Spire Studio: Portable, Professional Quality Recording Made Simple, iZotope

This product is fantastic! I was looking for computer software that my husband could record with as he hasn't touched either of his larger mixers in years ... they were just too difficult to figure out. When I found this for the price it is, I was so very excited. We set it up last night and yes, it took about 2 hours to fiddle with the iPhone app and get some of the extras sorted out, but WOW! He laid down three songs in the next hour and was really excited ... going to sell the other stuff. YES: this product requires an Apple device (iPad or iPhone ... if you have trouble seeing, invest in a $350 iPad); per the website, it needs iOS10 or greater (operating system of the iPad or iPhone) ... to truly unlock all the potential. NO: it can run without an iPhone/iPad but you won't have all the mixing/editing/effects that come with the free app. The app can be a bit daunting: I spent a few ours prior to purchase going over and printing all the pages I could find from the Izotope's website and then, watching quite a few YouTube videos. There's a lot this little unit can do and yes, if you're just starting out with recording like we were (as we never got the hang of it with our other equipment), it can be overwhelming. But stick with it ... play with it ... it's truly innovative and amazing. This being said, it's great for the musician to drop down chords, lyrics, anything ... especially nice for on the go (I'm setting hubby up with a backpack for all the stuff that he can just grab and go). You can share or download, email/text ... we've saved it to a file on the iPhone and then, played it to a Bluetooth speaker so he can hear what he just recorded and doesn't have to wear the headphones (YES: you need headphones to record so that you don't get feedback ... eight tracks! Yeah!) I don't know what else to say ... and I'm not the musician in the family!! (I'm the 'road crew') No matter what instrument you play - and I'm thinking about getting out my recorders and laying down a few tracks - THIS IS THE BEST! Just to note: this unit will save your music, even if you're just tinkering with songs .. get them down so you don't 'lose them to the ether'. If you're going to make a demo to produce, you might want more professional software but I really like the sound of this unit. For what we need, it's fantastic. Wonderful. Just plain magnificent!

This little thing actually makes recording music fun and playful instead of a chore. There is no tirelessly fiddling around with EQ settings or trying to mix to perfection. There are a few amps, pedals, and reverb settings you can add BEFORE you record but there is nothing you can do to the track afterwards besides adjust volume, where to pan it, and cut or trim parts out. What you record is what you get. It's raw and it's real. At first I thought this little recorder was a bit of a gimmick but it actually seems to take all the gimmick out of recording.-The device itself feels very sturdy and has a nice weight to it. I think it could survive dropping it once or twice but probably not anymore than that without some kind of damage.-The built-in-mic is decent sound quality but nothing special. There is a slight hiss at higher gain levels but it nothing unbearable. You can get very clear and upfront recordings with it. The mic is pointed slightly upwards from the device so you will have to keep that in mind when recording. So if you're sitting on a couch then placing this thing right on the coffee table would be perfect recording position. If you have a professional level mic, you will probably end up using that over the built in one.-The DAW is clean and quick on my iphone 6. 8 tracks, some amps and some reverb/delay pedals. The reverb pedals are all too wet and noticeable sounding even on the lowest settings which make them unusable for the most stuff imo. -Mixing is visual with no numbers or knob turning. Its quite intuitive but can also be a little frustrating not knowing what the numbers really are. Working with such a stripped down DAW really brings out the creativity though.-Battery life seems great on the device. I haven't had it die during a recording yet. The phone app is quite demanding though and will drain your battery pretty quicklyI would say the Spire Studio is mostly geared towards acoustic musicians for either bedroom or touring use. If you're someone who finds recording music to be a chore or are constantly writing new songs and forgetting the olds before you had a chance to record them then this little studio is definitely for you.