Topic: External mic>Griffin iTalk Pro: preamp required?

[sunjan]

A friend of mine picked up an iTalk Pro just to play around. He's not a taper, but I'm trying to get him hooked.

He's got a Sony stereo mic (1.5V battery powered) but I'm concerned that the signal won't be hot enough, and that he'd need a preamp to tape rock concerts.

Does anyone here have experience whether a preamp is essential or not?

Also, can anyone verify that plugging in an external stereo mic will result in a mono recording, as stated here:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,90189.msg1200967.html#msg1200967

Of course I've told him to pick up proper gear like a H120 instead of this Griffin junk, but he's constantly short of cash, and prefers to fool around first, just to wet his feet. So I figured picking up a preamp could be the logical step I could convince him to take first. If it makes any difference in this case.