Hollyland is well known for making solid performing wireless video systems in a range of prices and designs.
Now they’ve come out with a new audio system: the Lark 150; a 2 channel compact wireless mic kit.
The Rode Wireless Go has become extremely popular due to how compact and easy it is to use, and the Lark 150 follows in that design with a few twists.
First of all, the Lark 150 receiver gives you nice big physical control dials – one for each channel – with tactile clicks that are a huge improvement over the tiny buttons you’re usually dealing with on compact systems like the Wireless Go. The display is bright, simple and clear… plus you get 3 modes: stereo, mono and one with a -6dB safety track. This way you can easily manage audio in post to get the most out of your recordings depending on the situation. The receiver is almost double the size of the transmitters, unlike the Rode kit which has a receiver sized identically to the transmitters. It’s still not huge though, and it’s fairly lightweight.
The other major difference is that the Lark 150 comes with a storage case that doubles as a charging case; holding 2 extra charges that automatically refill the individual units when you snap them in. Plus, you can charge it all using a single USB cable through the case, also good for firmware updates. The transmitters and receiver’s battery lives are not as good as the Rode kit on their own, but with the 2 extra charges in the case it about evens out. So, it comes down to how you’ll use them- continuously, or bit by bit with a recharge in between. Either way, being able to charge them all with just a single cable is fantastic. Plus, the case is sleek, protective and convenient for transport. I wish it had a little extra space for the external mics which are also included in the kit( but don’t sound as nice as the built in mics) but, as of now the extra space in the case is barely enough for the 3.5mm cable that goes from the receiver into your camera. Still, it’s really nice to have.
However, the new Rode Wireless Go II kit has internal backup recording in the transmitters, meaning that even if you go out of range (which didn’t take too long with my back turned on the Lark kit) you will still have audio, and that is a HUGE factor to consider. If you’ll never be pushing the limits of the system, maybe it’s fine. But, audio backups are amazing. Having SD cards to quickly plug into your card reader and get those files would be great, but the Rode kit has internal memory that requires a USB connection and some of their software… that’s the only downside. Audio quality on Rode mics is typically pretty decent, since they do have a lot of experience, but I don’t have a kit at the moment to test side by side with the Lark myself.
So with all that considered (and a little more), here are 3 reasons I’d recommend buying the Lark 150 and 2 reasons why I wouldn’t recommend it. What’s my final verdict? Well, check it out here:
Check out pricing or grab your Lark kit here: https://geni.us/HLark150
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