Customer Reviews

Audio Technica ATR288W VHF Battery-Powered TwinMic Microphone System

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Length:: 2:16 Mins

If you are in the market for a wireless microphone setup for your video camera and like me, you don't want to spend top dollar. You may like the budget friendly Audio Technica Pro 88W/T setup. Listen in to the sound quality and judge for yourself.

Comes with connectors that are compatible with most major cameras. 9v battery for the transmitter and receiver. I found no issues getting it to work with my Canon ZR-70. For practical purposes, the sound quality was as good as anything I've seen produced on the web where I know the audio equipment being used is of much higher caliber. This device seemed to hold its own and do a very good job providing close, crisp audio in a situation where it would be nice to roam free.

The distance was not tested. I did not go 300 yards out to see how far it would go. Most videos I've done are in close proximity to the camera but would be detrimental without some kind of on-person audio setup. Having a wireless option makes this possible and enhances the video without providing so many features that is otherwise overkill for the task at hand.

I'm positive on this review as I found the setup easy and the audio quality to be very good without any noticeablestatic or interference.

Audio-Technica ATR288W Wireless Microphone System (Includes ATR35s, ATR20)

Let me first say, I only give reviews for products that, in my opinion, are of exceptional quality. That being said, after receiving my Audio-Technica ATR288W Wireless Microphone System and putting it through various tests, I found the sound quality to be excellent. I have a Canon HV20 camcorder that has an extremely quiet motor. But, when making recordings (using the camcorder's built-in microphone) that had either low or no background sounds, I could hear the camcorder's motor when I played them back. The solution was to use an external microphone. When I connected the Audio-Technica ATR288W Wireless microphone system to my camcorder and made a recording with no background noise and played it back I was impressed. I did not detect any unwanted sounds, not even hissing sounds. All I heard was clean high fidelity sound!

There are a few problems that I've encountered with this unit.

First off, the handheld mic is useless. If you hold it in your hand, it picks up all the noise from holding it in your hand. Give it a little squeeze, and the mic picks it up, or even slide it around in your hand, it gets picked up. The windscreen on the clip-on mic comes off very easily.

As far as the transmitter/receiver, the transmitter has no dedicated antenna, it uses the mic cord as an antenna. It can be staticy at times, even in close proximity. If you're monitoring the audio with headphones, make sure that you don't turn off the transmitter while you have the headphones on, otherwise you will hear VERY LOUD static.

This is also an outdated produt. The product box shows a VHS camcorder, and the manuals were printed in 1997, so I guess it's been in the box for about 11 years.

If you need a cheap wireless lavalier, this can get you started, however, I think it's worth more like $35. If you have the money, spend it on a Sennheiser setup instead.

I've used this mic for a pilates classes for a film, and it has worked great. no real issues, long battery life, and light weight for the instructor. And for the price of this wireless mic you really cant beat it.

I have never given a product a bad review, but unfortunately Audio Technica earns only one star from me for its ATR-288W.

I know that some people have had great results with this product, so it is possible that the one I received was defective. However, the unit I purchased gave great audio quality only if you were operating under ideal conditions - within 5 to 10 feet of the video camera, and had the wire from the lapel mic (which serves as the antenna for the body mic) between the subject and the camera. As soon as there was anything between the wire and the camera the audio was full of static, hissing, and noise. If you moved further from the camera, the noise level became so high that the audio was totally unusable for even home movie productions.

Under typical conditions where the subject is moving or occasionally turning away from the camera the audio is noisy, and full of static, and unusable.

I have returned the ATR-288W to Amazon, and will search for a suitable substitute.

I was using the ATR-288W with a Canon HV40 video camera,

First of all I've used this indoors and outdoors and experienced very little interference. Transmission seems to be great with line of sight, but if you're passing through walls you'll get a bit of static.

I've used the handheld mic for interviews on the street and in church and you'll find that there's a lot of handling noise, and if it's windy there'll be wind noise too. It's not bad though, considering it only adds like $10 to the price (you can buy the Audio-Technica PRO 88W and it's the same minus the handheld). Also you can always hook a better mic to the transmitter.

The Lapel mic is really clear and amazingly free of clothes noise. I've used other lapel mics where you could hear every movement the wearer made, not this one. Nice and heavy too. I also love that the reciever has it's own headphone jack for monitoring (and comes with a headphone) Altogether I'd say this is a great product.

I used this last night for the first time. With the exception of one moment of hissing (which I fixed by adjusting the attenna) it worked remarkably well. The sound with the lapel mike was clear and loud. I was in a large room with the person wearing the mic and wasn't far away. It worked very well and I'm very happy with the quality of the sound.

I'm very impressed with this radio mic. Considering that it's relatively inexpensive, it does a great job.

If you're going to be shooting from a long ways off or have problems with interference, you'll probably want to spend money on a more expensive unit. But for general video work, this is a great piece of equipment.

PROS: Inexpensive, lightweight, easy to use, clear, crisp sound.

CONS: Not sure how well it works at 300 yards. The belt clip is a little hard to remove (try wiggling it). Occasionally gets a bit of hiss if you're not in line of sight of the transmitter but that isn't a big problem. It comes with a little earpiece but I used my own ear buds.

Very pleased with the sound quality and clear signal. Good product.

The is a great piece of hardware and reasonably priced. With it reasonable reception range of around 100-130ft and included lavalair or handheld mic, its a great addition to any amateur videographer's toolbox. Having the necessary mic plug-in on your camcorder, this remote equipment beats camera mounted mics hands down when you are more than a couple of feet away. Doing outdoor travel videos my wife and I use it extensively. The units use 9-volt batteries and they last a long time, but it's our practice to put fresh batteries in before going out on a shoot. The receiver also has a plug in for an optional headset, so you know what the camcorder is recording and if you are receiving a clean transmission (headset is not included). Be sure to storyboard your shots and write a timed script before going out or you'll end up not having what you need. Having unsynced voice over, sounds and looks like...well, really amateurish. Having looked at several other units I found this to be of great value all around.

Product arrived and was much better than expected given the price. I hooked it up to my Pro Camcorder and it worked like a charm. I used the wireless mic to create professional/studio quality training videos and it worked perfectly. If you use a camcorder stop using the built in mic and get a good wireless one like this.