The Rode i-XLR is an XLR plug combined with a compact audio interface, attached to a 3m cable with a lightning connector on the other end. You can use the i-XLR with any standard microphone that doesn’t require phantom power (so you can use dynamic and self powered mics, and the unit will supply ‘plugin power’ which is often used for headset or lavalier mics), and has a 3.5 mm zero-latency headphone output with a level control for monitoring.
Set-up is dead simple, and if you use the free Rode Reporter app on your device you can switch in a 20dB pad (in the hardware) to help it deal with shouty people, and start & stop recording by pressing the one touch recording button built-into the headphone level control. (I’ll just mention that I have seen pictures of the i-XLR with an additional hardware switch for a 20dB gain boost; the review model I was sent doesn’t have that.)
What I like about the i-XLR is that like the i-XY that we reviewed back in issue 30, it takes care of the audio quality before it gets near the consumer electronics in the ‘phone or tablet, and then simply uses that as a storage device with some built-in control and file-sharing software. Analogue to digital conversion (up to 24 bit/96 kHz) seems to be clear and transparent, leaving you to just select the best of your microphones for the job in hand
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