Q: Will this adapter work with a stereo mic?A: The combined
headset jack on the iPhone and other devices only has a mono mic input
so you cannot record in stereo. Most recording apps split the mono
signal into both left/right channels when recording so the audio will
play back in both ears. You can connect a stereo mic to this adapter but
only one side of the mic will be active; if you use a
stereo-to-mono
adapter on your mic then it will make both mics active. There is a new
stereo microphone product available which will allow for stereo
recording using the docking connector; this is currently the only option
available for stereo recording,
Tascam IM2 stereo mic.
Q: Why do I need a different adapter for a lavaliere mic that does not have batteries?A:
Lavaliere mics, PC mics and headset mics are typically ECM mics
(electret condenser mics) and all ECM mics require power to operate. If
your ECM mic does not have batteries then you need the –ECM version of
the adapter which allows the iPhone (or other device) to power the mic.
Q: Can I connect a microphone with a different style connector if I use an adapter?A:
Although you can adapt various microphone connectors to work with this
adapter, the XLR connection needs to be hooked up as “Unbalanced” and
most XLR to 3.5mm adapters are balanced connections. You can either use
our
XLR version of this adapter, or you can connect an XLR mic to this
adapter by using an XLR to 3.5mm mono (unbalanced) adapter.
Q: Can I connect two microphones for doing interviews?A:
Yes, you can use a standard
3.5mm splitter adapter to connect two
microphones which will combine the signals from both microphones into
this adapter. Alternately, you could use a small mixer to combine the
signals from multiple microphones into this adapter.
Q: Why can't I use the headphones to hear (monitor) the microphone while recording?A:
The microphone signal is too weak to be heard in the headphones without being amplified. The mic signal would need to be amplified by the software (App) and played back through the headphones live for you to be able to hear while you are recording. Most recording apps, including the4 built-in recording apps, do not have a monitoring feature so the headphones will only work for playback of recordings with these apps. If you use a recording app with monitoring, like StudioMini or Fire by AudioFile, then you will be able to monitor while recording.
Q: Can you recommend a good microphone to use with this adapter?A:
There are several popular microphones listed below which work well with
this adapter but you can use just about any standard microphone. Some
microphones are designed to work better with close audio sources and
some are designed to pickup more background and distant audio sources,
depending on the type of recording you desire.
Just about any
external microphone tends to greatly improve the audio quality over the
internal mic; however, there is a limit to the performance you can
achieve with real expensive mics due to the iPhone audio circuitry
limitations.
- Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier
- Azden WMS-PRO Wireless Microphone System
- Audio-Technica ATR-6550
- Rode Microphones VideoMic Pro
- Sennheiser MKE 400 VideoMic
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