Stephen Walton
Firstly, thank you to Penney and the fabulous team at Hollyland for hooking us up with their Lark Max Wireless Lavalier Microphone system.
I wanted to give it a test run because I’m finding more and more pro photographers are utilising their photoshoots to capture more content for social media. This means you need a good microphone to talk through your work.
This package I was sent came in two boxes. The first box contained two easy-to-use lavalier microphone clips with 3.5mm headphone jack connections. These mics are ideal for connecting either directly into your camera’s microphone port or into your phone (if you’re still lucky enough to have a headphone socket!)
They don’t use wireless technology, but instead are powered by your connected device. They have an 18 inch cable which means you can’t stray far from your device but they are a low-cost alternative to a full wireless system – but is it better?
The second box was the one I’d be excited to try out. It was the Hollyland Lark Max Wireless Lavalier Microphone system. Here’s what was inside the box;
● Transmitter x 2
● Receiver x 1
● Storage Case
● USB-C to USB-A Cable x 1
● 3.5mm TRS to 3.5mm TRS Cable x 1
● USB-C to USB-C Cable x 1
● USB-C to Lightning Cable x 1
● Furry Windshield x 2
● Magnetic Coin Clips x 2
As you can see you get a lot packed into a small unit. It fits really well into my camera bag, and though it’s heavier than I expected, it’s worth it!
You can either connect the microphone receiver to your iPhone, Android, DSLR camera or even your PC/Mac as the capture device to record the audio to and control the levels. The transmitter will continue to work wirelessly attached comfortably to your person up to a huge distance away, if needed.
While it’s great to list all the features and benefits of this microphone I thought it would be better to give it a proper test in a video review.
In the video I’ll unbox the Hollyland Lark Max Wireless Lavalier Microphone system, have a look through all the accessories and cables included as well as giving the microphone system an audio test compared to a native iPhone mic as well as the built-in mic on a Sony Alpha DSLR camera.
After testing the microphone and comparing it to other microphones that you might already have built-in to your camera phone and DSLR camera I really love this system by Hollyland.
While it initially sounded a little quieter than the other microphones I was comparing it to, I think with a little tweak to the settings you can boost the output levels pretty easily. More importantly though I found the audio is soft, without many pops and peaks.
Whenever I’m recording with my Blue Yeti studio mic I’m always moving around so the audio levels change, at least with a wireless system it’s consistent wherever I move around.
It’s so important for photographers to have the assurance of a microphone that is reliable, captures clean sound and subdues environmental noise by default. When we’re out and about on our photoshoots we have enough to think about in terms of the images we take, the last thing we want is a headache trying to sort out audio levels when we’re already chasing the light.
Presentation ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quality of Product ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Easy of Use ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sound Quality ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Connectivity ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall Rating 4.7 out of 5
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