IPad Interface advice needed

[Slothead56]

My, my....how things have changed since the last time I recorded some of my stuff. Went to a guys house, sat in front of a couple mics in his studio with him behind glass and put it on tape.

Admittedly that was 25+ years ago but I want to put all my stuff on <insert media>.

I asked the guy that runs our church band if he could recommend a local studio and it led to a discussion about how I can do it myself using GarageBand on my iPad.

I guess I need an interface and a condenser mic. Looking for reccomendations. Quality at a value price as I’m not looking to do this as a full time job and don’t want to break the bank.

He suggested a Steinberg ur22mkII Interface (about $149) and a AKG Perception 170 mic (something less than $100). Thoughts or alternatives?

Thanks in advance!

[Nymuso]

One option, the one I use, is the output of your mixer to a Behringer UCA 202 (about $30) to a USB to lightning adapter (about $30).

There are more elegant solutions, but this works for me.

[srick]

Slot - as always, it depends on how much you want to spend and how new your ipad is. Also consider will you want to shoot video, and how complex do you want your system to be? A UR22 will require microphones and\or guitar pickups, stands for the mics and cabling. Suddenly, the cute little box that was relatively inexpensive is getting expensive.

I’m gravitating towards simpler is better. Ideally, I’d like a nice analog feeling mixing board with dials and sliders (they run $400 and up) and three or four mic inputs (with good mics, and stands = $$$$) and which requires a dedicated room..... Yikes! There are more important things on my list of things to buy.

Note: I have used a TASCAM digital recorder with a lot of success and it’s an under $200 solution.

My simple solution (and there are simpler ones) right now is this: I am using an iPhone 11 running through the UR22 interface with a condenser mic (A GC special)on line 1 and an input from my K and K pickup on line 2. The iPhone 11 is an incredible beast for A\V use. I have also used the same system with my iPad and it works great, but the ipad is tougher to set up for camera usage (you need a really good mount) and it’s awkward to aim.

GarageBand works fine, but the interface is really weird and doesn’t make much sense to me. The DAWS (like Cubasis) are far more complicated than I want to deal with. Note that I also use UR22A and it works fine with both my iPad and my iPhone 11 but, in order to mix your R and L signals, you will need to use a DAW\Garageband.

If I were to suddenly have $500 of mad money, I think I would look into one of the Apogee interfaces and also consider their USB Hypemic with onboard pre-amp. (The caveat is that the generations of these devices changes quickly and this setup could very well be obsolete in two years. ) I would feed this into a new iPad with a really stable mount and floor stand.

As always, do a search and check out some of the discussions on AGF. A group of us has been using Zoom and Facebook for AGF open mics and it is really interesting to hear how the various setups sound (hence the hypemic reccomendation

My list of considerations for you in summary are these:

1) are you looking for an all in one solution, or do you want the whole nine yards of audio equipment?
2) are you going to shoot video?
3) how much do you want to spend?
4) how comfortable are you with computer DAWs and their interfaces?
5) what do you already have on hand to work with?

And sometimes, I wonder, rather than cobbling together these systems, if it wouldn’t be smarter to just pull out the credit card and purchase exactly what you desire!

Best of luck. I’m sure there will be no shortage of i opinions on ths.

Rick

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Slothead56

My, my....how things have changed since the last time I recorded some of my stuff. Went to a guys house, sat in front of a couple mics in his studio with him behind glass and put it on tape.

Admittedly that was 25+ years ago but I want to put all my stuff on <insert media>.

I asked the guy that runs our church band if he could recommend a local studio and it led to a discussion about how I can do it myself using GarageBand on my iPad.

I guess I need an interface and a condenser mic. Looking for reccomendations. Quality at a value price as I’m not looking to do this as a full time job and don’t want to break the bank.

He suggested a Steinberg ur22mkII Interface (about $149) and a AKG Perception 170 mic (something less than $100). Thoughts or alternatives?

Thanks in advance!

There's a huge variety of options available to you.

You'll find what you REALLY need is a bunch of practice using whatever tools you have at your disposal. Woodshedding with your gear is going to be what ultimately makes the difference in your recording's quality.

When you go to a studio what you end up paying for is the experience possessed by whoever is doing the recording for you.

It CAN all be done in a home studio, but it ends up being a lot more involved than simply purchasing something and sitting down in front of a microphone.

[slowhand]

The recent lockdown allowed me to spend a lot more time in my home studio and catch up with technology.
I bought a Motu M2 interface with hopes of remote band rehearsal but that was a latency struggle. After many years of using a all in one Roland VS-1680 recorder, I decided to try PC based recording with the new interface. A older laptop with Reaper DAW software is working well thus far, fortunately I already have mics, stands, cables, headphones etc..

