Recording - August 2013 - 56

B Y M I K E M E T L AY

A few specs: 20 Hz–20 kHz frequency response (no tolerances or frequency graph are provided), 120 dB maximum SPL, and 18 dBA selfnoise. The iXY comes with a foam windscreen and zippered carrycase.
RØDE Rec is a recording app for iOS (there’s only one version for iPhone/
iPad/iPod touch), developed for RØDE by American software firm
Audiofile Engineering. RØDE Rec is a special version of Audiofile’s own
FiRe 2 recording app; as we went to press we learned that RØDE has
acquired FiRe 2 and it will be a RØDE product going forward. A free
RØDE Rec LE version is available but is extremely feature-limited.
While the iXY is a plug-and-play Core Audio device that pretty
much any iOS recording app can recognize, and RØDE Rec can work
with any microphone, they’re designed to optimize one another. For example,
only RØDE Rec can turn on the iXY’s built-in 72 Hz highpass filter, and RØDE Rec
can only record 24/96 audio with the iXY connected.

RØDE iXY and RØDE Rec
A stereo microphone and feature-rich app for iOS portable recording
The iPhone and iPad are sensible choices for portable recording. There’s usually
a reason to have one in your pocket (especially the iPhone), adding recording capability is as easy as choosing an app, and
the docking connector (whether original
30-pin or new Lightning) provides access
to high-quality A/D conversion for greatsounding recordings. As a result, iOSbased mics and apps are a rapidly growing class of recording gear.
Australian mic builder RØDE started
with high-quality condenser mics, and has
ventured out of the recording studio into
the realm of audio-for-video with a line of
camera-mount and other video mic solutions. With the new iXY and RØDE Rec, it
makes a strong foray into portable recording with iOS.
Mic plus app equals total solution
The iXY is a stereo condenser microphone for iOS devices using the original
30-pin dock. We’re told that a Lightning
version is under development. It offers a
pair of 0.5" cardioid condenser capsules
permanently mounted in an XY array for
coincident stereo recording. These capsules bear a strong resemblance to the
ones used on RØDE’s popular NT4 XY
stereo microphone (reviewed way back in
January 2003), but it’s unlikely they use
the same capsules as the phantom-powered NT4. They are mounted on a metal
plate with no adornment other than a tiny
green power-on LED, a package weighing
40 grams (just over an ounce).
56

RECORDING August 2013

The iXY in action
The iXY is costlier than many add-on iOS mics, and
sounds like it. It’s clean, clear, and gives strong audio performance with a nicely balanced frequency response and a
realistic but not exaggerated stereo image (as one would
expect from a coincident array). I used it to record spoken
word presentations (including two interviews), field ambience for sound library design, and several live-music performances from acoustic folk to full-on rock, and dare I say
it, it sounded like I was recording with a real mic!
The one place where you have to be a bit careful with the
iXY is in setting your input gain. It’s easy enough to do in RØDE

Rec, but if you’re not recording a fairly loud source (like a PA
or an acoustic group from close up) you’ll have to set the gain
higher and risk a bit more added background noise. This is not
an insurmountable problem by any means, just something to
watch closely as you do your first few serious recordings.
Get connected
Because two of my iOS devices use a 30-pin connector
and the other two use Lightning, this review took a bit of a
side trip into the realm of adapting from one standard to the
other. When the Lightning connector was first announced last
fall, I expressed some concern that hardware built for the 30-

Recording - August 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - August 2013