Reviews

1

Looks like an excellent accessory limited only by Apple's iPod design flaws. If only you could record high bitrate MP3's with this thing, think of the bootleg opportunities! Will Apple be able to remove the 8KHz barrier in the next edition of the firmware, or is it a hardware thing?

Posted by Nuke666 in Melbourne, Austalia on April 21, 2004 at 10:25 PM (PST)

2

has anyone else got theirs yet?
How is it?

Posted by Nuke666 in Melbourne, Austalia on April 21, 2004 at 10:28 PM (PST)

3

Nice review. One of the complaints of the Belkin is its power consumption--did anyone test the power consumption of the Griffin iTalk???

Posted by Darrel on April 22, 2004 at 2:53 AM (PST)

4

I got mine yesterday and I played around with it for a few minutes before going out. I bought it to record telephone conversations (interviews with various people). It recorded my voice fine, but the other person was quiet. However, I think this is an issue with my telephone cable and not the iTalk. I'll head to Radio Shack today and look at picking up a better cable.

The voice recording sounded fine to me - actually better than I was expecting. Like the review said, the speaker really sucks, which doesn't bother me since I wasn't planning on using it anyway. Hopefully they (Apple) can increase the recording options in a firmware upgrade. I didn't buy this to record music, but it would be nice to have better quality voice recording.

Gord

Posted by Gord on April 22, 2004 at 4:52 AM (PST)

5

If you think about it, the "bootleg possibilities" are EXACTLY why you only get 8 Khz mono. I'm sure the recording industry is chiefly responsible for this, as a barrier-to-entry for the iTunes store. If you're in the playback-business, you don't want the player to be a pristine copy device too (enter DVD vs. VHD analogy, stage left...)

Posted by JimInHolland on April 22, 2004 at 6:20 AM (PST)

6

I'm assuming an external mic would eliminate the mildly annoying hard drive spin that the Belkin recorder picks up. But I'd like to know whether the Griffin iTalk's built-in mic is any better in this regard. Also, the Belkin tends to freeze up my iPod unless I insert it immediately before starting to record. Any similar problems with the iTalk? Finally, I second the call for any information on battery life.

Posted by Lin on April 22, 2004 at 6:33 AM (PST)

7

Does anyone know the amount of recording you can do before it fills up the ipod (MB/minute?). Will itunes convert the recorded conversation to mp3 upon syncing?

Inquiring Minds.

JM

Posted by Jaime Macias on April 22, 2004 at 7:17 AM (PST)

8

Samples? Both this article and Griffin's site fail to provide audio samples.

Update this article with samples and recording conditions.

Posted by Brad Spry on April 22, 2004 at 7:52 AM (PST)

9

Were Apple ever to change the recording limitation, would the iTalk be able to take advantage of the change or would a different version be needed?

Thanks,

David

Posted by iPodG5 on April 22, 2004 at 7:58 AM (PST)

10

8 KHz? This is a joke.

Posted by What?!?!? on April 22, 2004 at 12:18 PM (PST)

11

I was looking forward to this product, given the limitations of my Belkin Voice Recorder (especially the tendency to overmodulate voices frequently).

I assume the iTalk handles this better with its AGC...but as positive and informative as this review is, it doesn't leave me feeling like I need to rush out and buy this product--the qualitative differences don't seem that dramatic...

Posted by CJW on April 22, 2004 at 5:21 PM (PST)

12

There is a legitament use for the ex-mic port as a line-in..and that is for talk radio.

I would love to be able to plug a radio into my ipod and tape my favorite talk radio w/o having to use a PC. But 8khz is too low for even radio I would think.

Posted by me on April 22, 2004 at 10:34 PM (PST)

13

"I would love to be able to plug a radio into my ipod and tape my favorite talk radio w/o having to use a PC."

More importantly, especially considering their price, the iPods should come with FM and high-fidelity recording built-in. There seems to be no fundamental hardware reason why they could not - other players in the iPod's price bracket manage to include these and work very well.

Posted by Lacking on April 23, 2004 at 8:50 AM (PST)

14

Hopefully the next ipod...

Posted by Zach in Lake Stevens, WA on April 24, 2004 at 9:04 AM (PST)

15

Two questions:

What happens to the voice recordings when you sync with the iPod? Are they erased?

If it records in WAV, can you move the recordings back to iTunes using a third party app and then play them on the desktop machine?

Posted by DDH on April 25, 2004 at 12:39 PM (PST)

16

Anyone know where to get one? My order is backordered at Griffin...
-Josh

Posted by Josh on April 25, 2004 at 3:35 PM (PST)

17

Maybe this is a start to a line in utility for the iPod? (Say for vinyl direct recording)

Posted by Keith on April 26, 2004 at 7:37 AM (PST)

18

> Maybe this is a start to a line in utility for the iPod?

Good luck recording vinyl at 8KHz.

You know they are selling Minidisc recorders real cheap these days...

Posted by low quality on April 26, 2004 at 8:23 AM (PST)

19

Griffin technologies is dsiappointing. When I ordered in February, they said it would be shipped in April. Now they are backordered. This is really unbelievable. Why do you take pre-orders, if you cannot deliver on the promised date. They had 'only' 5 months to prepare their production line. I hope the product (if it ever appears), is not as bad as their marketing strategy. One thing is for sure: No more pre-orders from Griffin.

Posted by Jack Shutzman on April 26, 2004 at 11:48 AM (PST)

20

I heard on Your Mac Life that you can record for a month straight. Very nice if voice recording is your thing. I ordered mine.

3G

Posted by gizmogadgetguru on April 27, 2004 at 12:50 AM (PST)

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