I like the style of this video. I feel like this product is for recording vlogs, which is absolutely a great use. It's so awkward recording out in public, so the fact that you can stay focused on the message is impressive haha
I purchased the Godox Movelink M2 set for videos. Just like the lark it can plug in a lav microphone. I purchased them for weddings, so I can mic the officiator, and the groom (I do want to upgrade it for a set that records on the transmitters too). It lets them be wireless from the back of the chapel, so the range is nice, but I don't need more than 60 feet (20-30 is more realistic).
If I were doing weddings, I wouldn't trust a mic that is solely wireless, especially when you're hiding them on a groom with layers of clothing. These mics are meant to be line of sight in an ideal world. The backup recording onboard is crucial and since these can last for hours on end, it's a pretty solid option.
Hi Zephan, Thanks for the test. I’m curious about few things: 1. How about latency? 2. Does it work with Bluetooth or RF? 3. How about frequency response? 4. How about battery life? 5. How about range and stability in a real-life production environment? 6. How does Noise Cancellation work in this setup? Normally with headphone there is an environment measuring microphone and some DSP. But this IS a microphone! AI? Leveler? Downward expander? I have tested many Bluetooth mics and they all fail in many or even all these aspects. Thanks again!
Hey Mike, thanks for the comment. A few things I can answer right off the bat, most of which is on their spec sheet on the website here: store.hollyland.com/products/lark-max 1. I didn't notice any latency but I haven't done a test for lip sync outside of what you see in the video was perfectly in sync without me needing to do anything. We could probably get down to a more granular test, but how would you like to see that tested? 2. RF between 2400MHz-2483.5MHz 3. 20 Hz-20 kHz when low cut is disabled 4. Transmitter rated for 7.5 hours of usage, receiver is rated for 9 hours, with the charging case the transmitter can hit up to 22 hours. I had it on for maybe 3 hours when I was out recording and didn't even use half the battery on the transmitter. That said, it depends on your usage case, like I wouldn't be using this for a microphone for a speaker on stage at a conference. But I'd totally use these for on the go interviews and for my personal content. Any time I'm in a live event setting I hire an audio engineer who brings in their own audio mixer and wireless system for lavs and handhelds. But that's my personal usage case. 5. They're rated for 820ft line of site. That said, I don't think I've ever done an event where I'd have to mic someone that far away and even if I was, I'm hiring a full audio crew, there's a time and place for this device and as I said in the video, we have to be honest about distance here. Maybe there's a rare and random usage case for needing to be that far away, but I do livestreams and corporate video work. I'm not sending someone up in a hot air balloon and expecting to record audio from the ground, and if I was, I'd just use the internal recording. Does your usage case require you to mic someone up more than 100-200 feet away from a camera? 6. I'd probably need Hollyland to answer this question. Hollyland refers to their noise cancellation as ENC, Environmental Noise Cancellation. I'd imagine some of that is proprietary so I may not find out how it actually functions. That said, I enabled it in the video as a plane was going by and it cut it down pretty much instantly. Just to reiterate, this isn't a bluetooth mic.
@@zephanmoses Hi Zephan, Thanks for your long answer! Let me answer/react per point: 1. Manufactures mostly state best-scenario figures in their specs. What I normally do is a latency measurement in ms. Almost all Bluetooth and WiFi solutions have more than 30 ms of latency, some even 60 ms, which is unworkable. Yes, you can correct in post, but still... 2. The frequency range between (roughly) 2,4 and 2,5 GHz is shared by WiFi and Bluetooth. So not RF in like professional systems (above 500 MHz). This band is crowded and can cause dropouts in real life environments, especially with lots of cellphone users around, haha. 3. Measurements will frequently show a 20 Hz-20 KHz claim is not a flat curve...This is due to the compression algorithms. I was shocked when measuring same price-range products from Rode, Saramonic, etc. 5. Line of sight figures are totally non-sensical indeed. You don't need it. And practically you need good coverage in a real-life environment. These figures tell you nothing about interference, mirroring, etc. Have a bag of water (the human body) in between Rx and Tx and signals fade away. I am aware these are budget systems which can be very helpful for some. But for professional use: stay away from them and save some more money for a Shure or Sennheiser RF system. And just like you do, I rent and hire these systems in my productions. And if I work for television - or live shows with bands I always tell the musicians to use any WiFi or Bluetooth guitar or other transmitters at their own risk and don't blame the sound engineer (monitors, FOH, rec, broadcast). Haha. Are you going to use the Lark system?
@@MikeHageman as mentioned previously I’ll certainly be using it for content creation which is what it was designed for. These are not microphones intended for a professional high end usage case. So while I appreciate your interest in all of these things (including the latency, RF frequency range and more), they’re simply not the type of data points that a UA-cam content creator is going to be examining in a microphone made for these purposes.
@@earlpreston7639 there’s nothing wrong with promoting products you enjoy and use. To be honest for every product I’ve promoted, I have three more I haven’t. Hollyland is a great company for wireless and I use their transmitters, the lark M2 for quite a few videos and now this one. So I’m making content for products I actually use. I wasn’t paid to do this. It’s also worth mentioning for every product video I’ve got, I have four more videos that are 100% value for growing a video business or teaching how to livestream. What would you like to see on the channel?
