Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Field Recorder Recommendations
![[Deleted User]](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/019589e50c568257a91aaad27bb47b18/?default=https%3A%2F%2Fvanillicon.com%2Fe904907fe2a35d99a300eeed7d16603f_200.png&rating=g&size=200)
What would you recommend for a recorder to take out and about to capture sound for sampling?
I would like the followings:
Easy to get the sounds onto my iPad without use of a computer.
Reasonable mic built in.
Not too expensive, so iPhones are out 
Comments
I'm watering since it got out on zoom H6 so for I bargain I could get: a 6in2out interface(iPad compatible via ckk), a shotgun mic, a M/S mic and the X/Y mic. Which comes for ca. 600 euros
Or this http://en.rode.com/microphones/ixy for 166 euros
Thanks a couple of options. Maybe a bit on the expensive side for even the Rode, by the time I add an iPod touch. My iPad is too large to carry around.
For portable I have a Sony PCM-M10. It's an old design, but I got mine about a year and a half ago. It's easy, has physical knobs without having to go into a menu each time, onboard mics are decent, pre-amp is superb. It's an old model but is still an excellent piece of gear for the money. They still sell new. Mine was $200 off Amazon, but I think they're going for a bit more now.
The battery lasts an incredible amount of time. I think my first set lasted nearly a year.
For XLR, I use an iRig Pre. It's decent and fairly clean. I think they're only about $40.
It has builtin memory AND an miniSD card slot for expanded storage. Records up to 96kHz 24bit.
To get the sound into my iPad or iPhone, I use either the SD lightning card reader $29 or an Airstash2 wifi SD storage. Only as big as a lighter. It's pretty fast and you can pop in your SD card and then "open in" pretty much any audio app.
Thanks @skiphunt
Found it for about £140 uk, so that looks about right. Might try find a second hand one
Or also the other zoom are good from h1 ranging up
I've got the zoom H2 as well. Excellent for the money, but those ultra clean preamps in the Sony are just spectacular. Noticeable. Though the surround sound you can get out of the Zoom H2 is impressive for what they cost.
There's a good reason Sony is still selling those little pcmm10s new, even though the design is unchanged & several years old. And, I think they're still selling at their full list price as well. You don't see that kind of product lifespan often.
I got mine over a year ago. I'm very happy with it & it meets or exceeds my expectations based on reviews, etc. But I haven't needed to shop for something else since then, so there could likely be something better now. I've just been content enough with the Sony that I haven't felt a need to even look.
It also can function as a 24bit portable music player.
I'm a HUGE fan of the Rode iXY mic. Stereo recording, the Rode app works great, small with a nice carry case, and best of all you can use it with an iPhone or iPad. I use it all the time, more so than my Rode studio mics lately, one of the best investments I've made.
Your handy dandy iPhone
i picked up a Tascam dr 44 last year. Price seems to have increased now !!?? It's a super feature rich recorder with great build quality.... It's is a bit "chunky" (metal and plastic body ) and maybe not as portable as some of the cometition. some functions can be controlled from your iPhone with a free app..,Lovely !!!
The Tascam was to replace a zoom h2n which is a great little recorder but digging through menus is a pita. I use the h2n as a back up or in roles where something more compact is required.... It's a bit plasticy, but recording quality is great via the in built mics which offer lots of different recording configurations.
Someone mentioned the zoom h1 ... I don't own one but have used one... Whilst cheap to buy and offering surprisingly good audio quality ... "Handling" noise can be an issue.
iPhones are out peeps, they cost a mint to buy and the deals in the UK are not as great as the US.
I've heard good things about the Zoom H4n.. I use a Tascam.
got long time a Zoom H2 and it works very well,
after couple of years i bought the new H5 and 2Steps forward....like it very!
I’ve got a zoom H2n, which I quite like, and I’ve got two Zoom H1 (one out on loan, must fish it back) for doing the four channel acquisition experiments on what was to turn out to be my Quasonama idea. The H1 mics sound to me to be harsher, thinner, tinnier and more prone to picking up pretty much everything you don’t want as well as some you do. I’ve also got a Zoom Q2HD which does excellent mid-side (like the H2n can do) and sounds very nice and has video that is no better than a phones video, but has a kind of pleasant dreamy quality about it (i.e., detail isn’t its strong point but it’s not visually inaccurate either). The trouble with the Q2HD is the battery life is almost nothing (with NiMH — I’d never use alkaline, I’m not made of batteries you know).
As for using a phone (mine’s Android) the speech input isn’t too bad but the mic on the typical headset is a MEMS mic — ideal for close-range but the design of the mic piece should counteract environmental sound, so it won’t be a good field recorder. I’ve got a couple of mic-headphones splitter adaptors for 4-conductor headphone jacks (ordered from China for very cheap). I’ve tried using the Sony phone with the splitter with just headphones separately to a little Lav mic about my person, and it was okay, not as different as I was expecting (the headset MEMS mics are quite sophisticated these days).
