Gaming headsets are all properly and good for barking at your mates if you’re enjoying games on-line, however I’m prepared to wager a good few of you will have a separate favorite pair of headphones for listening to music with as properly. After all, even the best gaming headsets aren’t typically match to be seen in public, nor are they essentially suitable with any of your different music units.
Wouldn’t it’s nice, although, should you may simply use these favorite headphones of yours for completely every little thing? Enter the Antlion ModMic Wireless, a removable microphone accent that may snap onto any sort of headphone with out the necessity for any pesky wires. Here’s wot I feel.
Of course, a big a part of the ModMic Wireless’ enchantment will rely very a lot in your willingness to deface your greatest pair of headphones with its small magnetic base. This is how the ModMic attaches to your headphones, and also you’ll want to stay it to the aspect of the left ear cup to ensure that it to work. It’s fairly tiny, all informed, however its shiny metallic floor is unquestionably noticeable sufficient to attract the attention. If I noticed one on the prepare, for instance, I’d surprise what the hell was caught onto the aspect of that good pair of headphones.
Get over that hurdle, nevertheless, and the ModMic Wireless is fairly darn unbelievable. For starters, it couldn’t be simpler to arrange. My assessment pattern was already paired with its USB receiver out of the field, so all I needed to do with plug the receiver into my PC, stick the bottom onto an previous pair of headphones, snap the ModMic into place and press its good huge button to show it on. No drivers or software program required. I’d counsel bending its mic arm spherical earlier than you set your headphones on, although, because the magnet isn’t fairly robust sufficient to remain in place when you’re tugging it into the precise place.
You can press the ability button once more to mute the microphone, and a handful of LEDs round stated energy button provides you a pleasant indication of its present battery life and pairing standing. Naturally, you received’t have the ability to see any of those if you’ve acquired the headphones on, however luckily Antlion have thought forward on this regard by including three equivalent LEDs onto its USB receiver. You’ll clearly nonetheless want a transparent eye-line to your PC for this to be any use, after all, however fortunately Antlion have an answer for this as properly within the type of a bundled USB extension cable. It’s not massively lengthy, but it surely must be a lot for sneaking the receiver up onto your desk and popping subsequent to your monitor stand.
There’s a small swap subsequent to the microphone itself that permits you to swap between being a uni-directional mic and an omni-directional one. The former brings a bit of additional noise-cancelling to the desk for if you’re in a barely noisier surroundings, whereas the latter opens up the mic’s frequency vary for larger high quality recordings, supplying you with loads of versatility relying in your surroundings.
The ModMic Wireless has a battery lifetime of 12 hours, which isn’t huge, however must be greater than sufficient for any on-line gaming session. Plus, you possibly can stick with it utilizing it whereas it’s charging, too.
And man alive is it a powerful microphone. On the {hardware} aspect of issues, it’s acquired precisely the identical technical chops as the favored (and standalone) Blue Yeti mic, together with a full 16-bit, 48kHz sign with a frequency response vary of 20Hz to 20kHz. Its aptX Low Latency codec additionally means it’s 5 instances quicker than your commonplace Bluetooth system, in response to Antlion, giving it a latency of simply 34ms versus a extra typical 150ms. Admittedly, I’ve no method of testing such a declare, however in day-to-day use I’ve to say it felt fairly darn responsive. At no level was there any discernible delay between what I used to be saying and it showing as a spiky line in Audacity, and that was no matter whether or not I had it set to omni-directional or uni-directional.
The sound high quality was completely unbelievable, too. Leaving it in its default omni-directional mode to start out with, there was no background hiss in any respect after I recorded myself speaking in Audacity, and I used to be in a position to hear each phrase loud and clear. Even plosive phrases didn’t ship the quantity spiking or trigger pointless wind results to be launched, nor did any huge, breathy sighs. Instead, every little thing got here out crisp, clear and really pure, placing different headset microphones I’ve examined to disgrace – and that features the Logitech G Pro X‘s built-in Blue Voice tech as properly.
The ModMic Wireless’ uni-directional mode was rather less spectacular, admittedly, but it surely’s nonetheless significantly higher than what you’d get on an ordinary gaming headset. Everything was nonetheless pretty and clear and no signal of any sort of background hiss, however my voice did sound a fraction extra synthetic right here, and people pesky pop results have been a tad extra prevalent as properly. That stated, it’s positively acquired higher noise cancelling than the omni mode. To check this, I recorded a little bit of chat whereas enjoying a little bit of music on my laptop computer a few metres away, and the ModMic’s uni-directional mode did a noticeably higher job of chopping it out than its omni mode. It didn’t do away with it completely, however should you’re gaming in a loud front room it ought to at the least assist to chop down on any extraneous background noise.
As properly as a carry case, the ModMic Wireless additionally comes with a micro USB charging cable, a USB extension cable, a spare base clasp and foam pop filter, and an alcohol wipe for cleansing the floor of your headphones with.
All in all, then, there’s a lot to love in regards to the ModMic Wireless. It’s by far the very best headset microphone I’ve ever examined, and it’s positively much more handy than having a giant Blue Yeti plonked in your desk. The solely potential drawback is the value. At £105 / $120, the ModMic Wireless prices simply as a lot as a full-blown gaming headset lately, so its enchantment actually comes all the way down to how a lot you don’t need to have one other pair of headphones knocking round. Indeed, the wonderful Logitech G Pro X is simply a teensy bit extra at time of writing, going for £110 / $130, whose removable mic is second solely to the ModMic Wireless. It’s additionally not that less expensive than a full-blown Blue Yeti, both, which may at present be had for round £120 / $130, and can be utilized for extra issues like multi-person podcasts along with streaming and enjoying games on-line.
I ought to level out that the ModMic can also be accessible in a less expensive wired USB model and a 3.5mm analogue mannequin, however these contain snaking a wire down the identical one popping out of your headphones / headset, making them somewhat extra cumbersome total.
Still, should you merely don’t need to hand over your present pair of headphones or you will have a headset whose built-in mic is healthier off within the bin, the ModMic Wireless comes extremely really helpful.
