Regardless of how great your video may look, audio is a priority. Professional creators understand that high quality matters more to viewers than crispy pixels of 8K footage. Saramonic has announced its Ultra wireless lavalier microphone kit, which aims to provide optimal audio for creators and viewers.
Also: I’ve been a professional live streamer for 10 years. These are my favorite studio lights
The $300 Saramonic Ultra’s two biggest features are its IPX rating of IPX5, meaning that the shoot you complete on a rainy day will have clean audio as the mics can withstand the water. The other key spec is the fact that the Ultra can record in a 32-bit float.
This matters because it gives your audio an unbelievable dynamic range, allowing you to minimize clipping or lift lower levels to optimal amplification without causing a lot of low-frequency noise.
Granted, having 32-bit float audio recording capability isn’t anything new these days. Many other microphones offer this capability, but Saramonic offers this and more with a much lower price point than its competitors.
At first glance, the Saramonic Ultra looks like its Blink product line — a small, lightweight, durable plastic enclosure and all. However, the difference shows up on the spec sheet. The Ultra offers the features I mentioned previously but also offers a much greater connection range — up to 300 meters. This is an astounding number.
Also: The camera accessory I recommend to most people is not a tripod or microphone
I haven’t been able to test out the distance, but it takes guts to list this number on a spec sheet. All thanks to the additional antenna to boost the signal. When a wireless mic gets beyond its dedicated range from its receiver, the audio quality degrades and becomes choppy, usually around 100 meters. Having a great distance between the receiver and transmitter opens up opportunities for even more creative video capture with your camera.
In addition to the extended range, creators can synchronize audio in post much more easily with Saramonic Ultra’s built-in timecode generator. It’s not uncommon to have scratch audio recorded internally on a camera and its horrible mic and then line up the waveform from external mics with the camera’s waveform to be used instead. Timecode makes this alignment much more accurate and easier.
Also: One of the best podcasting microphones I’ve tested is not made by Yeti or Rode
So, who is the Saramonic Ultra mic kit for? It’s for anyone wanting clean audio that’s easy on the wallet. New creators and seasoned professional creators alike can find value in the Ultra. Whether it is the single mic option or dual mic option, it would be great for interviews.
Yes, I’m still biased about the audio quality of a warm studio mic such as the Heil PR40, but today’s wireless mics’ quality continues to improve. Not to mention, they’re much cheaper than they once were when I first got started in the industry. Saramonic has clearly proven this. You can pre-order the Ultra today starting at $269, with shipping starting on November 12th.
