XtremeMac MicroMemo Pros & Cons

I've been living with the MicroMemo for a few days now and overall I'm very happy with it. It's not perfect, but for the price it's a decent tool.

On the plus side:
1) It's tiny and powered by the iPod so it can go anywhere you go
2) It's simple to use, just plug it in the bottom of your iPod and it's ready
3) You can manage recordings (ie delete crap ones) in situ
4) The bendy mic makes placement easy
5) Recording quality is decent with surprisingly good bass/treble

On the other hand:
1) The switch from 'mic' to 'line' to 'earbuds' is terrible
2) You can't download memo files without going through iTunes
3) Other than by selecting 'line' or 'mic' there is no volume control
4) There is some hiss on the mic

And the stuff I didn't really care about one way or the other:
1) The built in speaker isn't great
2) The side button which does something, but I'm not sure what
3) The supplied mic is mono...
4) Once the MM is plugged in nothing else can be
5) There are two sample quality settings

I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who wants a decent quality mobile digital recorder. It basically does what it says on the box and it does it surprisingly well.

Oli Brown Band & XtremeMac MicroMemo Reviews

As expected, Oli Brown and the band were great.



The power trio played a double set of original material with the occasional cover thrown in for good measure (including a storming "Black Betty" by Ram Jam - good to hear that one live again!)

I'll be buying their debut album when it comes out later this month. I'll let you all know how it stacks up against their live performances.

In other news, the XtremeMac Micromemo for iPod arrived on Saturday. I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the quality of the recording. The mic it comes with is slightly hissy, but hey, you can fix that with a filter. The digital recording itself is flawless and it's really easy to use through the iPod menu and iTunes.

As a demo, I learnt, recorded and mixed the following version of Matt Nathanson's "Angel" in literally an hour or so, exclusively using the iPod recorder. Please forgive the vocals (I told you I can't sing)...

Stalled...

Okay, so here's the skinny. I was way too knackered to attend the Old Explorer blues jam last Thursday. I'm going to make every effort to go this week, though, assuming it's still running. Watch this space.

Practice and progress were non-existent last week. The weekend was no different. I have temporarily stalled... hopefully not for long. I can't afford to lose momentum like this or I'll end up going backwards. Unfortunately I don't see myself getting moving again until tomorrow. Too much to do about the loft to bring it back to 'habitable'. All plans for the weekend slipped away when we heard that some friends of ours who live in Paris were over. We were out most of the time, drinking... [hic]. No regrets, though. Good friends, good times. Weather-wise the weekend was f**ked up! Friday was a beautiful Summer's day, Saturday was Spring-like if a little damp. By Sunday it was snowing!

In other news, I've ordered a micro-recorder that works through my iPod. I keep getting song ideas but before I can play them they disappear from my head. Think mini-dictaphone for the mp3 generation. I can't imagine that the quality will be great, given the low-low price tag, but hey, I figured it was worth trying. If I can just capture one or two song ideas it'll be worth it. It should be possible to use it for recording guitar, too. Have to wait and see. I often jot down lyrics in a notebook, but by the time I get round to reviewing them the musical concept has evaporated so I'm back to square one. Oh, the device is called an Xtrememac MicroMemo if you want to google it. I'll let you know how well it works.

Other musical news...

Going to see the Oli Brown Band play on Saturday. Looking forward to that. They're showcasing their debut album, which is being released by the German outfit Ruf Records.

Bought a couple of albums on a whim. One by Matt Nathanson, entitled "Beneath These Fireworks" and one by The Nadas, "Listen Through The Static". Both were artists I discovered through Pandora Radio. I got them on the strength of a couple of songs so we'll have to see whether the rest of the tracks are up to much.

Finally, I found out on Friday that the upcoming Clapton gig in Hyde Park not only has The Man Himself playing, along with Sheryl Crow and John Mayer, but now Robert Randolph & The Family Band AND Jason Mraz have been added to the roll.

I just don't like listening to concerts in places like Hyde Park. Bad acoustics and you end up a mile and a half from the stage, wondering what the hell's going on most of the time... needless to say that even if VIP seats up front were still available, they'd be price prohibitive.

Having said that, since buying "Unclassified" I now desperately want to see Robert Randolph perform live and I'm not afraid to admit a bit of a closet Mraz-a-fan. I mostly dig his solo acoustic stuff, but I've seen him play in Houston and London and his shows are a guaranteed fun time.