- This $15 microphone is amazing.
I've been using it for years
and I still carry it around with me everywhere.
As you can imagine, I get access to a ton of gear
including some really expensive microphones,
but this microphone is still one
that gets used pretty regularly.
It's even been used to film a ton of the videos
on our YouTube channel.
And this is the only microphone that most people
are gonna need to set up their YouTube channel.
So, let's take a look
at what makes this microphone so great.
So first off, this is a wired lapel or lavalier microphone.
You can see I've just got clipped to my t-shirt here.
Normally, I have it hidden underneath.
And if you wanna find out how to do that,
there's a video up in the cards.
But it's not a wireless microphone
which means that there is a cable
that's going to directly plug into your camera,
your phone, your computer.
Yes, this microphone works with a lot of devices out there
because it supports both TRS and a TRRS connection.
Now, if you do wanna use it on a newer phone
that doesn't have that headphone jack plug
you will need to use either the lightning
or the USB-C adapter to get that connected.
But yeah, this microphone works with pretty much anything.
Now, there's actually a couple different versions
of this microphone.
This one, the BOYA BY-M1 is kind of the original.
The single microphone.
But they also have a dual lapel version as well.
So, if you're gonna be running an interview with someone,
it'll actually have two microphones that come off
so that you can have one and they can have one.
And both of them join back together to connect to your phone
or to your camera with one microphone plug.
There's also smartphone versions
of this microphone as well now
with a lightning connector or a USB-C as well.
So, you've got options if you're gonna be using it
for just one specific device or one specific use case.
Now, it's also got a crazy long cable.
So, if you are creating videos
where you are gonna be moving around a bit,
or you need to be quite a distance away
from your phone or from your camera,
then this microphone can still tick that box.
And when I say it's a big cable,
this thing is like six meters long, close to 20 foot.
Now, this is something that I thought
that would really just get in the way
for creating the types of videos that I do.
I'm literally almost an arm's length away from the camera.
So, I don't need a cable that long.
So, if you're still creating videos like this,
you can just bunch the cable up, put it in your pocket
and it's not going to bother you.
But it is still gonna give you that flexibility
if you do decide that you've gotta get up
and go and get a drink
or film further away from your camera.
You do have that flexibility.
But on the flip side, there's a lot of microphones out there
where the cables are too short and they're really not usable
if you're gonna have a setup like this.
So yeah, I actually like
that it has that ridiculously long cable.
So in the box, you get the microphone,
you get a microphone clip which is what I'm using here now.
You also get a quarter inch TRS to 3.5 millimeter adapter.
There's also a carrying pouch and a battery
because yes, this microphone does require a battery
when you're connecting it up to a camera
or something with a TRS connection.
If you're just gonna be using it with a smartphone
or something with a TRRS connection,
which a lot of computers have these days as well,
then you actually won't need to even have a battery in there
to have this microphone work.
So, then to turn the microphone on and off
there is a switch on it
which clearly says on for camera and off for smartphone.
Now with the battery life, I read online that this thing
will last anywhere from 400 hours to a lot of people saying
600 to 800 hours with that battery.
But in my own experience,
I've left this microphone on accidentally quite a few times
and I've come back to use it
and the microphone has gone flat.
Or one time I was filming, it was fine at the start
and it went flat halfway through filming
making the video useless.
So, this is something though that I'd say
is probably the biggest downside
or the biggest thing to be aware of with this
is that there is no battery level indicator.
Yes, these batteries are ridiculously cheap.
So, go and grab a few of them and just carry them with you
and swap them out every now and then.
But also you can keep monitoring your audio as well
just to make sure that it is working.
But it's got to the point for me now
where I'll just swap out the battery.
If I'm gonna be doing a solid day of filming
and I'm gonna be using this microphone,
I'll just put a new battery in
so that it's not gonna be a problem.
But when I don't forget to turn the microphone off,
yeah, the battery lasts a long time.
So, a battery level indicator would be awesome on this.
The other thing I think that this microphone
would be awesome if it had, again, it's not a deal breaker,
but a volume control knob
so that you could turn the microphone up and down.
Now, this really hasn't been an issue
for most of the cameras or devices
that I've plugged this microphone into.
The volume level has been great.
I really haven't had to make too many adjustments
and a lot of cameras or computers and things these days,
you can control the volume
if the audio's coming in too loud.
But the stock camera app on iOS and Android,
they don't have volume control.
And what I have found
on a couple of different Android devices only
is that the audio comes in too loud on some of them.
And again, this is, it's a strange one
because it's not all Android devices.
But I have seen the audio come in too loud
that the audio is just distorting.
But this is where if you are gonna be filming on your phone
you can use an app like FiLMiC Pro
whether it's iOS or Android.
That's gonna give you further control over your camera
your settings, and your volume control too
so that if you do find that you are using a microphone
that is coming in too hot or too loud,
then you can just turn it down a little bit.
But that's something that you can't do
in most of the stock or built-in camera apps.
But in terms of the audio quality,
I mean you're listening to this microphone right now.
There's nothing else done.
There's no post-processing or anything like that done.
This is literally microphone direct to camera.
And there's even a little bit of background noise
with people talking and moving around outside.
So, I'm gonna go ahead and unplug this microphone
and you can hear what it sounds like
in contrast to the Panasonic GH5 that I'm recording with.
Okay, so this really isn't a fair comparison.
You normally wouldn't be using
just the built-in microphone in your camera,
but you can see how much of a difference,
just even that $15 microphone makes.
It's so much of an improvement.
This is what the microphone
on my MacBook Pro 2021 16 inch sounds like.
And this is with the BOYA BY-M1 microphone connected.
One, two, one, two.
So, this is what it sounds like on an iPhone 12 Pro.
One, two, one, two, one, two.
And now this is the iPhone 12 Pro
without the BOYA microphone connected.
One, two, one, two.
Now, if you're gonna be filming outside
or in windy conditions,
you definitely wanna have the little microphone cover on
to try and take some of that wind noise out.
But the best way that I've found with this microphone
and most other lapel or lavalier microphones
to remove wind noise is actually to tape it
under your shirt or jacket.
And again, the video is linked up in the cards.
Definitely suggest checking it out.
So overall, I'm a massive fan of this microphone.
It's something that we've mentioned a lot
on this channel for years.
This isn't the latest and greatest stuff.
This microphone's has been around for a long time.
But really, if you're looking at the complete package
of price and bang for buck, really nothing else comes close.
Is this the best sounding microphone out there?
No, not by a long shot.
There are far better options if you're someone
who is looking for something really crisp,
really clean and pro-grade microphones.
Definitely lots of other options for that.
But is this something that you can just bunch up,
put in your backpack and carry with you
in case you've gotta do a quick Instagram LIVE,
create some stories, create a vlog on the go.
This microphone is a massive step up
from what you're gonna get
with any of your built-in microphones.
And that's why I carry it with me for content on the go.
If I'm doing a quick Instagram LIVE,
I wanna get some quick shots to use in our YouTube videos
or for any other content,
I'm using this microphone because I've got it with me
and because it's much better
than what's included in our phones or cameras.
And it's gonna get you much better audio
which means you've got better quality content
that people will stick around longer watching.
Now, if you wanna see how this microphone stacks up
against more expensive options and also my recommendations
for best microphones for creating YouTube videos,
check out the video that's linked on screen
and I will see you in the next one.