If you have been wondering how to record a line out of your mixer directly into your phone this article will show you how.
If you want to get a clean sound without fader clicks, some kind of audio input cable / device is needed for the phone.
Previously to get a clean sound without fader clicks or to avoid recording movie and sound separately then syncing them before exporting and uploading. Quote a bit of work
Up until now, most of the videos you see on my Instagram channel were recorded using Line6 MobileIn. At the time this was a great solution, although it was pretty expensive and an additional adapter was needed to convert it to a lightning connection for newer iPhones.
I also noticed that the recorded volume level was lower than I would like, even with the line out volume of my mixer set to max.
I decided to try out this cable as an alternative:
Headset Buddy Line-level Audio Adapter for iPhone & Smartphones
I recorded a video to show you the positive results.
Video Walkthrough
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFqcWgsFBiJ/
Audio Comparison
Line6 MobileIn:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFqe_tflBm-/?taken-by=schoolofscratch
Headset Buddy cable:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFqfjsVFBn4
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFqgQrylBpT
Results
The headsetbuddy cable won for me in terms of volume and ease of connection.
How to Record / Which App?
- Plug the line out of your mixer (I’m using a RCA to 3.5mm minijack out of my mixer output) into the headset buddy cable.
- Plug the headset buddy jack into the headphone socket on the iPhone and open up the standard built in camera app, switch to video and hit record and you are all set!
Other Options
Quite a few people have also recommended RODE sc4.
However, please note that this is designed for microphones and it is my understanding that you need to keep the volume low to avoid distortion.
What do you use to record a clean audio input from your mixer to your iPhone?
Happy Scratching!
– Emma Short-E
Emma, I’ve been experimenting with this method too. I’m recording simultaneous video and audio to my Galaxy S7 Android phone using this cable: http://amzn.to/1Pg3fAe.
This cable is pretty cheap (both inexpensive and probably not all that well made). The one upside of this type of cable is that you can potentially monitor the audio in situations where you don’t have a mixer (say, portable recording on your PT-01 or Handytrax).
Note that some smartphone video apps won’t let you use an external mic, so search for one that does. Even better, look for a video app that has a sound level meter so you can optimize your levels. I’ve been trying out Cinema FV-5 for Android.
Hoping to record a video for the DJ Brace contest tonight if I can make some free time – we shall see!
Great knowledge sharing thanks Lance!
For any Android folks out there, I am getting my best results with the Headset Buddy and an app called Open Camera. The app doesn’t have an audio level monitor though, so watch your levels. Beats played from my iPad with the volume on 100% seemed to be causing some clipping.
Something seems to be wrong with the external mic support in the Cinema FV-5 app I mentioned earlier. No matter how strong my input signal, I can’t get levels any higher then -20 to -15 db.
Thanks again for sharing this Lance!
Hey, so I just received the headset buddy and will be using with android Lg G3. Installed Open Camera app last night and it worked first try.. Went to try it today and it will not work. Ive tried changing wires, unistall/install, and everything in the settings.. Couldn’t figure out the problem.. Any ideas would be much appreiciated? Thanks 🙂
Hey Matt, sorry I do not know the answer, maybe you can contact headset buddy direct?
Yea i couldn’t get the Cinema FV-5 to work for me either.. I sure would like to record some scratches tho.. Any help would be very helpful.. Hope y’all have a great afternoon/evening// peace Matt B
Hmm, the built-in attenuator looks like this Headset Buddy would be a much better option though.
I just got the headset buddy last week. Haven’t had a chance to test it out. One of my pet peeves is watching DJ videos with horrible audio.
Atleast now there is a cheap solution… Until they start taking away the headphone jacks on the phones ?
😀
Emma (et al) – The Line6 adapter Emma showed at the top has stereo input support. Which by design none of the “mic adapters” can even have.
What about this loss of Stereo? Isn’t this an issue from a quality standpoint?
Indeed it is Mono and this is a trade off.
i want to buy this but u dont ship it to italy. what can i do?
I have a HTC One M8 and the levels need to be turned right down when using the Rode sc4. Anyone know if theres any issues with the buddy line and a HTC phone?
Sorry I don’t know. How about contacting buddy line direct. Or does anyone here know? Cheers!
What about if you like record the audio from voice recorder on iPhone? actually works?
Hello! I’ve recently bought an SC4 ( before i came across this video ) and i’m having a strange issue… When i connect the SC4 to the iPhone SE it mutes phone’s mic, which is what i intend. However, when i connect a stereo cable to the other end of the SC4, the iPhone SE’s microphone get’s unmuted, and it doesn’t record the signal coming from the cable, just recordes microphne audio normaly…. any ideas?
Sorry Kapa, no idea! Can you talk to rode direct?
Hello ! I’ve since resolved the issue. I was connecting the SC4 to the headphone out of a RME Fireface UCX and it wasn’t working properly. I had also ordered a signal attenuator that meanwhile has arrived and strangely enough, connecting the SC4 to the attenuator and then connecting the attenuator to the RME does the trick! 🙂
What are you connecting to the SC4? Is it a output from a mixer?
Hello Bror! I’ve since resolved the issue. I was connecting the SC4 to the headphone out of a RME Fireface UCX and it wasn’t working properly. I had also ordered a signal attenuator that meanwhile has arrived and strangely enough, connecting the SC4 to the attenuator and then connecting the attenuator to the RME does the trick! 🙂
I’m finding that the Headset Buddy doesn’t work with the iPhone 8 and its lightning adapter… anyone else?
Hey, have you resolved this?
Yes, for some reason a different RCA cable fixed the problem.