Description
Product Description
The Olympus ME 15 Microphone is a small, lightweight tie clip microphone that can be conveniently clipped to the tie or collar. The microphone can also be fixed under a jacket or shirt for easy concealment. The ME 15 is an ideal accessory for Olympus digital voice recorders. The mic’s cord is 3.3 feet long and the entire unit weighs only 11 grams. A tie pin type clip is also included with the microphone. Note: When using the ME 15 with Olympus Pearlcorder microcassette recorders, you will need the Olympus PA 1 plug adapter (sold separately).
Amazon.com
The Olympus ME-15 Microphone is a small, lightweight tie-clip microphone that can be conveniently clipped to the tie or collar. The microphone can also be fixed under a jacket or shirt for easy concealment. The ME-15 is an ideal accessory for Olympus digital voice recorders. The mic’s cord is 3.3-feet long and the entire unit weighs only 11 grams. A tie pin-type clip is also included with the microphone. Note: When using the ME-15 with Olympus Pearlcorder microcassette recorders, you will need the Olympus PA-1 plug adapter (sold separately).
What’s in the Box
ME-15 microphone and tiepin-type clip.
C. MacPhail –
Hear the DifferenceThe media could not be loaded.
.Stop and notice the difference between icky sound and quality sound. Then do something about it. This mic is an inexpensive first step.I use it for video reviews. A $100 “LDC” desk mic might be better, but I like this solution. You don’t have to worry about: Turning your head away from the mic. Pop filters. Breath noise. Stands. Isolation mounts. Phantom voltage.This “lavalier” style mic is typically plugged into a wireless system such as the Azden WMS-PRO Wireless Microphone System. But since I’m always recording from about 10 feet away, I prefer direct wiring. I use the very heavy duty
Monoprice 15ft Premium 3.5mm Stereo Male to 3.5mm Stereo Female 22AWG Extension Cable (Gold Plated) – Black
.- – – Works with… Doesn’t work with… – – -The owner manual warns: “Do not use this microphone with any recorder that cannot supply power to an external microphone. If you are using this microphone with a recorder not made by Olympus, we cannot guarantee the specified sensitivity.” Well, it would be nice if that was disclosed in the product description before purchase.I’ll guess they are not talking about the “48 volt phantom power” that larger condenser microphones require. I plugged this into the “Mic” input on my PC’s sound card. It seemed to work fine after I set the Realtek Audio Manager’s “Microphone Boost” to +10 dB. I don’t know if it’s working below par, but it seems to work pretty well (See video.)It works fine with my Olympus WS-802 Voice Recorder.It does NOT work with my Canon HF-M500 camcorder (directly connected). Apparently many camcorders require a battery powered mic such as the
Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone
(or an energized interface).PROs: – Good quality sound – Affordable – Easy to set up and use – Almost invisible (except for silver clip)OKs: – You can easily paint or replace the silver “tie pin” clipCONs: – Unclear what devices are fully compatible. – Olympus does not explain compatibility issues very well. – – – Specs from Owner Manual – – -Type: Electret condenser microphoneDirectionality: omni-directionalSensitivity: -42 dB at 1 kHz (0dB = 1V/Pa)Output impedance: 2.2 K ohmsPower Supply: Plug-in-power system (1.5V – 10V)~~~ Comments & questions welcome ~~~
Felix A. –
It workedWorked as it should. Quality was ehh, but it worked.
Carey Holzman –
Compatible with Audio-Technica 88w wireless transmitter!The lavalier microphone that came with my wireless Audio-Technica Pro 88W wireless microphone system stopped working. A replacement microphone from Audio-Technica (AT829MW) lists here for $44. After some more research for alternatives, I decided to try this Olympus ME-15 microphone for half the price. After some thorough testing, I’m happy to report not only does it work perfectly with the Audio-Technica 88W wireless transmitter, it sounds better and is built better than the Audio-Technica lavalier microphone! The Audio-Technica microphone appears to have a cable that is easily broken and is soldered onto the jack with a removable, screw-on cap like you’d buy at Radio Shack for home projects. The Olympus microphone appears to be all factory molded and the wire seems more flexible and less prone to breaking. Understand that when the wire breaks, it’s not obvious. The Audio-Technica microphone looked just fine to the naked eye, but it just stopped working. The wire apparently broke somewhere in the middle. The way this Olympus ME-15 is built, it does not appear to be susceptible to the same kind of failure and its HALF the price!I do wish the alligator clip was black, rather than bright silver. However, I re-used the clip from the Audio-Technica microphone. The clasp is a bit smaller in diameter, but it does hold the microphone just fine, even though it only snaps on about half-way. I also wish this microphone included an external pop filter. Perhaps it is not needed, but I just took the pop filter off my old microphone and it fit on this one like it was meant to be there.Minor quibbles aside, the sound quality is excellent and I could buy two of these for the price of the Audio-Technica replacement (that would probably just fail again.)By having the alligator clip bright silver, it is very obvious when wearing it on camera. That is really my biggest complaint. Granted, the unit was designed to be used by a sound recorder, not a video recorder, but still, why not add more value and flexibility to the product if all it takes is a little paint?
