How can I record singing on iPad Pro (GarageBand) with mic + headphones?
December 1, 2020 12:35 PM Subscribe
I have an iPad Pro. It doesn't have a headphone jack. It has just a USB-C port. I've been recording my voice with the iPad's internal mic but it's not good enough. I own a nice external microphone (Apogee) with male lightning I bought for my old lightning-port iPad. I can buy a female-lightning-to-male USB-C adapter and, I hope, use the microphone with the iPad Pro -- but then how do I monitor what I'm doing?
I did a little futzing around, plugging some crappy wired earbuds+mic I use with my phone into an adapter I have (3mm? ("phone jack sized") to USB-C) I use to listen to music on the iPad, and played some music on the iPad GarageBand "piano" and also sang into the crappy little mic. Upon playback I could hear the piano sounds, but the little mic did not record my voice -- so now I'm confused.
There are various USB-C earbuds with mic for sale, but (1) the microphones are not good enough for the singing I do and (2) if I can't record my voice through the phone jack mic/earbuds I tried, why would I be able to record it using the same technology except through USB-C? Also, I LIKE my Apogee MiC with the lightning plug and would like to use it -- with an adaptor -- but then I need to find a way to monitor what's going on as well, when the iPad Pro has no ports other than the USB-C.
Is my only solution to use a Bluetooth headset separately to monitor the sounds while the mic is plugged into the USB-C port (via the female lightning-to-male-USB-C adapter)? Any suggestions welcome, thanks.
I did a little futzing around, plugging some crappy wired earbuds+mic I use with my phone into an adapter I have (3mm? ("phone jack sized") to USB-C) I use to listen to music on the iPad, and played some music on the iPad GarageBand "piano" and also sang into the crappy little mic. Upon playback I could hear the piano sounds, but the little mic did not record my voice -- so now I'm confused.
There are various USB-C earbuds with mic for sale, but (1) the microphones are not good enough for the singing I do and (2) if I can't record my voice through the phone jack mic/earbuds I tried, why would I be able to record it using the same technology except through USB-C? Also, I LIKE my Apogee MiC with the lightning plug and would like to use it -- with an adaptor -- but then I need to find a way to monitor what's going on as well, when the iPad Pro has no ports other than the USB-C.
Is my only solution to use a Bluetooth headset separately to monitor the sounds while the mic is plugged into the USB-C port (via the female lightning-to-male-USB-C adapter)? Any suggestions welcome, thanks.
I don't know anything about ipad audio, but I can tell you that Bluetooth has enough latency that monitoring via BT is going to be frustrating and annoying; so I wouldn't waste your time / effort / money on pursuing that route.
posted by inexorably_forward at 1:03 PM on December 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by inexorably_forward at 1:03 PM on December 1, 2020 [2 favorites]
I use a USB-C hub with multiple USB-A ports. The MiC comes with a USB-A cable (or at least mine did) and you can plug that into one of the USB-A ports. I also have a USB-A to 3.5mm audio adapter (this one, but there’s lots of options) and use this with earbuds for monitoring.
posted by doctord at 2:39 PM on December 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by doctord at 2:39 PM on December 1, 2020 [3 favorites]
Also, when you were trying the USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, could you see any input signal (green line on the left side of the screen marked “IN” moving up and down). If the green line wasn’t moving up and down then I’m not sure what the problem was, but if it was, then did you make sure that “Monitor” in the bottom right is turned on?
posted by doctord at 2:47 PM on December 1, 2020
posted by doctord at 2:47 PM on December 1, 2020
Response by poster: doctord: no, the iPad does not register the tiny phone jack earplugs mic as a mic. No input signal.
Also, to doctord:
"I use a USB-C hub with multiple USB-A ports. The MiC comes with a USB-A cable (or at least mine did) and you can plug that into one of the USB-A ports. "
MY Apogee mIc has a USB-A that plugs into the mic itself, but the plug to plug into an iPad is LIGHTNING.
