It’s all the brainchild of Andrew Smith, who brings an excellent track record of success in pro audio innovation as the founder of TerraSonde, Uptown Automation, and Colorado Sound Recording Studios.
A few weeks ago, Andrew sent me a beta iAudioInterface to check out, and on a side note, it’s just cool to get a true first-run product – the serial number on the unit is “008”.
The iAudioInterface effortlessly plugged into the dock connector of my iPhone through an 18-inch cable. This configuration moves the audio electronics away from the phone to keep noise low.
I quickly tested AudioTools in a familiar studio, playing pink noise from the iAudioInteface output into the patch bay to soffit-mounted Genelec monitors, and then ran an FFT analysis. Having previously worked in this room with a Sencore Audio Toolbox, I was very aware of the accuracy of the measurements being delivered by AudioTools.
I had initially encountered a couple of minor bumps when installing the new beta version of AudioTools, but Andrew responded very quickly to a note (sent late on a Friday, no less) about a potential fix.
It took a few phone calls and e-mails to get everything set, but the response really speaks highly to quality customer service. That’s the kind of developer you want on your side when you’re committing to deploying these types of tools in the field.
Just a few short years ago I watched the initial iPhone introduction, thinking the mobile computing scene had just been transformed, and clearly, it has. Now with tools like FFT apps and emerging companion hardware, our own part of that scene has been transformed as well.
Kyle P. Snyder is an audio engineer with innumerable credits in the public and private sector, writing about audio engineering, recording technology and a multitude of other topics as Associate Editor of ProSoundWeb. Find out more about Kyle at his website and blog http://kpsnyder.com.