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Hollyland has a new wireless lav solution that fills in for those not looking to spend $300 on the company’s flagship solution. The Lark M1 is the company’s latest addition and acts as a great entry-level option that falls in at half the price. Making for a great opportunity for those just getting started that need a user-friendly wireless solution.

In this review, we have been testing out the Hollyland Lark M1 Duo, which is the dual microphone model (it is available as both Duo and Solo depending on if you need one or two mics). The Duo has a lot more value to it since we always recommend having a second microphone on hand as you never know when you are going to need it for something. Users can easily find themselves in a bind when they limit their inventory to a single microphone.

The Lark M1 Duo is affordable, easy to use, and a small solution that takes up very little space and adds little weight to your kit. It comes with almost everything you need and offers a few optional accessories you can buy to finish it off if you plan to use it with USB-C or Lightning devices.

When I say small, I mean small. As in quite comparable to many of the wireless earbud solutions that started coming out in the last 5 years. Of course, wireless buds and charging cases have already gotten smaller than this even, but it still gives a comparison on how small this really is.

The charging case is around 2.5 inches in height and just more than 3 inches in width. It is used to help keep both transmitters and the receiver charged when not in use. Giving you up to 20 hours of use before you have to charge it all (again, just like modern wireless earbud models).

As for the individual units, you can see how small they are when placed next to a US quarter. Not only small, but they are incredibly light in weight, which is important since you have to slide them onto someone’s shirt in order to mic them. There is no output connections for lav mics.

The transmitters have a built-in microphone so it is all-inclusive. Just turn it on (or simply remove it from the case and it will automatically power on) and slide it onto the subject in a position that is somewhat close to their mouth (like you would a lav mic).

Each transmitter is only 0.4 grams, so you won’t have any issues with it tugging on the clothes or causing any discomfort to the user. You also get up to 8 hours of use before having to slide it back into the case (which is useful for longer shoots).

There are only two buttons on the transmitter. The power button that is used to manually turn them on and off with. Then there is the yellow button that is the pair button for manually pairing it to the receiver (in case they lose connection for whatever reason or you replace your receiver). It requires a long press to trigger pairing but you likely won’t use it much for this (if ever). It’s other function is for turning on/off the noise cancelation, which takes a single press.

The LED light will switch between blue (off) and green (on). If noise cancelation is enabled, it will work to filter out background noises. Which could include crowd or traffic noise, distant animals, or any other ambient background noise. Allowing the microphone to focus on the user’s voice. The effect is quite similar to ANC headphones and works quite well. Allowing you to use these microphones in certain noisy environments. A feature that normal analog lav solutions don’t usually offer.

If you enable noise cancelation on one microphone, they will both trigger and turn green. Making it easier to switch between modes without having to disturb the other user.

The receiver will also automatically turn on when you remove it from the case and will auto pair with one or both of the transmitters depending on if you take one or both of them from the case. It also features minimal buttons, just like the transmitters.

You have two volume buttons for controlling the volume up or down. There are three presets to switch between, including low, medium, and high. The volume up button also acts as the manual pairing button (long press). Again, though, you likely won’t ever need to use it (hopefully).

The volume down button is a mode button. However, unlike the mode button on the transmitter, this is for switching between stereo or mono. Mono means that the microphones will be heard on both channels (left and right). Allowing you to use one or both mics and have the audio spread evenly. Stereo, will seperate the mics between the two channels, with one mic in the left side and the other in the right. This is good if you come across someone who speaks lower or louder than the other, allowing you to easily fix it in post later on.

The other side of the receiver features a third button for power and a 3.5mm output that will run to your camera or device.

Hollyland provides two cables in the package that will get you connected to most cameras or computers. The one on the left (above image) is a regular TRS to TRS 3.5mm cable for use with cameras. The one on the right is a TRS to TRRS which is for laptops, computers, or even mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) if they have a 3.5mm jack.

The instructions that come with the mic system do offer a few tips on how to adjust your camera to best receive the audio from the microphone and walks you through the various uses of the cables.

As for the before-mentioned optional cables, they do offer 3.5mm to USB-C or 3.5mm to Lightning adapters. This allows you to use the mic system with with any USB-C or Lightning device that supports audio over these connections. This is for devices that have removed the 3.5mm jack. You can find these online or you could likely use your own adapter if you already have one.

You do get a nice case that stores everything inside. By everything, I mean everything that comes inside the box. The charging case, the units, the two adapters, the instructions, as well as two windscreens.

Those windscreens clip onto each microphone and provide a fun solution for dialing back wind when you are using these outside and find that you are picking the wind up. When indoors, you normally would never use these unless you have a heavy-breather that insists on breathing right into the microphone. In most cases, you’d just have to reposition that mic, so again, you normally wouldn’t have to use these indoors.

Both the charging case as well as the individual units can all charge via USB-C. When using the case, you only have to charge the case with the units inside as everything will charge together. However, if you want to charge one separately or forgot to bring the case (for whatever reason), you still have this option to charge them individually.

This is also good for mobile camera rigs that offer USB power. That way you can plug the receiver in with everything else and you never have to worry about recharging it. Since a receiver is always doing the most work, it is usually the first thing to run low on power. We, ourselves, are quite OCD about making sure everything connected to the camera has power plugged into it somehow.

This microphone system operates via 2.4Ghz, which means no changing of the frequency is required. It will operate up to 650ft (in perfect conditions, which means you’ll get a shorter change indoors), providing plenty of distance from the camera.

The volume presets are well balanced for most use scenarios, and the battery life is fantastic. Then there is that noise cancelation that works quite well.

We did find that the audio is a bit focused on the highs, which can making it a little exhausting. However, this could be helpful in certain environments and you can always adjust this a little in post edit. Beyond that, you do get 48kHz 16Bit audio and is crisp and clean. Especially, for this price tag. The noise cancelation eliminates typical room noise, which helps with this. You can hear a demonstration of this in the below video, below the conclusion.

The transmitters don’t allow you to attach lav mics sadly. For this, you would have to go with the Lark 150 if this is something you need. Thankfully, these transmitters are (at least) small and light enough to blend in. Especially, if the user is wearing a black or dark shirt. If the large white logo is a bit much (it would have been nice if the logo wasn’t so in your face), you can always slap a piece of black electrical tape over it to hide it.

The Lark M1 Duo is an incredibly user-friendly solution that works right out of the box. It features minimal controls, thus it only takes a few moments to familiarize yourself with it. It is small, light in weight, offers plenty of battery life, has excellent noise cancelation, and optional USB-C connectivity for the individual units.

You have plenty of versatility from this mic system at a very good price point. Something that will do well with shaking up some of the competition.

The audio is crisp and clean, although a little bright at times. Again, this can be fixed in post. There is little compression and the noise cancelation really helps to clean things up all the more.

*Average price is based on the time this article was published

Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.

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Designer, Editor and Product Reviewer Poc Network Ryan is an avid gamer that spends most of his time either commanding teams on the Xbox One or out on the grass kicking the soccer ball around when others are willing to take the challenge. He comes with a bachelors in electrical engineering and a hobby in the installation of advanced audio-video environments.

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