iLounge

1

Aside from the price (a little steep), this is perfect.  I’ve been wishing that the iPod would allow line-level recording since I bought one; and until Apple offers it, products like this will step up to the plate.

Of course, don’t Creative and iRiver DAPs allow line-in recording built in?

Posted by PushButtonAction in Atlanta, GA on November 3, 2005 at 12:02 PM (PDT)

2

For that price you might as well buy an iRiver iH-120, which not only had a built-in encoder for recording directly to MP3 or WAV, but also had an OPTICAL input and output.

Posted by Galley on November 3, 2005 at 3:28 PM (PDT)

3

Since the iPod can already record at 44.1KHz stereo, I don’t see why anyone with an iPod would need this (unless they have very specific pro needs).

True, the ~$50 adapter to hook up to the dock connector is not yet available from Belkin or Griffin, but give them 3 months or so…they already have done the recording adapters for previous iPod models.

Posted by taffinito on November 3, 2005 at 3:57 PM (PDT)

4

Since the iPod can already record at 44.1KHz stereo, I don’t see why anyone with an iPod would need this (unless they have very specific pro needs).

taffinito—That’s precisely the reason this is exciting news.  I’m not talking mic-level mic-in-the-headphone-port stuff; I’m talking two RCA’s out from the mixer to the dock connector for stereo line-level recording.  If my DJ/musician friends and I are any indication, there most definitely is a market for this capability.

And yes, I fully believe the iPod is capable of doing this without expensive outside accessories (except perhaps a modified dock to run a line into the iPod’s connector).  So why haven’t we seen this on an iPod without hacking the dock?

Posted by PushButtonAction in Atlanta, GA on November 3, 2005 at 4:10 PM (PDT)

5

This looks great…but…does anyone know how long an iPod’s battery (a 2nd generation mini in my case) will last if it’s being hit as often as it must be to record in wav format?

Posted by Will_S on November 3, 2005 at 8:10 PM (PDT)

6

and yet, some mp3 players on the market (like some of the irivers) already do this…without requiring a $230 accessory! geez

Posted by blah on November 3, 2005 at 9:03 PM (PDT)

7

I envision something along the lines of a Pocketdock line-out/line-in/mic-in/USB2. I’d accept something a bit bigger than current Pocketdocks in order to fit in a USB2 port so we can power the iPod for extended recording sessions. The line-in/mic-in could be combined, with a switch, similar to the iMic. Also, while it could include a built-in microphone, I’d definitely want it to have a mic-in as well, or without the built-in microphone, so I can plug in a better microphone/appropriate one for the particular job.

Posted by SteveJ on November 4, 2005 at 6:46 AM (PDT)

8

Jeez, I just love to buy ACESSORIES that cost the same as the main product ... They are completly insane charging this price.

Posted by Peter on November 4, 2005 at 8:44 AM (PDT)

9

This thing is a joke. If you want to do this, buy an iRiver, or make it clear to Apple that they need to get off their butts and fully unlock the firmware to allow access to the iPod’s built-in capability to do this internally.

Posted by Craig on November 4, 2005 at 11:42 AM (PDT)

10

Actually, street price on this unit is about $150.  It will work with pretty much any external USB drive, doesn’t have to be an iPod, so for $220 you could turn this unit into a 2 gig flash-based recorder that will record in wav fromat (not all iRivers will do so, and at least with the previous generation there were reports of problems with the iRiver’s wav files dropping frames).

If someone already owns an iPod, or any suitably high capacity USB drive, buying the iKey is clearly a better choice than buying an iRiver as long as the battery life in the external drive is adequate.  And I’ll take an iPod over an iRiver anyway based on its iTunes integration, Mac support, and ability to play Apple Lossless and AAC files.

Posted by Will_S on November 4, 2005 at 12:40 PM (PDT)

11

PushButtonAction,

I’m not talking about mic-in-the-headphone-jack recording….that’s not how the new iPods work.

It’s all dock connector firmware….but the legal and legit adapter needs to come from Apple/Belkin/Griffin/somebody…which is why we need to wait a few months.  No hacking is required, unlike what the Linux folks were trying to accomplish with previous iPod models.

[Remember, Apple’s dumped the headphone remote port that did this in the past iPods…it’s all dock connector now at these great sample rates.]
Tom

Posted by taffinito on November 4, 2005 at 4:28 PM (PDT)