Belkin's TuneTalk Stereo does 16-bit iPod recording

We've already seen XtremeMac step up and court the mobile podcasting community with its 16-bit MicroMemo microphone adapter for the iPod with video, and now Belkin has announced a similar product with CD-quality audio recording, the TuneTalk Stereo. Like the MicroMemo, Belkin's omnidirectional model also clips into your device's dock connector, and includes a 3.5-millimeter jack for hooking up an external mic, if that's your thing. You also get a little stand for looking more professional in those sit-down interviews for your podcast, and the design ensures that you can leave your 'Pod's fancy case on while recording. Seventy bucks will get us lucky North Americans one of these units -- in either black or white -- sometime this month, but the rest of you suckers will have to wait just a little bit longer.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 6th 2008 7:41PM]

Had the exact same problem with my Belkin TuneTalk & 30GB iPod Video. It consistently skipped after 45 seconds & at regular intervals thereafter. I followed Noticias advice & reset it and it worked fine.

Then I upgraded the iPod software to v1.3 and afterwards the problem was back. I reset it again and it's fixed again. Kind of strange, but I guess as long as I reset it when it acts up, I'll be fine.

I use it to record my son playing his cello at recitals and such, so maybe to be safe, I'll just reset it before each performance, since I don't want to end up with skips in a keepsake recording.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 9th 2008 5:53PM]

Had exactly the same problem as JamesDaff - same solution worked for me: reset the iPod. Instructions on how to do this here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1320?viewlocale=en_US
Thanks, james!

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 6th 2008 9:28PM]

Hello,

I would like to buy a voice recorder for my IPOD. I have a IPOD Classic 80GB. I am a PHD student and want to use this voice recorder for interviews. What options are there for me? Interviews most likely would take place between 45-1.5 hours

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 12th 2009 6:55PM]

I had two of these devices. Basically dont buy. If you have get your money back because it contravenes what it says it does, which is to record lectures. this is really a memo device to record two minute sound chats, thats all. So take it back

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2006 2:00PM]

I have a problem with the Belkin TuneTalk Stereo for my 60 Ipod.

I have been doing recordings and find that after 20 minutes the recordings start skipping. You won't know it until you play them back. I returned my first tunetalk and exchanged it thinking there was a problem with it and I am experiencing it with the second one. Black by the way - not available in white as I had hoped.

However, I can get good quality recordings for short projects. But the battery drains and it starts skipping after 15-20 minutes. I am not always able to have plug in to a power supply (laptop) to charge and record at one time.

Are there ANY recorders out there for the G5 60gig video that don't drain the power - that have perhaps their own power supply?

Help!
I have had this almost a year and haven't been able to record at all - but now - very limited!

thanks
Barb

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 16th 2006 5:07AM]

I had the same problem, but with the MicroMemo from XtremeMac! I have the exact same ipod that you do, a 60GB Black 5G. I found the solution to the problem though, if you have the album cover art loaded into your ipod, delete it. I did this because I noticed my ipod is much much slower when it has album art on it. After I deleted all the album art, it worked like a charm! I'm still returning the product for other reasons, but deleting the album cover art from the ipod fixed the skipping audio problem. Let me know if that works for ya!

Jimmy

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 22nd 2007 11:18AM]

I have the same problem with my TuneTalk. But it doesn't wati 20 min. to start skipping and the battery drain is ridiculous. I have a 30G video iPod and need to record lectures all the time, but find that important parts of the lectures disappear in the playback, lost in random and frustrating skipping. I've had this product for several months and after reading other users' problems with it, I don't have much confidence in a fix. Is there another decent external mike for the iPod?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 5th 2006 11:31AM]

Dear Music Composers,
By August 2006, external CD-Recorders are starting to become out dated due to iPOD technology. Do not put your best music on your hard drive due to Internet "music hackers." I feel the external iPOD recorders are approaching the consumer market. Good luck with your music and your four song demo.
Sincerely, Michael Cooke 9-4-06

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 1st 2007 12:02AM]

I got the new Belkin TuneTalk Stereo for my 60 Ipod video, was able to record for just a little from my XM radio but I no longer can record with it, it just stoped working and everytime I press Record Now I get Error "cannot record because there is no microphone attached" not sure what is the problem, anyone got thesame problem or any ideas on how to fix it. Belkin website has no FAQ section.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 24th 2007 9:30PM]

Hello.

