Input options and microphones

[y7alanzo]

I'm trying to do some home recording on my iPad2.  I play guitar and sing, and would simply like to record two tracks simultaneously, guitar on me track, vocals on the other.  This was pretty trivial with the MacBook Pro that I used to have, since the mic jack is stereo.  But the mic input combined into the headphone jack of the iPad is just mono.

So I found the pinout of the dock connector, and built a cable (cannibalized a dead cheapo AC adapter), connecting Line-In pins 5 and 6, with 2 as a ground, to a pair of RCA plugs.  These run to my mixer's output, with the guitar's channel cranked all the way left, and the vocal cranked all the way right.

Seems like it ought to work, but the iPad ignores it.  GarageBand visibly auto-switches between built-in mic and headphone-jack mic (when I plug one in), but it doesn't seem to know about Line-In as an input.  Either (1) I built the cable wrong (unlikely - I was very careful), or (2) the pins called Line-In are "different" somehow, or (3) there's some kind of trick to enable the Line-In inputs (like grounding pin 11 is supposed to enable Line-Out (which, BTW, I tried), or some software switch in iOS), or (4) GarageBand just doesn't support Line-In as an input, but (and here, finally, comes my question), maybe some other software, like for instance, MultiTrack, does?

If it does, will it, in fact, record the Left and Right Line-In signals simultaneously onto two distinct tracks?  And then will I be able to export those two tracks separately to a PC for further editing/effects?

If I can get this working, I'll be happy to document how I made the cable and whatever else is necessary to get up and running this way.  I realize that most of you guys are opting for a digital input to the iThing, but it sure seems a lot cheaper for casual recording to let the device do the A to D -- it is quite good at it, after all.

Much thanks in advance for any help, advice, pointers, or warnings.

[pwnified]

iPod 4th, iPhone 4, iPad, and later, none of them have stereo line in AD convertors anymore. All stereo input is done by USB. That said, MultiTrack will record up to 4 inputs, into mono, stereo, or any combination of mono and stereo onto separate tracks. And then export the rendered tracks using Wi-Fi.

[y7alanzo]

Thanks for the reply. I wonder why the pinouts that are supposedly for the iPad dock connector list pins 5 and 6 as Line-In Left and Right (at, e.g. http://www.iphonecentral.us/iphone-repa ... -dock.html) but I guess it's not the first time the Internet has lied to me...

If those two pins have become "No Connect" in later iDevices, (and nobody bothered to update the dock connector pinout chart) it would certainly explain why my cable doesn't do anything.

I guess I'll order up one of those Behringer UCA202 boxes, and use my laptop instead of the iPad for recording. Not nearly as cool, though...

Thanks.

[richmn]

Finally! I found something for iPod Touch 4th generation that does stereo recording!
http://www.sonomawireworks.com/guitarjack/
Sonoma Wireworks released 'Guitar Jack 2' which can record in stereo! At $149 its the lowest cost stereo option for iPod Touch 4g owners I've seen, but more than most are used to paying for their mono iRig-type connectors. I'm going to get one!

1/4 inch (6.5 mm) instrument input - nickel-plated solid brass Switchcraft (10,000 MTBF) jack
1/8 inch (3.5 mm) stereo mic/line input - (no phantom power is provided)
1/8 inch (3.5 mm) stereo headphone/line output with increased drive for headphones

[Erik dP]

This Alesis 4-in device works with iOS according to:

http://www.gearwire.com/alesis-io4-now-shipping.html

“The iO4 is our best-sounding interface, and it works with your iPad!” said Dan Radin, Alesis Product Manager. “Four channels of recording in a compact design—musicians are going have absolutely no problem fitting the iO4 into their setup, and into their budget, too.”

Alesis is now shipping the iO4 for $149 (estimated Street).

[jamsden]

The Samson Meteor does work correctly with GarageBand 1.1 on iPad. It works the same as on Mac OS X. But this seems to be something that's special in GarageBand, not just iOS 5.0.1 because the input control in MultiTrack still does not effect the gain in the mic. Any chance this can be fixed in an update of MultiTrack?

[Erik dP]

Two new microphones from Blue:

"...Blue Microphones will be launching the Spark Digital, a studio-grade iPad microphone offering both iPad and USB connectivity. / ...the Spark Digital works with numerous available recording apps such as GarageBand and delivers direct studio-quality audio to any computer, laptop, or tablet with USB. / ...The Spark Digital is priced at $199.99 (MSRP)."

