Topic: iPhone/iPod touch recorder?

[sunjan]

I agree, restevezes, but Apple geeks defy common sense.
Some of my friends are iphone fanatics, and dead set on proving that t can be used as a recorder, just to show the world that it can be done.

I've been trying to convert one guy to use established taper gear for years now, but he sticks to oddball stuff, just becuse he likes to "think different". Go figure... :-P

So I thought the second best thing to do was to point him in the right direction and get some semi-decent pulls from him, for the gigs that I'm not attending. Does that make sense?!

[flintstone]

If you insist on using your iPhone or iPod Touch to capture audio,
here's a tiny new mic that may help you get better results.

http://shop.brando.com.hk/flexible-mini-capsule-microphone-for-iphone-3g-s_p03552c0202d033.html

The tiny mic capsule appears to be monaural.

[sunjan]

The tiny mic capsule appears to be monaural.

Yeah, but that's because the mic-in jack on ipods/iphones is mono only.
So the only way to get stereo is thru the dock connector.

For any aspiring iphone taper, the only half-decent solution on the market yet is the Alesis dock thing...

[sunjan]

I was wrong above to say that Alesis was the only way to go.

Faber Acoustical have been testing dock adapter gear extensively, and posted some brilliant frequency plots here:
http://blog.faberacoustical.com/2009/iphone/iphone-line-input-frequency-response-comparison/
http://blog.faberacoustical.com/2009/iphone/dock-connector-audio-io/
http://blog.faberacoustical.com/2009/iphone/iphone-dock-and-headset-io-frequency-response/

I was surprised to see Tunewear Stereo Sound Recorder coming out on top, with almost flat response!


I was also intrigued to find that the iphone 3G model has better frequency response than the newer 3GS:


On a side note, Faber makes some pretty cool looking RTA/FFT analyzer apps for iphone too:
http://www.faberacoustical.com/products/

[sunjan]

Could the iPhone not support a small USB device via its 30 pin dock-->USB cable?  I don't know if any of the apps can support a USB interface though, and power consumption is a probable issue.

AFAIK, the iphone doesn't have a USB host controller, so it wouldn't be able to communicate with another device like you suggest.

The Alesis ProTrack has a DC jack for external powering, but for the rest of the audio-in devices you'd have to flip batteries if you intend to use the built-in mics.
Don't know if any of the other gadgets would consume batteries for line in pass-through? It's an interesting question, given that the device is totally passive and should just forward the line in signal to the iphone.

[sunjan]

Some good news for iphone geeks. Faber Acoustical just tested the Logitec LIC-iREC03P, and it came out on top, better than all models above:
http://blog.faberacoustical.com/2010/uncategorized/frequency-response-measurement-of-logitec-lic-irec03p/
But at the end of the day, you can spend your money wiser buying real taper gear rather than overpriced iphone adapters... 

[sunjan]

New gear out:
http://blog.faberacoustical.com/2010/iphone/guitarjack-rocks-3rd-gen-iphone-and-ipod-touch/comment-page-1/#comment-16800
http://www.sonomawireworks.com/guitarjack/

MSRP $199, hardly worth it when you can get an M10 for almost the same money.
Just posting it here for the record...

[Will_S]

An advantage over the M10 is that you can record simultaneously from the "guitar" in (think mono board feed) and stereo mic in for a clock sync'd matrix to mix in post.  Of course the Tascam DR2D can do that too for about the same price, with one more track taboot.

[refrain]

For recording with iPod/Iphone, this ancient mic from Blue (I think the first was 2 years ago, but had problems), now in the second incarnation, it has a line in and comes with soft, I think about giving it a try, since I´m always with the phone... I dont know about the mics...

http://www.bluemic.com/mikeyforipod/#/desc/

[live2496]

I don't think anyone mentioned this but this works with the iPod Touch 1st, 2nd, 3rd generation. But not the 4G.

http://www.studiosixdigital.com/iphone_measurement_micropho.html

Their software tools work with the iPhone. I have tested the RTA and it works surprisingly well. Lots of good stuff there for testing.

[H₂O]

FWIW - You can use the iPad with the Camera Connection kit and the Sound Devices USBPre 2 as a recorder


http://www.sounddevices.com/notes/usbpre/usbpre2-with-ipad/


Maybe old news.


So maybe there is hope for the iPhone4, etc

[Kevin T]

No no stereo hw pins on iphone 4 ....apple made a giant step backwards

[H₂O]

But if they add the ability to add a USB port (i.e. via the Camera Connection kit) and it supports USBaudio (i.e. the iPad) then who cares about the stereo connection ports.  As long as the USB is very low latency.


I would never think the stereo input on the iPod or iPhone would be of the quality of other gear design for the purpose of recording audio(i.e. M10) - esp since it's limited to 16/44.1Khz.