If you’re field recording a specific sound, rather than everything in the environment all at once, you really need a shotgun microphone. These can cost a lot, but I’ve got a relatively cheap very basic one[1] (and I also bought a cheap dead cat) which does give a useful amount of side rejection. A better one would be better, obviously, but in my cheap mic collecting, I’ve concentrated more on mid-side mics than shotgun mics. For side-rejection I like to use a mid-side set at 90° (many offer a choice of 120° or 90°, and the latter can be a good enough approximation of a shotgun mic if you’re not too fussy).
Mics are one area I’ve discovered where cost and performance are not correlated at all, unless you’re in a hurry.
Essentially, if I’m recording me, or a person, I prefer Lav mics. If I’m recording a specific sound ‘out there’, I use an M/S set to the narrowest it can do, and if I had a lot more money I’d get a shotgun and zeppelin set.
[1] I’ve found an eBay listing to the one I have, but mine had no accessories whatsoever other than one of the cables, and cost about a fifth of this example. Inside, it’s simply two forward-facing elements, one at the front and one at the rear of the grille.
Lots to look into, thanks all
Initially, I tried the iphone route with a Zoom IQ7 mic, but I found it to be pretty noisy for what I was doing (field recordings, not recording bands or similiar things). The same for an iRig field mic.
I then got a Zoom H2.n, which was pretty decent, but again, it was pretty noisy. I've now got a Sony PCM-M10, which is the best by far. Low noise, long battery life and just a more robust set-up all round in my view.
If anyone's interested I wrote a Blog entry here:
https://igneousflame.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/field-recordings-a-return-to/
-to/
Really ? I found once you get used to the gain settings it's really good. I Have recorded some decent voice overs with a h2n and cheap pop shield.... Finding the gain hot spot is the key
Sure, you need to get an optimal record level, but if the mics / pre-amps are noisy there's only so much you can do.
Several years ago, I purchased the Olympus LS-11 which was recommended by a professional filmmaker. It is fantastic! I can't imagine a better recorder value. It lasts forever on 2 AA batteries and has RAW recording format and the interface is very intuitive to use. I think it cost about the same as the H2.n. Build quality is very very good too. I love it and have no need for anything else.
I think this may be the successor to mine:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AIKU34K?keywords=Olympus LS-11&qid=1456950611&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2
I'm not sure any of these meet the 'get onto my iPad without a computer' requirement. Do any store to dropbox via wifi maybe?
Do you have any sort of smart phone? If so, I'd start there. There must be mics for Androids. Much better chance of finding something that will talk to ze clowd.
Ah, missed this bit:
I used To have an Olympus mini tape recorder when I was younger. They do make some good stuff.
I am without phone at this time lol
The Zoom Q2HD actually has a “USB for iPad” mode (that’s actually what it says in the menu) where you connect it to the iPad through the camera connection kit over usb and select the mode and you’ll then have use of it as an M/S mic and also webcam. Except that it doesn’t actually work. It never works.
Here’s an example of the video from it, and also the sound, but the sound is mixed with some music from decades ago. Oh, and it’s all backwards. And slowed down.
Used 30pin iPod Touch and used Blue Digital Mikey might come in at less than something standalone. I wouldn't rave about the sound of the Digital Mikey but it's totally usable for field recordings.
I've had an Olympus LS-10 for a few years now and it remains outstanding. I think it's been superceded by the LS-14.
I read good things about the Olympus LS-10 when I was looking... was a contender, but there was something I liked better about the Sony PCMM10. Might have been what sounded like cleaner pre-amp. Or, I was attracted to having good knobs to control levels on the fly. I've been happy with mine.
Also, it came with a wired remote. I actually left that in the plastic packed in the box for about the first 9mos because I didn't think I needed it. But, after you realize you only have so many hands working alone, and if you want to keep your hands off the recorder to avoid handling noise, the wired controller is very handy indeed.
A remote is a cool thing.
I have an H4N and it's a solid recorder. You might need a good wind screen for breezy environments. Getting stuff into the iPad would require a computer and iTunes. However the H4N is also an audio interface, and a four track recorder (simultaneously) with built in effects. It also has an optional remote which I have never used.
With the Rode iXY you can sample directly to your iPad, no need to transfer.
Totes. That's kinda brilliant.
Btw, if I can interest you in http://www.lawrenceenglish.com/ , heard it on the radio last night coincidentally, http://www.factmag.com/2014/11/18/a-beginners-guide-to-field-recording/6/