The Cheap and Small But Powerful Brandname Stereo Microphone

By Rachel Rebecca, 3 June, 2018

Review Category

Rating

5 Stars

Review

I have experimented with different microphones. Out of those that I have recorded with on iOs, I sincerely think that this one is the best at stereo recording representation. There is great news for you folks who are thinking, oh goodness, a good stereo microphone? I can't afford that! Nope, This one is really cheap, about 18 dollars on amazon at the moment. I am rounding up. I usually don't by this microphone, but when I first bought it, it was about 80 to 90 dollars. The price has dropped but the quality certainly hasn't. It is also Brandname. The brand is Focusrite. The company that makes the Scarlet solo which is a review for another day. I tell you, I love that preamp too! However, back to my current preoccupation! This little precious thing is called ITrack Pocket.

The sound is very good and the audio is very clear. It also comes out in Stereo. I have taken so many soundscapes with it, and it works wonders. People tend to really like the sound of this microphone. If you adjust the volume to about a quarter way down it doesn't make for a bad microphone just for talking in to. What is more, are you a musician? no problem! This device also has a instrument preamp, which is as spot on as any other focusrite products. ON the right side of the small device there is a quarter inch plug for your instrument chord. You can directly plug your instrument in there and play your guitar while speaking, rapping, singing, or whatever you choose to do. Uh-oh, it won't work for me because I have a really protective case with really small port openings! That's not a problem either. this device works with that! It comes with a small 1 foot chord, so nice and short. The end that fits in to your iPhone, iPad or iPod is pretty small, just like the regular apple charging chords that plug in to your phone. The other end that is an l shaped type of end plugs in to the Itrack Pocket via MicroUSB. I have found some mics that will work with cases and a few that won't, and this one will. I have used the otter box cases for a long time, and that was one of my biggest preoccupations. ON the left side of the box and it is a rectangle is the gain nob. The highest distorts easily, so it is for softer less sensitive stuff. I place my finger on the top of the nob by the rubbery unit and scroll it about maybe a quarter or half way downn, before your finger gets to the other side of the rubber. I do this especially when I want to talk. My voice also projects really well though. The grill that spans the front of the cube is mettle but it doesn't reach the top, there is a ledge and a backboard. This is for you to place your phone on for video creation. It's a pretty slim gap so it is useful for phones with only a slim case or with no case. The backboard is nice because there is a thin phone backing on the backboard. The microphone is pretty sturdy. There is a little plug in the back for the wire. which sticks out but the wire reaches sideways because it bends about 90 degrees. It is about pocket size and is easy to hold, Thus the name Itrack Pocket. It is 6.9 inches across, 5.1 inches tall, and about 1.9 wide. This thing is truly an excellent option if you want great powerful stereo quality microphone, cheaply. Not to mention, It is a good company, at least somewhat well known.

Devices Accessory Was Used With

iPhone
iPad

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Comments

By Simon Jaeger on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 05:24

Does this little thing have a headphone jack? If not, plugging it into my iPhone 8+ would take away my ability to use headphones, which would be quite a shame indeed.

By Piotr Machacz on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 05:24

First of all, @simon according to this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmQecNDQ9A
It does not have a headphone jack. It may be possible to use a lightning+headphone splitter cable to fix this but I'm not sure if there are ones that also transfer data in addition to letting you charge your phone. Also, the interface is designed for the smaller, 5/5S/5C phones so using the included mount with anything later, minus the SE is either impossible or doable but causing the mount to obscure the side buttons, I'm not sure judging by the video.

@Rachel thanks for the review. I'm kind of interested in getting this for recording, mainly just sounds around me rather than using its guitar amp features. Could you include some samples of the things you recorded with this microphone? Also, since this doesn't have its own headphone jack what happens when you connect it to your phone with VoiceOver's speech if you don't have headphones connected? Can you still hear VoiceOver through the iPhone's internal speaker?

Lastly, I would suggest you change the review title to just "Focusright iTrack Pocket", as that's what people are going to see when looking at the reviews section. "The Cheap and Small But Powerful Brandname Stereo microphone" doesn't really give a good idea of what you're reviewing.

By flcomputergeek on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 05:24

This is a good review. However, I am glad I looked at the amazon reviews, because the very top review tells us that the app that corresponds with this microphone is no longer supported or updated, and incompatible with IOS 11. The reviewer also says that recording with this microphone does not work outside of the app. I'll keep my eyes open for other solutions.