The KM-G130-1 Wireless Lavalier Microphone from Kimafun aims to bring convenient recording to your content - whether you're recording straight to camera, via PC or mobile, for a very modest sum of £55.99.
**The KM-G130-1 was reviewed using hardware provided and sent to us by Kimafun, but in no way influenced the review.
The G130-1 comes in a very handy case, and it is bursting with additional items alongside the lavalier system itself, which we'll touch on shortly.
The G130-1 is a two piece set up - the receiver is what you connect to your preferred piece of equipment via the 3.5mm jack or the 6.5mm adapter, and the transmitter lavalier mic is the other. Pairing is ridiculously straight forward - turn them both on.
That's it. Incredibly easy.
The receiver has an on/off switch, as does the transmitter, which also has two additional buttons on the side, these being volume up and down to increase/decrease the recording volume, and both devices feature a blue LED indicator which flashes whilst pairing, and turns solid once they're connected.
As mentioned, there is a good amount of extras included in the case; some you may use, some you may not, but there's no denying the value straight of the box.
Lavalier microphone & transmitter
Metal clip
Reciever
Duel USB charging cable
Y spiltter
Belt pack
6.5mm adapter
Windscreen foam x2
USB soundcard, with two 3.5mm jacks
Carrying bag
That's a great deal of items included, and ensures that you're good to go the minute you open the case - as an extra bonus, both the transmitter and receiver are also already charged., and on a full charge they'll last for 6-8 hours.
I tested the G130-1 using the 6.5mm adapter with a Behringer U-PHORIA UMC204HD audio interface. The UMC204HD picked up the G130-1 straight away, and Adobe Audition showed waveforms as soon as I armed the recording.
The microphone itself is a cardioid condenser microphone with a unidirectional pattern, which is designed to pick up sound from only one direction, very little from the sides, and almost none from the back.
If you're in a busy/loud environment, you'll still pick up extra noise, but the included foam windscreens do a decent job of minimizing these unwanted sounds - but you will still have to remove some in post.
As a unidirectional mic, the G130-1 should pick up less than 50% as much sound from the sides as from the front, and less than 10% as much sound from the rear, but as this is a lavalier mic, you will most likely get sound pickups from your clothing, depending how much you're moving around.
If you attach the G130-1 properly and monitor your levels, sound quality is generally very good - if a little quiet. I have a pretty deep voice, and usually have no issues with mics picking up my lows, but I did have to move the G130-1 around a little bit in testing to find the best position.
This of course can be fixed in post, and the audio quality is still good enough to amplify, compress etc without degrading quality, but for a live show it may be a little finicky - but I suggest experimenting and testing with a lavalier mic (or any mic for that matter) before embarking on recording/streaming. The more you get used to your mic, the easier it will be to notice any issues, saving time editing.
Whilst I wouldn't use the G130-1 for the PvP Podcast, that's not down to the capabilities of the mic, that's more of an industry preference for full XLR microphones for a richer, fuller sound, but for recording reviews, interviews and the like, I'll definitely be including the G130-1 in my set up.
It's easy to use, and is compatible with a wide variety of devices straight out of the box, and as mentioned, once you're comfortable with the placement of the mic itself, the sound quality is surprisingly good.
One of the cool features of the G130-1 is that you can use it with a large array of equipment - this obviously isn't limited to this specific mic, but it does come with everything you need to use it with pretty much any device.
Unless your phone doesn't have a 3.5mm jack, and uses USB-C instead, then you'll need to purchase a jack converter, which doesn't come included in the case.
A fantastic feature, and something that I wish more manufactures included, is the duel USB cable. One cable charges both the transmitter and receiver at the same time, using one USB. Very understated how convenient this is, for both charging and for freeing up USB ports.
Sadly this is USB 2.0, and micro USB - no USB-C here, meaning that it's a around 3-4 hours for a full charge, but the 6-8 hours usage time means you have a good amount juice to get through multiple recordings before needing to charge.
The transmitter and receiver have a transmission distance of up to 100ft, and Kimafun claim they use 'high fidelity technology' to provide low interference with high signal stability.
I didn't test the G130-1 to the full 100ft distance, but I did move in the room, chatting away, and there was no noticeable interference or signal loss, just the sounds of a mad-man talking to himself.
A lavalier microphone is there for convenience, portability and to mask the fact there is a microphone around - and the G130-1 absolutely delivers on these marks.
Set up is as easy as it could possibly be, and the recording quality is great - especially if you're currently making vlogs on your phone.
Connecting the G130-1 to your phone will increase your audio quality, and make your content seem more professional from an audio perspective, plus, if you're currently holding your phone to be nearer to the mic, using a lavalier microphone will allow you to mix up the way you film content, buy freeing your hands up and letting you be further away from the phone/camera.
Obviously, comparing this to a more expensive wireless setup like the RodeLink, and there's a very clear winner in that department - however, the Rhodelink is £263.64 - that's a whopping £207.65 price difference to the G130-1.
But for £55.99, the G130-1 is an excellent value microphone - it's not perfect, but it definitely performs well, and is great value for money.
Check out the KM-G130-1 below:
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