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What are working stereo USB microphone options for the iPad? It needs to be usable as an audio input into recorder apps? Presumably plugged into the iPad through the USB camera connection adapter.

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iPad 1 or iPad 2? – lrussell810 Dec 25 '11 at 11:49
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Do you absolutely require USB or could this be more general and let the connection method be listed in the answer. Today, most might be USB but who knows in 6 months? – bmike♦ Dec 25 '11 at 15:05
I absolutely require USB, and the microphone must suppose stereo recording in iOS and iOS apps. I'd like to be able to reuse the mic with non-iOS devices, such as a MacBook Air, etc. – Alex Reynolds Dec 25 '11 at 21:07

migrated from superuser.com May 20 '11 at 11:51

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Blue Microphones' Yeti and Yeti Pro stereo USB microphones can be used in any recording app on the iPad via the Camera Connection Kit.

The manufacturer confirms that this is possible, and has detailed directions for setting it up (including a video) on this page.

Note that you will need a powered USB hub.

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From Blue, only the Yeti and Yeti Pro are stereo, and it's still not certain if their stereo-ness is supported by iOS – Kyle Cronin♦ Dec 25 '11 at 15:16
@KyleCronin My Snowball was stereo :/ – Nathan Greenstein♦ Dec 25 '11 at 16:13
I've double checked, and I can find no evidence that the Snowball is a stereo mic – Kyle Cronin♦ Dec 25 '11 at 19:14
@KyleCronin It may not have been true stereo, but MIDI Setup on OS X saw 2 channels. Maybe it was an error or maybe the Snowball was reporting 2 channels but only had 1. Strange! – Nathan Greenstein♦ Dec 25 '11 at 19:16
This should be a true stereo mic. – Alex Reynolds Dec 25 '11 at 21:08
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The Tascam iM2 is a stereo condenser microphone that attaches directly to the dock connector of your iPad. Tascam's PCM Recorder app interfaces with this device to record in stereo.

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This is not USB, but this looks interesting, in any case, and thanks for the answer. – Alex Reynolds Dec 25 '11 at 21:09
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I think what you desire most is to purchase one good USB microphone which can be used with multiple computing devices besides just the iPad.

Here is another strategy: Get an iPad-to-audio interface that you can use to connect to conventional microphones.

The Alesis iO Dock is one possibility on the high-end. The Tascam iXZ Audio Interface is another.

IK Multimedia, Apogee and Line 6 also make similar products but they are designed for guitar input, not microphone input. Trying to get one of these to work with a microphone would be tricky due to differing impedance levels and preamplifier requirements.

In other news, Apogee has a forthcoming (probably quite expensive) studio-quality monaural microphone that can be plugged directly into an iPad. This should be great for podcast recording.

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