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Mikey gets a makeover

The best microphone accessory for the iPhone and iPod Touch just got better, with improved circuitry, line-input, and USB pass-thru.

Donald Bell Senior Editor / How To
Donald Bell has spent more than five years as a CNET senior editor, reviewing everything from MP3 players to the first three generations of the Apple iPad. He currently devotes his time to producing How To content for CNET, as well as weekly episodes of CNET's Top 5 video series.
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Photo of the second-generation Mikey microphone from Blue Microphones.
The Mikey from Blue Microphones offers an impressive selection of stereo-recording options for the iPhone and iPod. Blue Microphones

Blue Microphones is gearing up to release an updated version of its Mikey iPod/iPhone recording accessory, due out in Spring of 2010 with an MSRP of $99. Frankly, we're still pretty head-over-heels about the original Mikey, but with the second-generation's capability to capture audio over a 3.5mm line-input, an upgrade is probably in order.

Mikey (second generation-- photos)

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Blue is also blessing the Mikey with a USB pass-through port, which could potentially eliminate the limitation of your iPod's or iPhone's battery life when it comes to marathon recording sessions.

Like the original, the second-generation Mikey offers three gain settings that control a pair of custom-tuned stereo microphone capsules. There's also a basic built-in windscreen inside the retro-styled microphone enclosure. A hinge on the base of the Mikey affords up to 230 degrees of rotation, making it possible to set your iPod flat on a table with compromising mic placement.

The Mikey can create stereo recordings with the built-in voice memo recorder on the current generation of iPod Touch, iPod Classic, iPhone, and iPod Nano. Audio nerds looking to really take their portable recordings to the next level can also pair the Mikey with Audiofile Engineering's FiRe application for the iPhone and iPod Touch.