iZotope, makers of many great software plugins including Ozone, Neutrino, and the very useful RX Audio Editor, are now heading into the hardware market.
Their new product, iZotope Spire Studio, is an all-in-one battery-powered, wireless device that allows you to record without having to carry around a bunch of stuff. It has a built-in mic, 2 XLR/jack combo inputs, and 2 mini jack headphone outputs. You can record to the devices internal memory, or use their Spire iOS app (that connects wirelessly over high speed WiFi) to do more sophisticated processing.
So basically, without the iOS connection, it provides similar functionality to something like a Zoom H4N. But the Spire app adds something that’s new – a way to record & mix music on the run without having to carry around a truck load of hardware & cables.
A price of US$ 349 has been announced which, although not a “beginner” price, is not too bad, given the built-in WiFi capability. Initially it will only be available in the US though, and there have been no announcements about apps for other platforms (the iOS app has been available for a couple of years, so I’m not holding my breath).
I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on it, anyway.