Pro Lavalier Lapel Condenser Microphone JK® MIC-J 044 (1/8" TS PLUG)

The unit is fine and works very well, it is also very inexpensive which is fine for me doing some field trials/experiments however,as my headline suggests, this is not a lot of money for this kind of device so I don't suspect that it will prove to be physically very robust in regular use. Put another way, this is not the device to "throw in your kit bag" on the way out to to conduct an interview. This gives me a device to play with but if I decide that this will be a regular feature of what I'm doing, I will most likely visit a specialist retail outlet where I can eyeball and handle the kit even though I will end up paying at least x6 times the price for a 'production device' that can take the inevitable 'knocks' of regular use.

I’ve owned 2 of the JK Mic-J 044 lavalier microphones as well as a JK Mic-J 017 lavalier microphone for a few years now. I rarely used them, but after quite a lot of research they were my first lav mics I purchased.There is some limitations and compromises, after all you get what you pay for. The mic clip is a little better on the 044, the 017 mic clip broke after the first use.The main drawback is its susceptibility to interference, which I tested the lav on a couple of different wireless kits to see where the problem was coming from. It appears to be very susceptible to picking up interference from the 2.3GHz frequency used by Wifi and consumer wireless kits (I was using the Rode Wireless Go). This presents as interference in the form of hiss at many frequencies (see the attached spectrogram image), all the horizontal orange lines are undesirable noise, but can easily be cleaned up. Its just another step you need to take and it takes time and it depends how bothered you are by the hiss. It isn’t a deal breaker and isn’t too pervasive. On the more expensive wireless kits using different bandwidths like the Sennheiser evolution G4 I tested it on, it appears to be far less of a problem, but if you use a 2.4Ghz kit in the area it will likely pick it up as well.However though, if you can afford a pro grade wireless kit, why would you be using a lav this cheap?So the irony is the cheaper kit your likely to use with this, is likely to be the 2.4Ghz kits and therefore likely to cause some problems.On the plus side it doesn’t appear to be a problem when using recorder that can be used as a body pack recorder like a Zoom H1, which would be appropriate budget conscious option as this doesn’t transmit anything and therefore no issues over interference.In my guess the main problem is lack of RF shielding, and why would you expect that to be present in a lav in this price range? In essence the quality is far from professional level and should not be judged as such.Will is sound better than your camera mic? Most likely yes.Will it be better than you smart phone mic? A good possibility yes, but it depends how close you get the smartphone to your audio source.The build quality is mediocre at best, I don’t expect it to survive through much abuse. However, in a pinch it will work if you know how to use it.If you have the skills it can sound reasonable.Now I haven’t personally tested other lavalier mics in this price range, so I cannot say how many others suffer from similar problems, but my guess is it’s likely.

I first became aware of this superb little Lavalier mic on You Tube. Curtis Judd (who is a photographer/videographer) had tested this and provided many other tips too.I purchased this to use in conjunction with an audio recorder (Tascam DR05 Version 2). The uses I have for this mic/setup is to use to record voiceovers for my video reviews, screencasts and I have to say that this allows me to do a really polished and excellent quality recording.At £20 (which personally I find an absolute bargain for this kind of quality), it's only natural that it isn't going to come with lots of bundled extras (such as a carry case/pouch) basically you get the mic and a rather sturdy metal alligator clip for to clip the mic on to your clothing, the mic clips into a little rubber notch on the alligator clip. The good thing with this alligator clip is, if it breaks, its just a standard type of alligator clip, which means you can purchase pretty much any mic clip and it would be fine. Interestingly, mine came with a couple of foam windshields (even though the item description doesn't mention this). Other than what I've mentioned, there's nothing else.Bear in mind, that this mic is mono, but this is all you need for recording dialogue and too be honest mono is the best choice for recording dialogue. If however, you connect this to an audio recorder (such as the Tascam DR05 or the Zoom H1) you will end up with just a left track (basically audio will only come out of the left speaker, this is due to those recorders having a stereo mic input port). However, it's a quick and easy job to do a mono conversion and remove the silent right channel and then have audio coming out of both the left and right channels/speakers, you can do this with a free application such as Audacity or a paid for application such as Adobe Audition, this process is easy and takes around 10 seconds to do, once you know what to do, it really isn't a big deal.The build quality of this mic is very good and goes extra to make this mic outstanding value for money.To sum up:If you are wanting an excellent quality mic and don't want to pay a small fortune for one, then the JK Mic-J 044 should be at the top of your list.

great for an inexpensive mic. not broadcast quality but, if you are looking for a budget mic to replace built in one in your action camera then go ahead. keep the wire safe though, if you think you can just stuff this in your pocket then think again. It does pick up wind noise so you may be smart to match it with a neoprene cover to reduce the blast