Smartphone videos look fantastic these days, but the accompanying audio often sounds less than stellar.
The $199.95 Sennheiser Memory Mic is a wireless microphone that syncs with your phone via Bluetooth and records higher quality audio than your phone's onboard mics. While it isn't a perfect solution, the Memory Mic is a useful, ingenious tool for recording better quality audio on the go.
Honest, Objective Reviews
Daxdi.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.
Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
Design
Measuring 2 by 1.5 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and weighing a mere 1.1 ounces, the plastic Memory Mic is a small grayish device that looks like an old beeper or some type of medical monitor.
While it could look better (since it will often be visible on camera), it's a home run from a functionality standpoint.
The mic has a shirt clip that is made of flexible silicone material and snaps into place effectively thanks to magnets.
On its top panel, you'll find the grille protecting the mic capsule.
The bottom panel houses the USB-C connection (a USB-C charging cable is included), and the right side panel houses a power/pairing button with a status LED next to it.
Inside the rather unassuming Memory Mic's enclosure, there's an omnidirectional condenser mic capsule.
The frequency range is 100Hz-20kHz, and it delivers 48kHz/16-bit audio files.
Those numbers are somewhat limited—there's no 24-bit option, and the low end of the frequency range cuts off before you get into the sub-bass realm.
This last part makes sense, however—Sennheiser is probably assuming you'd rather not record the low-end rumble that often accompanies audio recorded on the go, be it from wind, or hands moving, or clothing rustling.
In effect, Sennheiser has applied a modest high-pass filter, which is a fairly common feature on many mics.
The disappointment here is the maximum 16-bit/48kHz specs.
A higher bitrate and sampling rate would allow for a more audiophile-friendly recording.
Most $200 USB mics can record 24-bit audio, and some offer higher sampling rates—but they don't require much of the wireless syncing technology that the Memory Mic employs, so it's not exactly as if the price comparison is apples to apples.
The free Memory Mic app for Android and iOS is essential to the operation of the mic.
Sennheiser does a great job of keeping the pairing of the mic and its subsequent calibration simple by walking you through a short process in which your only role is keeping the mic close to your phone and pressing Next while your phone plays a series of sounds the mic records.
From this, the mic gets its levels calibrated and is then ready to use.
In the app, you can choose from low, medium, or high sensitivity settings—low is suggested for recording extremely loud sources, like a rock concert, and high is ideal for typical conversational vocal levels.
The middle setting is suggested for amplified speeches or settings with large crowds—but not loud concerts.
Sennheiser estimates the Memory Mic's battery life at about 4 hours—roughly the amount of audio it can record—but your results may vary.
Performance
Once you've got your sensitivity levels, you're ready to record.
The app shows you how much audio time you have available (with nothing recorded, ours showed 3 hours and 50 minutes available) and also how much battery life the mic has.
Once you've recorded audio, these files are stored in a section of the app called Sessions.
The app is remarkably simple and straightforward.
Pressing record (the app needs access to your camera) puts the phone in Video mode.
You can also choose to make an audio-only recording.
The mic's range is impressive in that it is seemingly unlimited.
This is because it doesn't synchronize its audio with the video recording until you press End Session.
Then the app walks you through a short process during which the audio recorded and stored on the portable wireless mic is synced with the video from your phone.
It's impressive in conception and execution—you can conceivably record completely unrelated audio in a separate room, and as long as the recording was initiated in the app while the mic was paired with it, things would sync up afterward.
Post-recording, you can mix the mic's audio with the phone's audio, but it's likely you'll want to stick with just Memory Mic audio.
The mic sounds better, and there is the slightest lapse in timing, so if you mix both sources in equally, you get a minor slapback/latency delay.
Aside from home videos, the more popular use for this mic will be to record interviews or events—its abilities to record and sync later give you flexibility to keep the phone at the ideal location for video and the mic at the ideal location for audio—both locations can change while recording and the syncing will not be affected.
As for the recordings themselves, there's no manual gain setting, only the aforementioned mic sensitivity setting.
With the mic clipped on my shirt, my voice distorted when I spoke at conversational levels.
That was the high sensitivity setting at work—the suggested setting for conversational vocals.
