Product Review: Tascam iXZ smartphone audio interface

Speaking of apps, here's a cheapo little device that will let you plug your pro dynamic mic into your smartphone. Accent on cheapo, it can be gotten for around 25 bucks online.

The device sure won't win any audio awards, but we are talking phone audio here and it does provide a basic battery powered adjustable preamp  for your mic. It seems to work fine with the iPhone and Androids I have around the lab.

The cable on the iXZ has a TRRS plug on the smartphone side for connection to the headset jack. The input is XLR/Phono jack and the headphone out is shunted to a 3.5mm TRS jack. Note the headphone pass-through is passive, so you'll still be driving them with your phone's headset amp.

Mind the app

No doubt about it, Comrex customers want smartphone apps. Our philosophy has remained constant: Wideband audio apps are cool and have their place, but are a poor substitute for hardware codecs. They don't work on Ethernet, they don't support stereo, and are constrained by the mobile phone audio section. To their credit, most customers I talk to see the sense in this and agree,

But we have put a lot of effort into support for apps.

A few years back, we even published our own Android app (ARC) and offered it for free. Unfortunately, we found our chosen platform extremely difficult to support as Android matured. The entry on the Android store became laden with angry commenters who reported various failures on ICS and Jelly Bean, so given the proliferation of good third-party stuff, we decided to pull it. Hopefully it proved useful in its time.

Because we get asked about apps so often now, we've posted an extensive primer on what's out there, and how well it works. In particular be sure to check out Luci Lite Live and CSipSimple options, both of which now have their own individual cheat sheet on our website.

Checking in with NYC

We try to visit the world's biggest media market regularly, and since it's a relatively short hop from our base in Massachusetts it's easy to do. So we made the trip last month, and it's always interesting to hear from Comrex users there. A couple of things we've learned, especially regarding wireless operation:
1) Many reporters have transitioned to Mi-fi style devices for using ACCESS codecs over 4G. It allows them to share bandwidth with their laptops and tablets easily without extra accounts, and the 4G performance of these devices is usually as good or better than USB modems
2) Verizon coverage is usually found to be adequate for audio on the upload path in Manhattan, but in several areas (at least on our mid-town tests) really doesn't cut the mustard for LiveShot video yet. In contrast, we find AT&T upload speeds to be remarkable given the market congestion and proliferation of iPhones.
3) Despite all the warnings, ISDN remains available. But it's not simple or cheap, so IP is the first choice most of the time.

Billboard on 6th Ave. I don't get it either.