StudioMini - Music Recorder 4+

Worth it even if you have others

Great app for throwing ideas together, love the simplicity of it. There are some features I do wish it had (like a way to scroll trough time to listen to specific parts* or cut /trim audio segments..) but I also feel like being limited is part of the point of the app. I find that this works very well at what it does. Not a full studio, nor do I think it was it intended to be one, but it’s a wonderful tool and worth having for brainstorming ideas or recording demos.
I wish there was a deluxe version too, love being able to work so quickly when creating, but would be great to be able to have a little more editing ability or at least a scrolling ability so you could punch in at or listen to certain points and not have to start over each time

*Edit: I can’t believe I’ve been using the app this long and didn’t catch that you can scroll through playback- I still think it’d be handy to be able to use that to start recording at a particular point in the song - another suggestion would be having the loop track also have recording function so you could use that as either a loop or a 5th track?

Bottom line
Overall I really love this app and have no complaints, I was hesitant but had I known how much I’d end up using and enjoying it.. totally worth it. Thanks for making a cool product.

Developer Response ,

Thanks for the feedback! We listen very carefully to our users, and we greatly appreciate the time you took to write. You have definitely described our philosophy for StudioMini: rock solid reliability, very easy to use, and super fast when it comes to starting a recording.

You can actually scroll currently during Playback, simply move the Timeline slider on bottom left. As far as Punch (the ability to record at any point on the timeline), we will be bringing this feature to StudioMini soon, so stay tuned on that. We're also evaluating adding editing features like trimming, but not sure where we'll land on that. You can always reach us at help@otreus.com with more feedback or if you need help with anything.

Middling Program with major limitations

This software is quite an achievement compared to 4 track recorders from days of yore. Having said, once you get beyond its ability to allow you to lay down basic layered tracks on a phone - an iPhone 8 in my case – the apparent features frustrate rather than spawn creativity.

The problem is, the year is not 1995 and even back then, 4-tracks allowed for flexibility in adding vocal effects and provided inputs for drum machines with a range of tempos. This does neither, at least without high-tech savvy, and missing both those, a musician will experience huge frustration with the results.

I’ve recorded many a tune at an undesired pace, overly rushed or too draggy, and it’s a big disappointment to hear those songs now. And choices of reverb or echo would greatly enhance the experience also, but sadly, nada.

Added to that, there is no ability here to “punch-in” so any performance errors require the entire track to be stopped and redone. Big loss on that.

Finally, nothing can be played externally from within the program over Bluetooth, so forget about checking out an early mix in your car or Airplay.

All in all, for high schoolers or young amateurs, this has some usefulness, but unless the developers are actually active on improving this, keep expectations very low.

None of these things have been dealt with in the year or more I’ve had the program. Too bad.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts, both on behalf of those considering downloading, and for us at Otreus who love feedback! 🙏

As musicians ourselves features like Punch and Effects are on our wish list also, so we're on the same page there. Bluetooth is a bit trickier, because it has inherent problems with large latency. This isn't an issue for playing back, but is a big issue when recording. It's the main reason we don't have Bluetooth support at this time, but it is definitely on our radar, especially as that technology evolves.

Some of the things we take great pride in are audio quality, and impecable timing. Audio tracks are recorded as 16-bit 44.1 kHz WAV files, and there are no latency or timing issues. You can record in StudioMini, with an attached pro audio interface using pro mics etc., then drag and drop your WAVs into any DAW on your computer and continue your production to full mix. In the old days you mention, this is CD quality audio, whereas old tape multitracks let's just say left a lot to be desired when it came to audio quality.

In terms of future features, we definitly have big plans. Developing software takes a ton of work and expense, so it's hard to promise a date, but hopefully soon we'll have news to share, stay tuned and thanks for buying!

Music Recording

I was looking for a pocket sized mic for an iPhone 6, and this works reasonably well. I’ve recorded live Music and solo home guitar/singing, comes out better than the internal mic (less hollow, boomy). It does a good job rejecting crowd noise in public.
Several times I’ve recorded and found out it was distorted, once when within about 8 feet of a PA, and once from a loud outdoor concert. Also vocals up close will distort, including normal speaking volume.
The “dead cat” wind screen works great, I often record outside with it and without it the wind noise makes the recording unusable even in light wind.