Perhaps I'm just a loud speaker, but I was trying to speaker at lower levels.
Setting the mic to medium sensitivity improved things dramatically, and our recording was crisp and clean.
Even for a session during which we had music playing through speakers nearby, the mic recorded both my voice and the speaker audio clearly, without distortion.
Still, it's hard to understand why, exactly, Sennheiser didn't just load the app with a gain fader that can be moved manually to precise settings.
There's no guarantee that the three rigid sensitivity settings of low, medium, and high will match ideally with your sonic environment or recording subject.
Perhaps an app update can address this in the future—it seems unlikely the sensitivity settings are baked into the hardware.
We also had the disconcerting experience of having the Memory Mic pair with the app (as it must before every new use), but when the session was over, it could not locate the audio to sync it up.
The mistake was mine (sort of).
Here's what you need to know to avoid this scenario: The LED on the mic must be green in order to record.
It was orange, and I soon found out what the orange LED means: Don't record.
Re-pairing the mic switched the light to green, and subsequent recordings were fine.
Conclusions
Like any new product, the Memory Mic suffers from some minor hiccups.
Once you understand what the potential pitfalls are, they are easy to avoid, and what you're left with is a very useful tool.
I can imagine reporters, or anyone filming how-to videos, finding this mic particularly useful.
For instance, a chef can roam freely will recording the prep required for a recipe, a potter can work at the wheel with messy hands while explaining the process, or a reporter can interview someone in a crowd—all with the camera as far away as needed to get the full picture.
It's not cheap, but for a certain genre of video, the Memory Mic will prove not only useful, but indispensable—it's a huge step forward for audio connected to phone video.
There aren't many products we've tested that compare with the Memory Mic, but if you're more interested in a traditional USB mic, consider the Blue Raspberry and the Sennheiser MK 4, both of which can record directly to iOS devices via cable.
Pros
Records audio that syncs up with video taken on phones and tablets.
Wireless, small, and easy to operate.
The Bottom Line
The tiny, wireless, app-controlled Sennheiser Memory Mic records high-quality audio to accompany video recorded by your phone.
Smartphone videos look fantastic these days, but the accompanying audio often sounds less than stellar.
The $199.95 Sennheiser Memory Mic is a wireless microphone that syncs with your phone via Bluetooth and records higher quality audio than your phone's onboard mics. While it isn't a perfect solution, the Memory Mic is a useful, ingenious tool for recording better quality audio on the go.
Honest, Objective Reviews
Daxdi.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.
Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
Design
Measuring 2 by 1.5 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and weighing a mere 1.1 ounces, the plastic Memory Mic is a small grayish device that looks like an old beeper or some type of medical monitor.
While it could look better (since it will often be visible on camera), it's a home run from a functionality standpoint.
The mic has a shirt clip that is made of flexible silicone material and snaps into place effectively thanks to magnets.
On its top panel, you'll find the grille protecting the mic capsule.
The bottom panel houses the USB-C connection (a USB-C charging cable is included), and the right side panel houses a power/pairing button with a status LED next to it.
Inside the rather unassuming Memory Mic's enclosure, there's an omnidirectional condenser mic capsule.
The frequency range is 100Hz-20kHz, and it delivers 48kHz/16-bit audio files.
Those numbers are somewhat limited—there's no 24-bit option, and the low end of the frequency range cuts off before you get into the sub-bass realm.
This last part makes sense, however—Sennheiser is probably assuming you'd rather not record the low-end rumble that often accompanies audio recorded on the go, be it from wind, or hands moving, or clothing rustling.
In effect, Sennheiser has applied a modest high-pass filter, which is a fairly common feature on many mics.
The disappointment here is the maximum 16-bit/48kHz specs.
A higher bitrate and sampling rate would allow for a more audiophile-friendly recording.
Most $200 USB mics can record 24-bit audio, and some offer higher sampling rates—but they don't require much of the wireless syncing technology that the Memory Mic employs, so it's not exactly as if the price comparison is apples to apples.
The free Memory Mic app for Android and iOS is essential to the operation of the mic.
Sennheiser does a great job of keeping the pairing of the mic and its subsequent calibration simple by walking you through a short process in which your only role is keeping the mic close to your phone and pressing Next while your phone plays a series of sounds the mic records.
