#27

It looks like Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is using the Shure MV88 in a video on her Facebook page…

It sounds like she is getting some nice results from the video…

#28

I just picked up a pair of 30-pin mics to use with the collection of old iOS devices I use to make music with. I got a Fostex AR4i and a Tascam iM2 for the princely sum of £10. I’ve not had chance to do anything with them yet but will do over the coming weeks.

2 Likes
#29

Can anyone recommend something for getting eurorack signals into to an iPhone directly? I’d like to take the lunch box out and record directly to the iPhone without having a mixer in between.

2 Likes
#30

Now that the USB-C to 3.5mm mic/audio adapters are the new normal, shouldn’t there be a tiny adapter like that which also delivers 5v plugin power in order to use EM172 based microphones like the Usi? That should be technically feasible, since USB can deliver 5 volts, right? Or is that not true for smartphone USB ports?

Some proprietary solutions seem to exist, such as the “GoPro Pro 3.5mm Mic Adapter” and “Osmo Pocket 3.5mm Adapter”, but based on quick googling, they are not class-compliant and would not work with smartphones.

Any thoughts or new information to share?

2 Likes
#31

so, class compliant usb-c audio interface wired for 3-5v power on TRRS 3.5mm?

does seem like a useful device profile, all very portable form factors

rode makes one (though for iOS, and i am only assuming their “smartlav” pinout is compatible [*])

i’m sure there are more, though a bit surprising that quick search isn’t revealing them. (e.g. i’m surprised IK Multimedia hasn’t added a profile like this to their endless series of “iRigs”)

FWIW, i’ve used a zoom h4 as portable USB interface with 5v mics.

[*] wild guess that the proliferation of nonstandard pinouts could be one obstacle to productization of something like this

2 Likes
#33

The RØDE one has a lightning connector, but yeah, something like that is what I’m looking for.

I’m using a Zoom too for this purpose, but it would be great to have something for the phone, even mono, because I’m not carrying the Zoom around all the time. Maybe the reason there is not yet a product for this is the somewhat undefined standard of “plugin power” for microphones.

More googling… Syba has a USB-A adapter that claims “near full 5v power output to microphone”, but there is no USB-C version: https://www.amazon.com/Syba-external-Adapter-Windows-C-Media/dp/B001MSS6CS/. Their own website does not repeat this claim of 5v output.

#34

i know it’s a bit astray from the budget bracket in this thread (albeit…), but Sonosax recently put out the M2-D2, a compact “swiss army knife” (dual preamp/mixer/hp/interface/etc) with USB-C capability, that works with smartphones.

1 Like
#35

I want to begin live streaming little videos, using my phone. But I don’t have a way to have a decent audio input to my Android phone. My RME FF400 has a firewire connection so…
A simple 2 1/4" jacks USB audio interface would be enough, but 4 inputs would be even better.
Can you recommend me a simple solution to connect my synths to my Android phone?

I thought about something like a Native Instruments Audio Komplete 6, but there is no info I can find if this would work with an Android phone. Maybe multitrack input is not possible and only a stereo input audio interface would work?. I don’t know.

1 Like
#36

wondering if any android users here have found any good options for doing field recordings with their phones? I got a Pixel 3a and its the first time I’ve had a phone that can do more than make calls, so I was hoping to be able to use something like the Roland CS-10em binaurals to just have something on me all the time. but from what I can gather and would make sense the Pixel’s mic input is mono (and the internal mic sounds awful), and there doesn’t really seem to be good stereo usb-c options that I can find. there are tons of iphone mics and options but android/usb-c seems seriously lacking unless I’m just missing something? only Rode seems to have a stereo option but I think its only compatible with their mics? Boya seems to produce knock-offs of some of the Rode/Shure shotgun mics I’m guessing targeted at Chinese smartphone users, so maybe I’ll have to settle for that. I was hoping to not even have to have a separate mic to keep everything as in-the-pocket as possible.

I saw price drop to about 1/3rd on the Sennheiser ambio binaural headphones because of them being discontinued, but unfortunately it seems they never came out with the android version of their app, so I’m guessing they are probably useless even with an adapter which is a real shame. might be a good look for any iphone users though

1 Like
#37

Yeah, just did a recent set of googling as well. Couldn’t find any Android-friendly compact stereo interface either. Found this one, which is relatively small, and has 9v battery and phantom power: http://www.saramonic.com/product/smartrig-uc/. What I’d like is a similar device with plugin power and stereo inputs. (Oh, and Saramonic has a 2 channel version also: http://www.saramonic.com/product/smartrig-uc-2/.)

