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Griffin iTalk and iSightLight

OT: language

Argh - They need writers who understand grammar. How a professional organization gets away with two small web pages each using "its" incorrectly is amazing. Using "you" instead of "your" etc.

"Hey it passed the spelling checker!"

(Both products look good. I own the iTrip and iCurve too.)
 
Originally posted by jacobslateralus
Is it really mono? where are you reading that? surely with a better mic pluged into it you can record in stereo.
Click to expand...

Physical Specs
Dimensions (HxWxD) - ?x?x? (?x?x? mm)
Weight - ??? oz (??? kilo)
iPod Connection
Headphone/Output -3.5mm stereo
(with iPod audio play through)


External Mic Input - 3.5mm mono
(input swiched when connected)


Speaker
Impedance - 8 Ohms
Max output power - 2 Watts
Speaker size -16 mm
Freq Response 20Hz - 20Khz


Mic
Automatic Gain Control (AGC)
- 30 Db Ratio
- Attack Time - 100 ms
- Recovery Time - 3.5 sec


Dynamic Range 20Hz - 20Khz
 
Originally posted by jacobslateralus
Is it really mono? where are you reading that? surely with a better mic pluged into it you can record in stereo.
Click to expand...

The low-res mono limitation is built into the iPod, it's not under Griffin's control. The specs come straight out of the RIAA playbook, so it's pretty clearly an iTMS-enabling compromise.
 
ah....I read those specs on their website and somehow failed to notice the part where it said "mono." sometimes I think I'm retarded.
 
Originally posted by Sir_Giggles
I'd just wish for a company to come out with a recorder than accepts XLR inputs and with an iPod that can record 4 channels of at least 48KHz, 16-bit quality uncompressed audio.

I'd snap up 4 of them in a heartbeat.
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Man, I'd be more than happy with just two xlr inputs. I'd even settle on a stereo 1/8" input for my Sony field mic. Dammit, I wish Apple would release a developer kit so people can start making this stuff! I'm really getting aggravated about these music piracy fears, because they're screwing up my dream to use my ipod as a kick-ass field recorder. No, not to jack concerts or cds, but as a professional sound design tool. Besides, who the heck would go through the trouble of recording a cd in real-time and having to worry about levels, etc, when they could just download the damn thing off Kazaa?
 
I got the Belkin Voice Recorder for x-mas, I am not impressed with it to be nice to Belkin. The audio is not too great. I look forward to some comparison reviews. Then we'll see if I can sell mine and get the better one if the reviews go that way.
 
mo no......

Originally posted by jacobslateralus
ah....I read those specs on their website and somehow failed to notice the part where it said "mono." sometimes I think I'm retarded.
Click to expand...

No, you are not retarded - just as overwhelmed (and blinded) with happiness as I was when I read about this. After sending out a bunch of mails to my musician-friends about this life saver product I now realize that I will stick with my belkin (which I never use) and keep dreaming of that stereo AAC input. Though why it should not be technically possible to record stereo through a stereo output/input as the one on top of the ipod beats me. Even stereo in a low quality would interest me, but it has to be stereo.
 
Sightlight–no photos?

The idea behind the sightlight seems sound, although I do agree that a straight-on light won't be as flattering.

For that matter, I wish that they showed a photo or screencap of an iChat with/without the Sightlight. Nevermind that it will be custom tailored to flatter the device, the fact that there's no chance to see a difference or demo detracts from my interest.

Finally, I also dislike their ad-copy. Did they really need to use "cleverly" and "ingeniously" in the same paragraph. And it's about the same feature:

"The SightLight cleverly shares the incoming FireWire cable with your iSight. You first connect your FireWire cable to the SightLight's female FireWire jack and then connect it's external FireWire cable to your iSight as usual. The SightLight has ingeniously split off the FireWire for its own power connection."

Well, maybe they'll demo it at MacWorld (I live in SF so will stop by the exhibition hall for a day).
 
I find it seriously hard to believe that 3 months after the Belkin accessory announcements, there is no quality stereo line-in recording for the iPod. If this isn't announced at MWSF, I just don't understand what they are thinking!!!!
 
Originally posted by elgruga
OK. So buy it. It will be delivered in April - like the first of April.......

Sorry, I just cant stand any more trolling for interest from this company. Send us the cash, 4 months in advance, and if we get enough takers, we 'll manufacture.

If not, we'll refund your credit Card.

In the meantime, you pay interest on the $35, and Griffin get to collect interest on your cash. Cool biz!
Click to expand...