Next issue: My new lightning female to male USB-C adaptor came and -- NOPE. My iPad Pro does not know that I plugged my Apogee mic into it, via the adapter. So that sucks. I don't know if it's that the new adapter is crappy, or it just can't carry the signal that way.
So here's where I am now:
-iPad Pro has USB-C port only
-Apogee mic has male lightning plug -- but lightning-to-USB-C-adapter doesn't work with it
-earphones have tiny headphone jack and they DO work with 1 USB-C-to-USBC+headphone jack adapter
Maybe I need to spend MORE money on one of those ports -- but what port? I need to plug in a lightning plug mic AND tiny-jack headphones!
posted by DMelanogaster at 1:37 PM on December 3, 2020
Also, to doctord:
"I use a USB-C hub with multiple USB-A ports. The MiC comes with a USB-A cable (or at least mine did) and you can plug that into one of the USB-A ports. "
MY Apogee mIc has a USB-A that plugs into the mic itself, but the plug to plug into an iPad is LIGHTNING.
Next issue: My new lightning female to male USB-C adaptor came and -- NOPE. My iPad Pro does not know that I plugged my Apogee mic into it, via the adapter. So that sucks. I don't know if it's that the new adapter is crappy, or it just can't carry the signal that way.
So here's where I am now:
-iPad Pro has USB-C port only
-Apogee mic has male lightning plug -- but lightning-to-USB-C-adapter doesn't work with it
-earphones have tiny headphone jack and they DO work with 1 USB-C-to-USBC+headphone jack adapter
Maybe I need to spend MORE money on one of those ports -- but what port? I need to plug in a lightning plug mic AND tiny-jack headphones!
posted by DMelanogaster at 1:37 PM on December 3, 2020
Response by poster: oh - CORRECTION -- my Apogee mic does not have a USB-A cable, I was confused. It has a lightning cable. I was thinking about the other end, that's plugged INTO the mic. I don't know what you call that; I guess it's irrelevant. I think the mic came with a USB-A cable as well as the lightning, but I can't find it. I only have the lightning.
posted by DMelanogaster at 4:33 PM on December 3, 2020
posted by DMelanogaster at 4:33 PM on December 3, 2020
Response by poster: okay, sorry, I FOUND the USB-A cable that came with the Apogee microphone!! AND this is what I just wrote to Apogee support person, who had recommended that I buy a USB-A to USB-C adapter:
"Okay, now I found the USB-A cable that came with the Apogee MiC. You have said that if I plug in this USB-A cable to a USB-A (female) to USB-C (male) adapter, and then plug the adaptor into the USB-C port on the iPad Pro, the microphone should work, Here is my question: Because the mic was connected to the LIGHTNING cable at first, I bought a LIGHTNING (female) to USB-C (male) adapter, and plugged the mic into it, and then plugged the adapter into the USB-C port on the iPad. IT DOES NOT WORK. The iPad Pro does NOT recognize the mic with the adapter.
NOW, the question is: since lightning to USB-C (with mediating adapter) did NOT work with the iPad, WHY should I expect that USB-A to USB-C (with mediating adapter) WILL work? This doesn't make sense to me UNLESS there is something more "Powerful" or something fundamentally different (!) about USB-A than lightning connections! IS there? I really don't feel like buying another adapter if it's also not going to work!
Can you possibly explain why the microphone with its male lightning plug>>>lightning-to-USB-C adapter>>> USB-C port on the iPad Pro DOESN'T WORK?? This is mysterious to me!
(side note: I found yet another mic I own -- a directional mic from Rode that has a 3mm plug. I plugged another adapter into my iPad: on one side it's USB-C male and plugs into the iPad; on the other side there is a hole for a 3mm jack AND another hole for a USB-C plug (this is the one that is meant to charge the iPad and listen to music at the same time). The Rode mic was NOT recognized by the iPad via THAT adapter. However, when I plug headphones into the 3mm jack, I can listen to audio without any problems).
WHY does my iPad not recognize external microphones??
