Comments on: iMic by Griffin Technology

By: Graham

Graham — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:36:43 +0000

I bought a new iMic to facilitate live speech recording though a small microphone and also to transfer a lot of cassette recordings into digital format with my macbook. I have used it for both, and in both cases the recording seems to freeze after 40 or 41 minutes. I use Audacity 1.3.7 This seems really odd – I must be overlooking something basic. Any thoughts?

By: Dennmartini

Dennmartini — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:47:07 +0000

I’m looking for the best way to convert my vinyl to mp3. I’m a total novice, so if you have some info for me please keep it plain. Just got an iMac, and have a usb turntable from Numark. Can I just plug in the turntable and press record in Garage Band or do I need some kind of software to convert. Anyone?

By: Kent Durvin

Kent Durvin — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 11:08:39 +0000

You can get an adapter at Radio Shack, or in many other stores or webstes. The correct name is “phone plug to mini phone jack adapter”. The large plug is 1/4″ and the small plug is 1/8 or 3.5mm.

By: hugh

hugh — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:20:29 +0000

i think imic is great. i use with logic 7.2 express, behringer mixer and guitar and it works perfectly, compared with my line in built in to my mac, which has slight lag. only problem is having to use adaptor. is there a special cable ( small jack- headphone size, to big jack, guitar led size) ??????

By: JW

JW — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:42:53 +0000

Some people have suggested using iMic to free up the headphone jack for simultaneous sound from both the internal speakers and an external output. Has anyone had any success with this? Will any software help allow this to work?

I work in an office where we pump the music to a sound system but I would also like to hear it from my internal speakers at my desk for a more surround sound experience. Also better to hear talk radio etc.
I’ve found some forums MacForums where people are talking about this but no one has come up with a solution. I figured it was worth bringing up here. Thanks for any suggestions or discussion.

By: Kent

Kent — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:00:23 +0000

I have found other discussions about pitch problems, not related to the iMic. In my case, I was using iMic with a little app called DialectX that simply replays the input after a brief delay, like an echo. With speakers, and the mic close to them, you get a cool echo effect. (It is meant to be used for pronunciation and accent practice with headphones.) I hear the speed and pitch of the sound rise about a semitone each time around.

By: Kerby

Kerby — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:00:58 +0000

I am still working on using iMic to do some recording (straight recording, not converting of cassettes or vinyl), and it still has the hiss problem. Any tips are WELCOME. Nothing seems to get rid of it. None of the tips above work (except I have not tried using an analog-digital converter running thru fire wire). It could be that the input signal is too weak. My next tactic is to use a mixer and try running the signal in from there. If that doesn’t work, then maybe I will need to abandon iMic and buy something that works.b Any suggestions there? It is sad that in the age of digital recording there is a product that injects hiss that sounds like an old cassette.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:58:09 +0000

I have just bought Imic to use my mac mini.

How should set iMic to use SKYPE with Macmini?

tks
Carlos

By: johnbrush

johnbrush — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 21:31:15 +0000

Tony Video 2000 -
Thanks for the tips. I’m testing Audio Hijack now. I seems to be the simplest to use of any of the systems I’ve tried so far. I’m looking at the Hijack and Hijack Pro. I think I’ll buy the Pro.

By: tonyvideo2000

tonyvideo2000 — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 15:15:00 +0000

I agree with Bart. I’m a former broadcast professional who enjoys tinkering with these marvelous digital devices. I do not work for any seller or manufacturer.

USB interface such as iMic adds very low level noise to recording. With cassettes, this doesn’t matter as much as the tape hiss “masks” this issue. However with other audio sources, like vinyl or hi-fi VHS, this can be noticeable. I have one mac with audio line in and that works well with a turntable and pre-amp (google turntable pre-amp and there’s a guy who sells like 15 different models–he’s good). As for my iMac without audio inputs, I’ve done a work-around with an analog video converter box that plugs in via firewire. it shows up in the audio input list and sounds very clean.

But I’m not sure I’d advocate the extra expense of and video converter box unless you plain to digitize analog video like VHS? Consider HOW you’ll be listening to your vinyl rips–you may find the miniscule amount of noise added by iMic to be acceptable and hardly noticeable.

My other 2 cents is that soundstudio and Roxio’s suite works better than final vinyl. Audio Hijack is also awesome-awesome for some situations, like capturing streams.

I’m not planning on giving any more “tips” but I would suggest a good pair of headphones. I can’t help but recommend Grado SR60′s. They really “open up” the music experience.