Pro Moviemaker Autumn 2019

GROUP TEST

Billed as a ‘subminiature lavalier microphone’, Shure’s Twinplex TL48 comes with a decent travel case and a welcome host of accessories. The subminiature name is well founded – the mic is tiny and incredibly light, so was easy to hide from the camera’s view, and to aid that it comes in black, white, tan and cocoa colours. The carry case also includes short and long clips, smaller clips for pegging the cable, various ‘invisilav’ options to stick the mic to surfaces where it can’t be clipped, two windshields and an XLR adapter – though you can choose from a range of connection options. In short, plenty to help you deal with all sorts of situations. The clip options are excellent, very secure, and use simple rubberised notches to seat the mic, meaning it can easily be inverted, including an extra space for a loop, while the 1.6m cable is very high- SHURE TWINPLEX TL48 £498/$499

Sennheiser’s ME 2-II subminiature lavalier microphone is optimised for speech and vocal applications, and comes with just the mic, clip, and windshield. It is only available inmatte black, so it’s quite a paired-down package compared to some kits. The cable length is 1.6m, so it’s fine for use as a remote mic, but not going to let you connect direct to a camera unless grade, being shielded and showing no tendency to kink. Applying the included windshields is easy, though I was a bit disappointed to find they had no cuffs to prevent slip. That said, they showed no movement in testing. In terms of sound quality, the Twinplex TL48 really excelled, with great clarity, low noise and lots of resolution. The omnidirectional nature of the mic means

you’re very close – or using an extender. It uses a locking 3.5mm jack for securing to a transmitter of equipped recorder and, like others on test, this needed an adapter for a proper connection to the recorder. The cable lacks a bit of protection as it connects to the mic, but at the jack end there’s plenty and lots of flexibility. The mic attaches to the clip with a push- fit clasp – and this works fine, holding the mic securely and allowing you to invert it with ease. The clip itself is quite small, which could be an advantage in hiding the mic, but it didn’t seem to have a dedicated notch for looping the cable. Seated in the clip, the mic also seemed to sit quite proud, which could be an advantage it you’re attaching it to rough fabric. The quality of sound was very good, albeit lacking some of the other mics’ punch, but still very clear. Inverted, the omnidirectional patternmeans there’s no loss of pickup, but background noise was almost inaudible. As the windshield is very small and lacking obvious foam, we didn’t expect it to performwell against the fan, but it showed very little interference. PROMOVIEMAKER RATING: 8/10 You don’t get much in the way of accessories, but this mic is high-quality and won’t disappoint. it didn’t lose pickup in any position, but background noise was well controlled. The windshields improved quality against the fan a little, but you’ll want to upgrade on them if shooting in a stiff breeze. PROMOVIEMAKER RATING: 8/10 Very small, with great build and handling, excellent sound, and a range of colours, but the price is a serious investment.

SENNHEISER ME 2-II £109.95/$129.95

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AUTUMN 2019 PRO MOVIEMAKER

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