Sennheiser XS Lav Mobile and XS Lav USB-C: Exceptional Lavaliers

With technology enabling multiple forms of media convergence in mobile devices, the Sennheiser XS Lav Mobile and XS Lav USB-C are excellent lapel microphones for those who wish to start out with quality voice recordings, as K Madhavan Pillai discovers.

- K Madhavan Pillai

Sennheiser has made a huge name for itself in headphones and microphones, and are generally among the preferred audio source for professionals, with scalable systems and a range of products for various budgets. What sets the company apart, though, is that they bring their signature sound in both recording and listening devices down to more affordable levels for serious enthusiasts and home users. More than this... they innovate, and they have maintained a high level of quality over decades. Just as with photography and video, few companies in audio can actually boast of this.

On test here are two near identical lavalier microphones, the Sennheiser XS Lav (with a 3.5mm TRRS pin) and the XS Lav USB-C, differentiated by its USB-C connector.

Features

It says on the packaging of the 3.5mm XS Lav, “Ideal for podcast, video and voice-over recordings that require a simple, high-quality set-up.” The USB-C edition replaces the word “video” with “online presentations”. Though both microphones can be used for both purposes, there are clear differentiation between the two. The XS Lav Mobile is an analogue mic, used with any device that records via a 3.5mm TRRS port, used in a majority of recording systems. The XS Lav USB-C enables a direct digital output, sampling at a maximum of 48kHz, perfect for both audio and video, and for all the applications that a mic of this nature is intended for.