DAW & iPad 2 w/ios 5 LOW recording levels

[skiphunt]

Hi,

I'm familiar with your app and have been using it on my iPhone 4 for a few months now.

Got an iPad 2 and running IOS 5 but can't seem to get a decent level from the onboard mic. Have set Auto input and even jacked the input level up to +12 and still only getting a very low recorded level. Perhaps I set something wrong or messed with the new EQ etc.? Is this a known issue? Suggestions?

I also managed to get my zoom H2 to be recognized via the camera connection kit when using a powered usb hub. Levels and sound were great, but can't get a decent level with the onboard mic.

[Thatbastarddon]

Hi,
Ipad2 3g running here. I have not had much time to test with ios5 yet. Your post had me curious though, so i ran a quick test. My on-board mic does seem a bit more "tame" here, but not at all difficult to get a decent level. It is difficult to clip (not impossible). Spoken word passages are definately not showing the strongest levels here, but moving closer to the mic produces reasonable levels.
There is definately a different handling of audio gain structure now. I have a samson gomic that was useless pre-ios5...suddenly the input gain control actually seems to control the actual mic gain. it did not before- the mic itself showed clipping constantly, while the input gain would just control the level of the hammered signal that the wide open mic was capturing. This seems to have changed for the better in that respect with ios5 here.

Curious, is your ipad wifi only, or 3g?

Don

[skiphunt]

Hi,
Ipad2 3g running here. I have not had much time to test with ios5 yet. Your post had me curious though, so i ran a quick test. My on-board mic does seem a bit more "tame" here, but not at all difficult to get a decent level. It is difficult to clip (not impossible). Spoken word passages are definately not showing the strongest levels here, but moving closer to the mic produces reasonable levels.
There is definately a different handling of audio gain structure now. I have a samson gomic that was useless pre-ios5...suddenly the input gain control actually seems to control the actual mic gain. it did not before- the mic itself showed clipping constantly, while the input gain would just control the level of the hammered signal that the wide open mic was capturing. This seems to have changed for the better in that respect with ios5 here.

Curious, is your ipad wifi only, or 3g?

Don

Mine is wifi only... and I also tested my Zoom H2 hooked up via a small powered usb and it worked well. Tested a couple other free voice recorders and they worked well, just having trouble getting decent DB out of DAW after IOS5

[pwnified]

MultiTrack 3.1 on the app store uses a new iOS5 feature called Measurement Mode. The purpose of this mode is to flatten out the internal microphone eq curve and remove other processing, but also allow for hardware gain control. So some devices will now have a real gain control instead of a software attenuation/boost, like the internal microphone, this is great news for people recording loud sound sources.

However due to the signal being reduced for the internal microphone on iPad 2 and iPhone 4 (but not iPad 1 strangely), I made this a switchable option. Now in the settings app you can choose to turn on measurement mode, and it's off by default. This will be in version 3.1.2. It should be available Any Time Now.

BTW, even though apple says Measurement mode will flatten out the eq curve on the internal microphone, it doesn't remove the 150hz highpass filter that everyone complains about. But I think iOS5 is really still in beta so perhaps it's just not finished.

[Erik dP]

"it doesn't remove the 150hz highpass filter that everyone complains about"

Isn't that a hardware thing (like a capacitor in the mic-path), since the Itouch 2G isn't highpassed. (At least not that much.)

[anfirmor]

I believe, from a previous discussion and answer from pwnified, that the LF roll off is mainly implemented in software (IOS). I suppose this is there to aid phone call quality. This also applies to the headphone/mic input and I would suggest that it would be hard for Apple to lower the frequency cut off point as they also implement ipod switching functions on thier headset via the same mic I/P pin. Lower frequencies could cause nuicence switching (as I've found from my own homebrew external mic/guitar adapter) and I dont think this switching functionality can be turned off. Both LF roll off and the switching stuff could be addressed in software but I suspect this is IOS/Apple territory and so, unlikely to ever happen.

Is it true that they have disabled cck compatibility for iphone4 on the full IOS5 release after enabling it in the beta?

Apple do like to target there products in a very controlled way it seems.

[skiphunt]

Thanks for the rapid response and consistently superb support on this app! Best I've seen by far.

[pwnified]

Cool thanks!

So version 3.1.2 on the app store now has "Measurement Mode" as an option in the iOS Settings app. Turning it "On" will use a hardware gain control for supported devices, and remove processing on the signal path input. I don't know the exact details of what Apple means by "Remove processing", but they implied that it is intended for measuring signals, so probably a flat response.

I'm not 100% sure if the 150 hz rolloff is in software or not, but had heard that its signal curve shape is changed sometimes depending on version of iOS. It could be that it's just in hardware and that is why apple wont change it. Because they cant. That would be a sad end to all the drama

[skiphunt]

Got it. Works great with onboard ipad 2 mic now. Thanks!

I was getting really nice recordings with my zoom H2 via powered usb hub as the source before the update, so I'm guessing when using the zoom I should turn "Measurement" mode "On" for best results?

Cool thanks!

So version 3.1.2 on the app store now has "Measurement Mode" as an option in the iOS Settings app. Turning it "On" will use a hardware gain control for supported devices, and remove processing on the signal path input. I don't know the exact details of what Apple means by "Remove processing", but they implied that it is intended for measuring signals, so probably a flat response.

I'm not 100% sure if the 150 hz rolloff is in software or not, but had heard that its signal curve shape is changed sometimes depending on version of iOS. It could be that it's just in hardware and that is why apple wont change it. Because they cant. That would be a sad end to all the drama

[pwnified]

You can tell if measurement mode is being used by a code in the audio information popup bubble, which should appear for a brief second when connecting new hardware. The format is this: "Audio: <nameOfDevice> <inChannels><outChannels> [bufferSize] <m><g>"

The <m> stands for Measurement Mode (must be turned on in Settings.app)
The <g> means hardware gain is available

For example, with nothing plugged into the iPhone 4:

image-2.png

SpeakerAndMicrophone is apple code for the internal speaker and internal microphone.
(1x2) means there is 1 input and 2 outputs.
[128] is the buffer size (this should match the setting in the Settings.app).
mg means measurement mode is active, and hardware gain is available.


When I plug the iPhone into a Fostex ar-4i:

image-3.png

USB (any doc connector interface for new devices will be USB)
(2x2) means there is 2 inputs and 2 outputs.
[128] is the buffer size (this should match the setting in the Settings.app).
m is measurement mode is active, no hardware gain.

So the Ar-4i doesn't have app controllable hardware gain, however it has a control right on the unit.