Boya Microphones - a review of various different types of microphone for use in video making.

Review of a few BOYA microphones.

 

BOYA BY MM1 Universal Electret Condenser Cardioid Monaural Microphone

No battery required 

Cold shoe shock mount and complete with foam and fur windshield.

This is the baby of the bunch, it is monaural, ruggedly built of metal construction. I see this mic as one to use as an uncomplicated first step in improving the sound quality of your videos.  It does a good job and is a good deal better than the inbuilt camera mics, especially as it comes with all the wind shielding you should ever need.

 

BOYA BY VO1 Stereo X/Y Microphone with selectable pick up patterns

LR44 battery powered with cold shoe integrated shock mount

Complete with foam and fur windshields.

This is the smaller brother to the PVM 50.  It has a better frequency response of 35Hz to 20KHz, and has the benefit of being able to switch between a 90 degree pick up recording pattern and a 120 degree one, as well as on/off.

This can be very useful in the field, if one wants to reduce sounds from the side or visa versa.  Opening it up to 120 degrees gives a more open sound and allows the sounds of movement from wider aspects.

It comes, as usual with these BOYA mics, with a foam and fur windshield and a pouch to put them in when you are finished. The shock mount is adequate for all but the clumsiest user and the resulting sounds recorded are far better than those using just the integral camera mics. 

 

BOYA BY PVM50 Stereo X/Y Condenser Microphone

LR44 battery powered with cold shoe integrated shock mount

On/Off switch complete with foam and fur windshields.

What a difference this mic made over the standard built in camera ones.  A stereo condenser mic complete with all necessary windshielding that covers a reasonable frequency range that gives you a focussed sound recording.  The flexi mount did a good job and the whole set up produced some very pleasing results.

 

BOYA BY M1 Omni- directional Lavalier Microphone

LR44 battery powered

Complete with foam windshield and 1/4" adaptor

and

BOYA BY WM5 Wireless Transmitter and Receiver Microphone System

Complete with earphones and lavalier microphone

A neat self powered omni lapel mic, with a frequency response well capable of recording voice, its' usual primary use.  There is plenty of cable between mic and power module and comes with a foam windshield and lapel clip as standard.

It would act as a discreet lapel mic and connected via the BOYA BY WM5 wireless microphone system worked well as long as you kept within the 50 metres specified range.  I would treat the 50 metres as a maximum as from trial use I did suffer some drop out occasionally after 45 metres, but this still gives plenty of range for normal video work.

When used just to record bird sounds at the garden feeder, it did a reasonable job with careful attention to the gain levels used.  As usual with this type of mic it is always best to give yourself plenty of headroom.

One should note that the microphone that comes complete with the WM5 is more limiting than the M1.

 

BOYA By MAC Cardioid Lavalier Microphone

48v Phantom powered with XLR connectivity.

Complete with foam windshield and lapel clip.

A classic lavalier mic complete with foam windshield and plenty of lead to the connector.  It is powered by 48v phantom powering, the industry standard, so its' for use connected to a wireless system capable of powering it or by lead to a recording device, which, of course, can be a camera with the necessary additional powering device and cabling.

Its' frequency response is more than adequate for its' normal use as a lapel mic, and in use, gave a decent focussed directional sound as one would expect from a cardioid design.

This gives the user the ability to position the mic carefully to avoid any unwanted sounds left and right.

 

BOYA BY HM 100 Omni directional Hand held Reporters Microphone

Aluminium construction, Dynamic (no battery required)

XLR connectivity.

A standard style hand held reporters dynamic mic solidly made of aluminium.  It feels very robust and balanced in the hand, and being dynamic you do not have to worry about batteries.  It has an XLR connector at its' base so you just plug your lead in and connect it to your recorder and you are away.

The sound quality from it is just what you would expect -- its for interviewing people.  No frills just a good solid mic that should give one years of trouble free service.

 

BOYA BY T100 and BOYA BY T140 windshields

Both these windshields are of the same construction and materials. The BY T100 is 100mm long and the BY T140 is 140mm long.

These are made to suit your existing hyper cardioid /shotgun mics. I found they worked well with my !9 mm diameter mics the rubber membrane at their base fitting snugly. 

They eliminated substantial wind buffering and were easy to fit and being black in colour looked the part.

As with most windshields of this type one has to allow for a slight loss of the higher frequencies, but really nothing to effect the general sound quality recorded. 

<  |   TOP  |   >
Page
Menu

www.momentoftime.co.uk
Designed by A2A Internet | Login