biginvegas
Well-known member
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=728175&is=REG This device will record direct XLR mic to the iPhone?
iPhone jack to XLR - anyone using this jack?
- Thread starter biginvegas
- Start date
I was thinking about something of this nature but every iPhone recording app i could find only recorded at 44.1k rather than the 48k that i needed to sync nicely to my video. In a pinch it would be great to have in my kit though. For now i use a similar cable that'2 2 pole and go into my Zoom h1. In the past i have used the same cables into other cheapo digital recorders just as long as they were 48k. I know this mattered a lot when i was syncing to in camera audio recorded to dv and hdv so i only assume it is still as important when recording h.264. I could be wrong however.
What i do know is that when your sample rate is lower it means the quality of your audio is lower so i would keep that in mind when working with it. If your just doing family videos or fun stuff for the web and such it should be fine. for professional productions however it is a little lacking.
What i do know is that when your sample rate is lower it means the quality of your audio is lower so i would keep that in mind when working with it. If your just doing family videos or fun stuff for the web and such it should be fine. for professional productions however it is a little lacking.
M. Gilden
Canon DSLR Moderator
uuhhmm... sort of, but not really.
Iphone's headphone jack are just that- a headphone jack. Its audio OUT. Now, there is an option to have a microphone attached to your headphones (for phone calls, etc), however it is a third pin not normally found on a standard 3.5mm jack. So, you'd likely need to build an adapter with the correct pins used for microphone input. You can do this with some parts from radio shack and a soldering iron, and getting the pin-out from online documents.
But even then, most XLR mics need some kind of phantom power or at least decent amplification which the iPhone is not designed to supply.
Bottom line is that an iPhone is NOT a good recording device, and definitely NOT for XLR mics. You're better off using the camera's internal mic jack if you can. Syncing external audio from an iPhone won't be high enough quality to even be worth the effort.
Iphone's headphone jack are just that- a headphone jack. Its audio OUT. Now, there is an option to have a microphone attached to your headphones (for phone calls, etc), however it is a third pin not normally found on a standard 3.5mm jack. So, you'd likely need to build an adapter with the correct pins used for microphone input. You can do this with some parts from radio shack and a soldering iron, and getting the pin-out from online documents.
But even then, most XLR mics need some kind of phantom power or at least decent amplification which the iPhone is not designed to supply.
Bottom line is that an iPhone is NOT a good recording device, and definitely NOT for XLR mics. You're better off using the camera's internal mic jack if you can. Syncing external audio from an iPhone won't be high enough quality to even be worth the effort.
It is a 3-pole jack in the iPhone and the cable is specifically designed to use the mic pole to send audio from XLR. Or at least thats what it claims its wired for.
That being said I think we both agree that the audio quality wont be good enough to use for much.
biginvegas
Well-known member
http://www.lifeisaprayer.com/articles/photography/iphone-4-ipad-external-mic-audio-input
http://www.lifeisaprayer.com/articl...-digital-audio-recording-external-microphones
I was still confused so did a search and found this guy who has comprehensively pretty much done it all with the iphone's and has had great results!
http://www.lifeisaprayer.com/articl...-digital-audio-recording-external-microphones
I was still confused so did a search and found this guy who has comprehensively pretty much done it all with the iphone's and has had great results!
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M. Gilden
Canon DSLR Moderator
Eh, great is a relative term. If you are recording an audio track to go along with a video track, why not just record into the camera?
Yes, our cameras have weak preamps and limitations that make them less than ideal for audio. But you know what isn't any better? Your iPhone. It looks like that guy you linked to is discussing using it in situations where there is no audio available otherwise, such as for recording a podcast on the go. But since you are recording into a camera that (presumably) has a mic input, what is the purpose in doing this?
My understanding is that dual system audio (like recording on a zoom h4n) is only worth the hassle and effort to sync in post because sometimes the limitations of the camera's amp leaves something to be desired. But if you are going through all this for the low quality of a cell phone recording... I have to ask, why??
Even with that setup, you can't use just any XLR mic. Since the iPhone lacks phantom power or much amplification at all, you'll need a powered amp or external box like a Juiced Link (even the guy you linked to there admits that), at which point you'd likely be better off recording into a separate box! It will probably cost less (or at least the same) and give much better results.
Or, if the iPhone audio is "good enough" for you, just run a cheap XLR to minijack directly into the camera and save yourself the trouble of syncing in post!
Yes, our cameras have weak preamps and limitations that make them less than ideal for audio. But you know what isn't any better? Your iPhone. It looks like that guy you linked to is discussing using it in situations where there is no audio available otherwise, such as for recording a podcast on the go. But since you are recording into a camera that (presumably) has a mic input, what is the purpose in doing this?
My understanding is that dual system audio (like recording on a zoom h4n) is only worth the hassle and effort to sync in post because sometimes the limitations of the camera's amp leaves something to be desired. But if you are going through all this for the low quality of a cell phone recording... I have to ask, why??
Even with that setup, you can't use just any XLR mic. Since the iPhone lacks phantom power or much amplification at all, you'll need a powered amp or external box like a Juiced Link (even the guy you linked to there admits that), at which point you'd likely be better off recording into a separate box! It will probably cost less (or at least the same) and give much better results.
Or, if the iPhone audio is "good enough" for you, just run a cheap XLR to minijack directly into the camera and save yourself the trouble of syncing in post!
biginvegas
Well-known member
well for one since you have been clearly living under the proverbial rock for the last year, the iPhone4 shoots amazing HD straight out of your pocket.2. You were wrong about the iPhone's sound recording capabilities, with apps it can record very decent sound. With a small video mic or one these OKM ear mics I can shoot with sound very discreetly. Of course for your benefit I must add this not for pro use, Canon 5D owners should never try experiment with said technology.
http://www.nnyman.com/soundman/features.php
http://www.nnyman.com/soundman/features.php
wgzn
Veteran
uh. no it doesnt. it shoots acceptable HD video that is pretty impressive considering its a phone.
well, "decent" is in the ear of the beholder ; )
but aside from quality discussions. what's your purpose for wanting to record sound on your phone? im not trying to argue with you. im just curious as to what youre doing that would make recording with your phone advantageous...
again, not trying to refute anything. just curious.
there's no need to get snarky. what suits one persons production needs may be a total non-starter for another's
M. Gilden
Canon DSLR Moderator
In the immortal words of a certain Mr. Lebowski, "well, that's like, your opinion man".
Not that any of this is relevant, but for the record, when I'm not mucking about with cameras I'm a mobile tech journalist on the side and co-founder of techcitement.com. I'm quite aware of what the iPhone can and can't do, and have very strong opinions about it that I'm not going to discuss here. All I will say is that while an excellent example of consumer tech, it is just that- consumer tech. The public however seems to have unrealistic expectations of its capabilities beyond that.
The few times I've seen someone use HD video from an iPhone4 (the results of which I would not call "amazing") it looked about as good as the music videos and commercials shot with the HTC Evo that Sprint was using for promotional material a couple of years ago (Nascar ad, some rap video, etc). That is, its amazing that it was shot with a phone, but nothing that I'd bother using otherwise.
But even then, I'm pretty sure I recall the production team shooting with the iPhone still chose to record the audio externally!
Yes, you can get "OK" audio like this. About as good as my 10 year old Compaq iPaq PDA that I used to use for bootleg concert recording. But so can your camera. In fact, your camera can probably do it better.
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