I had a face-to-face interview with a singer/songwriter to conduct the other night, which seemed the perfect opportunity to give the iTalk Pro, Griffin Technology's addition to the stereo-microphones-for-iPod's market (due out in time for the winter holidays). Wresting the recorder from the package about an hour before the scheduled interview time (I'm an excellent planner, no?) the first thing I noted was the iTalk's compact size - it fit easily in the palm of my hand, and I was able to close my fingers completely over it. In fact, because of the compact size, I found myself wishing for a carrying case so it didn't get lost or damaged while being carted around in my pocket. It does come with a small bit of plastic to protect the connector - which I will no doubt loose before the week is out - and in the end it fared fine in my pocket while it wasn't in use, but I'd have felt more secure with a case. Or perhaps a way to attach it to my keychain.
The second thing I noticed was that it didn't work with my Nano...it's designed to be used with the iPods with Video (did I mention I'm an excellent planner?).
Luckily, video iPod owners are rampant in my life, and I was able to secure a loaner iPod post-haste. The iPod recognized the iTalk Pro the moment I plugged it into the docking port, allowed me to choose my recording quality (High or Low) and one push of the red-rimmed button and I was doing a test recording. Well, to be fair, I shoved the iPod under my friend's face and demanded he do the test recording, as I dislike the recorded sound of my own voice. Playback proved clear and successful, so I considered myself prepared to test it in the field.
In contrast to my apartment, the relatively silent place in which I conducted the initial test, the interview took place in a "quiet" corner of a local music venue, which had two simultaneous events occuring and was therefore thick with ambient sound. Happily, despite the noise and the fact that I held the recorder at a much more respectable distance from my interview subject than I did my friend, the quality of the recording was clear and sharp. This made my later transcription process a breeze, as I was able to easily make out the conversation without static or interference.
There is no software to install for the iTalk Pro. When the iPod was connected to my PC, iTunes recognized the .WAV recording, immediately, asked if I wanted to transfer it to my Music Library, and created a playlist named "Voice Memos" in which to categorize it. Very accomodating. In fact, I found the iTalk tremendously easy to use overall. The only way I could see it being any more convenient to use would be if they added software that would do the transcription for me (sparing me hearing myself speak).
The iTalk Pro records 16-bit stereo audio at 44.1 kHz or 8-bit mono at 22kHz, and has a microphone jack for people who might not feel comfortable simply speaking in an iPod's general direction.
Into fitness and health gadgets? Check out our new site, Connected Health
Check out the best iPhone 4 accessories here ,
I just bought one of these Griffin iTalk Pro Voice Recorders for my 80GB Video 5G Ipod. I find that it picks up the hard disk spinning "whining" noise and also the clickity clack sound of the hard disk head access activity. That is not good. No one mentions this in any review, so I will mention it here. Also when set to "Automatic Level control" mode, my unit creates annoying clicking sounds when speaking close to the built in mics. This seems to happen only on the left channel, so maybe I have a defective one? Anyone else get clicking sounds in their recordings in automatic gain mode?
It does not happen when I set it to fixed "high" gain or "fixed" low gain modes. So I guess it is the AGC circuitry causing the clicks and popping noises in the recording. Again, not good.
I get lots of background hiss in my recordings, but that was expected from this level of recording device. The fidelity otherwise is rather good, just marred by the extra noises of the hard drive spin-up and the clicking overload sounds in automatic gain mode.
Also very annoying is that none of my external electret condenser mics work when plugged into the external mic jack! (Yes I have an external battery box for such mikes for powering them). I found that this unit will only recognize high-level input signals from the external mic jack. So it is not an external low-level mic jack, but instead is a "line-level" signal input jack. That is, you need an external mic "Preamp" to boost the low level mic signal in order for this iTalk Pro to recognize that an external signal is plugged into it. Otherwise, it will just continue to record from the internal built in mics, (even thought you have your external mic plugged into the jack). That is the way my unit behaves and I do not know if maybe my unit is defective (less sensitive) or not? Anyone else can please confirm if theirs behaves the same way?
Would like to know so that I can return for a replacement if no one else experiences the same symptoms as I. Thank You and hope my report/review was helpful. BTW, using my Sound Professionals mic preamp and their binaural "In-Ear" external mics, I was able to make very good and much quieter (less hiss) recordings than using the Griffin built-in mics.
I have obtained a replacement iTal from Griffin because the first one did not switch off the internal microphone when connecting an external source via the jack socket on the bottom of the iTalk module. The replacement seems to work OK but I agree that the AGC circuitry seems to leave a lot to be desired. All in all, I have severe reservations (and I am a Mac user of very long experience) about the iPod (mine is an 80 Gb version) its software, its file handling - or lack thereof - and its intrinsic lack of a sound input port. I would not reinvest in this area of technology. I found the Archos products to be far superior and now wish I had stayed with them. Ah well .......