iRig Mic and VocaLive Review - Reviews

IK paved the way for iOS guitarists – now it caters for vocalists, too. Liam O’Mullane dons the Rig.

Price: £49.99
Manufacturer: IK Multimedia
Website: http:// www.ikmultimedia.com

IK iRig mic

AmpliTube really put IK Multimedia on the App Store map with its incredible features and sound for the money as well as having a dedicated interface called the iRig. Now the company looks set to take on the vocal performance and processing world with the iRig Mic and VocaLive app combo.

Plug in

The mic is made from metal and feels sturdy to hold, which is in stark contrast to the very lightweight lead. This is an evil necessity as it needs to plug into the tiny headphone port of an iPhone.Themicisanomnicondenser with a three-way switch on the body to select gain. We found the medium to lowest gain settings most suitable for a single or group of vocalists. The microphone is quite sensitive to plosives even when slightly off-axis, so we had to keep around 4–6 inches away from it for good results. We imagine that adding a windshield would minimise this if you really want to get up-close and personal.

App time

The VocaLive app itself uses a similar GUI to IK’s existing AmpliTube range and IK recently announced the future option of buying VocaLive as an add-on module to run inside AmpliTube itself. When this arrives it will be a must for those who sing and play guitar.

VocaLive’s processing latency is quite low but we found our original iPad struggled to deliver harmony and choir effects on the ultra-low-latency setting, but the next setting up worked fine. Pitch correction is one of the 12 effects. Reverbs, doubling, de-essers and an excellent morphing effect are also available (the latter works with an X/Y pad to interact with pitch/ formants).

Perform and create

The vocal quality of the iRig mic far exceeds that of the onboard mic but it does suffer from noticeable background hiss. It’s fine for demo sketching or generalfun,butnotforhi-fidelity requirements. This is a shame as the mic can be very sensitive at its highest gain setting which would suit foley work, but we understand this is more of a limitation of the connection on the phone than the mic itself. As a creative tool, however, we think the combo of the mic and the app is excellent. Onboard recording can record either wet or dry signals so you can go back and perfect a processing chain later. An in-app- purchase will turn it into a four-track recorder as well. Our main niggle for general use is that IK still doesn’t support audio copy/paste. The morph effect alone would make an excellent audio-mangling tool. MTM

8/10 Verdict - An excellent soft/hardware combo that will get the creative juices flowing. You’ll need a powerful device, but the audio processing is way ahead of the competition.

WHY BUY

+ Strong selection of effects
+ Rugged build
+ Fun to use

WALK ON BY

- No audio copy/paste
- Needs powerful device
- Too hissy for pro recording apps

Score: 8/10

This review first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 99
Filed under Home, Audio Interfaces, Microphones, MIDI Controllers / Interfaces, Reviews

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IK Multimedia iRig Mic and VocaLive Review