Need help chosing a simple Lav Mic

Hi guys ! newbie here, first of all i just wanted to thank you in advance for taking the time to read this, now let's get to bussiness:

So after a lot of searching, online reviews and talking to the Udemy Team, i've narrowed it to 2 choices for the mic:

-Sony ECMCS3

-Audiotechnica 3550

both are recomemded by Udemy as starting mics, but i obviously cant test them out before buying them because my real life stores dont have those models.

After a bit of searching here, there are seems to be quite a number of you that used the the Rode smartlav...it's more expensive than the other two, but iam willing risk it if it's worth it.

I already both 2 lav mics online and they sucked, so i wanna make sure this is my last purchase...

Also should i invest in a digital voice recorder or just use the default recording app on my android ? or a more advanced app?

Thanks for the help guys.

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Comments

ScottDuffy

So if you've already owned 2 lav mics, WHY did they suck?

My general advice is that ANY lav mic is good. The first lav mic I bought was less than $30. No name brand, just a cheap one from Amazon. It was fine for my purpose.

So... why did your last lav mics suck? What about them specifically sucked?

I would not recommend you buy a new one, even an expensive one, until you know that it's not something else in your recording environment that is the issue.

VascoYebra

Right i suposed i forgot to explain that,

Whenever i plugged them in the PC, on the audio jack, i would get a buzzing/static sound, so i decided to try with the cell phone and that problem was gone with one of them, the other one i got a robotic like sounding voice ( i even recorded a few mins and sent them to the Udemy team for review, and they said the audio quality wasnt decent because of that ... ). They recomended trying to fix the issue using Audacity, which i tried, or getting new mic...

The mic also picked up every sound pretty much every sound around, which i guess i could fix by decreasing the gain, but still.... i just thought it would be more a plug-n-play situation you know?

without putting too much into in, just record your voice

Ormsby

I'm about to get my studio set up. I'll be following this post to see what comes back. I have an iPad, tripod and attachment for the iPod. I also have access to a cannon eos but I was trying to keep it simple. Not even started to look at microphones yet so your post very topical to me. Not thought about lights yet either. I'll be doing screen shots and just me doing voice overs and maybe head and shoulders shot now and again just t mix things up.

did you get your starter kit list from udemy?

VascoYebra

Ahh glad to see someone on the same boat as me

Yeah from Udemy, except the Rode smarlav.

I just dont want to spend money on something that doesnt work/workds poorly

JanTissler

I have been using the Røde SmartLav+ and I am very happy with it. Out of the box it is meant to be connected to a smartphone. But there's an adapter available to use it with any other recording device. I have been using it with my iPhone, with a Zoom audio recorder, and connected to my camera via adapter and extension cord. Works like a charm. Very versatile.

But I also want to add to what @ScottDuffy
already said: The microphone is not the first thing to improve when your sound is not good. I had a $10 lav mic from Amazon in the past and it was pretty much perfect. Why? Because the recording room was great. You don't need any super advanced mic to record a talking person for an online video.

You mentioned that other mics picked up noises around you. I am not sure if this will be different with the Røde SmartLav. If it is very loud around you, only a directional microphone might help.

I personally would always try to improve the recording room first. Even the best microphone won't do any miracles. People often expect way too much from an expensive mic or want to repair problems later in software that they could have avoided.

VascoYebra

Ok man, thanks for the reply,

i was chatting with a friend of mine who works with music and he said the smarlav from rode is pretty good.

Im gonna get one and then work from there

i live near the ground floor so the ocasional car passing by or dog barking is very common.

Another problem my lav mic has is that it produces a robotic kinda voice, not good at all

KennCrawford

One thing many people seem to forget is that it is possible that it is your computer and not your mic. I have an ASUS I7 that is a workhorse for editing with one exception... anything plugged into it gets that buzzing sound with the exception of my mbox interface. Even if I use the computer to power a digital recorder that buzzing sound is there. If I plug it into another computer or an external power supply the buzzing is gone.

Don't dismiss you mics yet, it might be the computer! Try it plugged into another computer to test it.

Mics plugged into a cellphone sound fine for our purposes.

I used a Tascam recorder as a microphone for filmshoots, and I own an AudioTechnica lav mic and it sounds really good. Only thing I don't like about it is there's no light on it to let you know if the battery is weak... a weak battery will give a buzzing sound as well.

Hypnodan

Hi @VascoYebra
,

I use the Rode SmartLav+ too and think it is great.

All the best

Dan

KarolyNyisztor

I've got a Røde SmartLav+ too, and it does a decent job. I was able to get acceptable results with the Auphonic app on my iPhone. However, it doesn't even come close to the quality of the AudioTechnica BPHS1 or the Blue Yeti.