Recording - April 2018 - 26

IOS
MUSIC
TOOLS
A SONGWRITER'S

TOOLBOX
REVIEWS BY MIKE METLAY

iZotope Spire
$349; izotope.com and spire.live
iZotope is justifiably famous for its software. Whether
you're talking about tracking plug-ins like Alloy or Nectar,
audio polishing and repair products like Ozone and RX, or
the gorgeous Iris2 virtual instrument, the company's devotion
to sound quality and ease of use always shines through. So
when we learned of iZotope's first foray into recording hardware, we were justifiably curious...
Spire Studio is a tabletop recording device that pairs up
seamlessly with the free Spire Recorder app for iOS. The
resulting hardware/software package takes a radical new

RECORDING April 2018

approach to demo recording, making it so easy that anyone can
get started immediately. If you've always been intimidated by
how long it takes to set up even the simplest recording chain to
capture your ideas before they get away, then Spire is for you.
The Spire Studio is a beautifully-constructed desktop unit
dominated by a large circular multicolor LED ring, with Record
and Play buttons in the center. There are only three other buttons
on the front: New Song, Soundcheck, and Volume. The front
edge of the Spire Studio has a good-quality microphone and
a headphone minijack underneath; the back has two XLR/TS
inputs, a second headphone minijack, buttons for device power
and phantom power, and a jack for an external battery charger.
You can plug mics or line-level sources into both inputs, or plug
a guitar into Input 2 and sing into the onboard mic.
There's a lot going on inside the Spire Studio-it's a
digital recorder, dual preamp/DI, headphone amp, and Wi-Fi
router, all powered from an internal rechargeable battery. If
you're desperate to capture an idea before it gets away, it
doesn't get any quicker than this: turn on the Spire, hit the
Record button, and record a track. Hit Record or Play to stop
recording. Immediately hit Record again and the Spire Studio
will grab a second track while playing back the first. You can
capture up to 8 tracks with one or two button presses at a
time, even before you connect any software.
As you work, the LED ring gradually subdivides itself into
multiple color-coded meters for each of the tracks you've
recorded. The LED ring is also a touch surface for setting
headphone level: just hold the Volume button and dial it in.
You'll have noticed that there are no controls for adjusting
input gain-that's because the Spire Studio doesn't need
them. Instead, there's the Soundcheck button, which I frankly
consider brilliant! Press it and then play or sing at the loudest
level you think you'll hit. The Spire Studio will listen for
several seconds (counting down the time on the LED ring),
and set its gain automatically so you're recording hot but
not peaking. If you manage to overdrive the inputs anyway
(getting excited in the heat of the moment), the LED ring
flashes red to warn you.
Those are the basics-you can capture up to 8 tracks in a hurry,
without effects. To save your work (and do a bunch of other cool
things while recording), just fire up the Spire Recorder app!
The Spire Studio connects to your iOS device via its own
Wi-Fi network; when you connect to the Spire Recorder app,
it automatically checks the hardware to see if you've recorded
anything there, and if you have, your
song will be uploaded to the
app automatically. About the only
tricky part of the setup process is that
if you're using an iPad with no cellular
service, the app sometimes makes
you jump back and forth between the
Spire Studio's Wi-Fi (for recording
and mixing) and your Internet Wi-Fi
(to upload tracks and check for firmware updates). This process is guided
by helpful prompts and you'll never
get lost doing it. Using the app on an

http://www.izotope.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - April 2018