Piezo for iPhone/iPad

[Steve Freides]

Someone just asked me an interesting question. They make a microphone
that you can use with an iPad or iPhone. I own one, in fact, and it
does make better quality recordings.

Does someone make a piezo transducer so that you could turn your phone
into a tuner that, like most acoustic guitar tuners these days, can work
based on vibrations and not a microphone?

Thanks.

-S-

[David Martel]

Steve,

I doubt that a piezo transducer would go straight into an iThing. But a
preamp to raise the piezo signal up to a usable level should be out there.
I'm thinking that most acoustic-electrics put out microphone level output

Dave M.

[Mike Brown]

Post by David Martel
Steve,
I doubt that a piezo transducer would go straight into an iThing. But a
preamp to raise the piezo signal up to a usable level should be out there.
I'm thinking that most acoustic-electrics put out microphone level output
Dave M.

K&K Mini Western?
I know nothing about matching etc, but the output is pretty high.
MJRB

[Les Cargill]

Post by Mike Brown

Post by David Martel
Steve,
I doubt that a piezo transducer would go straight into an iThing. But a
preamp to raise the piezo signal up to a usable level should be out there.
I'm thinking that most acoustic-electrics put out microphone level output

They are their own thing. It's not a mic Z* ( the canonical mic Z is 600
ohms; a peizo is 1 megohm - a significant difference. )

*impedance.

Post by Mike Brown

Post by David Martel
Dave M.

K&K Mini Western?
I know nothing about matching etc, but the output is pretty high.
MJRB

It'll probably be OK. Levels (voltage) will be fine. But it will be
better with an *impedance* matching device such as a DI. No clue what an
iThing's input Z is, but a spark-rock has nearly no current and probably
wants a 1 Megohm or better input Z. If the iThing is 10-50k, that's
enough to be a potential problem, maybe.

Might be cool, anyway.

[Mike Brown]

Post by Les Cargill

Post by Mike Brown

Post by David Martel
Steve,
I doubt that a piezo transducer would go straight into an iThing. But a
preamp to raise the piezo signal up to a usable level should be out there.
I'm thinking that most acoustic-electrics put out microphone level output

They are their own thing. It's not a mic Z* ( the canonical mic Z is 600
ohms; a peizo is 1 megohm - a significant difference. )
*impedance.

Post by Mike Brown

Post by David Martel
Dave M.

K&K Mini Western?
I know nothing about matching etc, but the output is pretty high.
MJRB

It'll probably be OK. Levels (voltage) will be fine. But it will be
better with an *impedance* matching device such as a DI. No clue what an
iThing's input Z is, but a spark-rock has nearly no current and probably
wants a 1 Megohm or better input Z. If the iThing is 10-50k, that's
enough to be a potential problem, maybe.
Might be cool, anyway.

They work direct into an amp or PA.
MJRB

[hank alrich]

Post by Mike Brown

Post by Les Cargill

Post by David Martel
Steve,
I doubt that a piezo transducer would go straight into an iThing.
But a preamp to raise the piezo signal up to a usable level should be
out there. I'm thinking that most acoustic-electrics put out
microphone level output

They are their own thing. It's not a mic Z* ( the canonical mic Z is 600
ohms; a peizo is 1 megohm - a significant difference. )
*impedance.

Post by David Martel
Dave M.

K&K Mini Western? I know nothing about matching etc, but the output is
pretty high. MJRB

It'll probably be OK. Levels (voltage) will be fine. But it will be
better with an *impedance* matching device such as a DI. No clue what an
iThing's input Z is, but a spark-rock has nearly no current and probably
wants a 1 Megohm or better input Z. If the iThing is 10-50k, that's
enough to be a potential problem, maybe.
Might be cool, anyway.

They work direct into an amp or PA.
MJRB

Yes and no, depending, especially with direct into a PA. Many line
inputs are circa 50K these days and preamps might be circa 2K ohms.
Those load the K&K badly and the sound is not to live for.

[Les Cargill]

Post by Mike Brown

Post by Les Cargill

Post by Mike Brown

Post by David Martel
Steve,
I doubt that a piezo transducer would go straight into an iThing. But a
preamp to raise the piezo signal up to a usable level should be out there.
I'm thinking that most acoustic-electrics put out microphone level output

They are their own thing. It's not a mic Z* ( the canonical mic Z is 600
ohms; a peizo is 1 megohm - a significant difference. )
*impedance.

Post by Mike Brown

Post by David Martel
Dave M.

