Canadian Musician November / December 2019 | Page 20

ROAD TEST Shure MV88+ Video Microphone Kit By Drew Robertson L et’s have a look at the Shure MV88+ Video Kit, which features a refreshed version of the original MV88 mic for mobile video applications with more features and support for live streaming to bring high-quality audio to your broadcasts. Out of the Box The MV88+ kit comes with everything you need to be up and stream- ing on your mobile device in no time. Included in the production bundle is: a very nice Manfrotto micro tripod; a hot/cold shoe mount al- lowing you to mount the MV88+ to a variety of devices; a phone clamp with cold shoe mount point; the mic clip that can either attach to the cold shoe mount or directly to the included tripod; cables to connect to either a USB C-enabled Android device or your standard Apple light- ning port; and a roll-up storage pouch to keep the kit together when not in use. Of course, the big ticket in the box is the mic itself, so let’s dive into the details. Build Quality The MV88+ sports an all-metal design that feels fantastic. It has a reasonable amount of weight given its solid construction and didn’t make my phone feel unbalanced or too heavy in use. The included windscreen fits tightly over the capsule and doesn’t feel like it will come off even during the most aggressive movements; the rubber seal has a great grip! The included Manfrotto tripod is rugged and well-designed and also conducive to hand-held use, though it does not offer any height extension ability. When the legs are folded up, it can be used as a con- venient hand grip that’s comfortable and not so heavy that it becomes tiring after a short period. The rest of the included accessories are made of dense plastic and feel solid with little flex. The short stop for me was the length of the included connection cables. While the USB C cable was long enough to reach the port on my phone, it was a bit of a stretch and could be tight on some larger Android devices. The most compelling reason for a longer cable would be when using a phone as just an external recorder for audio when you have a dedicated main cam. In Use From plugging in the mic to hitting record took less than five min- utes, and most of that was waiting on the DS companion software to download to my device and then the perfunctory firmware update. The MOTIV app is easy to use and offers simple navigation to the various features and controls. One of the first things I noticed in use was how many options you actually have. For those just venturing into professional audio capture for the first time, the MOTIV app offers five preset modes to tailor the recording to a given application and make your life easier. Those are: speech, singing, flat, acoustic, and loud. Fairly self-explanatory and all do a good job of what they’re supposed to, but the real power is learn- ing how to manually set your recoding levels and DSP effects. Seeing as the MV88+ has a stereo mic capsule, you also have a variety of options for your polar pickup pattern: stereo, mono cardioid, 20 C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N mono bidirectional, and finally, raw mid-side. When in general stereo mode, the actual stereo width is fully adjustable from 60 to 135 degrees de- pending on your needs. Obviously mono cardioid will behave like any traditional end-fire mic while bidirec- tional will pick up audio from the left and right capsules and ignore the main mic – great for interviews where you want to remain off-camera or live streaming a POV shot and capturing both front and rear audio cleanly. The last option, raw mid-side, is the most flexible in post as it will record the single mono front capsule as well as the stereo bidirectional audio separately, allowing you to combine them in a DAW later and edit with much greater control over the end product – a really great touch. I should also mention the great onboard DSP effects, which include a limiter, compressor, high-pass filter, and a five-band EQ. During testing, I decided to press the MV88+ into some unusual use cases and see what it could do. First, I used it as a backup widefield room mic during a chamber orchestra performance and was very pleased with its performance. The audio was clean and captured the natural stereo image as I expected given the settings and position. Secondly, never wanting to pass up a unique environmental record- ing, I used it to record an intense thunderstorm and was again deeply impressed with the detail and quality of the audio. Summary The MV88+ Video Kit is an excellent choice that’s feature rich for mobile streamers or vloggers looking to up their audio game by a significant margin. The setup was easy and fast and the quality of the audio is top-notch. The flexible nature of the MV88+ makes it a joy to work with and I can happily recommend it for its intend purpose of on-the-go profes- sional sound, but I’d also suggest that any sound designer, Foley artist, or recording enthusiast in general would find it useful and fun. It’s the recordist’s equivalent to a photographer always having a camera about, just in case they have to capture an unexpected moment. It’s light enough that it can be stowed away in your daily kit bag so that, no matter what, you always have the ability to capture great audio at a moment’s notice. Drew Robertson is an audio engineer, live sound tech, and educator. He is based out of London, ON, and is the co-owner of Prosperity Audio Works. He can be reached at [email protected].