From this, the mic gets its levels calibrated and is then ready to use.
In the app, you can choose from low, medium, or high sensitivity settings—low is suggested for recording extremely loud sources, like a rock concert, and high is ideal for typical conversational vocal levels.
The middle setting is suggested for amplified speeches or settings with large crowds—but not loud concerts.
Sennheiser estimates the Memory Mic's battery life at about 4 hours—roughly the amount of audio it can record—but your results may vary.
Performance
Once you've got your sensitivity levels, you're ready to record.
The app shows you how much audio time you have available (with nothing recorded, ours showed 3 hours and 50 minutes available) and also how much battery life the mic has.
Once you've recorded audio, these files are stored in a section of the app called Sessions.
The app is remarkably simple and straightforward.
Pressing record (the app needs access to your camera) puts the phone in Video mode.
You can also choose to make an audio-only recording.
The mic's range is impressive in that it is seemingly unlimited.
This is because it doesn't synchronize its audio with the video recording until you press End Session.
Then the app walks you through a short process during which the audio recorded and stored on the portable wireless mic is synced with the video from your phone.
It's impressive in conception and execution—you can conceivably record completely unrelated audio in a separate room, and as long as the recording was initiated in the app while the mic was paired with it, things would sync up afterward.
Post-recording, you can mix the mic's audio with the phone's audio, but it's likely you'll want to stick with just Memory Mic audio.
The mic sounds better, and there is the slightest lapse in timing, so if you mix both sources in equally, you get a minor slapback/latency delay.
Aside from home videos, the more popular use for this mic will be to record interviews or events—its abilities to record and sync later give you flexibility to keep the phone at the ideal location for video and the mic at the ideal location for audio—both locations can change while recording and the syncing will not be affected.
As for the recordings themselves, there's no manual gain setting, only the aforementioned mic sensitivity setting.
With the mic clipped on my shirt, my voice distorted when I spoke at conversational levels.
That was the high sensitivity setting at work—the suggested setting for conversational vocals.
Perhaps I'm just a loud speaker, but I was trying to speaker at lower levels.
Setting the mic to medium sensitivity improved things dramatically, and our recording was crisp and clean.
Even for a session during which we had music playing through speakers nearby, the mic recorded both my voice and the speaker audio clearly, without distortion.
Still, it's hard to understand why, exactly, Sennheiser didn't just load the app with a gain fader that can be moved manually to precise settings.
There's no guarantee that the three rigid sensitivity settings of low, medium, and high will match ideally with your sonic environment or recording subject.
Perhaps an app update can address this in the future—it seems unlikely the sensitivity settings are baked into the hardware.
We also had the disconcerting experience of having the Memory Mic pair with the app (as it must before every new use), but when the session was over, it could not locate the audio to sync it up.
The mistake was mine (sort of).
Here's what you need to know to avoid this scenario: The LED on the mic must be green in order to record.
It was orange, and I soon found out what the orange LED means: Don't record.
Re-pairing the mic switched the light to green, and subsequent recordings were fine.
Conclusions
Like any new product, the Memory Mic suffers from some minor hiccups.
Once you understand what the potential pitfalls are, they are easy to avoid, and what you're left with is a very useful tool.
I can imagine reporters, or anyone filming how-to videos, finding this mic particularly useful.
For instance, a chef can roam freely will recording the prep required for a recipe, a potter can work at the wheel with messy hands while explaining the process, or a reporter can interview someone in a crowd—all with the camera as far away as needed to get the full picture.
It's not cheap, but for a certain genre of video, the Memory Mic will prove not only useful, but indispensable—it's a huge step forward for audio connected to phone video.
There aren't many products we've tested that compare with the Memory Mic, but if you're more interested in a traditional USB mic, consider the Blue Raspberry and the Sennheiser MK 4, both of which can record directly to iOS devices via cable.
Pros
Records audio that syncs up with video taken on phones and tablets.
Wireless, small, and easy to operate.
The Bottom Line
The tiny, wireless, app-controlled Sennheiser Memory Mic records high-quality audio to accompany video recorded by your phone.
