A lot of faculty for courses we’ve worked on like to do remote shooting on their own, so we’ve recommended shooting video on their iPhones. Obviously, built in-audio on phones has not improved at the rate video has, so mics are a must when shooting on a phone. While thinking about ways to shoot decent videos on smart phones and recommending equipment, it occurs to me that some devices have moved away from the headphone jack, thus making some of the mics we usually recommend a little harder to use. I started looking around for alternatives just in case that trend continues.
While the iPhone 7 does come with an adapter for headphones, it’s a little flimsy and has had mixed reviews in terms of capturing audio, so I was looking into alternatives that used the USB ports, since it’s basically the only option left. Unfortunately, right away it’s pretty apparent that this route is the more expensive one, but I found some interesting things anyway. The Clipmic is a little bit closer to what we’re used to using now and seems pretty straightforward and user-friendly:
Clipmic Digital – http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/clipmic-digital-mobile-recording
- works with Apple only (iPhone/IPad/iPod touch)
- no adapter needed
- comes with audio apps
If you want a fancier portable interface, iRig has a few pretty nifty setups:
IK Multimedia iRig Pro – http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irigpro/
IK MultiMedia iRig Pro Duo – http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irigproduo/
- works with Apple/Android
- can be powered by the attached phone or by batteries so as to not drain the battery
- input connector for microphones
- free software through the app store with registration of device
