With everone from Björk to the Gorrilaz producing music on portable devices, a new microphone accessory hopes to make your recording dreams come true.
By Leo Stiles
The rise of smartphones and tablets has shifted the audio production landscape from an expensive equipment-led one to a far more affordable and flexible alternative, with near-professional level production values available to anyone with a few tech basics and an abundance of creativity
It’s with this in mind that audio production specialists IK Multimedia has developed what they call the worlds first handheld high quality microphone for iPhone and iPad; the iRig Mic.
Right out of the box, the iRig Mic impresses and has a good weight, with a solid construction that looks and feels durable. There is also a two meter cable attached, which ends in a headphone jack adapter and an extra headphone jack heads for real-time monitoring. On the side of the microphone is a three notch switch which allows you to set the overall levels of the microphone to suit the environment in which you are recording.
As far as supplied kit goes that is pretty much it and although a nice leather zip-bag is included for storage, the lack of a wind muffler for the microphone is annoyingly absent and will be an essential purchase for anyone looking to get the most out of the iRig Mic.
Performance is astonishing for the price however, with the microphone working just fine when paired with the built-in recorder app on the iPhone. Even with a lot of background noise, the results were of a remarkably high quality, albeit with a few levels-related hiccups as we wrestled with having just three level settings.
However, when paired with the iRig voice recorder app (two flavours: one free and one for €3.99) the results were even better, with active monitoring of levels available delivering some professional sounding audio that while not quite broadcast quality, was certainly up to scratch for podcasting and music demos on a budget.
Stump up the cash for the additional VocaLive app and suddenly the iRig Mic turns into a remarkably versatile piece of kit with adjustable pitch and key changes on the fly and up to four track recording available for anyone who plumps for the full paid version.
Overall, you get a lot a bang for your buck here and as there are a number of apps that support the iRig Mic, including Garage Band as well as a host of musical and speech filters, the iRig Mic is certainly a great choice for budding musicians and podcasters on a budget.
The iRig Mic retails at €59.99 in the Apple Store but can be found online for as little as €44.99. The iRig Recorder app and VocaLive are both available though the App Store for €3.99 and €15.99 respectively.
Music loving Android enthusiasts out there are out of luck at present as IK Multimedia do not offer support for devices of the Google variety at present. However, they are actively looking into supporting Android in the future.
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