Reddit reviews Pro Lavalier Lapel Microphone JK MIC-J 044 Compatible with Sennheiser Wireless Transmitter - Omnidirectional Condenser Mic

First of all, congrats on not having yet another gaming channel. You've already got a leg up. I'd like to challenge your idea that you don't have a proper setup right now. If you have a place to sit you can make it into a proper setup. Buy a cheap softbox light kit on amazon or just put some 4500k lights into your lamps at home and watch a youtube tutorial on three point lighting. Clean your room so it doesn't look a mess in the background, or shoot against a blank wall/bedsheet. Buy this microphone and clip it on your shirt. Plug the wire right into the camera you're using. Buy an extension cable if necessary. Boom, you've got a professional talking head setup.

As far as what the subject matter of your content should be, not many people can help you there besides yourself. Watch a lot of other channels to get ideas of what you like and don't like. Try things and see what sticks.

TL;DR I ended up using this lavalier microphone, with the TASCAM DR-05 recorder, putting my equipment total cost at $110.

I conducted some sociolinguistic fieldwork over the summer and I researched fairly extensively to find something within my budget but with the technical specifications I required. I took extensive notes on my thought process, so here's a summary.

So, getting a bit techy here, you're going to need a microphone and a recorder. Those are two separate pieces of equipment. The microphone is what captures the sound and turns it into an electronic current, and the recorder is what turns that current into something the computer understands. Some recorders have a built-in microphone, but you don't want to use that for phonetic studies, so you'll have to get separate pieces. Also, if you have any technical requirements (Hz requirements, for example), both the recorder and the microphone will need to be able to handle that. So you'll need a good one of each.

Even though I already have a decent microphone (the popular Blue Yeti), I felt like I needed something different for several reasons. The Yeti requires a power source: it's meant to be plugged into a computer. But I didn't like that setup. Not only would it be a bit intimidating (not to mention the microphone itself is intimidating), but it's bad acoustically since the noise from my computer would surely get captured. The Yeti ideally also should be about a foot from the speaker's mouth, which, again, makes people a bit nervous. If I move it further, I could turn the sensitivity up, but it would capture ambient noise (fans, AC, fridge, etc.). I considered a setup that didn't involve my computer, but that requires a different power source and special equipment, and that's a pain (and it's expensive).

I also considered just using my iPhone as a recorder, and buying a microphone specifically designed to work with it (they exist). The quality is decent enough for most people, but not for phoneticians. Also, they are not compatible with any other piece of equipment. Either they plug into the lightning connector or the headphone jack, but the 3.5mm headphone thingie has 3 stripes instead of 2, making it incompatible as a microphone with any other recorder (that's all I know on that topic).

I decided the TASCAM DR-05 was the best recorder for my purposes. They have bigger and better ones (like the DR-22WL or the DR-40), but they were too much for me: I didn't need to record multiple tracks simultaneously, or a huge memory, or a separate iPhone app, or a guitar tuner or anything. A very similar family of recorders is the Zoom family, and the Zoom H1 is comparable to the TASCAM DR-05 and is also a very popular. I ended up turning to youtube and found this video as well as this comparison chart. It's a bit long-winded and technical, but it did help me decide on the one I wanted.

The next task was to find a microphone. I decided a lavalier would be the most unobtrusive. There are tons of cheap microphones on Amazon, but you need to look carefully at the technical specs to make sure they aren't garbage. Tip: if they don't list the technical specs, it's probably not what you want. The best video I found for comparing the lavalier mics was this one.

I'm pretty satisfied with the recording quality. I found that the microphone caught the speech pretty well while blocking out background noise. I recorded a mono track at 48kHz and 20-bits instead of the standard 44.1kHz and 16-bit. Turned out to be about a gigabyte per hour of speech. As I'm going through these though, I realize they're a bit quiet, probably because I turned the sensitivity down in an attempt to filter out background noise. Also, I noticed people would fiddle with the wire while talking, though I haven't noticed this affecting the recorder yet. It did pick up noises if people scratched their shirt near the microphone or if they had a long beard.

