by Tom Barrance | Published 22 November 2023
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The Lark Max Duo is at the top of Hollyland’s range of wireless microphone systems. Compact and competitively priced, it includes two transmitter/microphones, a receiver, a portable charging case and a weatherproof zip case.
A dual mic system like this is really useful. You can mic up an interviewer and interviewee, or two people in a documentary or dialogue scene. You can also mount two transmitters on a subject, and use one for transmitting to your camera and another one (with internal recording) for backup.
Accessories
The Lark Max system includes a comprehensive set of accessories. There are four cables, which will let you connect to most cameras and phones (3.5mm TRS, USB-C to USB-C, USB-C to USB-A, and USB-C to Lightning). You also get effective clip-on furry windscreens for the microphones. They also come with powerful disc magnets so you can put the microphones on the inside of clothing. Hollyland also sent me two each of their magnetic pendants and lavalier microphones. (These are separate purchases.)
Starting up
The system starts up really quickly. As soon as you open the case the receiver turns on and displays battery levels. When you take the microphones out they start up and pair automatically.
The receiver has a clip which fits into a standard hot or cold shoe (it can be a tight fit).
Batteries
Battery life is impressive: 7.5 hours for each transmitter, and 9 hours for the receiver. The charging case has its own battery, so you can keep each device topped up. Hollyland says this gives you a total runtime of 22 hours from full charge.
I have mixed feelings about equipment with built-in lithium batteries. The Hollyland kit is much smaller than my old AA-powered Rode kit, but when the battery eventually loses capacity, it’s not user-replaceable. At least with the Hollyland kit, the high capacities of each battery should mean that they have a relatively long life.
When I started using the Lark Max the receiver occasionally lost charge when it was stored in the charging case. However, since it’s been through a few charging cycles the problem seems to have gone away.
Interface
You can control everything from the transmitter. I found the interface clear and intuitive. You can choose whether to record in stereo (with one transmitter on each channel) or mono. You can also record a second, lower level ‘safety track’. This is really useful if you set the main audio level too high, or if the sound unexpectedly gets louder. It saved me from having to reshoot an interview recently.
You can make fine adjustments to the levels from each transmitter using the knob on the receiver. There’s also an ‘Auto Record’ option which means you’re ready to record at any time. Importantly, you can record to 8Gb of built-in storage on each transmitter, so you’ve got a backup if there are problems with the transmission. This is a really neat feature.
There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack on the side of the receiver, which is useful if you’re filming with a phone or a camera without a headphone socket.
The normal display shows the microphone levels. You tap the touchscreen to select one of the microphones, then adjust its level using the control knob on the left.
Pressing the knob in brings up this quick menu which gives access to a range of settings. The touchscreen button on the right toggles between this and the microphone level display.
Audio quality and range
I was impressed with the sound quality from the transmitter microphones. They’re compact, with a Hollyland logo that you could easily cover with black tape or marker pen. The clip-on furry windshields were effective.
Transmitter with clip-on furry windshield. The status light on each microphone indicates whether it’s paired (blue), active (green) or muted (red).
The transmitters also have inputs for lavalier mics. I tried them with Hollyland’s own lavs, and with the budget Boya BY-M1. If you want to use a lav, they worked fine. But I thought the sound quality from the microphones built into the transmitters was better than the lavs.
The Lark Max has optional environmental noise cancellation. This could be useful if you’re in a noisy environment and you’re looking for a quick turnaround. Personally I’d rather record the sound as it comes, then remove background sound when I’m editing.
Hollyland claim a huge 250 metre (820ft) range in line of sight, though it’s unlikely that you’ll need to record someone a quarter of a kilometre away. What’s more important is how it performs at closer distances with obstructions. I tried walking downstairs, away from the transmitter (ie with two walls and a floor in the way) and didn’t notice any drop-off.
Attachment
The transmitters and receiver have clips that also work as cold shoes. That lets you mount the receiver on your camera or a rig or cage, or even on your clothes (you’d need to buy a longer lead). I used a SnapShoe Magsafe mount on my phone.
Lark Max receiver mounted on my iPhone 15 Pro, using a Snapshoe MagSafe cold shoe (with SnapGrip shutter handle). The USB-C lead at the front connects to the phone; the other one is a headphone lead.
Lark Max receiver on my Panasonic G80. The built-in headphone socket is useful on cameras which lack one, as long as you’re careful to check the level meters on the camera itself.
The transmitters also come with little disc magnets. These give you more flexibility with positioning. You can also use them to put the microphones on the inside of clothing to make them more discreet. This looks ideal for a video I’m going to be shooting with some circus performers, where a wired lav would be a safety hazard.
The optional magnetic pendants would be ideal for documentary or news gathering, as they let you quickly mic up a subject.
Case
The kit includes a rugged case with a weather-protected zip, which has a separate zipped pocket for the accessories.
Conclusion
Sound quality is vital for video and filmmaking. If you need to film people talking, a reliable wireless mic system is one of the best investments you can make.
A lot of thought has been given to making the Hollyland Lark Max system user-friendly. Build quality seems solid, and the audio quality from the transmitter/microphones was really good. It performed very well on two recent outdoor shoots recently.
Disclosure: Hollyland provided me with the Lark Max Duo kit, but I haven’t been paid to write this review.
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