Most of you will be aware you can use a standard USB mic with your iPad by buying the Apple Camera Connection Kit and using the USB port to connect your USB mic.
However, what if you want to use a non-USB microphone? I found this vid on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWVXsNJEL0M which shows you how to use a little gadget called an iMic to plug a dynamic microphone in (info on the iMic starts at around 2.50 into the vid).
But it's a bit cheap and cheerful, it only works with dynamics or battery-powered electrets, not condensers that require phantom power, and it uses 1/8th inch connectors which is hardly pro.
So I did a search and found that Shure make a gadget called an X2u XLR-USB Signal Adapter which allows any XLR equipped microphone to connect via USB. It even has phantom power, gain controls, and a latency free headphone socket. It looks like it should be perfect, especially for iPad users who already have a range of quality mics they want to use, without having to buy USB mics as well.
HERE IS THE BAD NEWS: I can personally confirm that this device is not compatible with the iPad. The Camera Connection Kit can not supply sufficient power to the X2u for it to function. When you attempt to connect it you get an error message on your iPad stating this, and the X2u does not function at all.
I learned this the hard way. Having found out about the X2u, I bought an "as new" used one at a very good price (less than 40% of what it retails for here in Australia, and considerably less than you can buy it new in the US.)
I made the bad mistake of not trying it with the iPad before I bought it (dumb, I know). However the seller showed it to me working when plugged into a normal PC USB port, and it worked perfectly. It gave excellent quality sound, it powered a Rode NT1-A mic using the X2u's phantom power button, and it was such a good buy I splashed out the A$75 (my iPad was at home - what could possibly go wrong
). Incidentally the seller sold it to me in good faith. He did not claim it would work with the iPad, and he was selling it because he himself had misunderstood the nature of the device when he bought it. He thought it was a mini soundcard and that it would allow connection of devices other than microphones, which it does not - it's microphones only.
So far as I can tell, the only conceivable way of using an X2u with an iPad is with a battery-powered USB hub, and I can make no guarantees that it would work. Such products exist: Amazon lists the CyberPower Mobile Battery Powered 4-Port USB Hub http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-Mobile ... B0002UQALQ but it is out of stock, and besides, it gets terrible user reviews. I think this product is no longer being made.
I've done some fairly extensive searching and I can find no equivalent device from another manufacturer. The closest I can find is this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Port-Solar-Powere ... 1e5fe1f952
I don't know if it would work, but the description does say:
so it is just possible, though by no means certain, that it may be possible to use this device to make the iPad/X2u combination work: plug a short USB cable into the Camera Connection Kit and connect it to the hub; plug the X2u into a port of the hub; connect your microphone into the X2u - and pray that the hub will provide the extra power required to make the X2u operate!Note: Included cables are for power only and will not provide a data connection.
Please use the cable that comes with your product if you want both power/data.
Alternatively, if you only want to use dynamic or electret mics there is still the iMic - I have no idea how good the quality would be and you are going to have to use mini-jack adaptors for your mics.
