Best Kept Audio Secret: Cheap Lav Mic That Competes with High End Mics costing 5x as much!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- This is a comparison I put together half a decade ago. My findings now are the same as then. The Williams Sound Mic 090 is a little known secret- a lav mic that performs similarly to much higher end and expensive mics at a fraction of the cost. In fact as I post this now- it's dropped in price to $49.
It lacks a threaded locking pin and the physical design is a little bulky but the sound it delivers is excellent. Additionally through the past 10 years I've had my Sanken COS-11Ds needing cable repairs ever 4-5 years (despite being very careful with how I spool the cable and store the mics) meanwhile these Williams Sound Mics have never failed me.
In this video I compare the:
Sanken COS-11D
Countryman B3
Tram TR-50
Senal OML-2
Williams Sound Mic 090
All mic are connected to individual Tascam DR-10C audio recorder using the exact same settings (Mic Sensitivity: High, Auto Level: Off, Low Cut: Off, Limiter: On)
The results are shocking. Both the $234 Tram TR-50 sounds quite a bit like the less expensive $189 Countryman B3. More surprisingly is how similar the $75 Williams Sound Mic 090 sounds like the $379 Sanken COS-11D in both tonal response and sensitivity.
Fantastic testing comparisons
Great Audio Glenn!
The Williams does sound pretty good, but it's worth noting that some of those more expensive mics aren't necessarily meant to used totally naked and unobstructed - they're primarily designed to be hidden under clothing (which is also why they have smaller or thinner capsules) and are tuned accordingly. Something like the Williams, with the bulkier capsule and lack of a locking mechanism at the plug, is generally designed to be mounted on top of clothing and used in situations where the talent is moving very little if at all (like a talking head interview). I'd imagine the Williams would lose a fair amount of clarity when used in a situation more suited for the Sanken or the TRAM.
I've been pretty unhappy with the Senal lavaliers unfortunately. I while ago I tried out the CL6, which is (was? I've noticed they've been unavailable for a while now) their subminiature mic more akin to something like the Countryman B6. I wasn't sure if I had just gotten a faulty unit, but the max SPL was so absurdly low that it would start distorting at just moderate speaking volume. Adjusting the sensitivity/attenuation of the transmitter did very little. Sent it back the very next day. Even if it was just a flawed unit (which I doubt due to the nature of the issue - usually if a lav is defective out of the box it's something like intermittent cutting out, unusually high-self noise, or poor RFI shielding), the fact that it made it passed QC in that state was not a good sign. Didn't sound that great either even when not distorting. The OLM2 sounds nearly identical to a Sennheiser ME2 (the original, not the mk-II), which I just don't like much to begin with. A bit too nasal and compressed, and probably a nightmare to EQ in post, especially if placed under clothing.
I appreciate the test a lot! It can be so difficult to find good demonstrations of some of the lesser-known microphones, and I'm sure this video has been extremely helpful for a lot of people. Some of these thoughts you may already be aware of, but I left them here more for future visitors who may be on the hunt for inexpensive-yet-decent lavalier mics. To you hunters, I'd recommend the offerings from Oscar SoundTech (both the 801/802 and the TL-40 are excellent for the price - the former can be a tad noisy though if used with softer-speaking talent) and also the W.Lav Pro or W.Lav Micro from Deity.
You are an absolute saint, sir.
Definitely need to upgrade my last wireless
You should add Giant Squid Audio into the line up.
I remember the ol' Giant Squid mics back from the iRiver days. Unfortunately I didn't have one on hand when I did this comparison. I'm curious how they'd stack up as well.
@@glenelliott2620 ah okay , NP