The Hohem Mic-01 Challenging the Big Names in Audio Recording

Some fabulous new tech on the market that is making our lives as photographers and videographers evermore easy. The Hohem MIC-01 Wireless Lavalier Microphone is released today. I found it a great addition to my arsenal of tools that exceeded my expectations.

Lav mics are essential tools for any videographer. As someone who produces videos for my clients, I know that sound quality is even more important than pictures. Many will listen to online videos, treating them as podcasts, without watching. So, if the sound is rubbish, they will click away to listen to something else. As someone who has suffered from a hearing disability for many years, sound quality is important to me. About 1.5 billion people, which is around 20% of the global population, live with hearing loss, and trying to listen to poor-quality sound is tough work, and sometimes impossible. Consequently, a good-quality microphone is essential.

I’ve bought wireless microphones in the past and some have suffered from electronic noise interference in the form of annoying background buzzing or hissing, and others failed to record certain frequencies. I’ve also bought some high-end mics that cost me an arm and a leg, and they have performed better.

Apart from sound quality, lavaliere mics need to be usable. Gone are the days of hulking great transmitters hung on a belt or pocket. Their thin cables that clip onto one’s lapel have become redundant too. Also, there are smaller companies that are challenging the big names in the field by producing great quality equipment at lower prices. That is good news for our pockets. One such brand is Hohem.

Previously, I reviewed Hohem’s gimbal, which I am pleased to report still works well. So, I was excited to try their new wireless Lavaliere dual microphone system, the Hohem Mic-01, which has just been released.

What, if Anything, Sets the Hohem Mic-01 Apart From the Rest?

Browsing Amazon, there are lots of wireless Lavaliere mics on the market. So, Hohem would need to be offering something different from the others to make them stand out from the crowd. I’m pleased to report they have hit the mark in five areas: build quality, size, weight, transmission range, and – most importantly – sound quality.

The Mic-01 Kit and How It Works

The two microphones and the receiver are mounted in a neat-looking and solid charging case made from what is high-quality black plastic with orange accents. The charging case has four tiny white LED lights that show the case’s battery level. These flash to indicate they are charging the microphones. From empty, the case and the microphones took about one-and-a-half hours to charge. This gives each mic around 7.5 hours of use, and this is increased to around 20 hours if the charging case is used. Of course, these times may change depending on the ambient temperature and how you are using the mic.

The microphones themselves are small and light, weighing just 0.74 oz (21 g). Each has a strong pocket or lapel clip that incorporates a powerful magnet. On the side are two buttons. The mode button allows you to scroll through the noise reduction options that are indicated by a changing-colored LED. That button is also used to link with the receiver and to switch a reverb on and off.

The power button switches the microphone on and off, but it can also be used to start and stop video recording and to mute the mic.

At the top of the mic is a 3.5mm socket, into which a separate microphone can be plugged. On the base is a USB-C socket that can be used as an alternative means of charging or for using the microphone-wired device. Each of the microphones is supplied with tiny dead cats (dead kittens, perhaps?).

The microphones (TX) each have a TF (Micro SD compatible) card slot and can record up to 94 hours of audio recordings on a 32GB TF card in FAT format.

Also inside the charger box is the receiver unit. This has a USB-C or Lightning port plug, depending on the version you buy. The receiver doesn’t have a battery but gets its power from whatever it is plugged into, be that a smartphone, a camera, a power bank, etc. It also has a female USB-C socket, which can also power it, plus a 3.5mm monitor port.

Once you have paired the microphones to the receiver, that just requires a long press on the pairing button on the microphones and the “+” and “-” buttons of the receiver. You then mount the microphone about 4” (10 cm) away from your mouth, and you are ready to go.

Like all similar wireless mics, there is an output latency. With the Hohem Mic-01, it’s 25 milliseconds (ms) - 0.025 seconds, which is not enough to make lips appear out of sync on video as the human eye and brain can detect, at best, a 45 ms delay. However, for professional film, 22 ms is the longest acceptable asynchronization time, but any serious videographer will be recording audio separately and syncing them in post-production.

The Hohem Mic-01 in Use

I tried several different configurations of the microphone, plugging it into my smartphone but also powering it from a power bank. With the latter, I used a 3.5mm cable from the receiver and fed it into a Linear PCM Sound Recorder, which gives much better results than the audio processing in a camera.

I attached the microphone to my coat using the powerful magnetic plate to hold it in place. I suggest that people fitted with pacemakers should check with their cardiologist before using any device with strong magnets, and similarly with other medical appliances. I then carried out tests around my house and out in the field.

Results

I found that the recordings without any noise reduction the sound quality was clear, and I was able to walk around my house with its thick stone walls. The blurb claims a transmission distance of 250 meters, that is around 273 yards, from the receiver without the signal breaking down. I didn’t try it quite that far, but it worked well over 100 yards, and that's more than I would ever need.

Around my house with its numerous electronic devices, I detected no electronic interference, as I have done in the past with other wireless mics.

With the noise reduction applied, my voice became slightly muffled. However, this could be easily fixed by adjusting the graphic equalizer in post-processing. Even with noise reduction turned off, standing close to the sea with the waves crashing, the only thing it picked up was my voice. In future use, I will be more inclined to remove the noise after the recording.

I found having the mic a constant distance from my mouth was critical. Because I was testing the mic, I was sometimes looking down at it and the recording clipped when I did because that proximity made my voice too loud for the recording level I had set it to. Then, when I removed the mic and held it a little further from me to change some of the settings, the volume became much quieter. This is true of other lav mics too, so it's an observation rather than a criticism.

The one slightly annoying thing was having the forward-facing LED continuously lit. When shooting a video recording, you don’t want a distracting light shining on your lapel. However, with the dead cat fitted – something I would probably do even when using it indoors to prevent popping – the light is covered over.

I tried various configurations and, unsurprisingly, I got the best results when feeding the microphone into a Linear PCM sound recorder, which records better than CD quality. The audio processor in any camera or phone is not as good as a digital sound recorder.

The mics and the receiver are small and light, and I was worried about dropping and losing them, especially when I was on the beach and dunes testing them. However, the receiver stayed firmly attached to its power source – the gimbal – as well as being plugged into the sound recorder.

Comparing the sound quality to other mics, I found the Hohem had a fuller sound compared with a wired lav mic and a USB desk mic. I preferred the sound from the Hohem, but you can make your subjective judgment by listening to the unedited results on the attached YouTube video.

What I Liked and What Could Be Improved With the Hohem Mic-01

What I Liked

• The sound quality is good
• Simple to use
• Long battery life
• Small, light, and portable
• Well made
• 250-meter transmission range
• Lossless sampling
• Omnidirectional
• TF card slot for independent recording
• Securely attached to my clothing with both the clip and the magnet
• Cost-fffective

What Could Be Improved?

• The LED on the front of the mic is distracting, but this can be covered by the dead cat.
• Noise Cancellation seemed to degrade the voice slightly, which is expected behavior of most mic-based noise cancellation. This could be corrected in post-processing. However, noise reduction can be performed there too. But, the mic seemed to be good at cutting out background noise anyway.

In Conclusion

If you are looking for a good quality but relatively affordable wireless lav mic, then you will do well with the Hohem Mic-1. It lacks some of the advanced features that you would find in existing high-end big-brand systems, but for many, those extra features are an unwelcome distraction.

The entire kit is well made, easy to use, and works well. That's pretty much what most people want.

I was sent a sample and am writing this before its official release. The prices range from $59-119 depending upon the version you buy, and it is available from the Hohem shop on Amazon.