hi guys,

I have heard of great review regarding the giant squid lav mics so I ordered one for my olympus recorder...

Im quiet dissapointed with the result since it sounded very very muffled compared to the sennheiser one. Is it because "you get what you pay for" or did I get a defective one?

Whats your experience??

Santo

Actually, I am having the same experience as yours. I bought two of them a few months ago.. and I didn't really like it. I very much prefer my Olympus ME-15, which I'll be using for my main digital recorder. I agree with you, the squid lab mic doesn't sound very clear...

hey what do you think of that me15 mic? any video sample?

What model of Giant Squid mic did you get? I have the mono omni mic, but I'm curious about the mono cardiod mic.

They belong in the trash.

They belong in the trash.
Ian, thank you for your well thought out solution...

They are junk. Not worth using for anything that pays the bills as there are better lav mics out there.

I have both the omni and the cardiod. The omni is passable, but it is noisier compared to a similarly priced ATR35s, and it requires plug-in power. The sound is a bit muffled, and closed. The cardiod is a piece of junk. The one I had was very hissy with a strong discolouration of the sound, due to the hole on the side of the lav. I couldn't believe the sound quality of this mic was at a level that it would be even sold, let alone sold to professionals. I chucked it into the trash. So yes, I was being serious with my solution.

I have been watching this thread as I just got my first, and have my second coming in the next day or so. I too bought the omni without power.

I also have the ATR35s that is mentioned, so figured for my own good, I would do a direct comparison of my mics, as I will be relying on something for this weekend.

Both were plugged into the same recorder, one after the other, a Yamaha Pockletrak CX set to 48K 16 bit. My position did not change much if at all, as I did my comparison.

The ATR35s recorded at almost -21db at it's highest point, but not quite. It recorded to the left channel only. To functionally hear it, I needed to boost gain in Audition pretty substantially.

The Giant Squid recorded the full range up to either -1 or 0db, didn't get that detailed in my comparision. It recorded to both the left and right channels.

The Giant Squid had a "throatiness" to it, IMO, if I concentrated on listening to it, but was quiet when not recording my voice.

The ATR35s, after applying the gain became quite noisy when not recording my voice, and my voice sounded "different" than the Giant Squid. The Yamaha recorded some noise on the right channel with the ATR35s, and to hear the ATR35s clearly, I had to zero out that channel in Audition after gain was applied to the entire clip.

For me, for this weekend, it's the Giant Squids.

Yo Chip, are you sure you got that right?

The ATR35s must be sick because I agree with the others, once I got my Sony ECM77 lavs my omni GS lavs (and with the battery boxes) didn't even register on the meters.

Cheers.

Yo Chip, are you sure you got that right?

The ATR35s must be sick because I agree with the others, once I got my Sony ECM77 lavs my omni GS lavs (and with the battery boxes) didn't even register on the meters.

Cheers.

Hi Allen,

If you wish, send me a PM with your email addy, or anyone else for that matter, and I'll send you the actual .wav files both created. Together they are only about 3 meg, so can be emailed easily enough.

Both of these mics have been used about equally as much, not hardly at all. The Giant Squid is weeks old, the ATR35s about a year, sitting in it's box waiting to be used. When I received both, I checked each to make sure it functioned, but not necessarily for its sound quality until now.

The ATR35s used its battery, the Giant Squids, used without external power.

Software I used to examine the .wav files was Adobe Audition 3.

The recorder again, Yamaha Pocketrak CX set to 48K 16 bit with High Pass Filter engaged. Recorder is days old, fully charged etc.

I am sure there are more scientific tests done, but this is what I had available to me today.

Someone with better hearing might hear the same thing from mine as others are stating here, IDK. My hearing sucks, so not the best to compare the finer aspects of one as of against another.

Happy to share if anyone wishes, your view with your hearing might be very different than what mine is.

Hi guys,

I'm surprised to see more unhappy customers of GS as I was reading a lot of happy ones before I bought them...

regarding the atr35s, I have done some research and the thing that turned me off with this mic is that it has 20ft cable. I'm sure quality wise its ok but its just gonna be a pain to use on weddings.

What do ya'll think of this one here? hama lm-09

YouTube - hama LM 09 lavalier (tie clip) interview microphone review (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6By44JtfCI)

Tha packaging looks very similar to the ATR35s and as I found out, the review says it only outputs to the left channel, as does the ATR35s. I'd guess same place made them both. Appearance etc, sure resembles the ATR35s I have here.

hey what do you think of that me15 mic? any video sample?

If you check out one of my videos in vimeo http://vimeo.com/12111892 the interviews are using ME-15 clipped on the male near the collar in slightly windy conditions.. it was directly plugged into my 7D with a 1.5m cable extension. Picked up audio from both person very well.

