SmartLav microphone gets an update

Yet another updated product from the busy bees at Rode. How they manage it, given the easy distraction of the glorious Aussie beaches and barbecues, we don’t know…

The “smartLav+” is not, as the name might imply, a clever type of toilet. It’s a lavalier (tie clip) microphone that’s designed to be used with Android and Apple smart phones – hence the name.

The original smartLav’s been around for 18 months now and has been discontinued in favour of the new one which features lower self noise (a claimed 27dBA), an onmidirectional pickup pattern and a reinforced cable that generally should stand up to the batters and bruises of everyday use.

Also included is a foam windshield (in our experience all foam windshields are generally pretty useless – best enhanced by a real fluffy windjammer if you’re going to record outside – Rode make these as well), a clip to attach the mic to your interviewee or speaker, and a pouch to store it all in.

There’s a complementary App for recording, called Rode Rec available in free and paid-for editions. This too has been recently updated.

Should you be so keen on the mic that you also want to use it with normal recording devices other than smartphones, there’s an adapter that translates the peculiar “TRRS” format of pin that phones use to the normal TRS format that conventional recorders use.

The new smartLav+ costs $79 USD and there’s more info at www.smartlav.com. You can buy one on Amazon UK via this link http://amzn.to/1tIIGeg for which we get a small commission.