Involved in production of media know that the black button mounted on somebody’s tie is but a tip of the iceberg. In its true form, a lavalier microphone, or lav, is a tangled mess of wires beneath the speaker’s clothes. Its transmitter can be found anywhere on a person, from their back under the shirt, to the inside of their thigh, or even smartly fixed on their shoe (no, really). A technical necessity for media workers, it all seems rather unusual to an outsider – the microphones we’re used to are confined to phones and recorders.
Benefits of Lapel Microphones:
The main advantage to using a lapel mic is that you can move around however you wish while wearing it, getting the best from both worlds. This powerful principle, brilliant in its simplicity, has been working for media speakers for almost a century, so why can’t we apply it in our day to day life?
And the answer is: we are getting there.
The same way lav mics had transformed a reporter’s life in the thirtieth, wearable wireless tech has been revolutionizing recording for millions of businesspeople who need the efficiency of a lapel microphone but reject the inconvenient wiring.
How to use lapel microphone
Wearable recorders, such as Senstone, use a smartphone in place of the conventional transmitter and Bluetooth for cords. Just like a lav, Senstone can be mounted onto the lapel or a collar, or even passed for a pendant. It’s accessible, extremely user-friendly, and doesn’t require technical expertise.
So how can lapel microphones impact the productivity of a busy person? Are they only reserved for reporters?
One often cited example is the study conducted in the 80s at the Cornell University. The seemingly insignificant factor of whether the speaker could move their hands during presentation turned out to drastically improve retention of information.
In our everyday life, where we mostly record things for our ears only and relatively few people present public speeches on regular basis, a wireless, portable lapel recorder can be no less valuable than a lav mic is to your average TV anchor.
How come? The reasons are simple and relatable. Some of them:
- Both your hands are free
- No wires and ports
- No more of the ‘find the phone – see notifications – get distracted’
- Smooth workflow
- Fewer screens and buttons
Also, if you take Senstone, there is the tempting option of dictation via the speech-to-text technology which effectively transforms the recorder into a personal assistant. This makes it much easier to monitor progress and take stock of your general efficiency, as well as allows for backups and flexible file management. Recordings can be tagged, shuffled around, shared and edited on the fly – and nothing affects productivity quite as much as the sheer speed of data transmission.
As we can see when we look at the current trends in audio recording devices, the market is growing more diverse, and it has come a long way from tape recorders and unwieldy “portable” microphones to lapel mics and portable assistants which are all designed to make sound recording as easy and casual as one tap of a button. All associated benefits to workplace productivity leave no doubt that wearable gadgets are here to stay, and they keep getting better and better. If you are looking to improve your efficiency and focus, this is one of the directions you are going to find interesting and rather refreshing.
We hope you have a nice day! Stay tuned for more.
