OM SYSTEM Olympus ME-52W Noise Canceling Microphone

I tested this an Olympus WS-823 voice recorder , which does supply the excitation voltage required by this mic. For some reason, Olympus doesn't promote this unit with pictures of all its included accessories which make it an even better value than it appears to be. The ME-52W package includes not only the microphone (which has an adjustabl;e head which is often not explained in advertising, but a 3 foot cable and lapel kit. In other words you have everything you need for very versatile usage. I tried it as a lapel mic first with the microphone between 6 and 10 inches from my mouth and the head pointed toward my lips.I used an AM talk show as a source of background noise. I recorded with the radio on and off. The ME-52W is very directional with excellent noise reduction. Obviously, it doesn't completely eliminate background noise, but it does very definitely reduce it. By the way, I did not tinker with the WS-823's own recording environment toggles which I suspect would have increased the background noise rejection. I then tried it literally as a hand mic, holding it 2 - 3 inches from my mouth as the Olympus instructions suggest. My background noise source, that AM talk show,was directly to the rear of the microphone. Again excellent rejection characteristics. Next I tried it as a hand-held directional microphone. Using the normal record mode on the WS-823, the recorded audio was listenable, but on the weak side. setting the WS-823 to "lecture" mode, intended for lecture situations in large rooms and auditoriums, the audio was excellent. In all, a very good microphone especially if you take the time to optimize your recorder's settings. Two minor negatives. The lapel clip Olympus supplies is ridiculous. It has a bright chrome plating which makes the ME-52W unsuitable for video recording since the clip could be used an an aircraft landing system with the way it reflects light. Some judiciously applied black tape takes care of the problem and another as well. Whether it is the chrome plating or something else, the clip is so slippery that opening the jaws and keeping them open until you want to close them is a hassle. The clip constantly wants to launch itself into orbit. Next, the supplied windscreen - a welcome provision, by the way, is a shade too big for the barrel. You can use either a tie to secure it or double-sided adhesive tape on the barrel. If you use tape, be sure not to cover up the two slits toward the rear of the barrel: t7hey are needed for effective noise cancellation. Overall an excellent, very versatile microphone at a very attractive price.And, yes, the audio quality was very good to excellent in all instances of my testing. Jerry

I got this microphone to do a little motovlogging. It plugs into my GoPro Hero2 (or the Hero3+ with the adapter) and has enough cable to reach from wherever the camera is on the helmet to the inside and in front of my face. It comes with a little foam "windscreen" and an alligator clip which actually comes in handy... not for inside the helmet though. For general use, the mic does a pretty good job and the sound isn't all bad. Reminder: it only records on the left channel so unless you have editing software that can turn it into a mono channel, you'll need to get a mono adapter. It's nice to have sound from one place and the camera in another. It's also nice to have something this small since you can put it pretty much anywhere, like in a pocket or the back of a hat - and still pick up good sound. For motovlogging, I'm going to keep looking for another mic. This one has a "pop pop" as it clips from too much sound - a combination of my bike's exhaust, the wind noise, and my voice. I can use a noise gate and compressor and other effects in my editing software to clean it up, but nothing eliminates the sound of a mic clipping. Also, when the surrounding environment has that much noise, the mic exhibits its tendency to sound like a cellphone since it's picking up everything and compressing your voice to what's loudest in front of it; lower and higher frequencies get drowned out. The windscreen is not tolerant of even mild abuse, so I quickly fashioned a new windscreen out of a strip of T-Shirt and a zip tie, and the alligator clip is useless in a helmet, so plenty of Gorilla Tape does the job there. I put the mic behind the left cheek pad with the opening of the mic almost in front of my mouth. All in all, I'm happy with it because I'm doing what's important: sharing my rides with YouTube. However, I'm a stickler for improving the quality of my videos, so I'm still on the hunt for another microphone. This one was at a great price, is a great size, and does what I need it to. I wouldn't look past it or fail to recommend it to another person in a similar situation.

This definitely increase the quality of my recordings (I use an Olympus brand voice recorder). I record class lectures on the lowest quality setting and they come out great. Sometimes ill spend 5 minutes removing background noise with audacity (very easy, just look up a tutorial on Google) and the result is amazing.The microphone is directional so you want to aim it at the thing you are recording, but it tilts up and down so you can leave the recorder flat on a desk and aim the mic towards the speakers mouth. Remember, Olympus voice recorders have a microphone sensitivity setting. Use "dictation" if you are going to be recording yourself or someone right in front of you (within a few feet of the microphone) and use "conference" to increase the sensitivity to record things like a lecture where the speaker is more than a few feet away. Audacity can be used to remove background noise and make the voice clearer, and also eliminate the noise of yourself or someone else typing notes if that's a problem in your recording. I've also used this on my mac book to video conference and my voice was MUCH clearer than using the tiny built in microphone. It works great buy you need a cheap USB audio adapter because the mac book audio port doesn't work correctly with this microphone For the price, this is worth every penny. Unless you have a really high quality expensive voice recorder, this microphone is going to be better than the one built in.

Je possède déjà un micro de ce type, j'en suis toujours très satisfait : exemple enregistrement de conférencier ( le mono suffit ) sans trop accrocher les bruits de l'assistance ( attention, si en fin de conférence ils y a des questions posées par l'assistance, on ne les entend pratiquement pas et il faut prévoir une deuxième source d'enregistrement ). Petit détail : la bonette qui faisait partie du lot il y a 2 ans n'est plus fournie ( elle était de piètre qualité il est vrai ). ATTENTION : n' achetez pas les bonettes mousses Rycote 105501 qui sont beucoup trop petites pour ce micro, ( je viens d'en faire les frais ).

Bought this mic for my working van Android head unit. Before the feedback was a very muffled audio but now my mates all saying that sounds like I’m talking from my iPhone. The other positive is that the mic head can be removed and attached to my DLSR camera. It is a bit pricey but worth it.

I installed third party chinese car android, for bluetooth hands free calls, i tried many mics but no use, after so much searching i found this mic, moment of truth the noise cancelling mic worked, it tried eliminating thee car background noise, my phone calls are much better. High price, but the noise cancelling worked.

Awsome mic use it wiht my aftermarket car screen as a phone mic, no road noise in my phone calls!

excelente la calidad del micrófono, a pesar de solo ser mono y no estéreo, funciona de maravilla, no elimina completamente el sonido de la habitación, pero si lo disminuye de manera notoria.