I finally got my hands on the XtremeMac MicroMemo microphone for the 5th gen iPod and I have to say I am very impressed (it took long enough). For starters, this one comes with a little microphone that is on flexible arm that can be pointed in any direction. That can be removed and an external mic or other source can be plugged in. That is where my interest falls off a bit. When i plugged my griffin lav mic into it the sound was not so great. Using it with the included mic makes perhaps the best portable iPod setup I have found. I did a quick podcast comparing the internal and external mic this morning and have posted it here. Take a listen and let me know how you think it sounds and how it compares to the TuneTalk Stereo.
If I had a rating system here I would give a 5 star rating on out of the box performance, but I would dump it down to a 3 with an external mic. All in all, if you need something to record stuff from your desktop this thing kicks butt.
I have been using this one along with the TuneTalk to record research group meetings. I think they both work quite well, but I have not tried tinkering with the external mic. I like the look of the Micromemo with its mic on a stalk, but I have not seen that it is really directional in any way. The best thing is that you can get it farther from the iPod and the spin up noise of the HD. Hopefully the new version of the Nano will solve that problem anyway.
Yeah, the new nano will make a great little recorder. I wonder how long it will take companies to create a recorder with the same form factor?
So, does this finally justify my buying a big iPod? 😉
That is up to you … what do you think of the quality? It is impressive to me, but it is always up to you. You know what I would do … get an 80GB with this setup for portable podcasting, but that’s just me 😉