I'm surprised to see more unhappy customers of GS as I was reading a lot of happy ones before I bought them...

Yeah, if only Ive read these negative reviews before I actually bought it...

and it also has 6meter cable.... hmmmm what the heck??? same design overall...

i guess its up to the olympus me-15 now... I need to get a new mic soon....

johannes: sounds a bit trebbleish.... did you put your audio gain on auto? it sounds almost peaking out

johannes: sounds a bit trebbleish.... did you put your audio gain on auto? it sounds almost peaking out

In that video I plugged directly to my 7D, can you actually set the audio setting there? I dont have an online video of the ME-15 connected to DS-30, but I think all these times I've been setting it to auto. I need to polish my audio skill I guess.

In that video I plugged directly to my 7D, can you actually set the audio setting there? I dont have an online video of the ME-15 connected to DS-30, but I think all these times I've been setting it to auto. I need to polish my audio skill I guess.

ah yes... 7d doesn't have manual audio yet. i guess that video of yours doesn't justify the mic's full potential. I think I'll take the plunge... its quiet cheap anyways. 49 bucks in online store

YouTube - Olympus ME-15 Mic Test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_L4IwqzAdQ)

YouTube - Olympus ME-15 Mic Test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_L4IwqzAdQ)

Hi Chip,

I have seen that one. however, again, its not a professional review. The guy might just set the olympus recorder on auto setting. his voice sound noisy on that clip, which i think is the result of auto level.

thanks anyway :)

Hope you like it mate. I personally think it is better than the giant squid lav though. Let us know how you go!

Santo - I bought a couple of GS omnis with the iriver ifp mono mod about 6 months ago and have nothing but praise for them. I've been using one on the officiant and the other on lecturns etc. for readings.

I'm sure you've noticed that they're not up to sennheinser mic build quality but for the price I've found the results pretty darn good.

My only complaint would be the difficulty in finding a suitably sized windscreen.

If I can find the time I'll post a couple of recent samples.

Cheers,

MB.

.....
My only complaint would be the difficulty in finding a suitably sized windscreen.....
MB.

I got two Windtech 1100s (white and tan) from B&H, along with 3 Pearstones (black) because they were out of the black 1100s.The guy at the phone order desk said the Pearstones were the same quality etc. The Windtechs are nice, the Pearstones, GARBAGE !!!! So, I guess I have some personal experience now of the value of suggestions from B&H for product selection.

Thanks for the suggestion Chip - now to find an aussie stockist :)

Santo - i've uploaded a brief mp3 file from a recent wedding:

www.mattbarwickfilms.com/audio/gs_mic.mp3

this is using the gs mono mic into an iriver recorder. outdoor ceremony and without any sort of windscreen on the mic. i haven't touched the levels either.

it certainly has a slight 'tinny' quality to it but nothing a little eq tweaking couldn't improve and it's far from unusable IMO.

Cheers,

MB

Check out my side-by-side test of the ATR-35s and Giant Squid Mono in this post http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/all-things-audio/483300-need-advice-cheap-lavalier-mic.html#post1559111

Check out my side-by-side test of the ATR-35s and Giant Squid Mono in this post http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/all-things-audio/483300-need-advice-cheap-lavalier-mic.html#post1559111

thanks for that coral

that is so weird.. your giant squid mic sounds better. mine sounds so muffled and soft. yours sound so loud.

inconsistent product? hmmm... i dunno....

Check out my side-by-side test of the ATR-35s and Giant Squid Mono in this post http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/all-things-audio/483300-need-advice-cheap-lavalier-mic.html#post1559111

Thanks Coral, your test matches the one I did and was wondering, because no one else thought so, that maybe I was doing something incorrect. The difference in the way the two sound on yours, is the throatiness I tried to describe in my review. At least now I didn't screw something up. :-)

Susanto, Chip,

Hope the clip helped. Chip, yeah, the GS does seem to a "throatiness" (low freq boost) to it, which is not in and of itself good or bad, but something to take into consideration when planning your shoot. As I said, I have been using the GS for a couple of months now and am so far very satisfied with the results. More importantly, my clients have been satisfied, and even comment/compliment how loud & clear the sound is during the vows. Hard to beat for a ~$30 investment!

Santo,

check the settings of your Olympus - maybe they need to be adjusted for the mic also.
We also use the GS with the Iriver and have different settings for groom & priests. Priests/celebrants generally speak louder or I need to clip it higher so it records at a lower volume than for the groom.

I have two GS mics that I use with my iRivers all the time. Couldn't be happier with them, and with the customer service I've received. Great product.