I recently purchased the Belkin Tunetalk for my 5G Video iPod. I bought it for the purpose of recording lectures. For shorter recordings, the Tunetalk works great. The sound quality is excellent. However, when I try recording anything above 30minutes, the audio starts skipping. What's worse is that after lecture is over (almost an hour of recording), I hit the 'Stop and Save' button, the screen stays on the 'Saving' screen for a couple minutes, and then loads up the 'Voice Memos' screen. Assuming the recording was successly saved, I then try to play the recording, and the iPod completely freezes. It takes a complete reset just to get the thing to turn off.

When I do finally play the recording I find that even though the length of the recording is listed as 50 minutes long, when I try to play anything past the 30 minute or so mark, the recording stops and takes me right back to the 'Voice Memos' screen. This is especially frustrating because throughout recording the red light remains on leaving one to believe it's still recording what its supposed to. So I guess the issue comes when the Tunetalk tries to save such a lengthy file. Which leaves me out of luck, and missing crucial take home points made at the end of lecture.

I thought this might have been a battery issue, as I've read that the Tunetalk will cut off the last 25 minutes of a recording if the battery is too low. So I tried recording with the Tunetalk connected to my desktop via the USB cable. The same problems persisted. Skipping audio and missing the last 20 minutes of my hour long recording.

While the sound quality is excellent, I found the Belkin Tunetalk useless for longer term recordings such as lectures, which is unfortunate especially considering "records lectures" is listed under the product description.

My question is then, is there a workaround to the frustrating problems of skipping audio, and the cutting off of longer recordings? If not, would someone be so kind as to point me to maybe non-iPod alternatives to other cheap, compact digital voice recording devices with similar sound quality as the Belkin Tunetalk for the purposes of recording important lectures, but without the issues I have stated above?

Thanks.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 26th 2007 2:11PM]

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ipod/review/belkin-tunetalk-stereo-for-ipod-with-video/

iLounge warns that PC users need to update the iPod's software to version 1.1.2 found in Apple’s free 2006-06-28 iPod Updater.

Earlier iPod software versions, including 1.1 and 1.1.1, contain a bug that corrupts Windows-formatted iPods’ high-quality recordings starting at the 14-minute mark and ending at the 22- or 23-minute mark, and low-quality recordings at approximately the 3-hour mark. Mac iPods weren’t affected by this bug, which wasn’t considered high-priority until now because no recording accessories were on the market. You can get the latest iPod Updater here (http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/).

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 15th 2007 10:44PM]

I recently bought a Belkin Tunetalk for recording lectures. I am happy with it except that the lectures I am recording are usually 3 hours long, and this leaves me with a 400MB(!) file (and this on the LOW quality setting) It may be a 60GB ipod but with often 2 lectures per day memory is going to fill up before the end of the semester. Is there any way to decrease recording quality, or a software mod that can reduce the file size? I am only recording voice so I do not need high quality. Any advice?

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 24th 2007 9:23PM]

The only other mike I know of for the ipod video is
the XtremeMac Micromemo:

http://www.xtrememac.com/audio/earphones_recorders/micromemo_video/

I haven't researched the feedback on it, but may need to soon.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2007 3:30PM]

I experience a 5-second skip after 45 seconds of recording and at intervals thereafter, using both a Belkin TuneTalk and a MicroMemo on a 30G iPod Video. Behavior is predictable and appears identical on both devices. Playback of the recordings also end prematurely with 5, 10, 15 or more seconds still showing on the iPod's playback countdown display.

Seems to me the problem must lie in the iPod software, not these recording devices. My iPod is using Software Version 1.2.1

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 7th 2007 8:59AM]

Hello,
I just bought an Ipod Video 30G version 1.2.1 and want to use it for voice recordings as well but now I see that I cannot use Belkin adaptor for that purpose. Any suggestions to which microphone might work with my Ipod - if possible at all?
Thanks.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 27th 2007 9:48AM]

I have been testing this problem, and I have one possible solution: reset the iPod and wait until it completely boots before attaching the TuneTalk. This has worked for me, and I think the problem doesn't appear unless you attach the TuneTalk with the iPod off. Can someone test for this?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2007 10:14AM]

I have the same problem: every ~20 sec part of the recording is missing.
My first thought is that this has something to do with the writing of the blocks to the HDD of the IPod.

I did some testing as you (Noticias) suggested.
1) Reboot the Ipod. Waited till it came up again. When on I connected the Tunetalk. Did a recording of 4min. Played back and. Problem gone!
2) When on disconnected and reconnected the Tunetalk. Testing : still OK!
3) Switched Off IPod. Connected the Tunetalk which switched on the Ipod. Testing: OK!
4) Disconnected the Tune Talk, Connected PC. Sync. Reconnected the Tunetalk. Testing: OK!

So until now the problem is solved and I can not reproduce it.
But I am sure it will appear again and if so I post it here.