Mics for iphone. Opinions? - Page 2

benjamin1884 · #16 01-03-2019, 07:32 AM

I have both the Sure MV88, and the Apogee MIC. They both work very well indeed. I also have used Harmonic Dog DAW as a work station and have gotten very nice results with those. https://soundcloud.com/rickrn/last-thing-on-my-mind-wav
This was done with the Apogee MIC parallel with my chin, picking up guitar, vocal, then banjo and harmony.

raysachs · #17 01-03-2019, 08:31 AM

I have an Apogee mic and like it a lot. I've used it to shoot basic single audio files and videos and I've used it with Garage Band. I recently picked up a Spire Studio 8 track recorder, which is definitely my favorite hardware/software combination I've ever used for recording. I'd love to be able to use the Apogee mic with it for those rare applications when I need two inputs. I'd rather not buy another mic when I have such a nice one already, but I don't imagine either Apogee or Spire are gonna have much reason to make the two compatible.

Malcolm Kindnes · #18 01-03-2019, 11:51 AM

I have an ipad 3, which has the older broad charging connector and a headphone socket. I wonder could I take a feed from a Zoom H4n into the headphone socket to record with video? Sorry if this is a silly question, but I am quite old and I don't understand these things too well.

billybob77036 · #19 01-03-2019, 01:11 PM

I have an Apogee MIC PLUS. Great sound quality.

ljguitar · #20 01-04-2019, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmm55

I am looking for a Lightning connector microphone like the Shure MV88, Rode iXY-L, Zoom iq7, etc., for use almost exclusively in capturing good acoustic guitar sound. Has anyone here had a chance to compare two or more of these iphone mics?

Hi gmm

I'm showing up late for the party…

I almost bit on a lightning-connector mic for iPhones when I bought my iPhone 5s. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just point out a different take on mobile recording and keeping it simple.

As I began to research, try mics, and thought about my workflow…I soon realized, I'd already had 2 different input connectors to my iPads and iPhones and guessed that we may soon be upgrading our phones to another input system soon.

I've owned 4 phones, and anticipate my next iPhone (the 11?) may well have a USB-C connector instead of lightning port. And we lost the headphone jack at iPhone 7 for monitoring audio (and bluetooth lags).

My 2019 iPad has the USB-C connector which would mean if I'd bought a lightning connected mic, to use a lightning connector for the mic, I'd need an adapter to record using it. The reason I was going to buy the lightning-port connected mic was to AVOID using adapters like I did with the 4 and 5s (and improve the quality).

So I opted to go another direction. I currently (for the past 6 years) use my Zoom recorders to capture mobile audio, and edit the audio in my computer.

When shooting audio for video, I merge the audio into video in post, and the mics in the Zoom H4n and up are better than any of the iPhone mics I've played with. I have not limited my mobility, nor simplicity.

Zoom keeps improving the quality of their recorders, yet the ones I have are already up to the task, and will never need to be updated nor adapted to do what I ask of them (until I wear one out).

When I travel I carry a Zoom H1n in the camera bag, and a lavaliere mic in my backpack in case I need to put some distance between performer and recorder.

If you are going to limit yourself to an iPhone, and it has adequate memory, and you are simply capturing audio, then you should be good with about any choice of mics listed here in the thread. The iPhone can do high quality recordings.

The snafu for me was all the work I would have to go through to get it set up to record, and monitoring it without headphones (the new iPhone and iPad don't have headphone jacks), and running an app while recording.

It's do-able, and once you have a routine it can work fine. But it just didn't seem flexible for me.

