Photos and Features

So far all three of the ModMics that I have had the chance to check out have had drastic changes in their packaging. The Antlion Audio guys are hard at work but my high dollar CPUs, GPUs, and motherboards are all reusing the same packaging over and over again. Big props to the dedication! So The ModMic 4 had a slide on packaging that went with a simple brown box look. The ModMic 5 changed things with a full package and they went with a white box but it was much larger. Here though the ModMic Wireless sticks with the white and has a similar look on the front but the box is smaller and doesn’t have a six-sided shape like before.

The front of the box has a drawing of the microphone in full color including the status LEDs. They have a list of features and then a photo that kind of shows how this attaches to your headphones along with a note that says the same thing. It does a good job of explaining what this is for a retail setting. The back of the box has another drawing but this time with lines and labels. They also have the receiver here as well again with labels.

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One of the features that all three of my ModMics have had is a high quality carrying case. The ModMic Wireless is no different. The case is a hard leather style case and it is about the size of a traditional TV remote. On top, it has the Antlion logo embossed into it and a zipper around keeping the two halves together. Inside one side has two elastic straps and this is where you can store the microphone. The receiver, cables, and accessories are all tucked in on the other side and the included documentation is up under the microphone. It is all lined with a soft microfiber like fabric and the accessory side has the fishnet pouch that lets you see what is inside but to hold smaller items like the receiver.  

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For documentation, they included two different papers. One is blue on one side with a huge READ THIS on it. This paper explains that the ModMic Wireless has a new stronger magnetic base clasp and if you are like me and have an older ModMic they recommend replacing it. The back of that same paper has instructions on how to install the ModMic Wireless including a highlighted part that you should wait at least an hour before use, overnight being even better. The other documentation includes more tips on how to install and orientate your microphone and they also dive into how to use it as well. The wired ModMics were simple enough, once you had the cable ran, plug it in and that is it. With the ModMic Wireless you have a few new aspects like syncing, turning it on and off, charging, and what the LEDs on both the receiver and microphone mean so you want to at least give this a quick read through.

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So here is everything you get with the ModMic Wireless with the exception of the carrying case and documentation. You have two cables which I will touch on in a few, a receiver, the microphone, and a small baggie with the installation accessories.

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So this right here is what the ModMic traded its cord in for. The receiver is USB 2.0 and is boxed off for the most part. It has just one button on it and then next to that button are the three status LEDs. The left LED is red, the middle is blue, and the right is yellow. Blue shows your connection status, solid is on and connected and blinking is on but not connected. The yellow blinking shows that you have a low battery and solid is a full battery. When you charge the microphone the yellow will also blink but slowly to show that it is charging. Then the last one is the red which is on or off and only shows your mute status. The receiver LED indicators are also open on the end should the button side not be visible to you.

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The other half of this duet is the ModMic Wireless itself. 2/3rds of this looks a lot like what I have seen on the ModMic 5. You have a flexible boom that runs over to the plastic enclosure around the microphone. Then over on the left is the wireless housing, this is the big change and this houses the wireless transmitter. It also has three LEDs and a button just like the receiver, I bet you can imagine that those are used for, but I will run through those in a second when I take a closer look.  

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So here is the microphone end of this setup. On the inside of the microphone there is a switch and if you look closely you can see a circle on the left side and on the right something similar to a PAC-MAN shape. The ModMic Wireless, like the ModMic 5, has both omni and unidirectional microphones in it. Prior to the ModMic 5 Antlion had two different models for that as well as two of each of those for with and without the mute switch. Combining everything cuts down on all of those different models. So if you don’t know what the difference is, the two pictures on the switch actually help. Omni means it picks up from every direction, the uni-directional microphone, on the other hand, doesn’t pick up from the one direction. So Omni is best in a studio setup where you want the best quality, uni should help cut down on background noise.

Now the microphone itself has some interesting specs. It can pick up to 10+ meters away which is 32 feet. It runs at a 16-bit depth and at a sample rate of 48kHz which together is DVD quality. They use an aptX Low Latency codec and they advertise the latency at around 34ms. Its response range is 20Hz to 20kHz. I do wonder if this is for both omi and uni configurations, I know on the ModMic 5 they were very different between the two. That said this picks up on the high end better than the ModMic 5 going from 17.5kHz to 20 kHz, the same on the low end going from 30 Hz on the Omni down to 20 Hz. Now if the specs apply to the Uni-Direction pattern the performance jump would be significantly higher as well.

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So here is where all of the wireless work is done. The attachment point where you mount the microphone on your headset is now also pulling double duty. This is a good spot for it because as you can see it is a little bulky but it uses its space well. In the center is a rubber button with the Antlion Audio logo on it. Around it are three status LEDs. These show exactly the same thing that the receiver shows when they are synced. So red is microphone muted, yellow is all battery statuses (flashing mean low, solid is full, flashing slowly when charging) and then blue is for connection status. There is a micro-USB port here which is what you charge the microphone with. I do think if there are future versions considering USB Type-C wouldn’t be a bad idea, if only for the universal shape that can’t be plugged in wrong. But also because most phones have moved to that as well so a lot of people will have that charger already on their desk and in their living room.

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The ModMic Wireless attaches using nearly the same setup as they have used in past designs. This was actually an area which I wanted to see improved in the past. It didn’t hold strong enough and I also wanted to see a slightly smaller adjustment angle, you have 5 directions in total. The second part didn’t change and I will have to see if that ends up being an issue here. But they did change the magnets and as you might have picked up from the new installation instructions which ask to wait at least an hour but preferably overnight for use after installation. That is because the new magnets are STRONG. I will play with them more in the performance section, but yeah they did improve that. The ModMic Wireless comes with one attachment point pre-attached for a quick peal and stick installation (after cleaning the surface).

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As for the rest of the included accessories. I think it is the two big cables that might make people wonder the most. This is wireless, why so many wires. Well, one is a USB type-A (standard) to micro USB cable for charging the microphone. The other is Type-A male to Type-A female, in other words, an extension cable. They include this so you can plug your receiver in up on your desk. The extender is apparently not for better reception, it is so you can better see the status LEDs. You can’t really look around and see them on the microphone itself so getting these in front of you on your desk or up under your TV can give you a heads-up if they need to be charged before they turn off and you talk to your team for an hour and no one listens then you get frustrated and leave for the night. Not that it’s ever happened to me before… That brings me to another point, this is cross-platform supported with Windows, Mac, and Linux on PC and the PS4 as well. No support for the Xbox 1 though.

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The small bundle of installation goodies gets you two more fresh adhesive pads if you need them later. You get an alcohol prep pad for your first installation cleaning. There is also a second magnetic clasp giving you two total. This means you can swap between two headsets for example. The last part is a wire organizer which is again ironic for a wireless device. They don’t list it in the “What's In the Box” listing so I don’t know if it was a carryover from the wired models but you could use it to keep your receiver extension cable up in a visible spot.

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