A Lavalier Microphone (Not Only) For Smartphones

Hi there, welcome to Eaton Productions 🙂

In late December 2015, we introduced or new Clip-On Lapel Microphone, which combines superior quality voice reproduction with smartphone compatibility.

In comparison to the built-in microphone on smartphones and tablets (and most other devices for that matter), this omnidirectional microphone delivers high-quality sound.

In the video below you can see a demonstration of how the microphone compares to the built-in mic and a couple of other options…

The Lavalier Microphone

I’m going to point out the obvious takeaways from this video:

Using the inbuilt microphone at just over arm’s length away picks up a lot of echo and background noise.

The iPhone headset that comes with the phone improves the audio, producing a brighter, cleaner sound.

Likewise, the Rode Smartlav+ improves the audio in much the same way.

Unfortunately, the downside to these solutions is that you can’t get very far away from the camera/phone, because the lead is so short.

With our microphone you should hear the audio improve more significantly, producing even greater audio clarity. Having a longer lead, it also gives us much more room to position ourselves further away from the recording device and feed the microphone cable through our clothing for a more subtle solution.

The Eaton Productions Clip-On Lapel Microphone can be used for recording presentations, podcasts, and thanks to its low-profile design, the microphone is also ideal for creating video recordings or live streams on apps such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

It features a durable wind muff, a sturdy lapel clip and requires no batteries. It uses a 3.5mm TRRS jack and has an extra long 6-foot cable which can be attached to a smartphone. It’s high-quality, newscaster-style miniature omnidirectional microphone element provides full coverage of the user’s voice and delivers clear natural sound quality.

The Eaton Productions Professional Smartphone Microphone comes with an attractive storage pouch that can be used while travelling and general safekeeping. The lavalier microphone is sold with a 100% satisfaction guarantee and one year warranty.

The Lavalier Microphone Kit

After carefully reviewing customer feedback, we found that many of our customers were using our lapel mic for starting out on Youtube or for streaming Facebook live videos.

However, they sometimes wanted to use their webcam or DSLR camera, or even a GoPro.
All of these devices have below par built-in microphones, and would benefit hugely from a good quality external microphone.

Realizing that this would be one of the most popular applications for our product, and not everybody wanted to use a mobile device, we launched our lavalier microphone kit.

This kit includes a TRS>TRRS adapter, which means that the microphone can be used with a whole host of other equipment, not just mobile devices.

The kit contains our best-selling microphone, complete with lapel clip and windscreen cover. The microphone already has a 6ft cable, but if you need to film from a further distance away, the kit includes an extra long 20-foot extension cable (which is also sold separately).

The kit provides maximum versatility, containing a microphone adapter cable that allows the mic to be used with a DSLR camera, a GoPro or a computer. It also contains a cell phone tripod adapter – compatible with most smartphones and perfect for vlogging and live videos.

We have ensured that our lavalier microphone kit has all of the necessary tools for even the most tech-savvy consumers. Our company proudly offers a one year warranty on the new kit, which is packaged inside a carrying pouch.

What To Look For In A Microphone

When you are thinking about producing video content, and wish to offer clear audio, it is crucial that you utilize a good microphone.

Yes, you can use the device’s built-in microphone, but this is not ideal. It will record a lot of background noise, and this becomes worse the further away you are from your device. If that’s all you’ve got, use that to get started and upgrade later.

Handheld microphones generally offer decent quality, however, they restrict your movement, as far as your hands are concerned. Also, they are not too good for people who don’t know how to support the microphone at the most suitable distance from their mouth.

A lapel microphone is a much better option if you will be getting around a lot and desire the use of the hands. They may be positioned near your throat, so they will pick-up your voice effectively.

Make certain that the microphone includes a strong clip, so that it will not likely come loose, and that it connects properly into the device headphone socket too. Some phone cases can restrict this, and you may need to remove the case. The cable should be strong and flexible.

There are two main types of microphone – condenser microphones and dynamic microphones.

Condenser mics are usually sensitive and provide very good quality sound. However, they are certainly more susceptible to damage and will break should they be dropped or get wet. They are great for recording inside a studio, but you would most likely not need to go outside and make use of them in the sporting environment.

Dynamic microphones, on the other hand, are much more robust. They can handle being knocked about or getting slightly wet. They don’t require a secondary power source, and they are generally still quite top quality.

Microphones also often come in different polar patterns. These patterns indicate in which the mic will pick-up sound from – is it cardioid, hypercardioid, omnidirectional, or bidirectional?

Omnidirectional microphones pick-up sound in a 360-degree sphere. They can be ideal in order to pick-up a wider part of the sound, and they are popular for lapel mics since they will grab speech even if your mic is not really pointed toward the speaker’s face.

Cardioid designs will be more common on handheld microphones. They pick-up sound in one direction only, so if you point them in your face they are going to grab your speech whilst not picking up sound from the background.

Hypercardioid microphones are also called shotgun mics – they may pick up sound from greater distances at a very narrow-angle. These are the form of microphones that are usually utilized on a boom, as an alternative to lapel mics.

Bi-directional microphones will pick-up sound originating from two directions. They are perfect for conducting interviews.

Mics have lots of different output types – USB, jack, mini jack and XLR will be the main types, and XLR produces the ideal sound generally, although USB is starting to become increasingly commonplace within the individual sector and then for better quality, professional microphone outputs as well, so it is worth looking at.

My favorite USB microphones are the Audio Technica AT2020 and the Blue Yeti.