Using Your Phone As A Recorder (or other audio application)

[MikeRivers]

I'm not sure but that we might have thrashed this out a while back, but lately I've been inspired to write an article about the continuing feeble support for "pro" audio applications for Android devices, both hardware (phones/tablets) and software (apps). But I got to wondering what I'd actually use my phone for if it could run a DAW or even host a USB audio interface for stereo recording. I've got a shelf full of handheld recorders any of which could do the job just fine in any situation where I might be tempted to use my phone. I could see maybe editing a drum track while flying between New York and Paris, but not recording a 4 piece rock band where I want six mics on the drums, a DI and two mics on the guitar, and something creative on the bass, plus two good mics on the singers.

 

So, what are some valid uses with which a phone-based audio system could be put?

 

The real reason why I want to rant about this is the lack of information that would guide someone who wants to set up a phone-based DAW or even instrument effect processor to not choose the wrong phone. I went round and round with three different "tech" support people from Samsung trying to determine whether a new phone I was considering had a chance of being successful as a recording platform. I couldn't get through "I want to use a USB microphone or audio interface" and eventually boiled down the question to "Does this model I'm considering support OTG hosting?" One asked "What do you mean by 'OTG'?" Another assured me that it did support OTG, but as it turned out, this person thought that only meant that it act like an external disk drive and could transfer files to and from a computer when connected through USB. Eventually, I got to talk to someone who actually knew what OTG means, he kept going back and looking things up, and eventually told me that he didn't see anything indicated that it can host a USB device through an OTG cable. But then, I already knew that, having bought the phone and determined that it was dumb to anything other than a charger or a computer. I returned the phone after a couple of days - too bad, it was a pretty nice phone for $100.

 

My present conclusion is that if you spend enough for an Android phone (the cutoff point seems to be around $350 for Samsung models), you'll get OTG support, and if you spend $600, you can get one with the Samsung Professional Audio extensions, but that Samsung doesn't make a big deal of it and it's not easy to find out which models offer it,

 

To me, the whole thing isn't worth the trouble. But maybe somebody will pay me for the article, or give me a pro-audio-capable phone.

 

 

[nat whilk II]

5G live collaborations with musicians anywhere in the world?

 

 

nat whilk ii

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

I don't know if either is available on Android, but two of the things that get used the most on my iPhone are a SPL meter and a tuner app - specifically iStrobosoft. For other audio-related stuff, I tend to use a tablet or a laptop far more often.

[Mandolin Picker]

On my Android, the two main 'music' apps that I use are the tuner and the Note taking application. Thinking of switching to Evernote so that I can bring up the notes on any device, and not be limited to just the phone. I wouldn't want to try to use my phone for mixing anyway.

[MikeRivers]

I don't know if either is available on Android' date=' but two of the things that get used the most on my iPhone are a SPL meter and a tuner app - specifically iStrobosoft. For other audio-related stuff, I tend to use a tablet or a laptop far more often.[/quote']

 

Mine, too. I open up the Audio Control SPL meter whenever I'm in a noisy restaurant or I think the music somewhere is too loud. My favorite tuner app is Pitchlab since it lets me store and recall various banjo tunings (a couple of which I contributed to app, which at least used to have my name in the credits). I also use a spectrum analyzer for fun, to see what makes up the noise I'm measuring.

 

I suppose I could make more accurate SPL measurements and spectrum analysis if I had a mic preamp/interface connected digitally to the phone and used my Crown measurement mic rather than the phone's internal mic. But since I'm not filing noise pollution lawsuits, calibrating the phone at 85 dBA SPL against a meter that I trust is good enough for my purposes.

[philboking]

I have used my Samsung S4 to capture 'impulses' (it was a fireworks show, and I wanted to catch the reverb from surrounding forrests). Once in a while I'll also use it to capture musical ideas, such as singing an instrumental part while I'm driving. The little condenser mic in there actually isn't too bad, though it's not something I'd use to record a 'keeper' track.

 

I, too, have SPL meter, spectrum analyzer and tuning apps. These are freebies from Kewlsoft.

Mostly I use the SPL meter for FOH mixing and during concerts to decide if it's time to put in earplugs.