You have to love what manufacturers are coming up with for mobile devices these days. All sorts of extras can turn your humble phone into a better camera, a better audio device, even a payments device.

If you have a lightning compatible iOS device, the iRig Mic Field could help turn your iPhone or iPad into a stereo audio recorder. Sure you can use the built in mic, but it doesn’t have the added fancy bits the iRig device has to make your audio that bit clearer. It’s a simple plug and play device. On one end is a lightning connector, which fits into the port on the iOS device. It also flips 90 degrees to better capture sound in portrait or landscape mode.

There’s an audio out jack so you can monitor the sound on headphones as you record. A small LED indicator, meanwhile, gives you a visual nod when you need to adjust the audio levels.

The Mic Field is lightweight, but on the flip side, that means it feels a little plastic compared to other mics. And because it’s a lightning connector, that rules out any use with Android devices, or even older iPhones. But the plus side is that you get great quality audio and it works with core iOS apps such as iMovie. ikmultimedia.com