Griffin’s new voice recorder; now that’s what I’m iTalk-ing about
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jun 16, 2004 at 11:10pm
You gotta love the gang at Griffin Technology (and not just because they’re in Nashville, Tennessee, like Yours Truly). They make some of the world’s coolest Mac accessories. And though I’m not yet ready to forgive them for making me wait so long for the RadioShark (in fact, I’m still waiting), the new iTalk, a voice recorder for the iPod, certainly helps.
This US$39.99 utility is a breeze to use; there’s nothing to configure. It plugs into the top of a third generation iPod with a dock connector and lets you record interviews, seminars, meetings, classes, etc. It has a built-in microphone and boasts an Automatic Gain Control to help determine the best possible signal level for recording. You can also connect an external microphone directly to iTalk via a 3.5mm jack for more recording options.
The iTalk can play back your recordings through its 16mm mono speaker located on the front of the device or through your headphones. It includes a pass-through headphone jack so you can monitor your voice recording or listen to your music without removing the iTalk from your iPod. (You can, of course, download your recordings to play back on your computer, if you wish).
The iTalk is designed with a compact (2.4 by .84 by .62 inches) white plastic case that matches the iPod’s aesthetics and which snaps into the earphone/remote jack atop the Apple device. It pulls its power directly from the iPod so needs no batteries of its own. As soon as you plug the iTalk into the iPod, the Voice Memo application is launched. Press the Play/Pause button to start a recording.
When recording is underway, a digital clock counts down the hours, minutes and seconds, and the status LED light glows red. Press the Cancel button and the recording ends. Press the Play/Pause button during recording and the recording pauses; pressing it again resumes the process. Pressing the Menu button saves the recording. Recordings are “stamped” with the month, date and time. By default that’s how memos are named; however, once they’ve moved to your Mac, you can rename if you wish. (As best I can tell, the only limit to recording lengths is the amount of free space on your iPod’s hard drive.)
When you dock/sync your iPod with your Mac, it moves the Voice Memos to iTunes on your computer, places them in a new Voice Notes category and deletes them from your iPod. I find this annoying. What if I want them COPIED to my Mac but not deleted from my iPod? Moving/deleting should be an option, not an inevitability.
The folks at Griffin say the iTalk’s speaker is so good you may not bother to use headphones or transfer the recordings to your Mac for playback. Well, it’s miles better than that of Belkin’s iPod voice recorder, but I wouldnt throw away my headphones, especially when it comes to listening to music. The iTalk is loud enough to hear when it’s sitting nearby, and it works fine when I play back notes for articles on which I’m working. But you’re not going to want to play music through the speaker, unless you want a friend to hear a song.
Also, Griffin says that the microphone can tackle recordings from up to 100 feet away. It can and they’re very clear IF you’re recording a heavy metal band or someone is talking VERY, VERY LOUDLY. Otherwise, the recordings are muffled at that distance. Still, one-on-one interviews are crystal clear. Group interviews are of fine quality. And I’ve recorded keynote speeches from 30-40 feet away with good results. Beyond that, the iTalk may record, but with diminishing results.
On the other hand, the iTalk’s speaker works wonderfully with the iPod’s Alarm feature. While the iTalk is plugged in, the Alarm feature has a new option to choose from beep or any playlist on your iPod. The combo makes a fine alarm clock for traveling reporters such as myself.
From within iTunes, you can see the length of each audio file and how much storage space it uses. You’ll also find out that voice recordings are 8-kHz, 16-bit mono saved in a WAV file. Though it doesn’t bother me, you should know that bit rate, sample rate and sample size settings are fixed and aren’t customizable.
Though I have some minor quibbles (some of which are due to the limitations of the iPod’s recording abilities, not the iTalk itself) Griffin’s new accessory is a fantastic device. For roving reporters, for students who wish to record lectures, for those who need to record business meetings and for those who like to “jot” down recorded memos to themselves, there’s no better way to spend 40 bucks.
Macsimum rating: 8 out of 10.
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Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