K&K Mini Western?
I know nothing about matching etc, but the output is pretty high.
MJRB

It'll probably be OK. Levels (voltage) will be fine. But it will be
better with an *impedance* matching device such as a DI. No clue what an
iThing's input Z is, but a spark-rock has nearly no current and probably
wants a 1 Megohm or better input Z. If the iThing is 10-50k, that's
enough to be a potential problem, maybe.
Might be cool, anyway.

They work direct into an amp or PA.
MJRB

Might work, but not be optimum. Peizos are one case where paying
attention to Z matters.

[hank alrich]

Post by Mike Brown

Post by David Martel
Steve,
I doubt that a piezo transducer would go straight into an iThing. But a
preamp to raise the piezo signal up to a usable level should be out there.
I'm thinking that most acoustic-electrics put out microphone level output
Dave M.

K&K Mini Western?
I know nothing about matching etc, but the output is pretty high.
MJRB

It's looking for a megohm. If it see that, the output is good. If not,
the lack of goodness falls with the input impedance of thedevice it's
feeding.

[Al Evans]

Post by Steve Freides
Does someone make a piezo transducer so that you could turn your phone
into a tuner that, like most acoustic guitar tuners these days, can work
based on vibrations and not a microphone?

Why would you want to? Small good tuners available for < $20 or so...

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SnarkMini/

...I can't imagine an iPhone accessory that would be smaller or less
expensive.

--Al Evans--

[Steve Freides]

Post by Al Evans

Post by Steve Freides
Does someone make a piezo transducer so that you could turn your
phone into a tuner that, like most acoustic guitar tuners these
days, can work based on vibrations and not a microphone?

Why would you want to? Small good tuners available for < $20 or so...
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SnarkMini/
...I can't imagine an iPhone accessory that would be smaller or less
expensive.
--Al Evans--

I own many of those good, inexpensive piezo tuners - just seems like a
logical extension of the technology to me. You could do interesting
things w/ it, e.g., see how weather changes your in- or
out-of-tune-ness. I guess I'm thinking, "Why not?" rather than "Why?"

-S-

[David Martel]

Steve,

But why piezo? Your iThing already has a microphone. You can tune your
guitar with the built in microphone.

Dave M.

[Steve Freides]

Post by David Martel
Steve,
But why piezo? Your iThing already has a microphone. You can tune
your guitar with the built in microphone.
Dave M.

Yes, but microphones are messy, picking up room noise, etc. I like
tuning with a transducer much better overall. Again, this isn't
something I need, it's just something I thought would already be out
there but I guess it isn't after all.

-S-

[David Martel]

Steve,

I've 2 tuners with microphones, they work quite well. Stray noise has not
been a problem. I can't make any promises about the mic installed in your
phone but I suspect it will work. I quick Google shows that there are apps
out there.

Dave M.

[Tony Done]

Post by David Martel
Steve,
I've 2 tuners with microphones, they work quite well. Stray noise has
not been a problem. I can't make any promises about the mic installed
in your phone but I suspect it will work. I quick Google shows that
there are apps out there.
Dave M.

One of the guys in my mate's music store uses an iPhone app that
apparently cost him about $20, it seems to work well. I think the
problem of stray noises could be at least partly a function of the
directionality of the mic. For example, the mic in a Snark tuner is both
sensitive and directional. I don't use an iphone, so I don't know how
they would compare.

[s***@fair.org]

Post by Steve Freides
Someone just asked me an interesting question. They make a microphone
that you can use with an iPad or iPhone. I own one, in fact, and it
does make better quality recordings.
Does someone make a piezo transducer so that you could turn your phone
into a tuner that, like most acoustic guitar tuners these days, can work
based on vibrations and not a microphone?
Thanks.
-S-

I use the Peterson tuner app, which is pricey, $19, but works great. It works okay with some ambient noise, but if you are looking for something to eliminated noise, it doesn't fit the bill.

Steve Rendall

[s***@fair.org]

Post by Steve Freides
Someone just asked me an interesting question. They make a microphone
that you can use with an iPad or iPhone. I own one, in fact, and it
does make better quality recordings.
Does someone make a piezo transducer so that you could turn your phone
into a tuner that, like most acoustic guitar tuners these days, can work
based on vibrations and not a microphone?
Thanks.
-S-

I use the Peterson tuner app, which is pricey, $19, but works great. It works okay with some ambient noise, but if you are looking for something to eliminate noise, it doesn't fit the bill.

Steve Rendall