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I am looking into producing and hosting podcasts with two people.

I need a portable recording system with a reasonable price and some quality (not much).

Could you use your Android phone to record from two mono microphones at the same time? For example, if I bought a stereo 3.5 mm audio jack to mini usb, then plugged a y-adapter to the 3.5 mm and then a mono microphone to each of the 3.5 mm jacks from the y-adapter.

Would this provide me with two audio tracks that I could edit in post to get the audio levels right? Would the sound quality be absolutely terrible even for a beginner?

Equipment needed: Mini usb to 3.5 mm stereo two 3.5 mm microphones stereo 3.5 mm y-cord The phone that I have is LG spirit.

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Connecting the two microphones by means of the Y adaptor will connect the microphones electrically, so it may work up to a point (depending on the microphones), but:

  • You will only be able (at best) to record the combined sound captured by both microphones, not each mic as a separate channel. Note however that if you are trying to go on a really low budget, then you would have to settle for a pair of cheap dynamic omnidirectional microphones. So unless they would be placed a significant distance apart (not easily feasible with a cheap setup anyway), both mics are going to capture pretty much the same thing.

  • You may have problems such as distortion, specially when both microphones capture sound with significant volume (may not be much of a problem with two equal low sensitivity dynamic microphones).

I'd say that unless you're willing to spend a few hundred euros and record with a computer, you're better off recording in mono directly with phone's mic, or at least connecting a single external mic if you want to improve sound quality (not worth it unless you invest in a reasonably good mic).

BTW, I'm not sure what you mean by "mini usb to 3.5mm stereo". If that would be some kind of USB audio adapter, and you decide to go that route, check that your phone has both USB host capability AND audio support through USB. Just the fact that it has a micro-USB port doesn't mean it has support for these functions.

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  • Hey, I had already ruled connecting two microphones through the 3.5 mm audio jack of the phone. RTTS plugs only supports stereo output and mono input. This is why I asked how to do it via mini-usb.
    – Waltari
    Jun 2, 2016 at 10:19
  • the problem with the Y splitter is the same, whether you use it to connect to the audio input or through a USB audio device, the signal coming from the two mics will be electrically combined and "enter" the phone as single audio signal.
    – José David
    Jun 2, 2016 at 10:47
  • What about this one? 2 mono to 1 stereo 3.5mm. I guess this is not a y-splitter even though it looks like one. amazon.com/Hosa-YMM-261-Stereo-Breakout-Cable/dp/B000068O5H
    – Waltari
    Jun 2, 2016 at 10:54
  • No, it's not Y-splitter, this cable will place one of the inputs in the right channel and the other in the left channel. But how would it be connected to the phone? The mini-jack connector from the phone is no stereo input. And I still don't know what you mean by "mini usb to 3.5mm stereo", I don't know of any such cable that allows you to feed audio through the USB port of the phone without an audio interface, unless it's something proprietary of the phone brand.
    – José David
    Jun 2, 2016 at 11:56
  • In my initial answer I said " unless you're willing to spend a few hundred euros and record with a computer..." Well, it's possible to do high quality recording in Android through the microUSB port. Assuming your phone supports it, you'll need: an OTG cable, a USB audio supporting APP, a USB audio interface and microphones (or a USB microphone).
    – José David
    Jun 2, 2016 at 12:00
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There are many solutions to recording stereo (or "dual mono" if you wish) through the USB port into a phone or tablet or computer. You did not state a budget, but this looks pretty good to me....

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irigproduo/

enter image description here

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