Jerry Saperstein –
Does what it is supposed to do and does it well.I used this with an Olympus WS-823 voice recorder with the intention of transcribing what I said in Dragon Naturally Speaking v12.5 (DNS). I clipped it to my shirt about six inches below my mouth and spoke carefully in a normal voice. With only five minutes training of DNS, my transcription of carefully enunciated dictation was 100% accurate. Taking less care while speaking resulted in lower accuracy rates. The microphone captures the human voice well.I used it in quiet environments for my testing, except for a couple of controlled sessions where I had an audio feed playing in the background, There is no question that this is a sensitive and omni-directional mic, something that should be kept in mind when you are in the field. Why they made the clip of bright metal is beyond my comprehension. I will spend a little time and cover the exposed chrome plated parts with matte black tape. The clip is also extremely smooth and slippery and a pain to open and affix to clothing. Not showstoppers, to be sure, but indicators of sloppy design (in my opinion). Overall, I think the ME15 is a pretty good performer at a reasonable price.Jerry
Clint Griffin –
Love it! Only a couple minor glitches, but good microphone overall!This is an excellent microphone! It’s fantastic for voice recording and works really well just for that purpose. I bought this mic for use with narrating videos and podcasts. No air noise can be heard when using this mic, and voice is crystal clear whether connected to a lapel 4-8 inches away from your mouth or even perched 2-3 feet away. There were only 2 minor things I could point out: 1) It picks up detail like lip smacking and every sigh or breath you take inhale/exhale (so good a good audio editor will need to be used to smooth it out some) 2) It picks up more medium to high range sounds and less bass. If you’re using it to record voice for singing, this could present some issues for someone with baritone or bass. But if you’re using it for narration, this may be the microphone you want to try! I love mine! Durable and long-lasting, as well.
Andrew A. Wang –
Clear sound, nice clipI bought this to replace my headset, since I own a nice set of headphones I’d rather use when audio conferencing (generally Skype through my computer).The first thing I noticed was the short cord (3 feet long). You’ll almost certainly need an extension cord if you aren’t using the front/top mic jack on your desktop or a laptop. The clip swivels, which is quite nice, so you can clip it anywhere and still point it at your mouth. I generally clip it to my headphone wires or my shirt.Volume was a bit of an issue. This is my first time using a clip on microphone, and I had to max the microphone volume on my computer to get adequate sound out of it. This was more of a problem with the Linux version of Skype than the Windows one. The microphone is fairly directional, so talking into it helps.Audio quality is a big step up over my previous no-name brand headset, and everyone I talk to mentions how much clearer I sound.Pros:-Nice clip-Clear soundCons:-Pricy-Short wire-Low volume
Brandeline –
A little bit quiet, but clear and not noisy– good micI picked up this lavalier mic as my second choice after returning two Audio-Technica ATR-3350 mics that both had an identical background hiss problem.The sound quality on the Olympus is decent for the price range, and lends a nice warm silky tone to my voice similar to the cheap (but good) USB headset I own that I’ve used previously to get rave reviews for my voice from my customers.I find the mic volume is just a little on the quiet side, so I did have to boost the mic in my control panel settings, but doing so did not add much noise to the recordings. (I can easily suppress what it did add with Camtasia’s remove noise feature.)The cord is a little on the short side, so if you hope to plug this into your camera more than a couple feet away, you’ll need an extension, but for screen recordings at the computer, it’s fine. The clip is a sturdy metal type that is unlikely to break like some of the plastic clips on other mics.I plan to keep and use this mic.
Justin Opinion –
Great quality mic at an affordable priceI recently took a chance on this microphone, putting some faith in the Olympus name. I do videos that I post on YouTube, often reviewing products – so I do a lot of talking while the camera is focused on a product or activity, etc. The on-camera mic was not a good option, and the clip-on mic that I had previously sucked. It was very muffled and distorted.The Olympus ME-15 mic has made a huge difference in the quality of my videos. The audio of me speaking is very clear and crisp. The volume can be adjusted without creating a muffle or distortion.The alligator clip that comes with the microphone is excellent for clipping to the front of your shirt. I usually clip it just below the collar bone area and that seems to give me very good audio results.The only downside to this mic is that the cord is on the short side. I would very much prefer a longer cord (8 ft. would be great, 6 ft. would even be okay). This is a minor issue, as I can always extend it with another cord if I need to.In summary – great quality microphone at a very good price.
Ward Reed –
Great for Bluetooth Car AudioI have a JVC car audio deck with a Bluetooth dongle so one can use a cellular telephone with the unit to make and receive phone calls. Unfortunately, the included microphone was a total and complete piece of trash. I had to stop using the unit for calls because the callers couldn’t hear me at all.After a while I decided to try and find an alternate microphone. The few that I found that were designed for that use were very expensive, and not well reviewed. I decided to take a flyer and try this. It was fairly inexpensive and if it didn’t work I could use if for a video camera instead.As it turns out, it works very well in that application. I used an extension cable (which I didn’t need in the end) and attached it to the unit. I usually clip the microphone to seat belt on my chest. Callers can’t even tell I’m on a BT microphone. It is a bit of a pain, but I was able to use the deck and remove the stand alone BT speaker.
Strathmont –
Great MicVery sensitive, very stealthy, very good! FIVE stars.