Hey,
I’m an independent musician and producer experimenting with recording acoustic instruments using the iPhone’s built-in microphones and Voice Memos.
I’ve found that the recordings have a particularly pleasing tonal balance and dynamic character, sometimes more so than recordings made with my conventional studio microphones.
I’m interested in understanding what processing, if any, contributes to this sound, so I can experiment with recreating it in my recording workflow.
Specifically, I’d love to know:
- Does Voice Memos apply automatic gain control, dynamic range compression, limiting or other dynamics processing?
- If so what is the ratio, attack, threshold, and release.
- Is any frequency-dependent EQ, noise reduction or microphone correction applied?
- How does stereo recording combine signals from the different built-in microphones?
- Is the processing fixed, or does it adapt to the incoming signal?
- Is there a way to capture a minimally processed recording from the same microphones for comparison?
I’m not expecting proprietary algorithms or exact settings, but even a general technical description of the signal path would be incredibly helpful.
Thanks very much for your time!
Jethro Karis