I will say that I brought my Yeti as a backup, and ended up using it twice. Luckily it was a very quiet room we were in, and the quality was superior than my other setup. But, the speech was a bit stilted and people were a bit more formal with me as we sat at a table with a giant microphone sitting between us. So if you're interested in a conversational speaking style, a big set up wouldn't work.

My project mostly dealt with generally-lower-middle class white folks in the US, and I'm not particularly interested in super fine-tuned phonetic information. So the setup I had was sufficient for my project, though laboratory phonologists would probably want something better quality.

I would say to do some research on technical specifications of this equipment and decide on what you absolutely need. This will depend on your research question and the field site. If you're going to be in the middle of the jungle, you'll need something to really block out background noise. If you're sitting middle-class homes, you don't need that as much. If you want discourse and conversational data, you'll want a recorder that can handle multiple tracks simultaneously so you'll need either one fancy recorders or two separate ones. Then look at the equipment available on the market, set a budget, and find out what you can get. Just don't skimp on anything because you'll regret it later.

The end. Hope that helps.

As others have said, the Antlion Modmic is a good option, and gives you the freedom of using any pair of headphones you want.

Similarly, checkout this lapel mic named JK Mic-J 044 for $29, if you're in a relatively quiet room it sounds pretty damn good to me (these kind of lapel mics pickup sound over a large area).

You probably know this, but you never mic a speaker from 10-15' away. Please do not do that. It WILL sound like complete garbage. Just buy a cheap pocket recorder and a $30 lav and place it on the person speaking and the sound will be infinitely better.

A Sony PX330 is like $30 on ebay in like new condition.

This mic is $30 and sounds solid - https://www.amazon.com/Lavalier-Microphone-JK-Sennheiser-Transmitter/dp/B009YCI62Y

Otherwise you're basically throwing $50 away. And with this setup you can rig the recorder up wherever you need. You can place the Sony or tape it near a speaker or sound source to get better audio than on-camera. You can also use it for interviews.

I HIGHLY reccommend the JK MIC-J 044.

Link

Perfect for someone on a Budget. I've had mine for 2 years and love it! Pair it with a Zoom H1 and you got the perfect setup on a budget!

Here's a good review on it/Comparison

JK MIC-J 044 I have 2 of these (use them with tascam dr-05) and they record a nice warm sound, it's not tinny and bright like a lot of lavs tend to be. They are also very cheap.

Edited original post to include mic options. But, for convenience, those options are below:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058MJX4O/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Perks: It sounds quite good for the price.
Cons: Requires plug-in power (not the same as Phantom Power) So, make sure your recorder can provide that. The cord is pretty short, but if it's just for use on yourself it'll work fine. Also it's not an inconspicuous as most lav mics, but definitely has the best sound of the frugal ones I tried.

Here's frugal another option: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009YCI62Y/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Perks: Inconspicuous, Sounds decent for the price
Cons: Has a screw lock on it (meant for specific receivers) so you may have to remove that to plug it in properly, but it's easy enough to do. Also, it does bring more noise into your signal and does not have as loud as a level as the other mic.

Well you could buy a cheap sound recorder and then get a lav mic for around 5 to 30 dollars on Amazon.

I have a Zoom H2 the reason I bought Zoom H2 is that is has a metal tripod hole. The newer units are all plastic tripod holes. Only the Roland R-05 has a metal tripod hole. The bigger sound recorders all have metal tripod holes only the small units have plastic tripod holes today.

This is the lav mic I own.

Pro Lavalier Lapel Microphone JK MIC-J 044 for Sennheiser Wireless Transmitter - Omnidirectional Condenser Mic

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009YCI62Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have to set my Zoom H2 at low gain and boost the DB in post to get good audio.

Subscribe to this channel this guy covers a lot of audio and lighting tips.

https://www.youtube.com/user/curtisjudd