Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware
Antlion Audio has made a mark on the industry with its attachable microphones. We have previously reviewed the ModMic 5. The ModMic USB is the first of the ModMics to use a USB connection. The USB connection means you have the analog-to-digital converter in the microphone instead of the in the PC. The ModMic USB can then provide consistent performance without worrying about the audio input for a specific computer. As well, the Antlion Audio ModMic USB can be used on PCs and with the PlayStation 4.
All ModMic models look fairly similar with a long arm and a curve around closer to the back. Close to the curve is a small circular button with a magnet on the inside. This little plastic circle can be loosened and adjusted to sit anywhere on the arm. The Antlion Audio ModMic USB, like its predecessors, has an all-black color, ensuring it can easily be applied to a variety of headphones without clashing with a color scheme. As well, the entire assembly is thin and sleek, meaning it does not interfere with anything else. The microphone itself is also fairly small, similar in size to the microphone on the HyperX Cloud. I only foresee one issue at this point in the review and that is the cable. It is long and easily adjusted, which are benefits. However, it is another cable to manage on top of whatever cable your headset has. Antlion Audio does provide plenty of cable clips to aid in this matter, but you should be mindful of it. Along the cable is a mute button, making it easy to turn your microphone on and off.
Above we have a closer view of the microphone. The internals are protected by the plastic housing, which also has a toggle switch. This toggle changes between unidirectional and omni-directional modes. The unidirectional mode means the microphone will only pick up noise from a single direction, so it will block out background noise. On the other hand, the omni-directional mode will pick up everything around the microphone. Antlion Audio includes a small windscreen covering to minimize wind noises like breathing.
The two different microphones in the casing means we have quite a few specifications for this ModMic. The unidirectional microphone has a frequency response of 100Hz to 10kHz, sensitivity of 36dB, and impedance of 2.2 ohms. The omni-directional microphone has a similar sensitivity, but it has a lower impedance at 1.2 ohms and a wider frequency response of 50Hz to 20kHz. There are not too many surprises when it comes to these specifications of these microphones.
At least one reason why the Antlion Audio ModMics have been so popular is because they so easily attach to any headset. They do this with two magnets. A small puck-like object sticks to your headset so the ModMic can easily be attached and detached from the headset. An extra magnet is also in the box, in case anything happens to the first one. The magnets are really strong. Unfortunately, the little pucks have surprisingly sharp points. These points are supposed to ensure the microphone does not spin about the magnet. When I did not have the microphone attached, I would frequently get poked by the puck when I adjusted my headset. It was a small nuisance, but present nonetheless.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
