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It’s true that smartphones can be very convenient for recording audio, and it’s also true that an external mic will improve the quality of the recordings.

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If not, it’s probably better to leave this idea until the Android operating system and supporting ecosystem have caught up with iOS.

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If you already have or can borrow a supported USB microphone and a USB-OTG cable then it might be worth downloading the trial version of USB Audio Recorder Pro and having a go. The HTC One M8 is on the list of “ working Android devices”.

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(The blurb says: “eXtream Software Development has written custom USB audio code from scratch because Android does not support USB audio.”) You might be able to do the same sort of thing with a Yeti USB microphone from Blue Mic - Amazon UK has one for £99.99 - and eXtreme’s USB Audio Recorder Pro app. However, at the Apogee’s £169.99 UK price, it would be cheaper to buy a separate handheld recorder. The USB approach has become better known thanks to the Apogee MiC 96k, which adds a “studio quality cardioid condenser microphone” to an Apple iPhone or iPad. The HTC One M8 does have a powered USB Host port - it supports USB-OTG ( USB On-The-Go) so it should be able to handle a USB microphone or a mic plugged in via a USB-to-audio-jack adapter. It’s digital rather than analogue, it bypasses the audio circuitry built into the smartphone, and it enables better-than-CD-quality recording. USB recording has some significant advantages. The website says it now works with Android devices “compliant with the CTIA/AHJ wiring standard” including “Samsung, LG, Motorola, Google Nexus, HTC, Huawei and Sony”. Personally, I’d lean towards the IK Multimedia iRig Mic Cast based solely on its reputation in the Apple market. Perhaps Ask Jack readers can recommend products they have used, ideally with HTC phones. I don’t know if these will work with your M8. There are also traditional condenser mics like the Prodipe iMic 70051 Microphone for Apple and Android-Based Smartphones/Tablets (£27.23). Examples include the Boya BY M1 (£11.99) and the Rode Smartlav+ Lavalier Microphone for Smartphone (£40.33).

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Most seem to be Lavalier microphones, which are generally used as lapel mics for TV and theatre performances, and for interviews.

There are lots of mics available, and I have no idea which is best. There are adapters, but jack plugs are flaky at best - the design goes back to 19th century switchboards - so I’d recommend getting the right type. GSM Arena only says “3.5mm jack - Yes” for the HTC One M8, so I don’t know if it has an AHJ socket. Software may be able to handle some of the differences. Apple uses an AHJ layout with non-standard signalling and controls: it’s sometimes referred to as CTIA. I note that Nokia switched to AHJ when it launched its Lumia phones, and it has also been used by HTC and other Android manufacturers. The original Nokia standard for GSM was called OMTP ( Open Mobile Terminal Platform), while the newer one is called AHJ (American Headset Jack). Just to complicate things, TRRS plugs come in two different types, with the mic connection being in a different place. Technically, these plugs are known as TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) connectors, and you will need a TRRS version to make mono recordings. In this case, you need a jack-plug with three rings on the end, which is capable of making four connections, ie there’s one extra band for the mic.

(The third way is via Bluetooth, but this seems to be very limiting.) Microphone jacks There are two main ways to fit an external microphone to a smartphone: either it plugs into the headphone/mic socket, or connects via a microUSB or similar port. Again, HD Voice offers better quality, but both handsets have to support it, and so does all the network equipment between the two phones.

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In fact, the Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) codec used for GSM voice calls offers a maximum of 12.2kbps, which is a fraction of what you’d get from a landline. When it comes to network problems, mobile phones are designed to use very low bit-rates. (The Lumia 1020 is one of the few smartphones that records good quality stereo.) Some smartphones have more than one built-in mic: one is used for recording while others are generally used to detect and remove background noises. Handsets that support HD Voice ( Wideband audio) or 4G’s Voice over LTE ( VoLTE) should have better audio capabilities, though they still can’t provide the twice-CD-quality stereo of a handheld recorder. Worse, most only support mono recording, not stereo. Mobile phones also operate with a very restricted frequency range, perhaps 300Hz to 3.4kHz, and use low-cut filters and noise gates to suppress background noise. The microphones are tiny and you might well have a problem locating them. When it comes to handset design, smartphones are optimised for on-screen operations such as apps and browsing, not for voice.

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