MUST I buy yet another microphone that has a USB-C jack and plugs directly into the iPad? I don't trust these adapters OR these "multi-port things" -- at this point I don't trust that ANY mediating device is going to work with my microphones/iPad Pro.
ANY thoughts?
posted by DMelanogaster at 5:30 PM on December 3, 2020
"Okay, now I found the USB-A cable that came with the Apogee MiC. You have said that if I plug in this USB-A cable to a USB-A (female) to USB-C (male) adapter, and then plug the adaptor into the USB-C port on the iPad Pro, the microphone should work, Here is my question: Because the mic was connected to the LIGHTNING cable at first, I bought a LIGHTNING (female) to USB-C (male) adapter, and plugged the mic into it, and then plugged the adapter into the USB-C port on the iPad. IT DOES NOT WORK. The iPad Pro does NOT recognize the mic with the adapter.
NOW, the question is: since lightning to USB-C (with mediating adapter) did NOT work with the iPad, WHY should I expect that USB-A to USB-C (with mediating adapter) WILL work? This doesn't make sense to me UNLESS there is something more "Powerful" or something fundamentally different (!) about USB-A than lightning connections! IS there? I really don't feel like buying another adapter if it's also not going to work!
Can you possibly explain why the microphone with its male lightning plug>>>lightning-to-USB-C adapter>>> USB-C port on the iPad Pro DOESN'T WORK?? This is mysterious to me!
(side note: I found yet another mic I own -- a directional mic from Rode that has a 3mm plug. I plugged another adapter into my iPad: on one side it's USB-C male and plugs into the iPad; on the other side there is a hole for a 3mm jack AND another hole for a USB-C plug (this is the one that is meant to charge the iPad and listen to music at the same time). The Rode mic was NOT recognized by the iPad via THAT adapter. However, when I plug headphones into the 3mm jack, I can listen to audio without any problems).
WHY does my iPad not recognize external microphones??
MUST I buy yet another microphone that has a USB-C jack and plugs directly into the iPad? I don't trust these adapters OR these "multi-port things" -- at this point I don't trust that ANY mediating device is going to work with my microphones/iPad Pro.
ANY thoughts?
posted by DMelanogaster at 5:30 PM on December 3, 2020
Didn’t see your additional info until now, but if you’re still working on this here’s a couple of thoughts:
1) What kind of lightning to USB-C adapter are you using? Most of the cheaper ones out there are for charging only and do not support data/audio, which would explain why it’s not working. Can you post a link to your specific adapter?
2) Not all 3.5 mm audio connections are going to be compatible. Your 3.5mm + USB-C adapter is probably wired TRRS to work with a combination mic/earbuds headset. It won’t work directly with a 3.5mm mic plug. Have you tried that adapter with TRRS headset (one where the plug has 4 separate metal connections)? If you want to plug that Rode mic in you probably need an audio adapter that breaks out the mic and headphones separately. Here’s an example of a USB-A version, I don’t know if they make these in USB-C.
So anyway, that would explain why the connections you are trying are not working, and there’s a good chance that with the proper adapters your iPad will work fine.
posted by doctord at 8:46 AM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
1) What kind of lightning to USB-C adapter are you using? Most of the cheaper ones out there are for charging only and do not support data/audio, which would explain why it’s not working. Can you post a link to your specific adapter?
2) Not all 3.5 mm audio connections are going to be compatible. Your 3.5mm + USB-C adapter is probably wired TRRS to work with a combination mic/earbuds headset. It won’t work directly with a 3.5mm mic plug. Have you tried that adapter with TRRS headset (one where the plug has 4 separate metal connections)? If you want to plug that Rode mic in you probably need an audio adapter that breaks out the mic and headphones separately. Here’s an example of a USB-A version, I don’t know if they make these in USB-C.
So anyway, that would explain why the connections you are trying are not working, and there’s a good chance that with the proper adapters your iPad will work fine.
posted by doctord at 8:46 AM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by The Deej at 12:56 PM on December 1, 2020 [3 favorites]