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Audio Recording on New iPods
Vertig0gitreV writes "Over at iPodding they are reporting that in the Diagnostic Mode of the new new iPods (released on the 28th of May) there are two options for audio recording: mono through the headphone jack, and a stereo line-in through the docking port via the yet-to-be-announced line-in adaptor."
An Apple rep has already confirmed (off the record) that this will be an accessory to come the next months.
One can wonder why they didn't out it as a feature though.
"I tend to think of OS X as Linux with QA and Taste", James Gosling, creator of Java
Yes! This feature has been a long time coming and finally brings recording to the iPod, which has been lacking it compared to Nomad and Archos. Now I can record samples and concerts with something small and unobtrusive -- if expensive. I imagine the new iPod will find many interesting new uses with the docking port, such as loading into a car stereo. Anyways check out earth2willi.com for lots of free music downloads to install on your new iPod! It's registration and advertisement free, untouched by the RIAA, available in various genre and fileformats, and uncrippled by DRM.
I have been looking into using the iPod as a PDA (read only, of course), and I am really excited about this. With this feature you can either take audio notes on the run, or, if there is enough processor power for voice recognition, enter information into the Calendar / Address Book, etc.
There is also a third option, which would be neat, to record the audio onto the iPod disk, and then have your Mac transcribe the audio when the iPod hooks up. This could be a work around if the iPod does not have the computing capacity for taking voice input.
This would be so like Apple - they know we are all getting just a little sick of Graffitti and scribbling tiny marks on a tiny screen. Voice recognition / recording would make the iPod a PDA with a unique and convenient interface.
"Well it's not Victory - but then it's not Death either."
There seem to be new features in the iPods that weren't announced or well publicized. From my earlier post here:
While reading Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal I came upon this paragraph:
"The standard cable still hooks into a FireWire, or 1394, a port many Macs have but few Windows PCs include. So, Apple offers an alternate cable for $19 that plugs into the USB 2.0 port that's standard equipment on new Windows PCs. It will also work, albeit much more slowly, with the older USB ports found on nearly every Windows PC in the past four years. This opens up many more Windows computers for working with the iPod."
Went to the Apple website and sure enough - The new iPod dock can now connect to a USB 2.0 port on Windows machines . What is more - you can also use a USB 1.1 port for _really_ slow transfers!
From Apple Website:
"USB 2.0
For PC users, the iPod will be able to sync files via USB 2.0*, which transfers data at up to 480 Mbps and comes standard on the latest Windows computers. USB 2.0 is also compatible with USB 1.1, although data transfer speeds are much slower."
Looks like a smart move...
Adi Gadwale.
This could be VERY cool. Assuming that the input can work as a line in, I could see hooking up a nice set of mics to a mixer, run it into the ipod and use it as a very quick and easy recording setup for band practices. Download the resulting MP3/WAV files and email them out to band members. :) (or perhaps come up with some funky script that would de-hiss the recording, compress it slightly, etc)
Ah, Archos Jukebox. The big, fat bloated girlfriend of the MP3-players. You must be proud.
"I tend to think of OS X as Linux with QA and Taste", James Gosling, creator of Java
At 2.6 pounds, I would hope so.
The iPod is 5.6 ounces.
If they've got line (or mic) in, how much further can voice recognition be? Imagine an AUI (Aural User Interface):
"iPod, play Pink Floyd, album Dark Side of the Moon."
Might be a nice alternative to the scroll wheel, cool as it is.
c-hack.com |
Archos Jukebox had one (I had one of these machines... Huge, heavy, slow transfer rates, shitty hardware, buggy software, had it replaced twice in three monthes, and then swapped it with an iPod) Guess what? It was useless: whenever you try to record from the internal microphone, the hard disk would start spinning (and put itself in motion every 2 or 3 minutes). The noise would cover any sound coming from the microphone. Though I got to admit that I had the best MP3 records of a spinning hard disk... they were just soooooo accurate. There would be similar problems on the iPod (even though the iPod hard disk only has to spin every one and then, because it has so much more RAM).
The "record from line-in" feature was nifty, but I never really found an use for it...
Hello! I'm a disaster waiting to happen!