They don't bill credit cards until the product ships.
 
Originally posted by andyduncan
SightLight looks great. The only thing is, will this lead to mugshot-style lighting? Anyone do professional video/film here? I was under the impression that you generally wanted the light coming from at least a slight angle, otherwise you wash out peoples features. Is that correct?
Click to expand...

I can help ya out here...actually, lights like this tend to be the most flattering kind. Angles mean shadows, which provide drama, but accentuate wrinkles and blemishes.

The other thing that lights like this do is provide a certain kind of highlight in the subject's eyes, which can make them seem more compelling. The SightLight is too small to be what is known as a "ring light", but ring lights are used for glamour shoots and provide that ring-like eye highlight that you see in fashion photos and hip-hop videos. The ring light fits over the lens of the camera so it is a direct source at 90º.

So, anyway, the Griffin light could be more flattering than usual, or it could make a spotlight effect like you see with camera "sun guns" or with infrared night-vision video cameras. We'll see. If there is ambient light already, it probably will be an effective fill.
 
I thought the new ipods could do Stereo

through the dock connection. The chip supports recording in through the top in mono, and through the firewire bottom for high quality... I was counting on Griffin to be the company to tap into this... Then again I might have all my facts confused...
 
I think the iTalk sounds like a great device. The notes say that you could connect a higher quality mic into the iTalk's mic input, so if that quality mic can record stereo, I would imagine the iPod could handle stereo recording. If this is true, then the iPod is finally getting to where I have truly wanted it to go. As a music student, being able to record concerts and rehearsals would be of GREAT benefit to me. This would mean I won't have to replace my broken minidisk recorder, and can hopefully buy an iPod instead!!
 
Re: yeah, right

Originally posted by trog
The Kings of vaporware poised to strike again. :p How long ago did they announce that "radioshark" thing? They average half a year before actually shipping something they announce. Except, of course, in the increasing number of cases where they don't ship it at all, ever. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I would somewhat agree with this post, although gauging interest is a very important thing to do in the limited product space of Mac peripherals.

I think others have said that Griffin doesn't charge until they ship.

I was somewhat disappointed a year or so back when they said they wouldn't ship the doohicky that turned an iPod into a remote control for your stereo and TV.

Griffin seems to waste a lot of funding on research and development - yet they have some of the coolest peripherals in the Mac Peripheral market. Don't forget that their sister company is Marathon Computer.

The two companies combined are some of the most copied peripheral manufacturers in the entire computer industry.

MacMice built its initial success on copying most of what Griffin offered. For products they didn't copy - they made accessories for the accesories that Griffin made like the MateDeck - a holder for multiple PowerMates.

I have been considering doing a story on my jackwhispers website about Griffin and the "habit of vaporware"
 
i think the iTalk looks brilliant and will come in so handy!
i'm so surprised about how reasonably priced Griffin tech products are...!!
 
XLR digital recorders ARE cheap now

Originally posted by plastree
Man, I'd be more than happy with just two xlr inputs. I'd even settle on a stereo 1/8" input for my Sony field mic. Dammit, I wish Apple would release a developer kit so people can start making this stuff! I'm really getting aggravated about these music piracy fears, because they're screwing up my dream to use my ipod as a kick-ass field recorder. No, not to jack concerts or cds, but as a professional sound design tool. Besides, who the heck would go through the trouble of recording a cd in real-time and having to worry about levels, etc, when they could just download the damn thing off Kazaa?
Click to expand...

Here's your 8-track recorder with 2 xlr inputs for $278 at B&H. Haven't used this model myself, but it looks like it has what you want. So why pay $50 for some crappy mono compressed on your iPod when you can have the real deal?

http://www.fostex.com/index.php?file=products/digital/mr8

As for me, I've used both generations of the Marantz compact Flash recorder, and it ROCKS - phantom power, nice monitoring, pre-roll, etc. While a small device that fits onto an iPod would seem nice, it would have to be so stripped down. Then I'd just miss al the pro features that you need to get a sweet recording.

And the latest model (PMD-670) is just under $700, a real improvement from the $1200 first model (with more compression options).
 
MediaBaron said:
Binaural mics for an iTalk device would be cool for an iPod. This is where you have microphones in the same position as a person's ears recording stereo sound.

If you've never heard this before put on a pair of headphones and click this link for an audio treat.
Click to expand...

That is pretty cool, but I don't think Apple will ever have the insight to allow the Ipod (and Ipod mini) to do those types of recordings. :(
 
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