Notes
External Microphones for iPhone
This post is the result of my research into getting better audio from videos made on my iPhone. The solutions I found range from using a bunch of adapters that let you use your pro audio gear to a compact external microphone.
(The “Read More” link isn’t me trying to game extra clicks — it’s just that this is a pretty long post, and if you’re in your Tumblr Dashboard and don’t want to read the post, you’re going to have to scroll down for a while if I don’t truncate it like this. If you still think this is a dick move, let me know and I’ll try to convince you otherwise.)
I occasionally shoot some video with my iPhone 3GS, and the one thing that annoys me is the microphone. The audio performance I get out of my iPhone is OK, but “OK” isn’t a word that I think Apple likes having associated with their products. Here’s what I don’t like about the iPhone’s microphone for making videos:
- The microphone is all the way down at the other end of the phone, away from the camera.
- When I shoot video, I usually hold the iPhone rotated landscape with my right hand, so in order to hold the iPhone securely, I have to all but cup my hand over the microphone.
- The direction the microphone is pointing in is perpendicular to the direction the camera is pointing in.
- If you were shooting an interview on your iPhone (I’m sure people do it) and wanted to get good sound quality, you’d have to bring the phone right up to their face, which would destroy any decent camera angle.
So I did a bit of research, and there are a few solutions to this. Each one makes a trade-off between practicality and sound quality:
The first is the most impractical solution, but it lets you use your high-end audio gear. You know those Mini A/V cables that go from RCA to the four-conductor mini-plug like the iPhone accepts as its headphone input? Plug one of those into your iPhone. When you do that, the white (sometimes black) and yellow jacks become your audio-out-Left and audio-out-Right, respectively, and the red jack becomes your audio-in. Now you need an adapter that’s going to turn that red jack from a male to a female connector. Once that male/female adapter is in place, you can plug in a normal microphone, ideally with a pre-amp between the microphone and Mini A/V red jack. So, this solution is:
microphone → pre-amp → RCA-female-to-3.5mm (1/8”) audio adapter → Mini A/V cable → iPhone audio input.
As you can see, this is a bit cumbersome, but it would let you use your neat-o audio equipment to shoot videos on your iPhone. Combine this with the Blur Tripod Adapter for iPhone and you’ve got yourself a pretty nice setup. However, given the iPhone’s video quality (VGA 30fps at best), this solution is probably overkill.
The second solution is a product by Blue called the Mikey. This stereo microphone (originally designed for the iPod Nano) connects to your iPhone via the 30-pin Dock connector at the bottom of the phone, and gives you three sensitivity levels for recording. When you connect it, you’ll get a message telling you that the accessory you just plugged in isn’t supported, but ignore that — it works fine. For audio recording, the Mikey would be great. Video, not so much (by default). The microphone and speaker are on opposite sides of the Mikey, and the microphone points in the direction opposite to the camera. You can tilt the Mikey 90 degrees, but that only makes the microphone perpendicular to the camera. To get the microphone to face the same way as the camera, you have to open the thing up and flip the microphones over, being careful not to break anything. Also, the microphone is still at the other end of the phone (though this isn’t as big an issue with the Mikey since it’s a beefier microphone than the built-in one). So this solution is still pretty good, but it’s a bit fiddly.
The third solution is the easiest, most compact, and will probably give you a lesser-quality recording than the other two. Vericorder makes a product called the MiniMic that plugs right into your iPhone’s headphone input. It swivels 180 degrees, and can be rotated 360 degrees. When plugged in, this sucker is right next to the camera. Not only that, it’s a cinch to point it in the right direction. It also has what looks like a little foam cover, presumably for wind protection.
At this point, I’m probably going to buy the MiniMic, and if that isn’t an improvement over the built-in mic, I’ll look at the Mikey.
Of course, if you’re looking for a super-cheap option, just use the microphone on the headset that came with your iPhone. It won’t be much (if at all) better than the built-in mic, but at least it means you can have the camera in one place and the microphone in the other.
