Baggs Voiceprint & using the iPhone Mic for IR creation

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by 89bruin

Disclaimers first: 1) I’m a fan of Baggs products 2) I’m not in the market for either a Voiceprint or a Tonedexter since the pickups in my primary instruments are Lyrics and I’m satisfied with them for my purposes. That said, I would be wary of shelling out that amount of cash for any device that’s tied so intricately to a phone or OS. What happens when Apple decides to go a different route. Consider how may devices are now obsolete or will require an adapter or other work-around now that Apple is abandoning the lightning connector for iOS devices, for example. That seems to be a liability without the ability to use a standard mic.

Good point. Is iPhone changing the connector again? They probably don’t make much on the phone, but make millions on the cables and adapters.

[89bruin]

The iPhones still have lightning but the iPads seem to be migrating to usb-c. My guess is we’ll see usb-c in the iPhone as well.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by 89bruin

Disclaimers first: 1) I’m a fan of Baggs products 2) I’m not in the market for either a Voiceprint or a Tonedexter since the pickups in my primary instruments are Lyrics and I’m satisfied with them for my purposes. That said, I would be wary of shelling out that amount of cash for any device that’s tied so intricately to a phone or OS. What happens when Apple decides to go a different route. Consider how may devices are now obsolete or will require an adapter or other work-around now that Apple is abandoning the lightning connector for iOS devices, for example. That seems to be a liability without the ability to use a standard mic.

Consider how many products for guitarists are now out that rely on IPhones. You really limit yourself by worrying about products going obsolete when technology improves or changes. It’s kind of the way of the world now. My thinking is, if the Voiceprint goes obsolete in ten years, I still got a good deal and it’s not like it stops working. The IR’s will still be there.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

The IR’s will still be there.

Unless you buy a new guitar. Given the number of NGDs on the forum... It is likely to happen.

[dnf777]

Im no expert by any means, but have spent more time than I care to admit Playing with my tone dexter and various mics and guitars. In my humble experience, I have found that James May and other experts here speak the truth in all things IR!

Location trumps all else. A quality mic by any other measure, is more difficult to generate a good image with. Small condensers are easier to get right, but it all comes down to playing and tweaking mic placement. I found a presonus measurement small diameter mic (PRM 1)was easiest to find a sweet spot with, was relatively inexpensive, and is now my only TD-mic.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by dnf777

…Location trumps all else. A quality mic by any other measure, is more difficult to generate a good image with. Small condensers are easier to get right, but it all comes down to playing and tweaking mic placement. I found a presonus measurement small diameter mic (PRM 1)was easiest to find a sweet spot with, was relatively inexpensive, and is now my only TD-mic.

Hi dnf777

I too AM NOT and expert.

But my experiments with mics of all sizes from 10mm to 26mm diaphragms have led me in-my-recording-space to prefer the large diaphragm mics, and of the 2 I own (an AKG-414 and Shure KSM-44) prefer the Shure in the standard cardioid pattern, 14-18" out from the neck pointed straight at the neck/body joint.

There is great value for me to adjusting-to/playing-around-with one's work-space (recording environment) and trying with different mics and placements.

It doesn't mean I won't come up with different preferred parameters later if I change the 'other' equipment I'm using (PA systems in the main venue I play in, and the stage amps I'm). To me the amp and PA have been as vital to me as the guitar, pickup and mic.

I have difficulty in saying an iPhone mic will give as solid results as a studio mic, but apparently?? the Baggs' method of collecting/forming an IR is different than my ToneDexter.

Since most players are just trying to get as natural sounding a guitar through the house system as we can, there are many roads and levels of 'accuracy' to the pursuit.

[Petty1818]

The one surprising thing so far with the Voiceprint is just how good it sounds with the Anthem SL, which as we know is mostly the tru-mic. I know in Aaron's video he had the blend all the way up at first with the Anthem SL and then backed it down to 60%. At that 60% blend, the guitar sounded full but very natural. I think this just confirms how important the blend control is.

It's starting to make me think that the pickup is more important than I had first thought. A blend of 100% often strips away that enhanced low end that a pickup brings to the equation so you want a little bit of it coming through still. A UST provides that low end but once you bring the blend down, that piezo quality comes through. I think once I get the Voiceprint, I will try a pickup that tonally I like already and then use the IR to just enhance it.

[schinckley]

For those interested, LR Baggs is hosting an Internet forum in relation to the Voiceprint DI. The link below is a thread about using other mics with the AcousticLive app to create the VP. Applicable to the topic here, Caleb from Baggs states that different mics on different iPhones result in different sounding Voiceprints, which suggests they are not "factoring out" the characteristics of the mic. Caleb not only encourages experimentation with other mics, but details how he has done it himself, further suggesting that knowing the specific characteristics of the mic used is not critical in Baggs' IR computation algorithm (although he does state he prefers the sound of the iPhone-mic-created VP's). They're just using the iPhone mic (along with the iPhone's computational power to do the math). He also points out the importance of placement, encouraging users to try various placements with the iPhone when making VP's and to report their results. I wonder if we'll see pics of people gaffe-taping their iPhones to mic booms to find the perfect placement. I think Aaron Short also jokingly mentioned the idea that perhaps people may start seeking after some specific model of iPhone just for it's mic to create the "perfect" Voiceprint.

So much for my hope that the quest for the perfect IR creation mic (and placement decisions) had been put out to pasture, so to speak. No immediate plans to buy the required dongle, though. No gaffe tape on hand. I think I've got some duct tape, somewhere....

https://forum.lrbaggs.com/forum/voic...ate-voiceprint