Lots of students have asked for recommendations on equipment to use for remote lessons. While I’m not a technology professional, I’ve been researching this, and can offer the suggestions below. I haven’t personally tested most of these, so I can’t guarantee they’ll work for everyone, but I can give you some information and point to third party reviews.
I’ve put more information on configuration of your environment, computer, equipment and your software (Skype/Facetime/Zoom) here, but the single best thing you can do to improve the quality of any video-conferencing (including skype, facetime or zoom) is to use a dedicated accessory microphone and to wear headphones.
Whenever you have a situation where your device microphone is able to detect sounds made by your speakers, such as when using the built-in microphone and speakers in a phone together, the result is usually pretty terrible with sound cutting out, interruptions or getting intermittently louder and quieter. Using headphones always stops that happening.
While most microphone and video equipment will work on the devices it’s specified for, individual configuration of particular computers can create unforseen problems so I recommend that whatever you decide to try, order from a reputable supplier, e.g. Amazon, open the boxes carefully and test it as soon as you receive it so that you can re-pack equipment and send it back if for any reason it doesn’t work in your configuration.
Since most people will have a variety of earbud-type and ear-covering headphones in their homes, I’m not going to make recommendations for those, other than to say that it’s worth having a decent set. You don’t need noise-cancelling or very expensive sets. Most sets provided with modern phones will work fine. Bluetooth headphones may cause some lag between video and audio, but will still be very usable.
Built-in vs Accessory Microphones
Built-in microphones on most consumer technology like smartphones suffer from two problems: cost and space. The microphone is just one part of a complex device and there is enormous pressure to cut costs. The space available to integrate the microphone on to the device is often limited and this means quality is always compromised on components and positioning. Most laptop, smartphone and tablet device microphones are ok for speech and not much else. Standalone microphones provided free with some computers are usually very cheap and awful.
By comparison, accessory microphones have only one purpose, and usually do it far better than integrated microphones. They can be as big as necessary, dedicated to specific types of recording and prices vary from a few pounds to many hundreds, with a huge variety of different configuration and connection options. I’ve listed a few below to help you choose.
Microphones for use with iPhone/iPad with Lightning Port
There are a number of devices available which fit into the Lightning port of an Iphone 5 onwards or most recent Ipads. These are generally very portable, but slightly more expensive than generic microphones which use the old-style jack-plug connector which newer Iphones no longer have (see below). They have the benefit of being powered by the phone through the lightning connector which means their electronics can be more sophisticated. If your new-type iPhone doesn’t have a standard old-style 3.5mm headphone jack, you will need one of these microphones and you probably already use bluetooth headphones.
The Shure MV88 iOS is a great device, very portable and should give you good results. It’s quite an expensive option, at around £115 on Amazon but it is very well made and comes with its own app to set it up.
A good review of this microphone is available here.
The Rode VideoMic ME-L is a lower cost option at £79 from Amazon. Similar in concept to the Shure, you connect it to the bottom of the device and point it towards yourself. It is a more directional microphone that the Shure, but this won’t matter in most scenarios where it’s being used.
Iphone users can also use high quality USB microphones designed for laptop computers and listed in the section lower down this page, using a lightning-to-USB adapter. Several versions of this adapter are available, the Apple one is here.
Microphones for use with Android Phones, some iPhones, or any smartphone with a 3.5mm TRRS Adaptor
The adaptor above is called a TRRS adaptor and is a variant of the very long-standing 3.5mm jack plug. If the headphones for your device use a connector similar to the picture above (maybe with only two black rings), then so long as it is a relatively recent device, the socket it plugs into will be combination of microphone and headphone connectors. Most Samsung phones use this, and older iPhones.
The Rode VideoMic ME is a generic version of the Iphone-specific microphone above, working on most phones. It is available for about £40 on Amazon.
It plugs into the headphone jack and provides a directional microphone which you can point towards yourself. It also has a TRRS headphone output connector so you can still plug your headphones into the device and use them.
The Rode Smartlav+ is a microphone which attaches to a lapel or other clothing. It provides decent sound, but may tend to pick up movement of your clothes if it rubs against them. It’s available from Amazon for about £46.
This microphone will require a TRRS splitter adapter if you are going to use it with headphones, and the specific adapter will depend on your device. More information about TRRS connectors and using splitters is available here.
Microphones for use with Laptop Computers
Laptop Computer users have the widest choice of microphones. I would strongly recommend getting a USB microphone rather than something which plugs into a round 3.5mm jack socket, because it leaves the jack socket free for your headphones.
Many microphones assume the use of a microphone stand, which I assume most of you don’t have, so I’ve concentrated on microphones with their own built-in stands. If you do have a microphone stand and want to use it, let me know and I’ll do some research.
These microphones can also be used on smartphones, with a suitable USB adapter like this one for Iphones or this one for recent Android phones with a USB-C power connector such as the Samsung Galaxy S9/S10.
(By the way, I know there are quite a few microphones here from the company ‘Blue’, but they are a leader in the market for these kinds of products. No kickbacks to me, honest!)
I am personally using a Blue Yeti USB microphone costing around £120 on Amazon which works on my Macbook Pro, and has also been tested successfully with a Windows 10 laptop. It plugs into a spare rectangular USB port on your laptop. The setup was very easy. It can also be made to work with an Iphone, but needs a special adapter and an Iphone lightning power connector/adapter.
This microphone is quite a heavyweight desktop solution, you won’t be carrying it around, it’s fairly big and heavy but very good quality and will improve all your Skype/Facetime/Zoom sessions.
It has been around for a number of years and is probably one of the most popular choices for people on Youtube and for other amateur use. External reviews here, here and here.
The Blue Yeti Nano USB is a smaller version of the Blue Yeti, taking up a smaller space and slightly less features, but still a great microphone. It’s available from Amazon for £93.
It’s available in lots of different colours and is a lot more portable than the Yeti.
The Blue Snowball iCE is a medium priced USB microphone which is very popular with YouTube, online game and Skype users. It’s available on Amazon for about £49.
It is a newer version of one called the Blue Snowball, which was around for about 15 years and well reviewed. There are reviews for the Snowball iCE here and here.
The Ammoon USB Desktop Microphone is an entry level mic with a stand which will definitely improve on any built-in mic, and allow separation of microphone and speakers. This one costs around £16 at Amazon.
It has a 4.4 out of 5 star rating on Amazon, from over 1,500 independent reviews, which can be seen at the bottom of the Amazon product page.
