Digital Camera World Verdict
At a third of the price of similar wireless mic kits, the DMic-S won’t blow your budget but it will enable you to capture much better sound than you can from your camera’s built-in mic - especially if you’re presenting to camera from a distance and in a noisy environment. The kit can suffer drop-out when you turn your back on the receiver, but when you’re facing the camera then the sound quality is clean and clear, even at 60 meters away.
Pros
- +
Comparatively affordable
- +
Works straight from the box
- +
Effective noise reduction
- +
Negligible latency
Cons
- -
Signal drops out when losing line of sight
- -
No onboard recording feature
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There are many wireless microphone systems out there vying for a place as the best microphone for vlogging, from the relatively pricey Hollyland Lark Max Duo kit to the budget-friendly subject of this review - the DMic-S from 7Artisans.
If you rely on your camera’s built-in microphone then your voice’s sound levels will drop off very quickly once you step away from your recording device - even at a distance of a meter or so. Background noises such as traffic can easily drown out your dialogue.
• For a bigger picture of the microphone choices out there, check out our best wireless microphone guide
With a wireless transmitter and receiver system your mouth constantly remains at a short distance from the mic so you should always sound loud and clear, even when you are talking to the camera from many meters away.
7Artisans DMic-S: Specifications
| Transmitter | Header Cell - Column 1 |
|---|---|
| Dimension | 45×45×19.5mm |
| Weight | 27g |
| Material | ABS |
| Transmission Type | 2.4GHz Frequency |
| Pick-up Mode | Omnidirectional |
| Wireless mode | GFSK 1Mbps and 2Mbps |
| Sensitivity | -42dB+3dB |
| Operating frequency band | 2400~2483.5MHz |
| Signal to Noise Ratio | ≥70dB |
| Frequency Range | 20Hz-20KHz |
| Battery Life | Approx 6-8 hours |
| Working Range | Max. Wireless Transmission Distance is 100m |
| Receiver | Header Cell - Column 1 |
|---|---|
| Dimension | 45×45×19.5mm |
| Weight | 27g |
| Material | ABS |
| Battery Type | Lipo 1S |
| Screen Type | TFT |
| Battery Life | Approx 8-10 hours |
| Operating frequency band | 2400~2483.5MHz |
7Artisans DMic-S: Key Features
The 7Artisans DMic-S wireless microphone kit shares key features with many of the wireless mic kits reviewed on this site. It contains two transmitters with built-in omnidirectional microphones and a receiver that you plug into your camera or smartphone via a range of supplied cables (there’s even a lightning cable adaptor if you need to connect to a pre-iPhone 15 model).
The transmitters have built-in noise reduction tools that are active by default, but you can also clip a supplied windshield onto the transmitters to reduce the rumble caused by wind blowing on the mic. As there are two transmitters you can walk and talk freely while chatting to an interviewee. Auto gain on the two transmitters ensures crisp clean and audible dialogue.
The receiver also captures a -6DB safety track at a lower level to reduce the chance of your dialogue distorting. A sampling rate of 48KHz and 24Bit depth help produce CD-level audio quality, though there are conditions where sound quality can vary as you’ll see in our Performance section.
7Artisans DMic-S: Build & Handling
The DMic-S transmitters and receivers are constructed from an engineering plastic called Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which means they are rugged, resistant to impact, and perform well in high and low temperatures. The lightweight transmitters can clip onto your shirt without dragging the material down.
The supplied windshields are easy to clip onto the receivers once you realize you need to push and twist the circular connector at the same time. The two transmitters and the receiver are stored in a handy ABS plastic carry case that doubles up as a charger, so all the units are equally charged when you take them out on a shoot.
The D-Mic-S system pairs the transmitters with the receiver automatically so all you need to do is clip a transmitter onto your shirt, plug the receiver into your camera, and start recording.
The receiver has a color screen that shows properties such as the strength of incoming sound levels. This visual indicator helps reassure you that you’re capturing a strong signal from the transmitter. A sensible sound recordist can also use the receiver’s 3.5mm headphone monitor socket to listen out for signal drop out or nasty noise during the recording and then reshoot the clip if necessary.
7Artisans DMic-S: Performance
To test the 7Artisans DMic-S wireless microphone kit I took it to London’s Barbican Centre. I popped one of the transmitters onto my shirt and attached the receiver to an iPhone 15 Pro Max via the supplied USB-C cable.
It was great to finally not have to rely on using a lightning cable adaptor to attach the receiver to an iPhone now I have access to an iPhone 15 Pro Max (though the DMic-S kit does come with a lighting cable connection if you use an older iPhone).
I did a test recording and noticed a little wind rumble on the recording despite the on-by-default noise reduction feature. After clipping the supplied windshield onto the mic all the wind noise disappeared and I was able to capture a rumble-free video. The kit’s sampling rate of 48KHz and 24Bit depth captured clear rich sound, though when speaking in my test video’s first location I could detect an occasional but very slight hint of electronic warbling to my voice. Have a listen to my test video.
You probably won’t notice any audio artifacts so we could say that it is negligible, but I do want to be as thorough in my review as I can be. I didn’t notice this subtle ‘warbling’ artifact in any other of my test locations.
I then relocated to an open area to test the distance performance between the transmitter and the receiver. Initially, my voice signal dropped out a few meters from the iPhone when I turned my back on it (causing the transmitter clipped to my shirt to lose line of sight with the receiver attached to the iPhone). However, after raising the receiver up higher by clipping it to the cable that was connecting it to the iPhone I got a much stronger connection.
The signal would still drop out from 20 meters away when the transmitter and receiver lost line of sight of each other but when I faced the camera my voice was loud and clear, even from a distance of 60 meters as you’ll hear on the test video. Other mics I’ve tested - such as the Godox Virso - had a much longer range and could still be heard when there was no line of sight (and even through walls!).
Talking of drop out I do have one note of caution to give. When I had my back to the receiver and the signal dropped out it did take 12 seconds for the signal to return after I had turned to face the camera. This could cause you to miss the start of a presentation (and with no onboard recording you’re only chasing to re-record the sequence).
Despite this line of sight limitation, the 7Artisan’s DMic-S wireless microphone kit will elevate your show’s audio production values without busting your budget (it’s around a third of the price of many of the mics I’ve reviewed - such as the Hollyland Lark Max Duo Wireless Microphone kit.
Finally, I tested the kit’s noise reduction technology by filming near a fountain. The fountain’s noise was occasionally audible but it didn’t interfere with my voice. When recording using the iPhone’s built-in mic you could hear the fountain loud and clear while my voice was barely audible (even at 2m away from the iPhone), demonstrating that the DMic-S wireless microphone can make a huge improvement to your location filming’s audio quality despite its line of sight limitations.
7Artisans DMic-S: Final Verdict
As long as you don’t turn your back on your camera (and lose line of sight between transmitter and receiver) you can capture your voice from at least 60 meters away from your camera (which should be far enough for most vloggers needs!).
The DMic-S wireless microphone kit works straight out of the box so it’s a perfect purchase if it’s your first wireless mic kit. It does a good job of reducing unwanted background noise too. A wireless mic is essential for most video content creators and if you’re on a low budget this one will still dramatically improve your audio production values (as you’ll hear from our supporting video).
If you have more cash to spare and want to be heard while you have your back to the camera then the Godox Virso or Hollyland Lark Max Duo Wireless Microphone kit is worth considering, but those kits do cost a lot more.
Read more: check out our guides for the best microphones for vlogging and filmmaking, or our top picks for the best lavalier microphone.
