Hollyland Lark M1 Duo Lavalier Wireless Microphone Kit Review

The Hollyland Lark M1 Duo kit comprises two transmitters (TX), one receiver (RX), a charging case, two windshields, one USB-C to USB-A lead and a carrying case. The Duo kit also includes a 3.5mm TRS-to-TRS cable for DSLR and mirrorless cameras and a 3.5mm TRS-to-TRRS cable for phones/computers with a 3.5mm port.

Two fluffy windshields are supplied in the Duo kit, and they are easy to securely clip onto the transmitters.

It is impossible to overstate how crucial high audio is for watchable videos. Put another way, poor audio is a near-instant turn-off. In fact, you are more likely to get away with less-than-perfect movie footage than awful audio.

So, the long and the short of it is that audio matters and that means getting away from the internal on-camera microphone and adding a high-quality separate microphone to your outfit. With the boom in video and vlogging, there is an ever-expanding range of kit to choose from and that is certainly the case with microphones and Hollyland is certainly a brand to consider.

Key features:

• Wireless Lavalier 2.4GHz wireless transmission microphone
• HearClear Noise Cancellation feature
• Auto connection for easy set-up
• 200m/650feet line of sight working range
• Charge and store case
• Tiny and lightweight design
• Hi-Fi sound quality with enhanced sampling rate to 48kHz/16-bit
• Stable connection
• Omnidirectional, polar pattern pick-up pattern
• Eight-hour run time on TX and RX units
• 90mins charge time
• The charging case can charge 1 RX and 2 TX units two times
• Weight TX 11.8g, RX 17.5g, charging case 80g
• Dimensions TX 48×21.5x10mm, RX 48.3×27.6x11mm, Charging case 83x60x30mm
• Duo kit includes 2x TX units, 1x RX unit, 1 USB-C to USB-A cable, two furry windshields, 1 storage case, 1 carrying case/charger and 1x 3.5mm TRS-to-TRRS cable and 1x 3.5mm TRS-to-TRS cable. Optional cables including TRS-to-USB-C and TRS-to-Lightning are available.

Hollyland Lark M1 Duo Kit – Handling & Performance

The hard charging case offers excellent protection and has an integrated battery so it’s a charger too. It can recharge all three units twice over before it needs charging itself.

The amount of gear needed for location video shooting can build up very quickly so anything that saves bulk and weight is welcome.

The Hollyland Lark M1 Duo kit comes in a small, padded case which contains the windshield and cables plus a solid plastic charging case which holds the two transmitters (TX) and the receiver (RX). This case has a USB-C interface with four LEDs indicating the state of charge of its integrated battery and fully charged it can replenish all three units twice over before it needs recharging itself. Each individual unit has a USB-C interface for direct charging.

Very usefully, it has an eight-hour run time (or 20 hours continuously) from a single full charge so you can probably do several shoots before running out of juice. During this test I made several recordings and then left the units switched on afterwards and I got to seven hours before they ran out of energy.

Pairing the units is an incredibly simple, really user-friendly process thanks to an intelligent device recognition system where there’s no need to actually push any buttons.

Open the case and pull out the RX unit (the middle unit in the case) and you will see its two blue LEDS blinking which indicates the two microphone channels are ready for pairing. Bring out one of the TX units and it too will have a blue flashing LED, but a second or two later it will glow solidly as will one of the RX’s LEDs to confirm that the two units have found each other. Withdraw the second transmitter from the case and the RX’s remaining blinking LED will also glow steadily, and that’s it: you’ve paired the two transmitters with the receiver just by taking them out of their charging case, so no stress at all.

In this test, the units paired up successfully without fail each time, and that included manual pairing using the on/off switches on each unit.

I tested the Duo on a Canon EOS R5 and an OM Systems OM-1 and shot footage in a variety of environments and in my tests, the Lark M1 Duo worked very well indeed giving clean, rich recordings. Latency was not an issue either, so no annoying delay with the sound signal not syncing with the speaker’s mouth movement.

The Lark M1 receiver slides into the camera’s accessory shoe and, as you can see here fitted onto an OM Systems OM-1, it is tiny.

I made recordings indoors and out at various line-of-sight distances. For one outdoor test, my partner wore one TX and stood next to the camera with the RX unit plugged in and monitored input through headphones. With the other TX unit fitted with a windshield and clipped to my shirt, I walked away from the camera position speaking as I went, but also stopping on occasion and turning around to speak to the camera. Recordings remained stable and I got to around 100m with my back to the camera before there was any drop-out and facing the camera at that distance was no problem even in a tree- and car-lined street. That seems like an excellent real-world performance.

Being lightweight and tiny makes the Lark M1 very portable. Each transmitter has a single click noise cancelling feature and comes with windshields supplied.

During this walking test, I did some on/off comparisons with the Lark’s HearClear noise reduction feature too. This is activated by a short single press of the yellow button on the TX unit and is confirmed by the blue LED changing to green. The feature does a fine job of cutting down distracting ambient sound including passing cars and noisy parakeets without impacting the crispness of the speaker’s voice. If you’re recording in a noisy environment and prefer to have less ambient noise, it’s a great feature to have available.

Pushing a button on the receiver for five seconds changes the blue LEDs to green to indicate stereo recording and that produces fine results too. Also selectable on the receiver are three recording levels using the +/- buttons. The medium setting worked fine on the cameras I used.

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Value For Money

There’s no denying that the Hollyland Lark M1 Duo is superb value at £129. By today’s standards, to get two transmitters with windshields and one receiver, an innovative charger and cables to get you on the road to high-quality sound is remarkable value for money.

Audio performance is impressive, with a more than useful working range and it’s capable of producing very good sound quality. Having the option of Hollyland’s HearClear Noise Cancellation feature is very handy too when you’re working in noisy ambient situations.

Hollyland Lark M1 Duo Kit – Verdict