Music Thing: now the iPod records audio (properly)
posted October 14th 2005 4:00PM
It's been quite a week for mobile recording. The M-Audio Microtrack (a small, ugly, useful, $399) began shipping in numbers. I saw the Windows CE-based PD Audio system (weird, bulky-but-high quality, $750+) system for the first time, and Sony announced the PCM-D1 (awesome looking, crazy, $2,000).
But the really big news came on Wednesday. Hidden in the small print of the iPod 5 announcement was
news that Apple have
finally allowed the iPod to record audio properly. Previous models had a 8khz (telephone quality) cap on recording.
iPod Linux proved that the machine was
perfectly capable of recording in mono at up to 96khz (pro quality), and now we can all do 44.1khz (CD quality - but
this might be compressed) stereo recording.
Of course, this has been possible for a while on other DAPs. In fact, high quality recording was a feature on early
machines that is now becoming rarer. The ancient, huge, Creative Nomad 3 (looks like a CD player, costs $100 on eBay)
has become a workhorse for concert bootleggers and field recordists, because it has digital ins and outs, and can
record uncompressed wav files. The iRiver h120 (2004 era iPod clone, < $100 on eBay) even has an open source
alternative firmware called Rockbox, which improves its recording
capabilities.
So, why pay $3-500 for a Microtrack or an Edirol R-1?
The recording quality might be higher - both can record at 24 bit, 96 khz, which the iPod almost certainly can’t
manage. And the connections are much easier. With a $30 cable, you can plug professional quality XLR microphones into
the Microtrack, and power them with phantom power — the 48v current which mixing desks pass to pro microphones to power
their internal preamps (the Microtrack actually puts out 30v, which sort of works).
Until Belkin comes out with a shiny white
replacement, the best way to do this on an iPod is with a Beachtek
DXA-10 adaptor/phantom power supply/microphone preamp, which kicks two XLR sockets into one stereo minijack.
Unfortunately, it costs $319. Still, if you can’t afford professional microphones, you still make good quality
recordings for less: Giant Squid Labs sell
minature stereo microphones with powered preamps for $80, which are perfect for bootlegging concerts
field recording.
But the new iPod no longer has the remote connection, how does on insert a recording device? through the headphone jack?
yes, it's perfectly capable of doing that. Ipod linux allows for that.
"The iRiver h120 (2004 era iPod clone, < $100 on eBay) even has an open source alternative firmware called Rockbox, which improves it’s recording capabilities."
wouldn't call the h120 a ipod clone at all... and where a working one is less than $100
yes, it's perfectly capable of doing that. Ipod linux allows for that.
It's not new and revolutionary until Apple does it!
For concert recording, I doubt I would bring an iPod with me.
Aside from the potential theft/damage/loss of the device, the profile is still larger than my cheap and old reliable Sharp MD recorder.
However, it is a nice feature that has long been lacking.
There's actually no compression with the 44.1KHz sampling rate. Everything's recorded in .wav.
This is so close to being the perfect sidekick for musicians.... until now sony MD recorders have been the recording device of choice for most of us, but it would be real nice to not have to carry about 2 expensive machines, one for listening and one for recording... i'm interested to see if belkin/griffin release any inexpensive microphone/recording combos in the future... otherwise could a simple condenser microphone plug into the headphone jack?
"It's not new and revolutionary until Apple does it!"
Don't forget that in this case "new and revolutionary" ends up on eBay for $100.
this is cool. i love all this "field recording" stuff. i soooo wanted the m-audio microtrack but couldn't convince my wife that i needed that and a new guitar. :) so i opted for the Olympus DM-10. This little thing rocks, it's really small and comes with a little stereo mic (that i put a foam cover on to soften the audio a little). on the low or "meeting" setting it records my band great. the first track i put on the site was sitting right outside the room, we have now started placing the unit right in the middle of the room in front of all the instruments. i'll load an additional track to reflect the audio from the new placement.
long live the dm-10!
PIONEER TEN - www.myspace.com/pioneerten
if you want to build a preamp, go to http://webpages.charter.net/tidmarsh/binmic/. it's really easy! you can find a lot of other diy recording stuff at http://www.minidisc.org.
Hey guys, has Apple taken out the record feature from the iPod video? On other iPods it's under "Extra" >> "Record". Note that iPod video has no "Record" feature under "Extra".
http://www.apple.com/ipod/features.html
Hey guys, has Apple taken out the record feature from the iPod video? On other iPods it's under "Extra" >> "Record". Note that iPod video has no "Record" feature under "Extra".
http://www.apple.com/ipod/features.html
you mean qPod?
"The iRiver h120 (2004 era iPod clone, < $100 on eBay)"
well for an "ipod clone" its impressive that i can get more money then i paid for it on ebay
the going rate seems to be still around 300
The PDAudio system on pocket pc with Mic2496 is capable of more than 120db of dynamic range. Now the software can record to FLAC at up to 24 bits and 48kHz (we're making adjustments for 96kHz FLAC.) You can also hot swap media while recording. How cool is that!
It's not clear whether with the new video iPod it is possible to record line-in through the headphones jack or the new better quality would be available to use only by addons such as iTalk?