The Lowdown
We were impressed with the quality of the recordings that we could easily get from the Audigo wireless microphone inside or out. The mic’s small size and light weight make it easy to throw in your bag or pocket and take with you giving you the option to record whenever you want. Being able to record video synched with the sound recorded remotely from the smartphone is also very handy and opens the door for other types of uses.
Overall
Pros
- Impressive sound quality
- Ease of use
- Portability
- Build quality
Cons
- Price
- Many of the features that make this mic stand out require a monthly subscription
Audigo Labs is a San Fransico-based company founded in 2019 by drummer and former Tesla engineer Armen Nazarian “after being frustrated by the lack of simple to use, high-quality sound recording solutions available to content creators.” The Audigo wireless microphone works as an extension of your iPhone to greatly improve the quality of your recordings, be they in your studio or backyard.
Inside the Audigo wireless microphone’s box are the wireless microphone, a magnetic multi-mount, and a USB Type-C cable.
Audigo Wireless Microphone and App Information
APP FEATURES
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MIC DETAILS
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24-bit / 48kHz stereo recording | Mid-Side stereo condenser |
Adjustable stereo width
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32 GB / 40 hours of 48kHz wav files |
Adjustable EQ & reverb
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24-bit/48kHz; 20Hz – 20kHz |
Multitracking & mixing
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Max SPL 120 dB at 1 kHz |
Metronome & import
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Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2 |
Automatic clip correction | Rechargeable battery with up to 6 hours of recording |
Control recording from mic | 1.75’’ x 1.75’’ x 1.375’’ |
Automatic audio/video sync |
At 1.75″ square by 1.375″ high and weighing just over 2oz (57.5 grams), the Audigo wireless microphone is small and lightweight enough to fit in your pocket easily.
But portability is just part of what Audigo has to offer.
Using the Audigo Wireless Microphone and App
The Audigo Mobile Studio app controls the microphone, which facilitates audio recording and can synch the audio to video shot within the app itself. All users can view and edit their recordings, change each track between mono and stereo, and add reverb and adjust equalization.
Those users who have subscribed to the Studio Plan gain many abilities, including compression and two important benefits that take the Audigo to another level: 100GB of auto cloud backups as well as the addition of In-app remote collaborations. The Studio Plan is free for the first month and then $7.99 per month. With the ability to share your recordings remotely, you can collaborate seamlessly like never before.
The recordings are saved onto the internal memory of the Audigo wireless microphone itself, ensuring no latency or dropouts. The recordings are then accessed through the application. While in editing mode, you can make individual tracks mono or stereo, add effects, and combine and layer tracks as you wish.
The Audigo wireless microphone is compatible with Apple Airpods so that you can listen to previously recorded tracks within a project and layer on top of them or you can share multitrack recordings with collaborators anywhere.
You can also use the in-app metronome through Airpods or wired headphones while you record.
Viewing Audigo’s square build with perforations on all four sides, you might think it is a 360-degree microphone. It is not.
According to the website, “Audigo uses a mid-side pair of condenser microphones – giving the user the flexibility to choose between a directional microphone for superior ambient noise rejection or a variable-width stereo microphone.
Unlike other products, Audigo allows users to adjust these settings after the recording has been captured – so you can choose which setting is best for each track as you edit them.”
The bottom of the Audigo wireless microphone’s body has a magnetic mount, which can be used with the included microphone mount or stuck onto any magnetic surface. The mic can also just be placed on a tabletop or any convenient surface.
Shooting video through the app is simple, and as the sound is captured and saved on the mic itself, it is automatically synced to the video. The app provides the ability to flip between the phone’s cameras, select video resolution and framerate, select zoom levels, and even set a timer.
You can stop the recording using the button on the mic without reaching your phone. You can also create multitrack recordings synched to a single video.
The Audigo is designed to work through the app and does not have the ability to interact with standard audio and video equipment. This is understandable, considering the functionality that the app provides, but it does limit the flexibility of the microphone.
Using the mic is easy and fun. It is surprisingly easy to get very good-sounding recordings that are clearly better than those captured with the smartphone alone.
Sample Recordings from the Audigo Wireless Microphone
Although I tested the Audigo wireless microphone myself with a variety of instruments as well as voice, I will not make you endure what I recorded. Instead, I asked my friend, talented singer and multi-instrumentalist Steve Jones, to run the Audigo through its paces. Here are some of what he recorded.
Audigo on Mic Stand
Audigo on Mic Stand Rotated 90 Degrees
Audigo on Tabletop
Recorded on an iPhone 12 Pro for Comparison
If you would like to hear more of Steve Jones’s music, please visit his YouTube page.
Should You Buy the Audigo Wireless Microphone?
So, what did Steve and I think of the Audigo wireless microphone? We were both impressed with the quality of the recordings that we could easily get from the mic inside or out. The mic’s small size and light weight make it easy to throw in your bag or pocket and take with you, giving you the option to record whenever you want. Being able to record video synched with the sound recorded remotely from the smartphone is also very handy and opens the door for other types of uses.
But the Audigo is really a product on two separate levels. On the basic level, without the monthly subscription, the mic works with the free Audigo app to record audio wirelessly and sync automatically with video. Steve found the microphone’s performance to be solid but perhaps less than remarkable and questioned whether it was worth the price without the Studio Plan.
The monthly plan offers additional features like remote collaboration, cloud storage, and advanced editing and effects, which are not required to use the microphone for basic recording but nonetheless provide features that really make the Audigo wireless microphone special. $249 buys some very good microphones these days. The multitrack recording, editing, and ability to share and collaborate remotely make it worth the price.
UPDATE 11/20/22: Audigo has just introduced multiple microphone recording using Audigo. The new multi-mic release allows for effortless recording using up to four microphones. Audigo combines smart mics, a powerful mobile app, and optional cloud services to enable the effortless creation of great-sounding audio and video content by anyone, anywhere, including musicians, podcasters, and creators of all kinds. To support the new feature, Audigo now offers specially priced Multi-Mic packs.
Creators can now connect up to four Audigo smart mics directly to a single iPhone without the need for additional wires or receivers. Each microphone captures a separate audio track. The four tracks can then be immediately mixed after recording and enhanced with reverb, EQ, stereo, and compression – all in the Audigo mobile app. Video created with the app at the same time is automatically synced with the audio mix.
To celebrate Multi-Mic, Audigo has introduced special holiday pricing. For a limited time, single mics start at $219, with multi-mic packages starting at $423.
The Audigo wireless microphone sells for $249.00; it is available directly from the manufacturer.
Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample
What I Like: Impressive sound quality; Ease of use; Portability; Build quality
What Needs Improvement: Price; Many of the features that make this mic stand out require a monthly subscription
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