Ever been in a situation and needed a high quality microphone and recording, but didn't want to carry around a few extra devices? Well RØDE has introduced the iXY Microphone, which is the first device for iOS capable of 24-bit/96k audio recordings. The new microphone has a high-quality on-board A/D converter, and attaches to the data connection port on the bottom of the iPhone or iPad. It works with RØDE's own recording app to achieve the highest-fidelity recordings possible. Here is the video introduction from RØDE:
Here is their description of the device:
The RØDE iXY is the ultimate recording microphone for iPhone® or iPad®.
With up to 24-bit/96k* recording and on-board high-fidelity A/D conversion, your iXY recordings are rich, smooth and accurate.At the heart of the iXY is a matched pair of ½” cardioid condenser capsules, fixed in a perfect 90 degree ‘near-coincident’ alignment.
This results in immersive and true-to-life stereo recordings, captured in incredibly high detail.The iXY is supplied with a foam windshield for outdoor recording as well as a reinforced protective zip case to ensure your iXY is available whenever you need it.
For more information and to hear audio samples visit www.ixymic.com.
The iXY is compatible with iPhone® 4S, iPhone® 4, iPad® (3rd generation), iPad® 2 & iPad®.
To achieve the highest quality capable (24-bit/96k), you'll need to use the RØDE Rec app:
It doesn't look like it will natively work with the new iPhone or iPad, but it may be compatible if you use the Apple Lightning to 30-pin connector (UPDATE: It looks like if you register your iXY within 30 days, you can upgrade a new Lightning-capable device for $99). I've been in tons of situations with DSLRs where I've been looking for better than cell phone quality audio but didn't want to carry around any more gear with me than necessary. One advantage to this device is that you could take your DSLR and do a line connection from the headphone port to the mic port on one of those cameras, and get cleaner than internal audio. The big benefit to that setup is that most of the DSLRs or mirrorless cameras do not have any way for you to either monitor the audio coming in, or actually adjust it on the fly during recording, so by using the RØDE app with the iXY, you'll actually be able change levels as necessary during shooting.
If you head on over to the iXY site, you can listen to samples that have been recorded using the mic and the recording app. They obviously sound much better than the internal recording on the iPhone or iPad, but they aren't going to be as high quality as plugging in a $1000 mic into a couple thousand dollar recorder/mixer combination. For the money, I would expect this to be a good solution if you're a one man band with a DSLR and the audio needs to be decent but not perfect.
If you've got an iPhone or iPad, the hardware is going to run you $200, and the RØDE Rec LE app is free, or you can get the more fully-featured RØDE Rec for $6, both of which are available on iTunes.
What do you guys think?
Links:
Disclosure: RØDE is a No Film School advertiser.
