I'm very happy with this microphone. The audio is balanced very well. We have a Sony HD-SR1 camcorder which records in Dolby Digital 5.1. There is a setting on this mic to set it as the center channel. You can also set it as the primary mic as well.Recently we used this to record our daughters Holiday recital. She is only five and this was a group singing event. The microphone picked up her voice as the main center channel and the rest of the singers surrounded her. This was very effective. It was so cute to hear her voice from the crowd. This would not have been possible without this wireless mic. It even picked up her whispers. We were sitting about 50-60 feet away and the sound was excellent and we the bluetooth connection was never disrupted or disconnected. We even used it for her meeting with Santa and it was incredible to hear her whispering what she wanted to Santa. Our past videos simply have lips moving with inaudible sound. What a great experience to capture with the simple addition of this microphone.
Pairing was very simple as you simply turn on both the camcorder portion and the microphone. The bluetooth receiver uses power from the hotshoe so it doesn't need additional batteries. You will need some AAA's for the actual microphone though.
I only have two minor complaints...
The neck strap is itchy. This is hard to explain. It is a nylon strap and the back portion is melted on to connect the strap. The melted portion is hard and scrapes your neck. I'll look for another strap but it is hard to find one that will work since the mic opening is tiny. This is a very minor annoyance though.
My second minor annoyance is that when wearing the neck strap, any slight movement causes quite a bit of rustling sound. This results in large hissing type noise. We tried it with both the wind guard (small felt like cover) on and off and still get the rustling. Problem is especially worse with winter jackets that are loud anyways. The solution would be to use the clip or armband but the clip kept falling off our daughter and she kept playing with the armband and it looked unusual to have the armband on. Again, not a big deal. We are learning how to use this better and will practice with better placement of clip/armband when the situation arises.
Those two issues are so minor, I don't really fault the product itself which is great. I wanted to rate this 4.5 stars but it only let me choose 4 or 5 so I'm going with 5.
First, the receiver. Its very light (2oz.) and requires no additional batteries. It is powered by the camcorder and ONLY fits Sony's "Active Interface Shoe." **Only newer Sony Models are compatible, need to check if your model works** The receiver has two "on" selections. The first "on" is compatible with 5.1 dolby digital surround sound; it takes the voice information from the wireless trasmitter and plays it as your center sound from your 5.1 system. There is another "on" selection that will not differentiate which speaker the voice comes from but works just as well. The receiver also has a headphone jack so you can monitor what is being said from the transmitter; this can be extremely useful and since Sony has excluded ths feature from most of their camcorder consumer line, its a nice little option to have back.
Now the wireless transmitter can be connected to the person/ object in three different ways; a clip, a lanyard and a arm band. The transmitter also has a windscreen that I keep attached all the time; I find that this reduces that irritating rustling noise and cuts down on heavy breathing. I use the clip as much as possible since it keeps the transmitter steady and in one location. The arm band is second most since it minimizes movement but sometimes becomes obvious depending on the clothing. The lanyard is my least used because it constantly swings from side to side and increases unwanted noise. The transmitter uses 2 (AAA) batteries and is said to last about 3 hours. The transmitter is extremely light and easy to conceal using the clip.
As with all bluetooth items, line of sight is "key". The maximum range between the receiver and transmitter is said to be 100ft with direct line of sight. I tested this product by placing the transmitter in a room full of people and taking my camcorder outside (I had both a dining room and kitchen between myself and my transmitter and had the double paned glass sliding door closed) and was approximately 50 ft. away; I could hear everything without any problems.
One very, very minor thing that I have an easy fix for is that constant blue light that emits from both the receiver and transmitter. The transmitter is easily covered by the windscreen, but the receiver is completely exposed as it sits on top of the camcorder. I simply cover the receiver's light by using a piece of electrical tape, it seems to have no effect on performance and does not leave any sticky residue. I don't want to be that inconsiderate videographer parent that irritates the other parents during a play or recital.
I'm lucky that this is compatible with my model camcorder, but I still wish that Sony would minimize it proprietary grip on most of its products and technology.
Still a very nice product and I highly recommend it.
