As the iphone question pops up on a regular basis, I'd like to tell what I experienced with using my iPhone as a recorder over the past almost 2 years and about 35 shows.
(all for Lightning connector, so can be used with any ipod, iphone, ipad offering one)
There are two devices available at reasonable price to attach mics to your iphone.
Zoom IQ6 - modified by Soundman
(160€)
This was a stereo microphone for Lightning devices, Soundman pulls the capsules out and puts a 3.5 jack in.
Pros:
Works out of the box
Input leveling at the device via wheel from 0-10
3 peak LEDs
Cons:
Bulky
not suitable with too thick phone cases
might be pulled of easily when in a pocket
Rode SC6-L
standalone: 80€
(Rode offers a bundle with lavalier mics for 150-180€)
Soundman bundle with adapter cable 100€
This device carries two TRRS jacks, for which you need an adapter to use most mics.
Pros:
flat, easy to carry in small bags and pockets,
sits tight in the lightning port,
quality built - very thick and good cable
phones jack for monitoring
Cons:
no input leveling
no indicator
need an extra cable - adds another risk of failure
I used both with 2 different apps:
Voice Record Pro, which is free and gives a wide range of formats and settings and additional input leveling inside the app. Recognizes both devices: Rode with its name, the zoom as "Audio control" (when plugged in after opening the app).
Alon Dictaphone in both free and paid version. The paid one offers more format settings and input leveling. Unfortunately no numbers given on the level lines, so it's a lot guessing. No that much of settings possible.
The adapter cables offered by Soundman are - sorry - crap. These are so tiny, thin and low quality, 3 out of 4 broke, when I just pulled them out of the bag. I did not find a suitable splitter (TRS to 2xTRRS) so I asked a sound engineer I know, he built me a very solid one for 50€. Do not use the Soundman ones. I traded several back and forth and finally gave up and got my money back for the adapter.
What I found out after a year of testing the Rode on 20+ shows, you can only pull a decent recording when:
- you record an easy acoustic show with no loud PA - or anything from ambient sounds, campfire chats or speeches to all day noises
- you set the input level to -15 or lower (which can be a pain in the ass when trying to pull up later)
Else: you get crackling
One concert I recorded with the same app (VRP), same level peak, one with the Zoom, the other with the Rode. Rode has crackles, Zoom doesn't. The Mics take everything perfectly, the sound is still awesome (new Soundman Rock Studio with Sennheiser and 142db tolerance), but there's crackles like when playing a vinyl with some dust. The louder the music - the more the crackling. Quiet parts are usually crackle free. No difference adding a battery pack - the iphone offers enough power for mics.
Zoom recorded an absolute decent and clear sound, while the Rode makes crackling. And you can hear, it does not come from the music, the PA, the mics, it is like added to the file out of nowhere.
So for rock shows, I highly recommend the zoom device. The Rode is not very useful. Another taper I know (he is here too, maybe he tells his part) also has crackles with the Rode.
I am very disappointed by that device and really regret spending so much time and money in testing and getting it to work. I will switch back to the Zoom for now and probably even go back to a very smallish handheld.
It really sucks kind of, as there is no background noise or whatever in the recordings (goes for both devices) and the Rode is pretty much better to handle (plugs in tighter) and better to carry in your pocket.
I added some photos for you to see what you need and how it looks. Pictured is the handmade high quality cable I got made, on an iphone XS and it shows the Voice Record Pro app.