Wireless Microphone System (K037B)

UPDATE 7/17/18 - I am happy to change my original 2-star review to 5 stars! The first mic I got had a terrible high-end screech, and as I dialed down to the correct volume, a high-pitched digital "hiss." I played with it and could get it to reduce, but not go away. This is on a Sony RX10 Mark 4. I sent the mic back, rather than wait for an exchange, due to a deadline. To Fifine's great credit, they followed up with me. Even though I had returned the unit, they asked if I would like another one to test. Their customer service was excellent (which is why I had updated my original review to 3 stars. Good customer service is rare, and they should be recognized for it). I enjoy testing and technology, so I said that I would be willing to test another unit and determine whether I just had something wrong in the original unit, or whether the mic wasn't compatible. Today, I tested it on my interview set, using all the same settings as the lapel mic I'm presently using. I'm pleased to say that performance was stellar. Good, clean signal; no hiss. The mic element has pretty good response. I haven't distance-tested it, but I suspect it will be fine, as both the transmitter and receiver have external antennas. Unlike a lot of mics, you can change frequency as well, if there is any interference. I do have one thing I wished it had: a hotshoe mount. The receiver is strictly a box. Now I know it will be easy to get some sort of hotshoe mount bought or made and glue it on -- I plan to do that (I'll probably 3-D print it)-- not a major deal. So to sum up: Fifine took a negative experience, and turned it into a VERY positive one. The mic now works perfectly; you also get a headset mount which will be useful in some situations. The price is unbeatable. To be crystal clear: they sent this unit for me to test and provide an update. I like it so much that I will keep it, and I'll put a hotshoe mount on the receiver to make it work in the field. Definitely recommended! UPDATE 7/10: I added a star for customer service. I've been discussing the problem with them. They've been VERY supportive, and very interested in a thorough compatibility test. I'm going to try it again, and I'll update this review once I do. UPDATE 7/8: After more troubleshooting, I believe the problem is that the electronics of either the transmitter or the camera are not shielded appropriately (although I suspect the $34.95 receiver a whole lot more than an $1800 camera). I've decided to send it back - no reflection on the seller, who I haven't given enough time to respond, but I need this ready next week. ORIGINAL: I just got the mic today to connect to my Sony RX10 Mark 4 for some interviews I wanted to do. I have a Sony hotshoe mic, which has beautiful sound, but it was picking up too much reverb/echo from the room. When I connected the receiver to the camera, I immediately got a loud, high-pitched screech. I dialed down the input volume a lot and moved cables. Eventually I was able to get the background noise down to a high-pitched digital-sounding hiss. It gets dramatically worse when I turn on the transmitter, even with no mic plugged in. I tried moving the cables, changing channels,playing with the volume, but I just can't get a clean signal. It just may not be compatible with my camera. I've emailed customer service a few minutes ago; I'll give them a day or so to see what they say. Since I'm planning to do my interviews next week, if they don't respond quickly, I'll probably pick up a different brand and return this one. If the problem gets solved, I'll update the review and the stars.

When I write a review, I like to be fair and honest. If I buy something that does not perform, I am not afraid to tell people. But with this mic, I am not quite sure whether it did not perform well, or if it did not perform for my purpose, which is different. Let me explain. I do a lot of outdoor videos. Recently the mic on my best camera developed a buzzing sound. It appears that the mic has gone bad. The camera takes amazing video though so I want to keep using it. So, I need an external recording device that I can record an audio track with that I can add to the video in post-production editing. I thought something like this Fifine mic would do the trick. To test this mic out I placed it next to my galaxy smartphone and another camcorder with a built-in mic and then started talking for a few seconds, recording on each device. When I reviewed the audio that was captured, I was surprised to find that the volume of the audio from this mic was significantly less than from the smartphone and the camcorder. It was not bad audio, it was just not as loud as the other two. I did some testing and found that the mic on this unit had to be within a few inches of my mouth to really pick up good and get some volume while recording digital audio on my computer. The resulting recording also seemed to be lacking in bass. But then I hooked the unit up to an amplifier and tried it that way. Completely different. The sound from the amplifier was loud, smooth and full. Nothing like what it sounded like when recording to the computer. It sounded really good. I sang a song it sounded so good. I started thinking of where I could use it to do public speaking. LOL! I am no audio expert. I can't explain why this Fifine wireless mic system sounded so good over an amplifier system and not so good when to record on my PC. It might be that it produces an analog signal instead of a digital signal and volume and bass ar lost in the conversion process from analog to digital. That is my best guess. The one thing that really surprised me with this unit is how far the reach was. I did some testing and got up to 350 feet away and had a clear signal. At about 360 feet I started to get a little interference, but I was able to go all the way out to 400 feet away from the receiver and still understand what I was saying. Of course, this was an open-air Line-of-Sight test with nothing in between the transmitter and the receiver. But still, you could easily use this thing in a football stadium. Bottom line: I think this mic will work just fine for anyone who does public speaking (like a pastor of a church). It will work for digital recording, but not very well.

Microphones can easily cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. This one is obviously a budget model and you'd be correct in assuming that you're not going to get professional quality audio from a budget microphone. If I were reviewing this on the basis of audio quality alone, it wouldn't be the one I'd recommend. If you're a professional for whom perfect quality is important, this isn't for you. The question, though, isn't whether this is the best microphone on the market (it's clearly not), but whether it's a good value for the money. Overall, I think it is. I use this primarily when I'm speaking on stage. For a public speaker, I think this is a good option. The sound quality isn't perfect, but it's pretty good. While musicians will require better audio than this can deliver, it works well for speech. I even *have* used it for recorded speech in a pinch because it's better to have a mic on my lapel than to trust the on-board microphone on my camera. However, I wouldn't really recommend it for that purpose. The quality is good, but it might not be quite as good as you want if you mean for the recording to be viewed by a public audience. I was pleased with the range I can get out of this. I tend to move around quite a bit on stage, but I've never had any trouble of audio quality dropping off (or sound cutting out) even when I get relatively far away from the receiver. It's not a perfect product, but I do recommend it for the price. It's a good budget option for anyone who doesn't need professional quality and doesn't want to pay professional prices.

It is not my first product off Fifine I'm shocked that the mic didn't work I tried everything on the manual to make it work according to the problems encountered it connects for half a minute then it stops working and now I ended up with a non working mic

I purchased it last week, so far it is working well. I don't have any issues with it. I am a fitness instructor and using it for my group classes

Veio funcionando corretamente!

I thought with buying a couple of these I could hook them up through technology.... there is no way to do this and it was not obvious or information available when I was reading it. I felt the photos looked like you could, so I have two sets now and no way to do what I wanted to do... :(

Si tomas en cuenta que es un sistema lavalier barato no tendras problemas con este, funciona bien y no tiene interferecnais, cumple con lo que promete, la calidad del microfono no es buena, se escucha y ya, si lo quieres para grabar no te lo recomiendo por que ahi si se nota lo malo que es el microfono, si lo quieres para eventos en vivo o conferencias si funciona y bien, yo lo uso para un acordeon en eventos en vivo y cumple muy bien, pero para grabar definitivamente no.