iRig Pro Duo

At Surrey Centre Elementary, we bought some nice audio gear to help us make professional-looking videos, newscasts and movies. This is my experience thus far with the iRig Pro Duo (IK Multimedia), which allows any audio device to be recorded. 

First of all, the batteries do not seem to work with this device. I used the Rocket batteries that came with it, as well as 2 pairs of Energizer and Duracell rechargeable, but none did the trick. Maybe a fresh set of alkaline ones?

Right now, I tried hooking up the midi to lightning cable to an iPad  and I'm seeing the message: This cable or accessory is not certified and may not work reliably with this iPad. This appears to be true as there is no indication of power or audio signal. I tried connecting another iPad; this time there is no warning message but there's also nothing else as well. I wonder if it's a connector problem. 

UPDATED: Yes, it was a connector problem. I just replaced it with a new midi to lightning cable and it works! 

Next, hooking up a MacBook Pro gave better results, as I could see half the bars with a light blue signal. It did seem to work when I used iMovie to record some sounds. Interestingly, trying it again a little later, the device seems to be powered up properly. 

Switching to Garage Band, I used preferences to change the audio input to iRig Pro Duo, and that gave it the bright blue lights, so there is definitely power going into the device. Also, every time I spoke, the right midi side (right channel), flashed green to indicate sound was being inputted. So far, so good. So, I need to remember to go into preferences to change the input (and possibly the output if I have output devices connected to the iRig). Now, the problem with this is that I need to have sound when I am recording a video, not music or instruments, so I need to have my iPad connected.

When I attached the midi cable to my Samsung Galaxy Note 5, it picked up the bright blue bars immediately and I was able to record my voice using a free app called EZVoice. However, when I tried to use the camera feature, I did not get the blue lights at all. Actually, sometimes I'll get the blue lights, but it will not register the any pickup on the microphone. 

I'm still not sure about the 48V switch (phantom power) though. It seems it is required for some input devices and not others.

Therefore, the main and key issue thus far is power for the device; it's just not working.