Not-terrible, sub-$50 microphone for iPhone for interviewing parents?

November 18, 2015 9:07 AM

Not-terrible, sub-$50 microphone for iPhone for interviewing parents?

Visiting the folks at Christmas and I want to interview them. Is there microphone I can use with my iPhone for under $50 that will get me a little better audio than the internal mic?

posted by DakotaPaul to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

I have the Audio-Technica ATR3350IS lavalier mic and it works pretty well. Should cost around $20-25.
posted by univac at 9:51 AM on November 18, 2015

The Dayton Audio iMM-6 Calibrated Measurement Microphone, recommended previously, has pretty good reviews.
posted by zinon at 11:59 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

Honestly, if you're doing a one on one interview, you can probably just use the voice memo app without a mic. I use it to record lectures and it's better if I'm closer to the speaker but if you're just sitting across a table from someone, it should suffice. Maybe test it with a friend in a setting similar to that which you anticipate with your folks and if it doesn't go well, check out alternatives.
posted by kat518 at 2:53 PM on November 18, 2015

Response by poster: zinon: Thanks, that one looks pretty good. I can't believe I didn't see that question from earlier this month.
posted by DakotaPaul at 3:42 PM on November 18, 2015

The Tascam iM2 is an iThing dock-compatible mic.

I don't know what your level of expertise in recording is, but it might be worth investigating what apps are out there. In Androidland the default voice recorders are awful, but there are apps that let you: a.) adjust recording levels, b.) adjust recording format, and c.) select which mic to use.

Also be aware that $70-$100 will buy the kind of stand-alone recorders (from Tascam or Zoom) that are recommended to amateur radio/podcast producers.
posted by unmake at 9:34 PM on November 18, 2015