Hi everyone, my name is Tom Spindler and I am one of the audio directors at here at Willow Creek Community Church. I primarily mix FOH and in ear monitors, along with Broadcast for our live stream and some studio work.
During some of my free time sitting at home I was checking out some hardware that could help improve your audio quality with your smart devices. If you want to stream just the message, or want to include music and worship, one of these items should do what you need.
I came across two items that I feel deserve a look when you want to have better results from your Apple or Android device.
The first item is the IK Multimedia iRig Pre. This item has a great price of around $39 dollars and allows you to connect a professional microphone using a standard XLR cable that your church probably already has. Then output of the iRig plugs directly into your smartphone or iPad and gives you level control of that microphone. I feel this device would be a great option for a church that is just planning to stream the message for their services. This is a very simple piece of gear to use. but because it can only handle one input and one output that could limit what you would be able to use this item for.
The second device I came across is made by Roland and is called the GoMixer. This device costs a little more at $99 dollars but does offer a few more features.
With this product you will have 8 inputs so you could connect keyboards, guitars, tracks, and vocals. Then outputs you have a set for monitoring your mix on headphones, then a USB connection for your smartphone or computer.
The front has a small mixer allowing you to balance the inputs, and mix of your sources. The main connections for this device are ¼ inputs. If you plan to use a regular dynamic microphone you will need a cable that will go from XLR female to ¼ inch male.
If you are looking for a simple rugged microphone to use with either option above I would go with a Shure SM58. This mic has been around for over 50 years and works great on vocals, spoken word, and instruments. Then after our quarantine is over you can add this into your church inventory and have it available for another singer.
I feel either product would be a great option for churches during a time when everything has to be pre-recorded or streamed live.