How to set recording levels?

[MarkTwain]

How do you set the recording levels? My first test of this app was in a live music environment, acoustic music with moderate amplification. The music as recorded was overdriven & clipped. Since this was my first test of iProRecorder I used all default settings, HQ, mono. iPhone 3G, stock. My intended use for this app is in similar environments, so I'll need to control the levels. How is that done?

Thanks.

[jason]

Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, there currently is no way for applications to control the input level on the iPhone or iPod touch without an additional peripheral. However, for your application, in order for you to get stereo recording, you would need an additional peripheral since the iPhone and iPod touch only support mono recording without a dock connector peripheral. We have tested both the Alesis ProTrack and Blue Mikey and they are both supported (note must be in Airplane mode if using an iPhone) with iProRecorder. The Blue Mikey is a stereo mic that has three level settings. The Alesis ProTrack features adjustable input gain. If in the future Apple provides a way for developers to control the input level without an additional peripheral, we will certainly support it. There will likely be additional peripheral options in the future.

http://www.alesis.com/protrack
http://www.bluemic.com/products/mikey

Best regards,

Jason

[MarkTwain]

Thank you for the info!

[beatztom]

What would be very cool is a way of monitoring the input level before recording! I record a lot of percussion, and sometimes need to see the levels in order to place the iphone at the necessary distance from the instrument. Input monitor would facilitate this task instead of making dummy recordings!!

Cheers,

Tom

[Flavio]

Hi all,

I definetly need the Gain control, as many users do, and I could found that feature on another software, called "myDictation".
They provide Gain control, but their audio quality is a little bit lower than iProRecorder.

Bias Team, please check this software and let us know if you can, or cannot add Gain control for us that have bought your product.

Thanks,
Flavio

[jason]

Hello,

We've tested the app you mention – it is not actually adjusting the input gain as we suspected and as Apple also confirms. If you record at high levels, you will hear distortion as a result of clipping. Deceptively, they are simply lowering the amplitude (volume level) after the file is recorded – the app is NOT affecting the actual input gain level. You can see this for yourself by recording a high input level and viewing the waveform in an audio editor, which we just did. You will notice that the waveform is squared off – regardless of whether their "input" level is adjusted to give you the impression that it's affecting the recording. We could certainly add this, but many users – especially professional ones – would quickly complain when they would ultimately realize that – regardless of playback level – the files are in fact clipped. You can get the same results with iProRecorder simply by lowering the playback volume, or lowering the waveform gain in an audio editor such as Peak – in either case, the output level will appear to be fine, but the signal will still be distorted as the clipping happens at the analog to digital conversion stage.

Here is a direct quote from Apple regarding this:

>>
Subject: Re: Set Volume for Recorder Queue

On Mac and Desktops, there are APIs to set volume controls, etc on audio devices - these are found in the <CoreAudio/AudioHardware.h> header.. The "Audio system pref pane" (Sound Prefs) or Audio MIDI Setup, use these APIs to do this

On iPhone there is no API to control the volume of the audio input.

Bill
<<<

The only true solution available for controlling the input level on the current iPhone, is to use additional hardware such as the Blue Mikey or Alesis ProTrack. I hope this clarifies things.

Thanks!

Best regards,

Jason

[TonyVT]

Hello,

I just discovered iProRecorder via the advertisement in the Electronic Musician. I am very excited to use the product. However, the two resources mentioned offering a way to monitor input volume to avoid clipping seem to only be available for the iPod, not the iPhone. Are iPhone users completely out of luck with regard to the audio clipping problem?

Thank you for any assistance you can offer.

Tony Ventura
http://www.tonyventura.com

[jason]

Thank you for your inquiry. Both units are not technically certified by Apple for use on the iPhone. The reason for this is that both units require that the user enable Airplane mode in order to disable network interference. In order to be officially certified by Apple, a specific chipset must be used that cancels the interference – making it possible to use the device without enabling Airplane mode. Because of this, Alesis and Blue are not able to list the products as being compatible with the iPhone – though both do work if using Airplane mode.

Alesis provided us a test unit very early on that has enabled us to ensure compatibility. We ran some initial tests with the Mikey at NAMM, but we are still waiting for a test production unit from Blue.

While officially, the ProTrack is not Apple certified for use on the iPhone because of Apple's policy on requiring a special chip set that allows users to record audio without interference when not in Airplane mode, we have tested it and it works well.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Jason

[piscotikus]

Will we be able to set recording levels with OS 3.0?

[jason]

The current OS 3.0 software developer kits don't provide for this. If this changes in the future and we are able to support it, we will. Until then, additional hardware can be used to control input gain (e.g. Alesis ProTrack, Blue Mikey).

Thanks!
Jason