This may not be relevant information for your situation, but just wanted to toss it into the discussion (this is still a discussion forum).

min7b5 · #21 01-04-2019, 02:26 PM

I went down this road this fall trying to find a simple solution to make my "One Minute" series videos on Instagram. Have tried many of them I've settled on being able to use a regular microphone into an a lightening interface. I'm using the "Focusrite iTrack Solo - Lightning," now I like it a lot *but* I do have to plug it in for phantom power

Martin Maniac · #22 01-05-2019, 09:03 PM

Well I got the adapter I mentioned in a previous post...It works as advertised. I can now plug in any dynamic mic or preamp into my iPhone using the XLR adapter. My Telefunken M-80 mic sounds much much better that the onboard mic on the iPhone. It also has a headphone jack which sounds great with quality headphone. All in all I'm very happy I bought this adapter.

gmm55 · #23 01-07-2019, 03:53 PM

All replies appreciated. I picked up a used MV88 at a very good price. Am still learning its subtleties, but so far I'm quite happy with the results. I had read about bad experiences some users have with the Motiv programs, but there's been no issues using my iphone 7+. I'm looking forward to using this mic. I might opt for an interface to switch things up down the road, but I think the MV88 will do great for the next while.

NotValid · #24 01-28-2019, 10:07 AM

I wish these companies would make something for android. Most peopleI know no longer have I-phones. Rode is our only option it seems.

JackB1 · #25 05-07-2019, 03:01 PM

just found this thread as I am looking for something simple to use to record my live solo acoustic performances. Been using the iphone but the audio quality isn't the greatest. Would appreciate any suggestions.

Marshall · #26 05-09-2019, 10:05 AM

If you read the whole thread you'll learn a lot.

I've been shooting iphone videos for years. It's gotten better and easier. The newer phones (I have an XR) have great battery length and you can get an hour long recording in. I started taking videos on a 3. Things have gotten much better since then.

You need a stereo microphone for your phone. For the old iphones I used a Tascam model. Since then I moved into the Zoom models; the iQ5 & iQ7 are the best of that series. But lately I've tried the Shure MOTIV. And I think that is the winner. Sometimes with the Zoom mics I would get a recurring small blip in the recording audio. That was happening on my iphone 6S. I upgraded to the XR and it was still there. I bought new Zoom iQ7 and it was still there. So I tried the Shure MOTIV and it went away. The overall quality of the sterreo audio from the Zoom and Shure are comparable. I really can't tell a diff. So I use the Shure now. In either case the condenser stereo audio is MUCH better than the bland mono audio from the phone's built in microphone.

Marshall · #27 05-09-2019, 10:12 AM

There are a number of other things to consider.

First off the video file you get from an iphone is an MOV file. For some reason when Apple chose the file format they used an old standard that is 29.97 frames per second. The problem is my PC video edit software, Cyberlink PawerDirector, doesn't recognize that and brings it in as 30 frame per second. No problem, EXCEPT I can't link audio fro another source. They will be out of sync timing-wise. But if I just use the audio from the Shure or Zoom mic, the audio and video are in sync and I can use audio editing (fade-in, fade-out, EQ, etc) to enhance the audio with the video.

Marshall · #28 05-09-2019, 10:19 AM

Here's my latest home video; iPhone XR, Shure Motiv microphone. Audio edited in Audacity. Video edited in Cyberlink PowerDirector

Marshall · #29 05-09-2019, 10:26 AM

Here's a video from a year ago. It was shot on the XR from the loft in a performance in Iowa. This recording used the Zoom iQ7. It was spliced and edited from an hour long video in Cyberlink PowerDirector. The audio was edited using Cyberlink's audio editor.

coopman · #30 05-09-2019, 10:27 AM

I used a Blue Mikey Digital with my older iPad. Really impressive sound (TwistedWave audio app - great for 2 channel recording - a bit like SoundForge for IOS)

The mic is really good and has the bonus feature of including a line in connector as well. Like ljguitar and others I got pretty frustrated with the connector change to lightning, so I have gone the external route and use my better studio mic's. The built in mic is good enough for "on the go sketchbook" stuff.

They made a newer model with lightning connector, but I didn't want to drop another C-note to get the same mic just for a connector change (realize there are adapters but it gets kludgy and more stuff to lose).

https://www.bluedesigns.com/products/mikey-digital/ - Note: only available used now