IK Multimedia
iRig Mic, $59.99
Vocalive, free app for iOS
www.ikmultimedia.com/irigmic
Following in the footsteps of the guitar-oriented iRig hardware unit and iOS apps like AmpliTube and AmpliTube Fender, IK Multimedia has now introduced a similar hardware unit and apps that focus on vocals.
The iRig Mic has similar functionality to iRig. It connects to an iPhone or iPad via a ⅛” stereo input and has a ⅛” output jack that can be connected to headphones or speakers. Where the iRig had a ¼” TRS guitar input, the mic version comes with a built-on cardioid unidirectional microphone. The mic has three position settings for that can be used to optimize low, medium, or high-level sound sources.
While iRig Mic works with other apps, it’s really geared towards use with VocaLive, which, like AmpliTube, is a free app that comes with effects and recording basics, and also offers in-app upgrades.
The free version of VocaLive comes with a tools section that includes a metronome with adjustable and tap tempo, a vocal trainer that helps singers warm up their voices by playing major or minor arpeggios in any key. The free app comes with a basic one-track recorder that can be upgraded to four tracks as an in-app purchase. The recorder view in the app is a cool, old-school cassette tape deck – a nice analog touch for our digital age. In Song mode, you can load a track from your iPhone or iPad’s library. There’s a nice speed trainer that lets you slow down or speed up the track if you’re practicing singing, or you can load the song up in the recorder as a backing track to add vocals to. (You’ll need to purchase the four-track add-on to record on two tracks.)
To experience the real meat and potatoes of VocaLive – the vocal processor and effects – you’ll have to purchase the full app for $19.99 or expand the free version with in-app purchases ($4.99 per effect). With the complete version of VocaLive, you get 12 effects. Some of the effects are specific to vocals (pitch correction, de-essing, harmonizing) while others are standard studio effects (reverb, delay, EQ, compression). With the full version of VocaLive you also get 50 presets that are sure to keep you occupied for days.
I’m loving my iRig Mic. It has opened up a whole new world of mobile recording to me. And now that I got iRig Recorder too, I’m able to edit and upload to Soundcloud while still on location! WOW!
http://ow.ly/4FN5s