Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iDevice Apps, Reviews
Developer: Audiofile Engineering
Compatibility:i iOS 4.0 and above
Price: $5.99
If you find yourself hampered by the limited recording capabilities included with Apple’s Voice Memos application (and if you do anything more complicated than record a simple “pick up milk” type memo, you will), Audiofile’s excellent FiRe is the definitive, gold standard, stereo audio recording app. Packed full of enough features that are well laid out, thoughtfully integrated, and super responsive even on older iPhones/iPods, FiRe could easily replace more complicated (and heavier) audio recording gear.
Accepting input from the built-in microphone, line-in microphone, or a dock connector microphone plugin, FiRe is an outstanding component of an overall recording setup.
Sound Recording
FiRe handles sound recording quickly and competently on the “Recording” screen, where dual-view of the audio waveform being captured is displayed. During recording, this basic screen shows a timer, input level bars, a zoomed version of the audio waveform, and a view of the overall waveform that has been recorded. The display conveniently flips through 180�, so if you are using a dock connector mic and flip the iDevice to hold it like a regular mic, the recording display reorients itself for optimal reading at this angle.
While recording, there is an option to automatically add markers at predefined intervals, with a convenient double-tap navigation between markers after recording is complete to make finding that particular segment all the easier. This level of polish is evidenced throughout the app, making its $5.99 price feel scandalously cheap.
Before you record, FiRe offers a veritable schmorgasbord of choices, including the overall recording quality (Low/Medium/High), time format to be used for recording, whether the iDevice should sleep while recording, and limits on the total file size per recording (2 GB is the standard). To enhance the quality of the recording, a variety of audio processing presets are available to minimize background noise (Rumble Reducer) or bring out a particular subject during the recording (Male and Female Voice Enhancers). FiRe provides the ability to tag recordings with a mountain of information, including a photo for the recording, a geotag, and metadata tags for major formats like AIFF, WAVE, Broadcast WAVE, and Ogg Vorbis. These tags may also be populated after the recording is made, and defaults can be set for many of them to reduce repetitive entry.
Post-Recording
Once you have found the file you are looking for, have tagged it as necessary, and are ready to share it, there are three main choices. To push recordings from the iDevice out you can FTP them or upload them directly into SoundCloud. SoundCloud is an audio sharing site similar to YouTube, and it requires a separate account. Luckily, FiRe supports the tag formats in use on SoundCloud, so uploaded recordings are already tagged and ready to go.
If FTP/SoundCloud upload is not your chosen solution, FiRe also has the ability to allow browser-based access to the Recordings library. WIth a flick of a button, FiRe turns your iDevice into a server hosting a Bonjour gallery of recordings. For all the various sharing options, the built-in codecs provide the opportunity to compress the sound to speed up transfer. These include Apple Lossless, FLAC, WAVE, AAC, and Ogg Vorbis. No matter who the recipients are, chances are you can find a format they will be able to play back without issues.
And speaking of playback, for users who find themselves overwhelmed by the speed of their recorded speakers, FiRe includes a decent audio speed controller with pitch control, so speeding up that slow-as-molasses presenter will not lead to comic Mickey Mouse sounds!
Let’s Hear the Verdict
FiRe is a winner. When an app is this good, it is a disservice to find a cute way of saying that. For occasional use, the $5.99 price tag is more than reasonable. And for serious audio engineers, anyone conducting interviews, or anybody who needs a full featured solution to record, play back, and share audio, the app is a no brainer (especially when coupled with an external mic such as the Mikey 2.0 from Blue Microphones, which I used during testing).
FiRe is literally bursting at the seams with truly useful features, and it performs exactly the way an app should: giving you access to all those options when you want them, and getting out of the way and doing its job flawlessly when you need it to.
Appletell Rating:
Full Story » | Written by Aaron Kraus for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »
EMULEX EMS TECHNOLOGIES EMC ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS
No comments:
Post a Comment