Sunday 1 March 2009

Microphone/line-in/speaker thing for iPod arrived!



So my Macally iVoicePro arrived, enabling my 1st gen iPod Touch to join in the microphone enabled apps fun. So far pretty good:


  • Speaker is useful, although volume control seems a bit hit and miss (some apps simply don't change the volume despite using the slider!)

  • Mic quality seems very good, but haven't tried line-in yet (it's stereo, which is a bonus) or using it with an external mic (as-in external to the iVoicePro)

  • When they are installed, microphone-aware apps work perfectly

However:

  • Plugging in headphones doesn't always seem to mute the speakers, which can lead to some almighty feedback. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, like plugging in the headphones too soon?

  • Most appstore apps refuse to install because they assume the iPod Touch 1st gen can't possibly have a microphone. Grr. (Aside: some apps that don't even use iPhone/2nd gen features refuse to install, presumably due to laziness/error on the programmer's part). Anyway, buying them through iTunes and then modifying the PLIST soon sorts that out and the installation proceeds as normal. Apple should really sort this out and just whack a disclaimer on there ("If you don't have a microphone, don't even try to install this").

So, bring on some iPxxx versions of Pocket Stompbox and MeTeoR! Actually, if Frontier Designs are reading this, how about making iShred accept audio in to its awesome effects? Now there's an idea...

9 comments:

  1. So, after a few days, how is it?
    Can you tell if the speaker/mic is any better than an iPhone or 2nd gen Touch?
    I have a 1st gen Touch and am wondering whether I should get one or just save my money to upgrade to a new Touch. I already have a Zoom H4 portable recorder.

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  2. Quality of the microphone is good. The speaker is about as good as the iPhone speaker (i.e. useful but not good for playing music). I reckon it's worth it if there are apps you want to use, and I'm sure there will be many exciting microphone-enabled apps on the way. Ive just downloaed guitar fx so we'll see what that's like.

    Don't expect the quality to match that of your Zoom H4 though! However the line-in of this is stereo, which is presumably better than the mono-in of the iPhone and Touch 2g.

    Now I have this my desire for a 2g Touch has gone. I'm sure Apple will tempt me with the 3rd or 4th gen Touch though!

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  3. Thanks for the additional information. The problem with my H4 is that I usually don't take it with me!

    With the line in, it could still be useful even with a 2g or later unit.

    What apps are you using with it. GigBaby is a bargain (and installs on 1g units), but, obviously, I have not tried it's 4-track function yet.

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  4. At the moment I'm still just getting used to the apps. On your recommendation I just bought Gigbaby, which does indeed seem a bargain at 10% of the price of most other multitrackers out there. It's very good but doesn't yet mute the speaker when you plug in headphones, which means you get an echo on your recordings if you listen to ne track whilst recording via the mic.

    Also got Guitar FX Echo(now seems happy to install and works well, albeit very basic), MiSounds (simple but fun sample player), RJDJ single (ok for fun), Tapes (nice simple recorder), a bunch of fun toys (Light Tunnel, iQualiser Lite) and some VOIP apps I haven't really tried ot yet.

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  5. Interesting that some apps don't mute the headphones. I wonder if it is a difficult thing to implement or just an oversight. Sorry to hear that Gigbaby is one of them.

    Tapes looks nice (and free). Are you using anything for multitrack recording?

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  6. Seems a bit hit and miss on Gigbaby, but the others seem fine. Developer of Gigbaby is looking into it. I can get it to work if I put the headphones in AFTER the app is launched. So now I have multi track goodness!

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  7. Interesting about GigBaby. I'll keep it in mind when I get the mic. Thanks for the tips.

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  8. cele_82@libero.it14 February 2010 at 05:02

    Hi, robman84 do you still have IvoicePro? I need some infos.

    Thanks

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  9. Hi cele_82

    Yep, still got it. What do you need to know?

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