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Feb 20 2007

MicroMemo from XtremeMac

Since Apple integrated voice memo recording into the iPod’s firmware, the recording experience has been effectively leveled. The three recorders out there all look pretty much the same – on the iPod’s screen.

So, its off-screen where we find the important differences. The first and most obvious difference on the MicroMemo is the mic. The flexible, detachable mono microphone is a great metaphor for the device – flexible.

A Flexible Recording Solution

The mic bends, and that’s nice. More importantly, you can remove it and attach a stereo mic, line-in or headphones. And if you don’t want to throw the switch and listen on your earbuds (which you can do without removing the unit) you can play back your recordings through the built in speaker.

In my estimation, that makes this the most flexible tool for getting audio on and off your iPod. You can use this tool to record audio from an analog source. You can even listen to your music through the built in speaker.

A Word on Quality

I’ll start with the built-in speaker. It works, and sounds fine but it is quiet. Given the fact that the recorder does not have its own power source, this could be expected. But it means that you won’t be able to listen to your recordings in a noisy room or outside.

There are two quality settings for recording, and even the low quality setting yields good sounding recordings – with minimal disk cost. the high quality setting produces podcast-quality recordings with the provided microphone. While the mic os only mono, but it does a good job filtering out background noise.

The Whole Package

Keeping true to their excellent design reputation (I dig their cases) the MicroMemo fits the iPod like a glove. It’s thin and matches the color of your iPod – as long as your iPod is a video (white or black) or a black or silver 2G nano.

Like other recording solutions, the MicroMemo has a one-touch recording button. Also, like other solutions recording takes its toll on battery life. Just like I said reviewing the iTalk Pro, these things aren’t the greatest for long recording. But I found the MicroMemo to be extremely flexible, with great sounding recordings.

Buy ExtremeMac’s MicroMemo at Amazon.com: iPod with video and nano 2G.

By admin • Reviews • Comments Off • Tags: analog, analog source, background noise, estimation, excellent design, Flexible, flexible tool, memo, mono microphone, noisy room, Quality, quality recordings, quality settings, recording, Switch, tool, voice, voice memo, Word, xtrememac