1 Like
#38

interesting, though the price/size ratio doesn’t seem so appealing either. while its not crazy expensive with something like the 2 channel I start thinking its easier to just carry my recorder without any extra mics around. it won’t give you phantom, but maybe the iRig stream could be used with an adaptor to get a pair of binaurals into a phone at a smaller size, though its unclear to me if you can use it without an iOS. I did find this for those in the US- https://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/MS-ANDROID-STEREO-ADAPTER. I’m guessing this is not custom designed but a cheap Chinese USB DAC/ADC which you could then buy/build for around $15 yourself, but I haven’t been able to figure out which one since most are mono mic input. also found this, but not sure how well it would work with different mic types- BY-DM20

I might give the Rode videomicro a shot try since I don’t have any kind of shotgun at the moment anyway, its a cheap way of trying out that style of mic. I watched a bunch of very painful vlogger videos yesterday since thats who all these mics are geared towards and people seem to love the Boya being half the price… but to my ears the side by side test they are VERY different. the Rode has way more clarity and high end/air sound, which they seem to interpret as “lack of bass”, and the Boya while louder and “bassier” also has what sounds like straight up lossy compression character, like you just took several slices out of the spectrum. this is all over youtube compression already too. the Boya lav sounds like… a $20 lav, with the iRig already being substantially better to my ears and the Rode being the best. but, what can you expect when those people are focused just on capturing voice audio clear enough for a lossy compression format.

1 Like
#39

That Sound Professionals thing might fit the bill! Although it only provides 3.3v, which might not be enough for Uši and other EMT172 electret microphones to provide optimal results. They also sell a plugin power adapter, which you can insert between the sound interface and the microphone, but then, again, it is too close to handheld-recorder-size territory for my tastes.

1 Like
#40

ah yeah I wasn’t even thinking about EMT172 mics. you are probably right. to me it seems like the way to go is to imagine all of this as a separate little equipment ecosystem where I guess we’re always looking at 3.3v max and just having to go with different weird mics or recording strategies for an in-the-pocket arrangement. luckily, we can still have MEMS though!

The iRig acoustic pickup is basically a clip-on mems, so it would be interesting to try it out as some sort of hybrid contact/normal mic for the phone. theres also all the little sparkfun/adafruit mems and electret boards using different capsules and chips. I’ve got a couple here, but not knowing what I can safely send into the phone I’m reluctant to mess around too much since having even a very low-end smart phone feels fancy to me. Its unfortunate that phones are so cryptic and complex (to me anyway…) compared to a lot of audio gear. I tested the electret adafruit board with the volume auto-adjusting chip and it sounded pretty good to me for what it was - I was able to pick up small things like rubbing hands together or clothes moving around at a decent distance when it was quiet. the strange auto-ducking you would just have to look at like a “feature”.

I found I had a TRRS splitter hanging around, and while it was kinda janky on the fit (came with something… maybe qunexus?) I was able to do a little experiment of having my headphones plugged in, plus running a contact mic in and recording it on the phone. it has the usual unbuffered tinny sound and I’d worry about bigger piezos possibly sending too much voltage (I have no idea if the max voltage can be going IN to the phone without damage), but it worked. so theres something interesting one can have on them all the time. with some messing around running a small buffer on the phone power should also be possible.

I contacted Rode to see if they could give any official word on using the SLC6-L with a lightning to usb c for androids. I’ll post here if I get anything back. with the SC6 though I guess one can at least do things like have two decent lavs mixed down making for some weird mono/stereo sound capturing.

**update- heard from Rode, unfortunately the SLC6-L is completely iOS proprietary :frowning:

1 Like
#41

IMG_7050
IMG_70501666×2221 669 KB

IMG_7054
IMG_70542266×3314 1.22 MB

Doing a small batch of these to collect feedback on build and sound quality. PUI 5024 HD electret omnis inside (-24 dB sensitivity, 80 dB signal-to-noise ratio). Anyone interested in trying these out?

11 Likes
#42

Hey, would love to in 20 characters!

1 Like
#43

Very very cool. Would love to try one out!

1 Like
#44

Oh hell yes would love to test, if testing in Finland is ok. It looks sweet!

1 Like
#45

Has anyone tried the Zoom AM7 for Android (usb c)?
I’m quite tempted, but it seems to be quite similar to the IQ7 for iPhone which doesn’t get such good reviews.

2 Likes
#46

also curious. I hope this is the start of more android/usb-c audio gear like this. compared to iphones the options have been seriously lacking unless you want to go with boya stuff.

1 Like
#47

Looks like what I’ve been looking for. If you need another tester I’m down.

1 Like