The Worst Lapel/Lavalier Microphone Ever (ISSLM01U)

A couple of days ago, I ordered a cheapish lavalier from Amazon for a documentary project that I am working on. This shitty microphone was an Industry Standard Sound ISSLM01U, which was so awful that I returned it to Amazon, just a day after receiving.

Why is the ISSLM01U the worst microphone?

The low volume of this microphone makes anything you attempt to record suffer from a really high noise floor. When testing the ISSLM01U (by placing the microphone on my collar and speaking at my normal voice level), I had to turn the Sabrent USB soundcard to 100% and boost the audio in post-production by over 20DB to get the audio to peak at the zero DB mark. The massive amount of gain needed for this quiet microphone meant that the effective dynamic range was generally below 30DB, which is nowhere near the claimed Signal to range noise of “74db SPL”.  

Audio Sample:

Opus (44KB)

Sound quality: 2/10

What about value for money?

For the nearly four pounds that I paid for the ISSLM01U, it has to be the worst waste of money I have ever made, I mean why would you get one of these when eBay is flooded with cheap almost throwable but useable £1 Lavalier microphone’s.

Value for money: 2/10

What is the build quality of the ISSLM01U like?

The good news is the microphone capsule felt pretty well made, due to the use of metal in its’ construction but the rest of the product felt cheaply built with the included TRRS to TRS adapter not even working in my test’s.

Build quality: 6/10

Final thoughts

Do not buy the ISSLM01U lapel microphone, it is simply bad value for money and is unusable for most situations due to its’ low volume. If you want a cheap microphone, look on eBay.

Final rating: 10/30

Published: 17th January 2019