Friday, August 29, 2014

A Quick Gear Review: iRig Pre

Click here to see companion episode on YouTube

So you've got an iPad/iPhone that you've been making videos on, but the built-in mic is not meeting your needs.

Enter the iRig Pre.

Basically: it's a small thingee you plug your XLR microphone into, and plug that into the i-device to get much better quality sound.

Important features include a 1/8 inch jack for plugging in your headphone to monitor how the audio is being picked up, and an adjuster to turn the levels up or down (very useful).

As well, a 9Volt battery came with this thing - it won't work otherwise. It can optionally provide phantom power if you use a condenser mic that can't work without the shot of continuous voltage.

There's bright indicator lights showing the unit is on, and if the 48 volts of phantom power is on.

It's been great so far as I've tried it with my iPad Mini (which is mounted on a tripod with an iOgrapher).

My only suggestion would be a metal casing instead of the plastic one this comes with.

It also has a neat little velcro strap to attach the unit to a mic stand or whatever.

I will also try going out of my Fender Mustang IV and plugging it into the iRig Pre to make a video- and see if the guitar records well direct onto the video. I'll post that here asap.