Belkin's TuneTalk iPod mic

All those rumors about how Apple was going to intro a new iPod with a built-in mic to make it easier to record podcasts seemed pretty half-hearted at best, so for the time being you'll have to satisfy yourself with one of those third-party add-ons. Belkin has a new one out called the TuneTalk, and while we're sure it's fine, the real issue when it comes to making recordings with an iPod isn't the quality of the mic, it's the ridiculously low bitrate at which Apple caps iPod recordings.

[Malfoy Roark @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

That looks ridiculous. I hope this is truly a case of function over form...

[Jonathan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

looks like a protoytpe DILDO.

[axb @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

When is someone going to come out with a nose hair trimmer add-on?

[Morwan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

"That looks ridiculous. I hope this is truly a case of function over form..."

If you're recording PODCASTS, which are designed to be distributed to thousands, I think how your microphone looks is your smallest concern.

Sometimes function is more desirable than form. Guys like you give Apple a bad name. Not that I like Apple much, anyways. =P

[Jeremy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Seems ok to me. What these recorders always seem to be lacking, however, is a nice timestamp option. Recording is great but it'd be nice to have an exact time to log each recording.

[Malfoy Roark @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Morwan, can you read?

Let's recap what I said shall we?
"That looks ridiculous. I hope this is truly a case of function over form..."

So in turn you accuse me of giving Apple a bad name and toss this out:

"Sometimes function is more desirable than form."

So I have to ask, assuming you can read, did you even think about what I was saying?

Assuming your:
"Sometimes function is more desirable than form."
is true for this device, which I sure hope it is, then my statement:

"That looks ridiculous. I hope this is truly a case of function over form..."

BETTER be true because if this thing doesnt function very well, there is nothing to save it since it has NO form.

1.Read
2.Interpret
3.Reply

Mixing up steps 2 and 3 can cause unneeded noise.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

perhaps this device would be better suited to headset form.... or perhaps one exists that I don't know about.

[bertram @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Jonathan - Wow. Kinky. Record certain sounds while in use. If that were true, I wouldn't need cable T.V. anymore.

Malfoy - Excellent retort.

[Brad @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

>>>ridiculously low bitrate at which Apple caps iPod recordings

Boot into iPodLinux when you record.

You can record up to 96kHz.

http://ipod.hackaday.com/entry/1234000147025394/

http://www.ipodlinux.org

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

If you're going to be doing serious recording on an MP3 player, don't use an iPod!

[wraypa1 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Seriously people who buy ipods ask for these problems with low bitrate recordings, if "podcasting" is important to someone, they should buy a real mp3 player like the irivers or the new cowon, these players come with built in mics that are high quality, and the iriver will even do 320 kbps recording with an external mic, with the potential of wav recording arriving in some new firmware (these players are also much much better value for money as they have many other features not on the ipoos) So i really recommend ebaying ur ipod and buying a decent player

wraypa1

[wraypa1 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Seriously people who buy ipods ask for these problems with low bitrate recordings, if "podcasting" is important to someone, they should buy a real mp3 player like the irivers or the new cowon, these players come with built in mics that are high quality, and the iriver will even do 320 kbps recording with an external mic, with the potential of wav recording arriving in some new firmware (these players are also much much better value for money as they have many other features not on the ipoos) So i really recommend ebaying ur ipod and buying a decent player

wraypa1

[John @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

I would also agree with the idea of using ipod linux. Its really great. They are even working on video playback now. Just make sure you read the list of compatible ipods, because most of the new ipods arent compatible yet, and you can run into serious problems if you put it on one that isnt compatible

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Will someone explain to me why in the world you would need to record a podcast at 320kbps?

My company does podcasts at 32kbps and they sound fine (and people seem to like them). We even tried 16kbps and that sounded fine too, but we figured 32k would cover our asses if things got a little too complicated for the compression algorithm.

Is it the on-the-fly aspect of the compression that's the issue? If that's the case, I would think your beef would be with the speed of the processor in the iPod, not the bit rate. You shouldn't need to throw huge numbers of bits at a recording to get acceptable quality from what for most people is going to be a voice recording, but maybe the iPod's processor just can't keep up well enough to maintain quality at lower bit rates in real-time.

[Schmidt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Can it detect nuclear radiation?

[pablo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

The whole idea of a podcast seems lame (or at least nothing new)....maybe I am missing the point, but isn't just a mp3 recording? If so, seems like brilliant repackaging of an old idea.

Hey, maybe I should check with the Patent Office to see if Jobs has patented voice recordings with an electronic device :)

[egloskerry @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

#4, you're being critical of someone for not liking a gadget for it's styling, when almost the entire appeal of the ipod is its form and not its function?

[jparris1 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

The difference between a podcast and just an mp3 recording is the use of rss feeds to automataically download new shows to your computer when they become available.

[Morwan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Wow, I feel like a complete retard.. Next time I'll double check my posts.

On to the actual discussion:

#17: The iPod's appeal isn't just form over function.. It's navigation system is excellent, and its integration with iTunes is something that's unparalleled. Apple did make a few sacrifices/unwise choices in making it, which is why I don't own one. But it's still a pretty good product.

I'm kind of interested in a comparision between Belkin's iTalk or whatever.. I'm betting hte recording quality on the iTalk is crap compared to this.

[Mike S @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Actually Engadget, i think there is a way to up the recording bitrate on the ipod.

Just go to http://ipodlinuxinstl.sourceforge.net/ and download the iPodLinux kernal.
Install it onto your 1-3G iPod and you can record at up to 96kHz.

The windows d/l can be found @ http://sourceforge.net/projects/ipodlinuxinst


...then again, i could be totally wrong. Eitherway, Booting up your iPod to a penguin is a great feeling

[Persecuted @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Buy an iriver ifp79x and be done with it.

[Angelos @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

Install Linux onto your iPod and use your earphone as the mic, record uncompressed PCM wave at 96kHz.

[egloskerry @ Dec 19th 2005 12:17AM]

If the ipod didn't look like it does, and was just a grey box with absolutely no styling, do you think it would have sold nearly as well?

The target market for it is moms buying their kids a present, and teenagers with money to burn. Without many basic features that other DAPs have, such as line in encoding, fm tuner, or decent battery life, I doubt they were aiming towards the hardcore DAPphiles.