"...Blue Microphones has also announced the Mikey Digital iPhone mic and interface, a handy plug-and-play external mic for capturing professional-quality audio on iPod touch, iPhone 4/S, and iPad with any iOS audio app. The Mikey Digital captures stereo recordings with the highest resolution possible on the iOS platform, Blue Microphones says. It features a multi-input jack for easy plug-in of other sources such as guitars, instruments, handheld mics, and other source, plus a USB pass-thru connection for charging while in-use.

Now featuring automatic and manual gain, the Mikey Digital allows the intelligent gain control to adjust automatically to fluctuating volume levels or manually lock in a sensitivity level in consistent environments. The Mikey Digital simply connects to the iPhone / iPad dock and is instantly recognized. Its price is $99.99"

According to the Blue homepage (Mikey Digital): Made for iPod touch (4th generation), iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPad 2 and iPad


http://www.gearwire.com/blue-microphone ... gital.html

[DavePDX]

If you want to record acoustic guitar with MT, I've found a solution that works incredibly well for me: the Tascam iM2

http://www.amazon.com/iM2-Channel-Porta ... 815&sr=8-1

I've been playing and recording acoustic guitar for over 40 years, and have never found anything even close to this in a portable format. The mic sounds best when it's very close to the source, so I've been resting the iPhone on my right knee about 4" from the sound hole of the guitar. I am absolutely blown away by the clarity and authenticity of the recording I can get this way. The mike has a level control built-in, and actually handles loud transients quite well. It does equally well recording fingerstyle and flat picking. So far I've only recorded a Gibson J45 and a Taylor 614c, but they both sound fabulous recorded this way.

I haven't tried miking an electric through an amplifier with it yet, but I suspect it might do well there too, for those wanting to record electric.

I've never been happy with the sound of direct feed guitar recordings, electric or acoustic. I sometimes mix a direct signal in, but in general, with electric guitar, I find miking the amplifier sounds more authentic. With acoustic, no direct signal even with modeling, sounds authentic to me, when compared with a well miked recording. I'm sure others will have a variety of opinions here.

For reference, I've also used a Yeti, Blue Mikey, Samson Meteor, Zoom Hn4, and Apogee Jam with a Fishman Aura. The iM2 sounds better to my ear than any of those, by a long shot, plus it's more portable, and requires almost no setup time.

[Liedja]

I'm wondering if you can record multiple tracks at the same time by using both a USB mic through the camera connection kit and the peavey amp link which is utilizing the headphone jack.

[espiegel123]

Have you found a way to monitor the sound on the iOS device when using it? From what I read, when the device is plugged in the headphones and speaker on the iOS device become disabled. Can you confirm/deny this?

Thanks for the report. I am torn between gettin the iM2 or the Mikey Digital (which has a line-in jack that I might occasionally use).

If you want to record acoustic guitar with MT, I've found a solution that works incredibly well for me: the Tascam iM2

http://www.amazon.com/iM2-Channel-Porta ... 815&sr=8-1

I've been playing and recording acoustic guitar for over 40 years, and have never found anything even close to this in a portable format. The mic sounds best when it's very close to the source, so I've been resting the iPhone on my right knee about 4" from the sound hole of the guitar. I am absolutely blown away by the clarity and authenticity of the recording I can get this way. The mike has a level control built-in, and actually handles loud transients quite well. It does equally well recording fingerstyle and flat picking. So far I've only recorded a Gibson J45 and a Taylor 614c, but they both sound fabulous recorded this way.

I haven't tried miking an electric through an amplifier with it yet, but I suspect it might do well there too, for those wanting to record electric.

I've never been happy with the sound of direct feed guitar recordings, electric or acoustic. I sometimes mix a direct signal in, but in general, with electric guitar, I find miking the amplifier sounds more authentic. With acoustic, no direct signal even with modeling, sounds authentic to me, when compared with a well miked recording. I'm sure others will have a variety of opinions here.

For reference, I've also used a Yeti, Blue Mikey, Samson Meteor, Zoom Hn4, and Apogee Jam with a Fishman Aura. The iM2 sounds better to my ear than any of those, by a long shot, plus it's more portable, and requires almost no setup time.