USB Audio in for iPod Touch 4G? When?

[Brian @ IK Multimedia]

If you get an iRig Mic you won't have to worry about future compatibility being broken in future devices. It also works with iMacs and MacBooks from recent years that can use the iPhone headset.

[Breeze]

The iRig is not stereo. It's also is subject to a severe bass rolloff as all headphone jack mics have shown to have on the ipod and the iphone. It's not a good solution for quality stereo capture.

[seanb]

But maybe there's hope. I got this note from Apogee:

At the moment, Jam is only compatible with iPad, Mac, and iPhone 4.
We are hoping to add iPod compatibility for jam.

Hmmmm. I put a few questions in too and all I got was confirmation of lack of support.

More worryingly, I also got confirmation that the JAM completely co-opts the 30-pin port, which means you're running on battery power only while the JAM is in use.

Not exactly conducive for lengthy sessions with a guitar amp sim given how much those kill your battery life.

On the upside, since i wasn't waiting for the JAM to come out any more, I took the dive and got a Peavey AmpKit LINK.

I will say that it's a big step up from the iRig for the sound quality I'm getting for my guitar and it's tolerance for higher gain amp models before descending into feedback. And it is definitely tolerable for use as a handy practice setup, but it still pulls in a lot of noise making it far from ideal.

One thing to note is that according to the blurb for the LINK, Peavey say that it tweaks the input freq curve to compensate for the mic input bass rolloff to push more bass through and it seems to be the case to my ears at least.

With that in mind, I have been meaning to get hold of a mic-to-guitar-level impedance changer and plug a mic in to see what the quality is like there, but haven't gotten around to it. I'll post here if i ever get to it.

I know it's still not a stereo solution, but it might still be a useful option to improve the iPT4G's usefulness as a field recorder.

Sean

Edit for clarification: the noise is most apparent in hi-gain amp sims. For clean guitar amp settings with low gain it's not so pervasive, so I'm expecting that when using a mic with an impedance changer the noise floor will remain similarly low.

[Breeze]

Here's an interesting development for the iPhone 4: the Fostex AR-4i. It doesn't say anything about the iPod Touch, but it does use the same connector an can be powered from USB.

So who knows. It's very lame that the iPod touch 4G is locked out of recording a stereo signal when every one of its predecessors could.

[mindnoise]

Not sure about the Audio Damage interface: it doesn't actually mention anything but the Pad.

But the Fostex AR-4i looks promising.

Nice to see finally see some developments!

since Chris Randall really loves his iPod and iPad cannot imagine he does everything such half assed. That's not the AD style

[Breeze]

since Chris Randall really loves his iPod and iPad cannot imagine he does everything such half assed. That's not the AD style

Ha! Forgot I already posted about the Fostex thingy. Oh, well: it'll counterbalance all the iRig posts... Chris might have his hands tied by whatever Apple decides about the Touch 4G. But fingers crossed...

[mindnoise]

since Chris Randall really loves his iPod and iPad cannot imagine he does everything such half assed. That's not the AD style

Ha! Forgot I already posted about the Fostex thingy. Oh, well: it'll counterbalance all the iRig posts... Chris might have his hands tied by whatever Apple decides about the Touch 4G. But fingers crossed...

You asked you the Pad, didn't you?
from the recent CR/AI Blog entry

In any case, initial tests with this current rev with Silent Way and CV Generator show that it works like a charm in those contexts. As a Euro-format iPad audio interface, it is working flawlessly. So, in short, all is well.

[Breeze]

You asked you the Pad, didn't you?

Hunh? This thread has been about the "Pod" from the beginning.

[mindnoise]

I feel ashamed! I somehow managed to missread your quote

Not sure about the Audio Damage interface: it doesn't actually mention anything but the Pad.

the entire time, reading 'about' instead of 'but'!



sorry for the wasted space & time.

and BTW I found confirmation at Chris's Blog:

"The iPhone/iPod doesn't work with the Camera Connection Kit. This is purely an Apple limitation. When the first beta of iOS4 came out, it worked fine. However, by the time iOS4 was released publicly they had turned it off for the iPhone/Touch, and it was only available in the iPad. Nothing we can do about this. "
damnit Apple!

[Muzik 4 Machines]

so maybe a jailbroken device/modified IPSW could theorically use the camera kit?

[Breeze]

so maybe a jailbroken device/modified IPSW could theorically use the camera kit?

This is what I've considered as well. But at this point, I question whether it would work unless an earlier version of the iOS known to work with the camera kit is used. But I hope to stand corrected.

Another advantage I saw of jailbreaking is that you can run the iPod's entire GUI and full screen apps on a HD screen, which is also locked out of the current iOS.

I really don't want to jailbreak my iPod but purposely denying workable options on a machine like this just makes me sick. They make plenty of money already, so why? It's not like it would significantly impact the other 83% of their business. I'm still smarting from the fact that I can't use any of my iPod's 32 gigs as a simple USB data store.