IK Multimedia iRig Stream Mic Pro

IK’s new iRig model offers a lot of features for your money.

These days pretty much everybody who makes microphones offers a USB mic, but IK Multimedia’s iRig Stream Mic Pro goes further than most by including a multi‑channel mode. Equipped with 24‑bit/96kHz converters, the mic offers a choice of polar patterns (cardioid, figure‑8, omni or stereo) and is based on a back‑to‑back pair of half‑inch electret capacitor capsules. While the iRig Stream Mic Pro can be used with any app that records or streams audio, it also comes with iRig Recorder 3 LE (iPhone/iPad/Android) software for audio and video recording. You also get MixBox CS (for iPad) and MixBox SE (for Mac/PC), which feature a selection of effects taken from the T‑Racks suite, including dynamics, EQ and reverb.

Power comes from the host device’s USB or Lightning port, and the iRig Stream Mic Pro is MFi certified, which means you can use an optional DC PSU to charge the connected Lightning device while using the mic. Mini‑DIN to iOS Lightning and mini‑DIN to USB‑C cables are included to facilitate connection to current iPhones, iPads and Android devices, as well as Macs and PCs.

Constructionally, the mic is housed in a chunky, non‑resonant plastic case and incorporates a metal desk stand attached using a swivel mount. A turn‑and‑press encoder surrounded by an LED ring occupies the front of the mic, with 3.5mm TRS jacks for the headphone out and aux input on the underside. A mini‑DIN connector on the back of the mic accepts the included USB or Lightning cable, and the power input is also on the back.

Usefully, the iRig Stream Mic Pro incorporates IK’s Loopback Plus, which allows the user to bring in audio sources from other software running on the same computer or mobile device. This makes it possible to route the mic signal into a separate app to add reverb, EQ or noise‑reduction processing, before being passed on to the likes of TikTok or Instagram. In the basic two‑channel mode, any line inputs or loopback sources are mixed down to stereo along with the mic signals, which is usually what you want when live streaming. If multi‑channel mode is selected, the two mic capsules are routed to channels 3+4 while the loopback and aux inputs feed channels 1+2, so that up to four discrete audio sources are available for use in a DAW or other recording app.

How Use

The mic is set up using only the press‑and turn encoder, which also mutes the audio for around half a second when pressed to avoid disturbing noises. Using the encoder you can control the microphone gain, mute status, headphone volume, overall streaming level, loopback on/off, monitor mix, pattern selection and a high‑pass filter (off, 60Hz, 100Hz or 200Hz). An 11‑segment LED display around the knob plus a row of backlit symbols provide visual feedback when setting up. The LED ring doubles as a level indicator. Direct monitoring is supported, so that you can hear the final sound of the mic without latency using the onboard headphone amp.

Although controlling everything from a single knob might sound like it could get complicated, the way the illuminated icons and LED ring work together actually makes things very straightforward. Pressing the encoder steps through the setup options, with visual feedback from the illuminated icons beneath. For example, when you get to the Mic Patterns icon, pressing the encoder again allows the knob to be turned to select the appropriate pattern, again shown by the icons. When the stereo pattern is selected, the two capsules are routed separately. The cardioid mic symbol shows green for stereo or blue for mono, and the knob sets the mic gain, with the LED ring acting as a peak level meter for the mic signal. During adjustment the LED ring shows the gain setting for a couple of seconds before reverting to metering mode. Pressing and holding the knob mutes and unmutes the mic capsules, whereupon the mic symbol turns orange to indicate that mute is active. Step to the Headphone symbol to access the phones volume, and so on.

When the streaming symbol is selected, the knob sets the overall level of the streaming audio, which is a mix of the mic capsules, the aux in and any loopback audio. When the loopback symbol is selected, loopback can be turned on or off by turning the knob (clockwise is on, anticlockwise is off). When loopback is on, audio coming from the host device via USB is routed back to the host along with the mic and aux signals, so you should check your host routing to make sure you don’t create a feedback loop.

Holding down the knob for five seconds accesses the operation mode menu, where the LED ring shows whether the mic is in two‑channel or multi‑channel mode. In two‑channel mode, each channel carries the mic signal plus the aux and loopback contributions, whereas in multi‑channel mode, channels 1+2 carry the left/right mixes of the aux and loopback feeds, and channels 3+4 carry the discrete mic signals. The output side of the interface is always stereo.

The mic delivers a clean sound with no significant background noise, and is suitable for various instrument recording tasks as well as vocals and podcasts.

Performance

Importantly, the mic delivers a clean sound with no significant background noise, and is suitable for various instrument recording tasks as well as vocals and podcasts. The only mic spec is a rather vague 20Hz‑20kHz frequency response (without quoting the ‘dB down’ limits) and a maximum SPL handling of 115dB. Having a choice of mic patterns is welcome, though it is worth mentioning that the back‑to‑back stereo configuration is a little unorthodox and may be more useful for placing between two sound sources rather than in front of them for conventional stereo recording. You may also find that room acoustics play a large part in how effective the stereo mode sounds.

The iRig Stream Mic Pro’s routing abilities lend themselves to more elaborate podcasting setups and also to studio recording, as you could record separately from the two mic capsules and from a stereo line‑level source (via the aux input) at the same time. That loopback facility could also prove extremely useful for podcasting and streaming applications.

I think it is fair to say, then, that iRig Stream Mic Pro is both versatile and good value considering its abilities and sound quality — and you also get MixBox SE for free.