Rode iXY

Most of the reviews of this mic are fair. I just wanted to chime in about the "button issue" that people are mentioning on iPhone 7 and newer. You can get around it with an accessibility setting called assistive touch on your iPhone. There is no need to cut the mount on your mic. Go to SettingsGeneralAccessibilityAssistiveTouch. Turn it on. A virtual button will spear on your screen that functions just like the home button. You can move it anywhere on the screen, so orientation shouldn't matter, and you can turn it off when you aren't using the mic. I discovered this on one of my old phones when the home button stopped working. I recently started using it on my iPhone 8 after I upgraded from the 6. I hope that helps.

The Rode iXY is an amazing mic! I used it to record a woodwind quintet outdoors at a street festival and indoor rehearsal. Both of the times they sounded amazing. The only issue I discovered is the button on the mic that hovers above the iPhone home button doesn't interact with my iPhone 7 home button; I have to remove the Rode whenever I want to push the home button. For me, that was an inconvenience that I read can be resolved in a way I won't discuss because it requires mods to the Rode and I wasn't about to screw with it.

As a Sound Designer ( TV and Movies ) I always wanted good mic I can have with me all the time, I have the H6 zoom and it's extraordinary but it is too big to carry with me all the time I use to have the NT4 that was a great microphone but also to big to carry with me all the time, so I decided to give the ixy a test and I'm surprised how close it is to the NT 4 and pretty similar XY mic on the Zoom . I also like the fact that you can send the files to dropbox it's a bit slow but very convenient, also I like the fact that you can name things before after you Record on your phone so later or you can find things easier. The case that came with is great as well.

I love Rode products. They have served me well and this microphone is no different. The quality of their products live up to their reputation, however, beware of 2 issues. First, their app costs extra and there is a lot of criticism about it. Read up on the reviews to make sure you are okay with it. Second, you usually have a case covering your device and this device does not account for the varying thickness of the case on your iPhone or iPad. You have to remove the case in order to use this, so it renders the microphone almost useless for every day use because you wouldn't want to remove your case and reinstall it every time. I wish there were an extension on the lightning cable so that it will reach properly. I'm not sure how often I will use it at this point. It's a good device, but there are practical considerations.

The companion app for that product comes in two version, on is RODE Rec LE the is free and the another paid version for RODE Rec 5.99. Companion app should be free. Add to that, both versions are outdated and (last update Feb-16) and poor quality.