Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
Headphones with a genuinely good quality inline mic?
Since it looks like my plans for a clip- on mic that wil allow me to monitor
both my voice and iPad Pro output
without using any kind of adapter ,
hub or interface (only a USB C to
3.5mm dongle allowed, I want a
completely mobile setup), I find
myself wondering if the best solution is just to look for headphones that have a genuinely good built-in mic. My budget would probably be something around 200 bucks max.
In terms of sound i like a profile like Grados - not too bassy, and with a decently wide soundstage. I also prefer open cup to closed due to the heat here and general ear comfort. Any suggestions?
Comments
Hi Gav
I personaly find the Senheiser Ambeo smart headset ( lightning only, no jack, but you'll easily find a lightning to usb c dongle) to have excellent micS. Not only it can record in binaural but the conversation mono mic is much better than the one found on the apple earbuds. It's actually very decent ( low self noise for that kind of mic). It gives pretty good result for straight vocal sampling into Koala for exemple. Plus the little module conversor is made by Apogee.
They are sold at a very low price here in europe. About 40€ at amazon.
Also it offers transparent earing and a decent sound cancelation. A swiss army knife headphone bargain really.( I'm not working for senheiser)
Hmm thanks Motherr, sounds promising, will definitely take a look at that 👍
😂😂 Mother no! Moher ( with no T)
Yes this is a very nice headset.
Sorry, autocorrect lol. Coups u send a direct link to the specific model? When i search Sennheiser ambeo headphones i am getting this: https://en-us.sennheiser.com/in-ear-headphones-3d-audio-ambeo-smart-headset
Clearly not what we're talking about
A specific model number would help 🙏
There are professional broadcast-quality headsets available from Sennheiser and Audio Technica, but these will require an interface because they use XLR connections. Even then the quality of their microphones is only OK, they're nowhere near a decent condenser mic for example.
The range of USB microphones is pretty limited, so it might be tricky to find something that fulfils all your requirements.
It sounds like you've considered lavalier mics, were they not suitable? For example something like this:
https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/xs-lav-usb-c
Yes they are the mentioned headset but it only shows one earpiece on that webpage.
You'll find them in amazon US (only 3 left apparently)
https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-AMBEO-Smart-Headset-Ear/dp/B08F72P94X/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_es_US=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=LCF44MQVCTBC&keywords=Ambeo+smart+headset&qid=1657624105&sprefix=ambeo+smart+headset,specialty-aps,157&sr=8-1
Lightning connection headphones with mic and preamp, around 40 bucks, that model seems exactly what Moher was mentioning.
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Sennheiser-AMBEO-Omnidirectional-Smart-Headset/dp/B07922P4DQ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1T879KK02UXCV&keywords=sennheiser+ambeo&qid=1657623954&sprefix=sennheiser+ambeo,aps,84&sr=8-2
More infos on the Apogee website
https://apogeedigital.com/blog/apogee-sennheiser-ambeo-smart-headset-now-available-black
Original price was about 300 Euros when they first released them. At 40 euros in europe and 60 dollars in the US it is really a bargain. The binaural recording which is its main caracteristic is just amazing.
From what i gathered from the thread on that, and also from talking to a few sellers - albeit ones who didn't seem informed - if i got one of those lavalier mics and plugged my headphones into it, i would only be able to monitor my own voice, not - for example - AUM output. Is that wrong foe the model you recommended? If i connected headphones to it, would the mic appear as an input in AUM and the headphones appear as an output (again, i mean plugging the headphones into the mic, not using any audio interface etc)?
These look good and the binaural aspect is lovely. The cheapest i can fond them so far online in China is around 150 bucks tho
I believe they probably could already recoup the costs and make a profit on this model and are selling the remaining stock at cost or near cost price, since the lightning connection has its days numbered and will be a much harder sell 2 or 3 years down the road.
I wasn't looking for a new headset, but my curiosity is almost getting the best of me now.
With that binaural recording i might have to turn into an amsr channel 😜
Are you temporarily in China, or on a permanent basis?
I believe there are a number of China-specific brands which are not that well known in the west so far, so perhaps it makes sense to have a look at these too?
I know that Shenzen Audio has been doing a good job with their Moondrop brand (but those are always referred to as great affordable IEMs, not much is said about their microphones, so they are probably not top of your list, anyway
).
Well I'm definitely here for another few months at least. Definitely there are some decent brands, it's just hard to find out about mic quality as it ia not top priority for most people with headsets.
I think binaural recording of voice might be a bit weird in youtube walkthroughs, no? Could always just use a stereo to mono mode too tho
I got mine off QVC a couple of years back 😅
They are at 64 dollars at amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-AMBEO-Smart-Headset-Ear/dp/B08F72P94X/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_es_US=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=LCF44MQVCTBC&keywords=Ambeo+smart+headset&qid=1657624105&sprefix=ambeo+smart+headset,specialty-aps,157&sr=8-1
Sorry I haven't see that you are based in China at the moment. I guess shipping from the US or Europe might be possible.
I see, I guess that's the problem with not having a headphone jack on the device, monitoring a USB mic becomes impossible unless there is a socket on the mic itself, and in the case of lavaliers that isn't very likely.
I have a Stanton DJ headset+mic up in the attic, it has a single headphone, one side only, and the padding has perished with age. It has a dynamic mic with an also perished foam shield. I bought it secondhand in the late 1990s thinking it might be useful, never used it once, and about 6 years ago one afternoon decided to try it as a mic. It was only just okay, not that good. I suppose DJs don’t really need high fidelity.
The apogee clipmic 2 has a 3.5mm socket on the mic itself to attach a headphone to. The question that was in doubt on the thread was whether that would only allow monitoring of the mic, or allow monitoring of both mic sound and internal sound. Ie in AUM would i get the mic as input source, and the headphones i attached to it as output source? This was in doubt both on the other thread, and from the (somewhat uninformed) sellers i talked to
Ah Chinese customs ia a nightmare lol
@Gavinski £38.99 on the UK Amazon Store - if you're interested I could grab a pair and ship them to you - think it would be around £30 to send via Parcelforce / DPD...
Very kind offer Nige, but genuinely I've had so many problems with stuff sent from the UK not arriving, getting stuck in customs etc, and tracked post between UK and China is also insanely expensive im talking like £40 for just a letter, not even a parcel, and then import taxes on goods etc on top. Just not worth the hassle, the wait, tue expense etc. But cheers!
Did you ever contact Apogee support?
Thanks Ed, i did and they were very helpful but told me it wouldn't be possible. Their cheapest model this would be doable with is the hype mic which i think is overkill for me and is not clip on either.
Or the Apogee One
Is it possible that they misunderstood you? Their website sure makes it seem like you would be hearing the iPad’s output .
Guy had the clipmic 2 in front of him and actually said it didnt even have a mic input.... So the whole thing was very confusing indeed because i eas sure i remembered from a youtube video that it did
Wow. That seems so strange to have a lightning or usb microphone especially for iOS with no monitoring capability.