Thanks for the vid. Looking forward to getting my hands on the GJ 2 soon. I have the Zoom H4, and while it does a great job of recording, it's an ergonomic disaster! I can never remember what combination of 4 way toggle on the front and black slider on the side I need and naming tracks is a slow and clunky pita. Whereas fourtrack couldn't be any easier to use. I'll be using it out the bush to record birds/frogs so I hop the s/n ratio is good. Fingers crossed!
@watersedgeministry You can use either one. If I'm using a dynamic mic I just plug into the 1/4" jack. If I'm using a condenser I usually need a phantom power unit and then I run that into the 1/8" jack.
Guitar Jack is $200, and all it seems to be used for (in this case) is to expose the two line-in pins on the Apple connector to a pair of jack sockets. Add an external mic preamp, and you've got a fantastically overpriced field recorder.
The other bad thing about this setup is that Apple in their wisdom decided to drop the line in pins from the iPhone 4 - so the Guitar Jack isn't compatible with Apple's newest phone. If you're thinking of upgrading, you're going to loose they money you spent!
@albedo0point39 That's actually a pretty broad generalization regarding GuitarJack. The electronics going into this thing are pretty complex. In addition to providing both a 1/4" mono and a 1/8" stereo in, when paired with the GuitarJack software it's doing a lot more.
On the 1/4" Jack there is an option to change the impedance from Hi-Z (for the guitar) to a Lo-Z input for line level sources and a pad for Lo-Z inputs with high level outputs. It is also giving you an input level control.
@onelikeson Look - you can do all that with a couple of op amps and maybe a micro-controller (if the level control is done in the device, not by the iPhone's hardware). No more than 15$ of components.
Something like a Zoom H1 has 5x the functionality at 1/2 the cost.
I can understand why it's expensive... low volume manufacture, metal body (did I read that it's built in the US too). That's fine - but it means that the result is poor value for money.
@albedo0point39 It's all relative. If you're so inclined and can build something like that yourself, that's great and you should do so. But I've been working with the unit for a little over a month and have been using it to record guitar/bass/vocal tracks away from the studio and when used in conjunction with FourTrack and all the other great music making apps, the iPhone is for now much more functional than some thing like the Zoom.
@onelikeson I'm glad that it works for you, and it's cool to be able to take a creative tool like that on the road.
I'm having fun with the iPad for music; got it hooked via USB to an Allen and Heath mixer and that works great (but not very portable!). Apparently the iPad also works over USB with the Zoom H4n as an interface - so you get XLR and phantom power too.
It's all good - here's hoping that Sonoma have success & sell enough to drop their costs. Would be good to see some competition too
@albedo0point39 As for the 1/8" jack you have a variety of options from mono (left channel) to dual inputs with gain control over left and right channel's individually, and stereo with a single gain control. In addition, you have a pad and a level booster.
I've worked with a few other devices to get an input into the phone and they generally go through the headphone jack and are really noisy.
@onelikeson Yes, the headphone jack does suck. There's crosstalk from the outputs back to the input and there's a high pass filter dropping off sound below 150Hz.
@albedo0point39 You are correct about the pinout however and that was unfortunate, but it appears that they have a solution for that and model 2 will work for both iPad and iPhone 4. They are offering rebates to people who want to move up and return they're used Model 1 GuitarJacks.
Thanks for the vid. Looking forward to getting my hands on the GJ 2 soon. I have the Zoom H4, and while it does a great job of recording, it's an ergonomic disaster! I can never remember what combination of 4 way toggle on the front and black slider on the side I need and naming tracks is a slow and clunky pita. Whereas fourtrack couldn't be any easier to use. I'll be using it out the bush to record birds/frogs so I hop the s/n ratio is good. Fingers crossed!
quedecree 9 months ago
which input is the right one for mics, the 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch...does it make a difference if you are using a preamp between the mic and guitarjack
watersedgeministry 1 year ago
@watersedgeministry You can use either one. If I'm using a dynamic mic I just plug into the 1/4" jack. If I'm using a condenser I usually need a phantom power unit and then I run that into the 1/8" jack.
onelikeson 1 year ago
Guitar Jack is $200, and all it seems to be used for (in this case) is to expose the two line-in pins on the Apple connector to a pair of jack sockets. Add an external mic preamp, and you've got a fantastically overpriced field recorder.
The other bad thing about this setup is that Apple in their wisdom decided to drop the line in pins from the iPhone 4 - so the Guitar Jack isn't compatible with Apple's newest phone. If you're thinking of upgrading, you're going to loose they money you spent!
albedo0point39 1 year ago
@albedo0point39 That's actually a pretty broad generalization regarding GuitarJack. The electronics going into this thing are pretty complex. In addition to providing both a 1/4" mono and a 1/8" stereo in, when paired with the GuitarJack software it's doing a lot more.
On the 1/4" Jack there is an option to change the impedance from Hi-Z (for the guitar) to a Lo-Z input for line level sources and a pad for Lo-Z inputs with high level outputs. It is also giving you an input level control.
onelikeson 1 year ago
@onelikeson Look - you can do all that with a couple of op amps and maybe a micro-controller (if the level control is done in the device, not by the iPhone's hardware). No more than 15$ of components.
Something like a Zoom H1 has 5x the functionality at 1/2 the cost.
I can understand why it's expensive... low volume manufacture, metal body (did I read that it's built in the US too). That's fine - but it means that the result is poor value for money.
albedo0point39 1 year ago
@albedo0point39 It's all relative. If you're so inclined and can build something like that yourself, that's great and you should do so. But I've been working with the unit for a little over a month and have been using it to record guitar/bass/vocal tracks away from the studio and when used in conjunction with FourTrack and all the other great music making apps, the iPhone is for now much more functional than some thing like the Zoom.
onelikeson 1 year ago
@onelikeson I'm glad that it works for you, and it's cool to be able to take a creative tool like that on the road.
I'm having fun with the iPad for music; got it hooked via USB to an Allen and Heath mixer and that works great (but not very portable!). Apparently the iPad also works over USB with the Zoom H4n as an interface - so you get XLR and phantom power too.
It's all good - here's hoping that Sonoma have success & sell enough to drop their costs. Would be good to see some competition too
albedo0point39 1 year ago
@albedo0point39 As for the 1/8" jack you have a variety of options from mono (left channel) to dual inputs with gain control over left and right channel's individually, and stereo with a single gain control. In addition, you have a pad and a level booster.
I've worked with a few other devices to get an input into the phone and they generally go through the headphone jack and are really noisy.
onelikeson 1 year ago
@onelikeson Yes, the headphone jack does suck. There's crosstalk from the outputs back to the input and there's a high pass filter dropping off sound below 150Hz.
albedo0point39 1 year ago
@albedo0point39 You are correct about the pinout however and that was unfortunate, but it appears that they have a solution for that and model 2 will work for both iPad and iPhone 4. They are offering rebates to people who want to move up and return they're used Model 1 GuitarJacks.
onelikeson 1 year ago
@onelikeson We'll have to see how much it costs. It might be even more expensive! Credit where it is due though - offering a rebate is a nice move.
albedo0point39 1 year ago
Clever!
sonomawireworks 1 year ago