I like the style of this video. I feel like this product is for recording vlogs, which is absolutely a great use. It's so awkward recording out in public, so the fact that you can stay focused on the message is impressive haha
I purchased the Godox Movelink M2 set for videos. Just like the lark it can plug in a lav microphone. I purchased them for weddings, so I can mic the officiator, and the groom (I do want to upgrade it for a set that records on the transmitters too).
It lets them be wireless from the back of the chapel, so the range is nice, but I don't need more than 60 feet (20-30 is more realistic).
If I were doing weddings, I wouldn't trust a mic that is solely wireless, especially when you're hiding them on a groom with layers of clothing. These mics are meant to be line of sight in an ideal world. The backup recording onboard is crucial and since these can last for hours on end, it's a pretty solid option.
Hi Zephan,
Thanks for the test.
I’m curious about few things:
1. How about latency?
2. Does it work with Bluetooth or RF?
3. How about frequency response?
4. How about battery life?
5. How about range and stability in a real-life production environment?
6. How does Noise Cancellation work in this setup? Normally with headphone there is an environment measuring microphone and some DSP. But this IS a microphone! AI? Leveler? Downward expander?
I have tested many Bluetooth mics and they all fail in many or even all these aspects.
Thanks again!
Hey Mike, thanks for the comment. A few things I can answer right off the bat, most of which is on their spec sheet on the website here: store.hollyland.com/products/lark-max
1. I didn't notice any latency but I haven't done a test for lip sync outside of what you see in the video was perfectly in sync without me needing to do anything. We could probably get down to a more granular test, but how would you like to see that tested?
2. RF between 2400MHz-2483.5MHz
3. 20 Hz-20 kHz when low cut is disabled
4. Transmitter rated for 7.5 hours of usage, receiver is rated for 9 hours, with the charging case the transmitter can hit up to 22 hours. I had it on for maybe 3 hours when I was out recording and didn't even use half the battery on the transmitter. That said, it depends on your usage case, like I wouldn't be using this for a microphone for a speaker on stage at a conference. But I'd totally use these for on the go interviews and for my personal content. Any time I'm in a live event setting I hire an audio engineer who brings in their own audio mixer and wireless system for lavs and handhelds. But that's my personal usage case.
5. They're rated for 820ft line of site. That said, I don't think I've ever done an event where I'd have to mic someone that far away and even if I was, I'm hiring a full audio crew, there's a time and place for this device and as I said in the video, we have to be honest about distance here. Maybe there's a rare and random usage case for needing to be that far away, but I do livestreams and corporate video work. I'm not sending someone up in a hot air balloon and expecting to record audio from the ground, and if I was, I'd just use the internal recording. Does your usage case require you to mic someone up more than 100-200 feet away from a camera?
6. I'd probably need Hollyland to answer this question. Hollyland refers to their noise cancellation as ENC, Environmental Noise Cancellation. I'd imagine some of that is proprietary so I may not find out how it actually functions. That said, I enabled it in the video as a plane was going by and it cut it down pretty much instantly.
Just to reiterate, this isn't a bluetooth mic.
@@zephanmoses Hi Zephan,
Thanks for your long answer!
Let me answer/react per point:
1. Manufactures mostly state best-scenario figures in their specs. What I normally do is a latency measurement in ms. Almost all Bluetooth and WiFi solutions have more than 30 ms of latency, some even 60 ms, which is unworkable. Yes, you can correct in post, but still...
2. The frequency range between (roughly) 2,4 and 2,5 GHz is shared by WiFi and Bluetooth. So not RF in like professional systems (above 500 MHz). This band is crowded and can cause dropouts in real life environments, especially with lots of cellphone users around, haha.
3. Measurements will frequently show a 20 Hz-20 KHz claim is not a flat curve...This is due to the compression algorithms. I was shocked when measuring same price-range products from Rode, Saramonic, etc.
5. Line of sight figures are totally non-sensical indeed. You don't need it. And practically you need good coverage in a real-life environment. These figures tell you nothing about interference, mirroring, etc. Have a bag of water (the human body) in between Rx and Tx and signals fade away.
I am aware these are budget systems which can be very helpful for some. But for professional use: stay away from them and save some more money for a Shure or Sennheiser RF system.
And just like you do, I rent and hire these systems in my productions. And if I work for television - or live shows with bands I always tell the musicians to use any WiFi or Bluetooth guitar or other transmitters at their own risk and don't blame the sound engineer (monitors, FOH, rec, broadcast). Haha.
Are you going to use the Lark system?
@@MikeHageman as mentioned previously I’ll certainly be using it for content creation which is what it was designed for. These are not microphones intended for a professional high end usage case. So while I appreciate your interest in all of these things (including the latency, RF frequency range and more), they’re simply not the type of data points that a UA-cam content creator is going to be examining in a microphone made for these purposes.
@@zephanmoses Point taken. Fair. I will test the unit myself and do some measurements.
Because it’s promoting product review for the companies and creators get product and sponsorship
@@earlpreston7639 there’s nothing wrong with promoting products you enjoy and use. To be honest for every product I’ve promoted, I have three more I haven’t. Hollyland is a great company for wireless and I use their transmitters, the lark M2 for quite a few videos and now this one. So I’m making content for products I actually use. I wasn’t paid to do this.
It’s also worth mentioning for every product video I’ve got, I have four more videos that are 100% value for growing a video business or teaching how to livestream.
What would you like to see on the channel?