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There is a general push to redefine the appearance of wireless lav solutions. Brands such as Sony, Sennheiser, and Rode have triggered this popularity with new clip-on designs that do not necessarily require wired lapel microphones as part of the equation. Since then, companies from all over the world have followed the same path, looking for other ways to improve the process. Now you can use a compact wireless lav solution that is smaller, lighter and rechargeable. One of the most recent choices is the Holland Lark 150 Duo kit.

Lark 150 is one of the latest modifications by providing a rechargeable box for everything. Similar to many wireless earbud options that now come with their own suitcase. Gone are the days of having to drain the Duracell Procell battery in the microphone. Now, you just need to plug them into the power source or put them in the case to keep them charged, which might save you a lot of money.

This lav kit provides a lot of flexibility because everything is well packaged, maintains a small form factor, and provides long-term charging, allowing you to spend almost any day without you having to scan the available frequencies in the area , Provide a similar range of UHF solutions, and complete all these tasks while maintaining a competitive price.

Both transmitters and one receiver are smaller than normal UHF counterparts. The transmitter is about 1/3 (or smaller) the size of a normal UHF bodypack. The receiver is about 1/2 (or smaller) the size of a normal UHF receiver. They also only take up a small part of the weight, which reduces the attention of the speaker (which is easily distracted).

The weight of the transmitter is only 21.5 grams, and the weight of the receiver is 51 grams. Things won't really start to become normal until you include the weight of everything in a suitcase with its own (larger) built-in battery. At this point, it started to feel similar to two ordinary UHF waist bags put together. However, it is still lighter than the complete UHF kit (including the receiver), and you don't have to drag an extra battery block. Therefore, overall, you can reduce a lot of weight.

As mentioned earlier, it resembles a typical wireless earbud with a charging suitcase. When you slide the device into the case, they will immediately disconnect and start charging. The receiver then acts as a status indicator for the entire kit, giving you the battery life of each unit and enclosure. Quite smart (and very user-friendly) features.

The transmitter will last up to 4 hours, and the receiver will last up to 7.5 hours. This alone is already better than using ordinary batteries. Then, you can pay up to 2.5 additional times for using the shell. This may give you up to 14 hours of overall usage time (if you always use two transmitters at the same time). For most situations on any given day, this should be sufficient.

The moment you take them out of the box, they start calling the receiver. According to our experience, it takes about 3-5 seconds to establish a connection. When it happens, each package is set to a specific color so that you can distinguish them.

If you remove one without any connection, they will automatically power off to save battery (ie you remove the transmitter but the receiver is still charging at the base or turned off).

There is only one button on the transmitter package for users to use. Press and hold it will control the power state of the package, and a single press will trigger the mute function. There is nothing else on the packaging that can be adjusted.

If the wired lapel is not inserted, the built-in microphone (visible between the LED light and the wired lapel 3.5mm input in the picture above) will automatically activate. If the wired lapel is inserted, the built-in microphone will be disabled and it will automatically switch to wired.

The receiver shares these color values ​​on the LED lights above each dial and on the screen. So you always know which microphone you are using. Of course, we recommend labeling the microphone, because you will never be too careful when you find yourself in a hurry to set it up.

It uses an OLED screen, which helps make everything very clear and easy to read. No need to guess what is displayed on the screen, the backlight will time out after a few seconds to save battery life.

You have more features, but it is still very user-friendly. Especially, since you don't have to adjust the frequency (if they work in a wireless heavy environment, this may be a lifesaver).

There is a button on the side to turn the receiver on and off, and a headphone jack for connecting a pair of headphones to monitor the information the receiver obtains from the TX package in real time.

Rotate it and you will find the line out port for connecting it to any device that receives recordings. The kit (usually) comes with two cables, so you have many options.

You can get a normal TRS to TRS 3.5 mm cable for DSLR or camcorders (and recorders, live recorders, etc.) and then you (should) get TRS to TRRS cables for smartphones and tablets, which share the same earphones and microphones Port (headphone port). We understand that some versions of the kit may not have the latter, so you only need to check the content list in the list to make sure you see two cables (unless you don't need a smartphone/tablet cable). All kits come with a normal TRS to TRS cable.

