New great portable recording medium

Bob Martin · Post by **Bob Martin** » 21 Jul 2007 9:28 pm

This little box has the potential to revolutionize portable recording. Here are some specs.

The Competitive Edge!
IKey Plus Portable USB Recorder.
Introducing the iKEY Plus Portable USB Recorder, the second in a generation of products providing a more versatile platform for portable live audio recording. Designed to work with an Apple iPod or any external USB storage device, the iKEY Plus can record live audio to MP3 or WAV format directly to a USB Compatible storage device - in real time! With endless applications for both professionals and entertainment enthusiasts, the iKEY Plus Portable USB Recorder is the industry’s most convenient real-time recording tool. NOW with Mic Input, Phono Preamp, VU Meter Display, and Headphone Output. Get the competitive edge in the live entertainment industry. Order the iKEY Plus Portable USB recorder at our bargain basement pricing!

Features

* USB Port (For direct connectivity to supported USB Storage Device)
* Compatible with USB 2.0/1.1/1.0 devices
* Compatible with iPod
* Records audio to Uncompressed WAV format or MP3 format (w/ selectable bit rate, up to 320kbps)
* Gold plated RCA inputs
* Microphone input with Phantom power
* Built-in Phono preamp for direct connection of Turntables
* LED Indicator shows memory remaining on target drive
* Battery powered w/ low battery indicator
* DC charger input with DC adapter included for use with rechargeable batteries
* 6-bar VU meter with peak hold and Overload indicator 1/8” (3.5mm) Headphone monitor output
* Record volume control
* Reset button
* Requires 4 AA Rechargeable Batteries (Not Included)

If this thing works out as good as it looks it will really be a plus just think you can take your 500 gb USB hard drive and record for days out in the field.

They have one that sells for 149.00 and another more expensive one that has even more features for around 499.00 I think. I'm going to get one soon and when I do I'll review it here and let you know what I think of it.

Bob

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 22 Jul 2007 3:05 am

Being a complete gadget freak I checked this one out, and yes it looks pretty cool, and it is.

What it does, it takes a stereo signal from another source such as a preamp or mixer..it needs to be connected to an IPod or a USB storage device to save the data. So thats two other things it needs to plug into.

It appears that it's biggest benefit is that it can connect to a storage device the size of the planet, but it still only runs about 4 hours on batteries. This unit is a PASS IT THRU device and stores whatever you are recording directly to the target being a USB storage device. That is a nice feature.

ok then..

Now considering what a few other units do at about the same price, what this unit does is not really ground breaking in the scheme of things. Sorry IKey..

First consider battery life, they all have the 4 to 5 hour range, so ragardless of storage capacity the limit is reached by battery life.

Live recording alternatives:

Zoom H2, Zoom H4, Edirol R-1, Edirol R-09 can each record STEREO LIVE in MP3 or Wave on the contained storage media then transfer to PC or another device by USB. The Boss Micro BR can do that plus record from a stereo source such as a mixer, CD player or turntable as well as a Guitar or Stereo MIC. These are each totally self contained small portable units with ON Board Stereo MICS.

After reading the spec sheet, the IKey is not one that you can take to St Louis and walk around the room and record all the performances on it's own. You cannot take it to a gig and just turn it on all by itself and let it record, it needs help on the front end and the backend.

Given it's intended purpose as a middle man it is very good, but as a stand alone recorder like the few mentioned above it is not in the same catagory, it has a totally different purpose.

Just as a comparison, the Edirol R-1 that I use has a 1 gig card, it can record approx 15 hours of LIVE stereo at a HI MP3 setting. IF you are walking around St Louis, you need a few extra AA batteries and perhaps a second storage card to record 30 hours of Music. At the end of the day or when you go home you transfer it all to the PC by USB, burn a few CD's or transfer to your MP3 player and there ya go.

Just be aware that when you are recording sets such as in St Louis, a 30 minute set even in an MP3 format will be a very large file .

The very large file size of a very long non stop recording has to be understood. Editing sofware on board the PC is probably a given, I happen to use Cool Edit to cut/paste ,slice/dice etc...I have recorded band sets which were 45 minutes or so and although they were large, they could be managed with Cool Edit.

The files size, the recording time, the sampling rates etc are all common for each of the different MP3/wave recorders, that technical stuff is the same.

This new IKey is a neat tool, but know what it is you want to do before running out and getting one, that is true for any of these little units, match the unit to the need.

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 23 Jul 2007 4:45 am

I just bought a very similar device called i-record, but I use it to record analog to digital.
Note the rca jacks on the back. I record radio shows off my analog fm receiver and plug in my flash drive in the usb port. Then i stick the flash drive in my 'puter and burn it to cd.
It is marketed as record direct to your ipod but as you say, for live music there are better choices.
But, hooked up to an ac apadtor at my stereo set, I can easily convert cassette tapes and vinyl this same, super easy way.

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 23 Jul 2007 5:54 pm

Bob, thanks for the tip. FINALLY they put a mic preamp in that device. Very cool!

Brad

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 24 Jul 2007 2:16 am

As Brad states, the IKEY PLUS offers a Stereo MIC direct input which indeed makes this unit portable.
Plug in the Mic and a USB memory stick and LIVE MUSIC is easy. This one also has a Phones out.

IKEY PLUS
http://www.ikey-audio.com/pdf_manuals/i ... _31_06.pdf

IKEY
http://www.ikey-audio.com/pdf_manuals/ikey_manual.pdf

No Stereo mic input and no phones output

amazon pricing
Plus around $150
Not Plus around $50

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?&index= ... oding=UTF8

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 24 Jul 2007 6:25 am

So can the microphone be used at the same time input is connected via the rca jacks?
Meaning, could I play a cd connected to the rca jacks and play along live and record into the mic along with the cd at the same time?
(dubbing my playing into a recorded cd)

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 24 Jul 2007 8:58 pm

Interesting little box.
If you have the iPod already it makes it more useful.

But between the Zoom H4 and that, I think;
1 unit with mics and all included wins the day.
To use this one you need mic unit and ipod,
all with cables and table clutter,

Plus the H4 has more functional sets of input types.
Been very happy with the H4 in general.

Still this is a step forward for many.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 26 Jul 2007 3:27 am

Tony P. the manual (link above) is not really clear on using a CD source / MIC and recording both at the same time as a function.

Any of these little recorders can do that with an external mixer...just a thought.

My recent purchase of the Boss Micro BR allows USB transfer of MP3 files to the unit and then you can play them , play along or record along with them.

thats a different function all together, a different purpose for the unit.

TP, (the other one)

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 26 Jul 2007 12:28 pm

I've posted that ikey a bunch of times whenever someone asked about how to record their albums or cassettes to cd. I kept meaning to get one for the purpose of converting vinyl and cassette to cd..but never got around to it. Now that they are only $49, its verytempting. The reviews are not good tho

Joe Stoebenau · Post by **Joe Stoebenau** » 28 Aug 2007 5:23 pm

I picked up an Edirol UA-1X USB to RCA jacks for recording my albums onto my computer where I then edit the tracks in Sound Forge so the traks are seperate and add a little filtering for the pops and crackles.
As a pass through device, the Edirol is excellent and hassle free. plug it in and go.

For recording live on my 30 gig iPod I use the Belkin TuneTalk stereo mic which snaps right onto my iPod. The belkin also has a line in that I use to record my instruments and even youtube songs directly onto my ipod. The files are automatically changed to mp3 when I load it into iTunes.

Both of these units are very inexpensive but super easy to use.