessing and a curse, as you might expect. For me, I'd see the best use cases being showing up to something where I don't have the time or inclination to run a full rig and then either running it onstage or clamping to a balcony. I guess the shirt pocket thing is also an option, and it's probably an improvement on, say, a Zoom H2 or an R-09 or something, but not something I'd want to do regularly.
In terms of after-the-show, it's very easy to get the stuff off your phone. As noted, you can export the native WAV or save as AAC or ALAC. If you have a Mac, you can simply Airdrop the files from iPhone to Mac. Otherwise, you can save the files to Dropbox, OneDrive, or Hightail. There's a function to email them to yourself, but I'm not sure that would work with the capacity of most email systems.
Quality-wise, as noted, this is a punk show in a relatively stripped-down venue, and these are MP3s streaming on Soundcloud. I don't think these can in any way be called a definitive test of the mic. Obviously the Schoeps have considerably more depth, but I think the MV88 sounds perfectly "good" for the price and convenience factor, and at least as good or better than the internal mics I'm familiar with.
Your thoughts?
Topic: Shure MV88 iPhone Mic samples and rough comparison (Read 7218 times)