Then there are two dials on the front of the receiver, each of which controls a transmitter. Turning the dial will control the volume of the transmitter, pressing the dial once (button) will mute or unmute the transmitter.

You can also press and hold the dial for about 3 seconds to switch between mono, stereo and "safe tracking" modes. Mono (displayed as "mono" on the OLED screen) means that the two microphones will overlap on a single mono channel between the left and right. Stereo (shown as "stereo") means that the microphones will be separated, with the left microphone on the left channel and the right microphone on the right channel (this makes post-editing easier if you have to adjust the volume or clean up a single microphone). Safety Track mode (displayed as "ST") means that both the left and right channels will be equipped with two transmitters, and only the right channel will be 6dB smaller than the left channel.

Both the transmitter and receiver have built-in clips on the back, allowing you to clip them to your subject or equipment. They are not as detachable as the normal metal wire options you usually find on UHF kits. However, we found that the width and thickness of the clip allow it to slide perfectly into the cold shoe in case you prefer to mount the receiver to your gear in this way. If you don't have cold shoes available on your rig, you may find yourself using Velcro or similar techniques to install it.

We found that these are indeed the same operating distances as most UHF options. They advertise up to 100M (328 feet) between the transmitter and receiver. This is true when it is completely open and barrier-free (outside). However, your distance will decrease when indoors and when there are obstacles.

So far, in our tests, the kit fully meets our expectations and provides a UHF solution. Certain scenarios may bring better performance, while other scenarios may bring related performance.

You can find kits in two colors, black and white. Strict user preferences are more important than anything else. If you want to comply with normal production rules, black can be integrated into most situations. However, in some special circumstances, you may encounter an all-white event (or a dressed speaker), where the white kit may be your best friend to keep it hidden.

In some cases, if your budget allows, you may need one of them so that you are always prepared for any given scenario. Either way, both kits come with black wired lapels, so if you find yourself using the included microphone, it doesn't matter which kit you use. We still tend to recommend using the lapel because you will get better audio and the flexibility to use other microphone brands.

The performance provided by this kit is actually very powerful. Beyond the entry level, only below the (expensive) professional setting. This means that the price of the kit is very competitive. This should bring some very successful numbers to Holland. This is not surprising, because we have tested some of their other products in the past and they also performed well (ie Hollyland Mars 400 wireless dual HDMI video transmission system).

The audio from the microphone is a bit bright, which means you might soften some of the higher frequencies in post-editing, but it's not bad. They may wish to adjust it in future firmware updates to make higher frequencies less aggressive. Just a little bit. There are very few low-ends, and you usually spend most of your time filtering them out. However, for deeper sounds, it does become brighter and deviates from the normal sound pattern.

friendly user? This kit is absolutely friendly. Very suitable for beginners and intermediate users, but also very suitable for professionals to use (although professionals tend to prefer a little more custom control).

Can we improve? Absolutely. It would be great if you could connect it to a PC and use software to adjust some deeper functions. Maybe some simple EQ controls (such as the ability to switch between 3 sound profiles), because some people may prefer the bright and clear audio provided by these microphones, some people may prefer it to be less bright, or maybe Prefer to bring very light sounds. A lot of bass helps to capture those warm sounds more naturally. Or you can adjust things such as the OELD screen timeout in seconds, and other personal preferences you may want. If these devices can be connected via USB for firmware updates, why not provide more professional users with some extra flexibility when you use them. However, the lack of this will not affect the product's score. It simply shows where the company may or may go with the new generation in the future.

If Holland decides to provide serious professionals with better kits in the future, we will be very fascinated.

*Average price based on the time of publication of this article

Reference audio input level: -65 dBV Maximum input sound pressure level: 100d8 SPL (1KHz@1m) Dynamic range: 100 dBA Polarity mode: Omnidirectional audio output level change range: 21-State: 45d8

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