I used a Rode VideoMic Go with an iPhone (as in the photographs in the course) and found that the iPhone defaulted to the built-in mic unless I unplugged and re-connected the Rode mic for each recording. (Not great for the lightning port.) Using Voice Record Pro I could see which mic the app was using; with Merlin Sound ID I could only tell by the spectrogram whether the Rode was being used. Has anyone else had this issue? Is there a solution?
(I gave up on the VideoMic Go and now usually use a Rode NTG2 with a Zoom F3 field recorder, or the iPhone with no external mic, especially if I have my long lens camera along as well.)
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Hello David, I have been recording bird songs with an iPhone for the last 6 years. First using as you did Voice Record Pro on iPhone 6, then iPhone SE but now with my iPhone 12 Pro Max, I only use Merlin Sound ID. During the course, when I came to the image of a person holding a small shotgun microphone with a label RODE on top, I thought this would be a cheap way to improve my recordings. So I contacted the area distributor of RODE products who told me the newer model was RODE VideoMic NTG, which I ordered on the Web. But nothing is simple in life. The new NTG mic worked well connected via the included cable 3.5 mm jack to my Sony RX10M2 camera. But my iPhone has a Lightning socket. So back to the distributor who told me I needed a SC15 USB-C to Lightning connector, which I ordered. Then, connecting to the iPhone it gave me an error message: the NTG microphone «firmware» had to be updated via RODE Central application downloaded form the company site. Now it’s working. The NTG has little LED lights that show it is ON - and it automaticly tuns ON when plugged into the iPhone. To hear a recording done a lunch time today : https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/618274641 - What I like about Merlin Sound ID is that it identifies the birds around and gives you the opportunity to scroll around with the directional microphone to find the targeted bird. Best. André