Recording - April 2018 - 30

IOS
MUSIC
TOOLS
A SONGWRITER'S

TOOLBOX

IK Multimedia
iRig Mic HD 2
$129.99; ikmultimedia.com
IK Multimedia was among the first
companies to put a lot of effort into
developing iOS-friendly recording
hardware, and the iRig Mic HD 2 is its
latest effort in that arena. The iRig Mic
HD 2 is a handheld electret condenser
mic that connects to any computer or
30

RECORDING April 2018

iOS device for up to 24-bit/96 kHz
recording and playback.
Housed in a sturdy, hefty housing
reminiscent of many other live handheld
mics, the iRig Mic HD 2 features a built-in
mic preamp with an on-mic gain control
and an RGB LED to indicate signal level:
blue is too soft, green and orange are
good, red is clipping. There's also a builtin D/A converter and headphone amp
with volume control right on the mic.
Headphone monitoring is done via minijack; there's no zero-latency blending of
live mic signal with DAW playback.
The iRig Mic HD 2 comes with a
zippered carrying pouch, two cables
(USB-A and Lightning, with Android
USB-OTG cable sold separately),
and a folding metal tripod desk stand
with good isolation. The included mic
clip has a screw-in adapter for use
with European or American mic stand
threads. It's class compliant and requires
no driver installation. The cables are
worth a quick mention, as they have
custom-molded ends that fit into the mic
tightly so there's no chance of accidental
unplugging or damage to the Micro-B USB
connector recessed into the mic body.
The capsule itself is a gold-sputtered
electret element a bit over 1/2" in
diameter. It offers a nicely tight cardioid
polar pattern, suitable for solo singing or
for doing interviews; off-axis response is
very smooth out to about 45º, after which
level drops off rapidly to 90º and beyond,
with a strong null at 180º.
The mic actually sounds best at a
distance of 3-6", with a good balance
of deep chest tone and clear highs; the
proximity effect when "eating" the mic
is a bit overbearing. If you plan to use
the mic for vocal recording in a studio
situation, a pop filter isn't a bad investment; the internal screening doesn't stop
plosives effectively. Wind noise is fairly
mild and handling noise is minimal to
nonexistent; once again, the mic's design for interview/podcast applications
shines through impressively.
If you're just getting started with
recording, IK Multimedia provides a
nice selection of free software and upgrades for Mac, PC, and iOS to get you
started. IK Multimedia makes a number
of vocal-centric iOS apps, such as iRig
Recorder (audio recording), Mic Room

(mic modeling), and VocaLive (vocal
effects, including Mic Room as part of the
chain); all of these are upgraded with extra
features and models when you register the
mic. For computer users, there are entry
level versions of the T-RackS effects plugins, Mic Room, and Ableton Live. I get a
particular kick out of Mic Room, which is
a fun and very musical introduction to mic
modeling; the Velo 8 ribbon-mic model
works well with male vocals, giving a nice
round smoothness.
All in all, iRig Mic HD 2 gives the
beginning recordist a solid set of tools
to get started, not least of which is a
vocal mic that's built to travel while
delivering solid performance.

Apogee MiC+
$249; apogeedigital.com
Apogee has offered a fair number
of personal-recording devices over
the years, including a continuallyimproving set of microphones for computers and portable devices called
MiC. The brand-new MiC+ (also written as Mic Plus) isn't just an upgrade in
sound quality from its predecessor the
MiC 96k, with an improved A/D converter and new mic capsule. Everything
else about the new model has also
been improved and added to, leaving

http://www.apogeedigital.com http://www.ikmultimedia.com

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