Hope this helps
*Added info below after a month of use*
We just purchased this wireless bluetooth microphone. I give it five stars because there's nothing better either in the Sony line, or from other companies that keeps wireless audio gathering simple for this product line. We need simplicity for our news-gathering because we have to shoot both video and still images. If we were only video journalists, it would be a no-brainer to use gear that is more designed for commercial/spot news gathering. But the ECMHW1 offers a very simple set-up: mount the receiver, place the transmitter unit on or near the subject, and turn the camera and both wireless sets on. When the blue light glows steady on both units, the audio can be gathered. The camcorder already uses built-in auto audio levels.
For field tests, I tried a number of different placements, from using the lanyard, to clipping the transmitter on my belt, as well as using the strap that wraps around the upper arm. The lanyard works best, but you can also place the transmitter on a table or in an inconspicuous area near the subject (for sit-down talks). One test, with the camera recording 30 feet away, caught 3 people in the conversation quite well, and the third person didn't even know he was being recorded.
We started in our own work area, which consists of two rather narrow rooms. As for distance, I could record audio clearly within line-of-sight at 40 feet distance; taking the camera from view by walking to the hallway (a doorway was the only way to see him in the other room), the signal started breaking up about 15 feet after losing sight when I turned down the hall.
Outside, the subject walked away as I recorded video with sound. We took the setup outside our building, which sits 100 yards from an elevated highway; the white noise (that sound of traffic rolling) bounces right off our building. But when the subject placed the transmitter around his neck, the recording sounded quite good, considering how loud the ambient noise levels were. Audio began breaking up about 100 feet away, and started going in and out. However, he walked a good 140-150 feet and turned towards me, and I could clearly record sound. This product simply works, no matter how much I tend to hate proprietary gear, like Sony's AIS (Active Interface Shoe), which makes it hard to use things like mounted video lights. However, this unit is great, because the receiver also sports a headset miniplug. People with some of the non-HD camcorders that were built without mic and headphone jacks can now have a camera where you can monitor your sound now.
The receiver also has 3 kewl settings: Off, on, and 5.1 stereo. Turning it off, your camcorder only captures sound from its built-in mic. Turn the units on, and the wireless mic is captured, while no sound gets recorded from the camera's microphone. But turn it on 5.1, and both camera and wireless mics work. That can help if you're shooting 2 people. You keep your camera close to the subject you're shooting, and let a second person wear the transmitter, and you have sound from 2 people. Great for covering spouses or kids.
Things that Sony can IMPROVE on?? Of course. First, I'd like to see the transmitter colored in the same charcoal hue as the receiver is. That bright silver can shout at you when you're recording somebody with it on. My workaround is two-fold: First, frame the subject to crop that transmitter out. Or, set it near your subject. If it doesn't work, well... I see microphones shoved beneath people all the time, so that little wireless mic won't bother me too much. I will try using black tape to cover the silver, which may slightly limit the transmission range. The other thing Sony SHOULD do? Design the next-gen transmitter to have an optional miniplug jack to use a lavalier mic. That way, you can place the transmitter on the belt and run that small mic right to your subject's collar. I hope all that info helps. Hopefully I can add some images as well. If I can, I'll try adding a video clip of the sound levels and situation. Meanwhile, I've recommended that we equip all of our shooters with this wireless microphone set for the Sony Handycams.
**Update** There is a little grey sock that comes with the set, which fits over the small microphone. While shooting an outdoor press conference today, I heard even the smallest gust of wind, which bothered me. It turns out that the little sock is perhaps a windsock. It's a bit thin but sticking the transmitter inside so the mic sits protected, helped cut that wind noise down. Because the Sony has no XLR jack, I couldn't use the "mote box" that the network cameras plug into for the NFL press conference. All I did was clip the microphone onto the thick mic wire and the sound was pristine. The camera also adjusts audio levels, so whenever a reporter asked a question, I could actually record it better than the podium mic they used. It can even pick up whispers much better than I anticipated.Works great for adding audio remotely to your video. Used it at Disney, put it on the kids for their school plays and recitalsworks like a charm.
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