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South Korea, Seoul
1 Level
750 Review
42 Karma

Review on ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ MAONO AU-100 Lavalier Microphone: Hands-Free Recording for Podcasts, DSLRs, Smartphones, and PCs by Juan Grayson

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Virtual school lav mic for all day? Nearly.

This mic *didn't* do what I wanted it to do. BUT it was more of a problem with my MacBook Air than the microphone. I wanted to be able to use the lavalier mic *and* the laptop's built-in speakers (instead of a mic and headphone combo) all day long for virtual school. This will not work if you are using a MacBook Air as the 3.5mm jack will work. When connected, macOS assumes you are using a microphone and headphones and disables the internal microphone and speakers. If you only want to use this mic for recording, it will work. Just turn it off to play. However, if you want to use the microphone and built-in speakers, the 3.55mm jack will not work. However, I was able to get this setup to work with a USB lavalier mic from the same manufacturer. The USB microphone is powered by its own power supply unit and requires no batteries. macOS also identifies it as a microphone separate from the audio output, allowing you to select an external microphone while leaving the internal speakers in the settings window. The only reason I'm not returning this 3.5mm lavalier mic is for compatibility with my camcorder. The USB version is NOT compatible with the camcorder. WHY do I need two almost identical microphones with different connectors? These mics are so cheap I'd pay almost as much for a 3.5mm to USB adapter and that's it. I'm not entirely sure if this works the way I wanted it to. So now I have almost identical lavalier mics, one with a 3.5mm TRRS connector for my camcorder (and DSLR) and one with USB for my laptop. I hope this review helps you.

Pros
  • Excellent overall performance
Cons
  • Fits