iPhone vs Audio Recorder?

Can you use an iPhone to record high quality audio using an XLR microphone for your mobile content? Well...yes, you can. But there are some drawbacks. If you want to maintain the high sound quality of your XLR microphone, you'll need a good preamp. This means at least $200. And that also means more weight and more wires to your mobile setup. You maintain good sound but you lose convenience. Watch and I'll show you what I mean.

[@Irshaad88]

There are a number of great mics that can plug directly into the iPhone. Check out the options from Rode. The video mic ntg, video mic go 2, wireless go 2, and video mic Mel.

[@cinefitinc]

Thanks Irshaad! I'll look into them. I've heard the quality of some of those that you listed. I don't think they are quite as good as my wired lav, but in the end, it may really be negligible, all things considered. I might just be being a bit of a mic snob about it.

[@orestes1984]

@@cinefitinc @Cinefit Inc There is the Ausio Technica ATR2100x now also if you want a mic you can plug directly into your iPhone using a boom like you're doing here. It also has an XLR port. In a simple sense you might record your audio twice, use the iPhone as a rough out track, and then replace your audio from your sound device over the top of your USB audio. The problem with the 2100 is to get rid of plossives you're probably gonna need a windscreen plus a pop filter.
I dunno if it will give you the same sort of sound, but it will make your vlogging rig more mobile. I have one set up on a mic stand so I can take my iPhone and microphone and go and do my vlogging outdoors if I want to.
With every pro there is a con. It just depends... There are a lot of other choices for USB compatible microphones by now. The biggest drawback with USB microphones is that they have to work off less than 5watts worth of power draw, so they have to either be really efficient or there are compromises some other place. An ATR2100x sounds "good enough" but there is a difference at the same time between good enough and better.
If you were being really picky you'd switch your Zoom H6 in this scenario for a Zoom F3 which would give you two XLR ports and enough power to be a one man band and actually record directly off battery with your existing lav and XLR mucs in 32bit float. But then with that option you run into another problem which is the actuality that you have to sync your audio back up. But it does provide you with two XLR ports with a device you can clip to your belt that's about the same size as a microphone/battery pack and better quality than a Zoom F2.
In fact I think you would really like the Zoom F3 pending price that it's not the cheapest option to begin with but can do exactly what you want.

[@xgonejack8572]

I would first check if the lavalier quiet enough makes me need to consider preamp performance since lavaliers are usually noisy.