Just A Peek – Belkin TuneTalk Stereo

When referring to the amount of accessories available for the iPod you can say it in so many ways.

If, for instance, you were El Guapo (of The Three Amigos fame) you could say that we have a plethora of accessories. You might mention that there is a profusion of iPod prosthetics, a multitude, an abundance of add-ons, a cornucopia of embellishments, a slew of supplements, loads of attachments, mounds and mounds, lots and lots, and you still may not convey the sheer number of devices that are made specifically for the iPod family of music players. Heck, you can find iPod accessories at truck stops, mom and pop restaurants, and in vending machines.

On a recent trip across country I stopped at a gas station in west Texas. The station looked like a set from a post-war movie; it was a dingy, dismal place with an obligatory malnourished, mangy stray dog loping about sniffing after scraps. They sold gas (at grossly inflated prices), but the shelves inside the store were mostly empty. They had some chips, and few cans of something, water and soda in an ancient refrigerator, and iPod accessories. No kidding. They had car chargers and iPod cases on a small rack that had to be the newest item in the store judging from the lack of accumulated dust.

After this year’s Macworld the number of iPod accessories has probably doubled. That’s good because there’s one accessory that I would like to see more of: voice recorders. Several companies have released them recently, however, and one of the newer models is the Belkin TuneTalk Stereo Recorder.

Unbox Your Ears
In the TuneTalk package you’ll find a small rectangular plastic unit with twin, flush mounted microphones on the front, a USB cable, a small instruction manual, and a plastic stand, the use of which I’ll explain in a moment. The TuneTalk Stereo unit is small, lightweight, and conveniently carried, a major plus in my book.

Setting up TuneTalk Stereo on your iPod is child’s play; just plug the unit into your fifth generation iPod, or second generation iPod nano and in about 2 seconds your music player is transformed into a high quality recorder. There’s no software to load, no initial syncing required, you don’t even have to remove your iPod from its protective case. If you can get to the dock port then you are good to go.

When you plug in TuneTalk Stereo your iPod reconfigures itself, presenting you with a fairly spartan screen with only two options: Record and Cancel. The scroll-wheel controls on your iPod change as well; Play or Select now lets you start and stop recording. The Forward, Reverse, and scrolling functions are deactivated. Menus function normally, letting you access options and save your current recording, then letting you change the quality of the recording (High or Low) and review previous recording: Very clean, very simple, and very effective.

On the bottom of the TuneTalk Stereo unit itself you’ll find a gain
switch (on/off), a mini USB port, and a standard audio input jack (3.5mm).

The USB port lets you charge your iPod while TuneTalk Stereo is connected, and the audio jack allows the use of an external microphone or other audio sources. The gain switch turns on a preamplifier which will boost low gain inputs, but, except�for recording loud noises, like in a crowded stadium for instance, Belkin suggests that the gain pre-amp be turned on.

On the left side of the TuneTalk Stereo unit is an ‘Instance Record’ button; you press it when you want to start recording regardless of what the iPod is doing. This is a handy feature for those sudden ‘Eureka Moments’ when using a pen and paper to record you thoughts just isn’t quick enough or convenient.

As you might suspect by now, TuneTalk Stereo uses power from your iPod. In my totally unscientific test, my fully charged iPod Video was running for an hour and a half recording various random sounds around the house and the battery was only half drained. (My house is rather noisy when I’m not home; the phone and doorbell you’d expect, but there was also a weird tapping noise I’ve never heard before. Proof of poltergeists? I don’t think so, but it was odd and I’ve yet to find the source.�Cue weird otherworldly music.) I figure you’ll probably get about 3 hours of recording time per charge, which should be adequate to record even the most windiest of lecturers.

Hear A Pin Drop…Over There!
Let me say now that the quality of recordings the Belkin’s TuneTalk Stereo Recorder produces is excellent. The microphone is sensitive and the resulting sound files are clear, clean, and sound very natural. In fact, due to the twin microphones, the recordings sound as if you are actually there because the source of the sounds have direction.

If you have a lecturer, for instance, who likes to walk from one side of the stage to the other, you’ll get the impression of her movements as you listen to the recording. And you won’t have to strain to hear what she says, the mics are sensitive enough to pick up whispered conversations several feet away. The mics are somewhat directional as well, so conversations close behind you don’t overshadow those in front or to either side.

Reviewing your recordings is easy; use the Menu on your iPod to review on the go, or review in iTunes after the files get uploaded. Belkin did the syncing of your recordings right, just plug your iPod into your Mac or PC and let iTunes handle the rest. The files appear in your iTunes library titled with the date and time of the recording. It couldn’t be easier, but it would be nice if you could label the files for easier reference.

You also have the option to delete recording on your iPod by pressing Menu on your iPod Click Wheel, then selecting the recording to play or delete. This menu will let�you can change the quality of your recordings (Low or High) as well.

TuneTalk Stereo makes recordings in the WAV format. In ‘High Quality’ mode the sample rate is 16 bit/44khz. A 42 second recording, for instance, produces a 1.3MB file. That’s not bad given the quality of sound. You can guesstimate (an actual word now) about 2MB per minute of recording or 120MB for an hour long lecture.

Bad Mouthing
So what mares this otherwise shiny recorder?

Well, for one thing, I’m not happy with the way it connects to my iPod. TuneTalk Stereo is designed to connect even when your iPod is incased in a jacket or protector. To allow this to happen Belkin extended the dock connector a bit to allow it to span the space your iPod cover adds. The problem is the dock connector is the only support TuneTalk has while connected. he result is that is does not feel solid enough. I would not leave TuneTalk Stereo connected while transporting my iPod in a book-bag or briefcase, for example.

Belkin provides a plastic stand that puts your TuneTalk connected iPod into a nice position for recording, but the stand too does not feel substantial enough for my taste, though it does fold flat for easy stowage.

Belkin also provides a plastic spacer to help support the connection with your iPod case removed. Here again, the TuneTalk unit feels as if it could easily break off. This feeling may be exaggerated by the small angle at which TuneTalk Stereo connects to the dock; an uncovered iPod won’t lay flat with the unit attached, inviting stress on the dock connector.

You might want to look at TuneTalk closely to see if this design will bother you.

My other gripe is that TuneTalk Stereo won’t work on first generation iPod nanos. It will work on second generation nanos, however. I’m not sure if Belkin is to blame for this or Apple; the first generation nano may not have the guts to do audio recordings, though I find that hard to believe. It could also be that the differences between the first and second gen nanos are significant enough that Belkin had to decide which to support.

The Bottom Line
Other than those few gripes the TuneTalk Stereo is a great way to turn your iPod into an excellent recorder. The setup is a cinch, the recordings are truly CD quality, and its simple and easy to use and carry around. However,
the dock connector design may force you to handle your TuneTalk Stereo connected iPod more delicately, it’s the only thing that keeps me from raving about it.

Still, I highly recommend it for the quality recordings it produces and its simplicity.

If you need a really good recorder and already handle your iPod gingerly then Belkin’s TuneTalk Stereo Recorder deserves serious consideration.

Review Item	TuneTalk Stereo
Manufacturer	Belkin
Price Amazon Price	US$69.99 US$37.99
Minimum Requirements	5th Gen iPod or 2nd Gen iPod nano Any Mac or PC with iTunes and a USB connector

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.

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