After hearing about Garageband over the years, I grabbed the wife's iPad, lightning camera connection cable and Motu M2. Watched a couple YouTube videos and was really impressed with the simplicity, quality and portability.

There are several "what's the best interface" videos on YouTube, also consider how many inputs you need. As mentioned, it takes some effort and willingness to learn some new skills but can be fun. Regarding condenser microphones, they say buy the best you can afford. Maybe you can borrow what you need from the church or watch someone to help decide.
Below is a review of the M2 but he compares & reviews several others including the Steinbergs in other videos. Good luck!

https://youtu.be/D3ednXYd1pA

[Slothead56]

OP Here. I appreciate everyone’s feedback and realize I should have offered a bit more info.

I’m a part time (very part time) gigger and therefore do have mic stands, amps, mics, pedals I use....really the whole deal. My mics are dynamic, not condenser.

I’m really talking about guitar and a vocal with possibly a bit of second guitar and maybe bass on some tracks. Just simple.

I also must admit that I’m a technological nincompoop. I don’t understand live sound at all and in my personal set-up have endeavored to have the simplistic plug and play possible.

And I don’t have access to a computer, just my iPad.

[srick]

Slot - there was a really interesting video I saw yesterday on the Sweetwater weekend page. It was a drummer sponsored by Audio Technica who did a lot of online lessons. He bragged (rightly so) about how good his drums and voice sounded and yet he was only using one mic. He noted the balance between them made it sound like you were in the room. He also liked the fact that the drums were not mic’ed because they sounded natural (sounds familiar, eh?).

It turns out, he was using a shotgun mic aimed between his mouth and his drums. Of course, the mic was up, above, and behind the camera, so you couldn’t see it. It made a heck of a lot of sense to me. I wonder how a simple setup like that would work with a guitar?

Reading you last post, I think you will want more than two inputs, because that is what you are used to. Steinberg has a UR44 with four inputs, or if you need more, you’re in mixing board territory.

Too many decisions!

[superbitterdave]

I truly enjoy the iRig Duo. Two inputs, one powered, that works well with GarageBand, iRig recording software & effects (Amplitube), and Cubasis (the iPad version of Cubase - I use this on my iPad). If you only ever need two inputs at a time, this has been super easy to use and cost effective.

If you also want to do video, it works well with the iRig recorder.

I don’t do a lot of post-production effects, so I typically just use Cubasis for compression, reverb, and the occasional chorus or guitar effects. Cubasis also has a ton of drum loops that you can add as well.

But the Amplitube effects are fairly comprehensive, though the inter-app connectivity can take a while to get a hang of.

So for me, big thumbs up on the iRig Duo. Any of the videos I’ve posted here were recorded with it. (My videos here are typically pretty stripped down. When I’m doing songs w/o video, I often add more layers & instruments.)

Have fun with your recordings!

-Dave

[Captain Jim]

I'll offer another consideration: a Spire Studio by iZotope. It works wirelessly with your iPad, has a built-in condenser mic, and two Grace Design preamp connections (XLR or 1/4"). I have used the onboard condenser mic, frequently use a dynamic mic, and a separate large diaphragm condenser mic. You can plug in a bass directly (or an electric guitar or acoustic with a pickup) - no amp necessary.

The Spire will allow you to record up to 8 tracks on any given song. Here is a link to what some of us on this forum have been doing with a Spire...

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=502715

This thing is easy to use and no steep learning curve. When done recording, you can output the files to a high quality or MP3. It doesn't have the capability of a full DAW, being able to adjust individual tracks after recording, but it does have a graphic mix that allows you to adjust the volume or pan each individual track by putting your finger on it and dragging. Really - SO easy to use.

You do a soundcheck for each track, and the Spire recognizes what you are recording and does a good EQ and volume setting. You can add effects, depending on whether you are doing vocals, acoustic, electric, or bass guitars.

For what you are describing, this would be a much simplier way of being able to record multiple tracks for a song.

The going rate these days is $299, but I occasionally see them on sale for less. Check out that thread, then look at the Spire on-line. For that price, you are getting the onboard condenser mic, the ability to plug in equipment you are already familiar with (your dynamic mic and guitars/bass), the equivalence of several different pedal effects and amps. You couldn't buy all that for anywhere near the price of the Spire.

[KevWind]

Honestly "Quality at a value price as I’m not looking to do this as a full time job and don’t want to break the bank. ",,,,, are unfortunately still a totally subjective statements. You might want to come up with an actual dollar amount budget range to get the best most targeted suggestions.