Record with the new iPod (5g)?

carl-anton · #1 11-15-2005, 06:05 AM

Has anybody experience with recording rehearsals etc. with the new iPod 5g? The product description + reviews says it can make line-in recordings in .wav format, but it requires some kind of accessory I don't know what is. So, has anyone done it? Does the harddisc skip? Is the needed accessory expensive?

My minidisc has finally given up, and I need something that can both be my musicplayer and recorder. I'll be using my Røde N3 condenser mic, so no need for a preamp. I'm tempted by the new Hi-MD minidisc's but a 30gb iPod with recording capabillities sure sounds tempting. And it's not that much more expensive.

fenderx55 · #2 11-16-2005, 12:10 AM

is it the first gen iPod? If not, I use this bad boy to record classes, I don't konw about a whole band though.

Lokire · #3 11-16-2005, 12:49 AM

From the specs on the apple website, the new 5g will record line-in at decent qualities (unlike previous ipods) but you need an accessory to do it. And since the 5G did away with the extra headphone port plugin thingy, all the accessories that worked with the old ipods won't work with the new one. And since the 5G has only been out about a month now, none of the accessories for it have been adapted and released yet aside from a few cases.

I've been following it pretty closely because I'm extrememly interested in what kind of recording capabilities the 5g will have. That was the one thing that I didn't like about the previous ipods, that they could only record with a crummy attachment mic and at low qualities.

I'd say give it another month, and sometime around the christmas holiday we should be seeing a lot of new Ipod accessories.

carl-anton · #4 11-16-2005, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lokire

From the specs on the apple website, the new 5g will record line-in at decent qualities (unlike previous ipods) but you need an accessory to do it. And since the 5G did away with the extra headphone port plugin thingy, all the accessories that worked with the old ipods won't work with the new one. And since the 5G has only been out about a month now, none of the accessories for it have been adapted and released yet aside from a few cases.

I've been following it pretty closely because I'm extrememly interested in what kind of recording capabilities the 5g will have. That was the one thing that I didn't like about the previous ipods, that they could only record with a crummy attachment mic and at low qualities.

I'd say give it another month, and sometime around the christmas holiday we should be seeing a lot of new Ipod accessories.

That was what I was thinking too. Shame they have downplayed the recording feature so much, but I guess video was a bigger selling point. If it's possible to record line-in from any mic in 44,1khz/16bit wav then quality of the recording would be really good, and technically better than minidisc, which is great already.

Guess it's the waiting game then. Lokire, if you don't find it too much hassle, drop me a pm or post here if you discover something new about this. Thanks

Is any sites to watch for this info?

carl-anton · #5 11-16-2005, 05:05 AM

Just stumpled across this: iKey-audio Seems very smart to me, although pretty expensive (240$).

fretlessrock · #6 11-16-2005, 07:15 AM

The 5G will use the dock connector for the recording inputs. If you wanted to hack up a dock cable you could use the dock pinout to break it out to a stereo jack. The iPodLinux project supports recording on the older iPods and they used the dock connector input.

http://ipodlinux.org/Dock_Connector

Lokire · #7 11-16-2005, 11:42 AM

Possibly, I know the older ipods were able to record using the pinout on the bottom (through ipod linux) but the information about the specific pins might have changed for a 5G as I know a lot of the hardware is different, to be able to support the video playback through the dock as well. The current 5G docks certainly don't have any "line in" function, and there's nothing in the menus that start a recording so the feature must be activated by either a certain kind of added hardware or maybe a future firmware update. And Linux for the 5G is far away

The sites I always check are:

www.appleinsider.com
www.ipodhacks.com
www.thinksecret.com
www.ilounge.com

brooklynbassguy · #8 11-16-2005, 01:26 PM

I believe the older iriver hd 120 allows for excellent recording using an external mic, as well as the edirol r-1 and marantz.

fretlessrock · #9 11-16-2005, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lokire

The current 5G docks certainly don't have any "line in" function, and there's nothing in the menus that start a recording so the feature must be activated by either a certain kind of added hardware or maybe a future firmware update.

Do you have a source for the 5G dock pinout? There are unused/unassigned pins on the dock connector and the Dock connector already has 3 video-out pins. see the link I provided that shows:

8 Video Out - Composite Video
9 S-Video Chrominance
10 S-Video Luminance

I haven't had my paws on a 5G but I have read references to the voice record feature on some of the boards, and it sounded like it was in the menus. Call it "voice record" or not, the Apple lit for the 5G states that it will do 16/44.1 stereo.

Lokire · #10 11-16-2005, 03:34 PM

I do have one of the new 5Gs and don't see any kind of recording function in the menus anywhere. I don't have the dock though, so maybe if it's plugged into the dock that becomes available? I haven't heard any mention of that though.

I haven't heard anything about the new pinout either, but some things might have changed from the old one since I know they dropped firewire support for transfers and the video out before could only show the slideshows and nothing else. It must be mostly the same though since I'm pretty sure the old docks work with the 5Gs. I don't know what S-Video Chrominance and S-Video Luminance would be exactly though

hyperlitem · #11 11-24-2005, 10:58 AM

wont you need a phantom power supply for that mic before it goes into the ipod??

carl-anton · #12 11-24-2005, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyperlitem

wont you need a phantom power supply for that mic before it goes into the ipod??

Don't know who you asked, but my Røde NT3 is selfpowered with a 9v battery.

carl-anton · #13 11-24-2005, 08:24 PM

Well, I emailed Griffin who makes iPod accessories including a mic for the 4g iPod. The tech person who answered would of course not reveil what new unreleased products the have in store (guess it's quite a race to be the first with iPod gear), but in a subtle way he let me know that it's a matter of time. Hope it's before x-mas, though I think I'll add it to my wishlist anyway, since my minidisc sort of has started working again (amazing how taking things apart and putting them back together without doing anything else to them somehow fixes them)

DLM · #14 02-15-2006, 10:04 AM

Any more developments on this? I'm considering getting the new iPod (video) and would like to record live music using an external mic, but don't want to do it in a way where I have to download add'l software or anything like that. I'm looking for a clean and easy way to do this.

Anyone? Thx!

carl-anton · #15 02-15-2006, 10:17 AM

I think there's been anounced recordning accessories now (Belkin), but I don't know if they're out yet. But it means you'll need th iPod + the accessory. I don't think there is/will be a software sollution.

Btw, I got the iPod anyway. It's great!

carl-anton · #16 02-15-2006, 11:30 AM

Found this, but it's still very expensive (and unreleased):
http://www.xtrememac.com/audio/earph.../micromemo.php

DLM · #17 02-15-2006, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carl-anton

I don't think there is/will be a software sollution.

Are you saying that there won't be add'l software required?

Do you think that with a good mic, the recording quality will be as good as minidisc?

carl-anton · #18 02-15-2006, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLM

Are you saying that there won't be add'l software required?

Do you think that with a good mic, the recording quality will be as good as minidisc?

"add'l"? If you mean, that you want to avoid installing linux or something like it on your iPod to record with it, I don't think you have to. From what I understand, these devices should be more or less PnP. Once plugged in, the recording capabillyties will show on the iPod.

I think the recordnings will be bether than minidisc, since the iPod is capeable of recording in cd quality.

Rody · #19 02-16-2006, 06:13 AM

Check out Iaudio stuff. I have an M3, 20 gb with line-in recording to mp3 up to 320 kbs. Straight from the desk, sounds great. No mic-in though....

CHeers Rody