They'll have to buffer audio in the 32MB RAM, compress it, and when the RAM fills up, spin the HD and write it down. If they've got decent MP3(AAC?) encoding hardware on it, then they might not need to buffer the incoming audio at all, in which case I imagine they could avoid spinning the disk more often than once every twenty minutes or so.
If they pull that off, you could get hours and hours and hours of recording time on a single charge. Er... but idunno about the power requirements of a decent mic. This might not be everything a bootlegger dreamed of, but close to it. They'll probably still need to carry around some kind of power source to drive their mic. Any audio folks out there to illuminate the issue?
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
Not specific to recording, but since you mention you're a dj, did you notice that iTunes 4 has a BPM field in the ID3 tag now? If you were "spinning" mp3s, could make organizing your library easier. Don't know. I'm not a dj, but I thought it was a cool, yet unmentioned, addition.
This sig intentionally left justified.
It has been in hardware (processor) from the first iPods, however, this 3rd generation iPod finally has the hardware connection and initial rudamentary software connection to take advantage of it. I think that coupled with the notes feature, which has also been refered to as "museum mode," and the "experiments in education," Apple is preparing the iPod for more vertical markets.
It'll be interesting to see what iPodding finds when they conduct the take-apart. I imagine that this one will be far more optimized since it is significantly smaller than the first two generations and uses specialized connections. The design process of the last one was designed to take advantage of "off the shelf" components.
Perhaps a few of the 30(?) pins on the dock connector provide SPDIF in/out? Many "pro" tapers (phish, pearl jam, etc.) use external A/Ds on their decks anyway. This would eliminate hard drive noise.
:)
My fantasy: iPod would record uncompressed 24bit/96k audio from an external (portable) A/D converter. I suppose I'd accept 16bit/44.1k
My super-fantasy: iPod would act as a "smart" DV drive, allowing me to use the iPod to record video directly from my DV camera, and then letting me edit it (even if just cuts only) on the fly right from the iPod (using the camera's viewfinder or video out as the display).
Apple would never do any of these. I can only hope that a firmware hack (something similar to the linux for ipod project?) will appear, allowing enthusiasts to add features such as those I list above.
>Er... but idunno about the power requirements of a decent mic.
Well, I went back and looked in one of my manuals to see what the differences are, and mics can be powered with 3 volts (granted, this varies on model and make, but the theory is there), BUT, the voltage effects the mics output. Many "plugin power" sets on recorders (and in this case the ipod), send 3-4 volts which is sufficient.
The catch comes with that mics operate best (and can capture the high end range from ~15khz upward) when they are powered with just under 10 volts. Granted, this is again an average, but most battery boxes that are used as either bass filters, or overload prevention supply the mics with just over 9 volts, and this enables the mics to have a greater dynamic range.
Another thing is, most people who tape concerts (as thats what I gathered your example was) have battery boxes to prevent poor A>D transitions and other problems, and again, in my mind, it would be recomended to retain that battery box or A>D box as a precaution.
We don't need an "overrated" so much as we need a "you completely missed the parent's point, dumbass..."
I'm wondering what makes the most sense. Someone at the sound desk live encoding an aac file with drm and serving it up to one of Apple's servers, or a truck full of CD recorders parked out back of a venue producing, hmm exactly how many do they produce? 50, 100, 1000? and then running around to the main gate and selling them as people are leaving the show. Don't know about you but I get goosebumps imagining being able to download last nights Yes concert somewhere in Europe for $9.99 while I get ready to go to work here in Seattle, WA.
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Professional (studio) microphones usually need phantom power (11 - 48 volts) on a balanced type connector (XLR for example), usually monophonic.
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Bias voltage (1.5 - 9V) is used with small, portable microphones like the ones people connect to portable minidisc recorders or professional tape recorders. All portable devices of that kind I've used have it on the mic input port - unbalanced stereo 3.5mm connector type.
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Professional (stage) microphones are either passive (like the omnipresent SM58) or active - in which case they likely have built-int batteries.
If Apple allows a microphone to be connected to the iPod, it'll likely be of the 2nd type.More info at Shure for example.
Griffin Technology's beaten you to it:
iFM