How to mute an iPhone 5 microphone when recording via auxiliary cable?

November 4, 2013 5:59 PM

Is there a way to mute or turn-off this microphone while recording audio and only record the input from the sound system?

I'm in pharmacy school where too much information is not a real concept and I never want to miss a thing, thus I am using an iPhone 5 to record lectures through an app called 'voice record pro.'

We have the ability to plug sound recorders in, via an auxiliary cable, to record lecture audio straight off of the sound system. It works amazing with one exception:

Any movement I make during the recording is picked up via the iPhone microphone: If I type on my computer, open a piece of gum, ask a fellow student a question, sneeze... it's there.

Is there a way to mute or turn-off this microphone while recording audio and only record the input from the sound system?

Thanks for your time, folks.

posted by caveat empress to Technology (5 answers total)

Have you looked in the main iphone settings? I believe an app would need to be granted access to your microphone. Perhaps you could revoke this access from the phone's settings menu.
posted by maximum sensing at 9:18 PM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Call me un-tech savvy and paint the barn red!

I have went in and turned off access to the microphone for the app (settings>privacy>microphone) and will report back after a lecture this morning.

Wow. I spent way to much time researching this to no avail... when I should have came to you mefittes, first! Thank you!
posted by caveat empress at 2:27 AM on November 5, 2013

Response by poster: Unfortunately, the result is no audio gets recorded at all. It disables both the exterior microphone, as well as the input. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

Any other ideas?
posted by caveat empress at 6:22 AM on November 5, 2013

I suspect the AUX cable you are plugging in to the headphone jack only has 3 metal contacts instead of 4? See this image for example -- the iPhone may not treat the AUX in as a microphone source if it does not have the 4th contact?

Can you get a short adapter cable (totally random Google result) that has the 4th contact, hence "tricking" your phone into disabling the internal mic?
posted by misterbrandt at 11:34 AM on November 5, 2013

Response by poster: I am ordering an adapter today and will report back! Thank you!
posted by caveat empress at 4:22 PM on November 8, 2013