As a content creator, audio plays an important role in all your videos. For some viewers, poor-quality audio is a turn off, and will result in audiences choosing to move on to the next content. If you want to keep your audience engaged throughout your vlogging journey, an excellent microphone is essential.

The Sony ECM-B10 is a shotgun microphone designed with a digital signal processor enabling beamforming technology that ensures enhanced performance in detecting and recording audio. It is equipped with Sony’s unique algorithms that enable continuous noise reduction and multi-directivity pick-up patterns.  

Take it from the experts! Visual Ice Cream Studio’s Mike Li and sound effect designer Ming, who specializes in post-sound production, tested out the capabilities of the ECM-B10 and established that it is the ideal microphone for vloggers. Here’s why: 

• Light and compact – At only 72 grams and less than 80mm in length, the ECM-B10’s small portable size is one of the biggest plus points. Despite its lightweight frame, it is an excellent microphone for vloggers as its compactness allows it to be adaptable across environments and activities you may want to showcase in your videos.  

Whether you’re shooting a product review, a day in your life, or a travel vlog, you bet that you can rely on the ECM-B10 to make video shooting a lot easier! 

• Battery-free and cable-free – The shotgun microphone was made battery-free and wireless for easy configuration and portability. You can easily attach the ECM-B10 to a wide range of Sony cameras equipped with a Multi Interface (MI) Shoe; reducing interference, noise, and complexity. Additionally, with the camera supplying the power through the MI Shoe, the battery of your microphone will be the least of your worries during shoots. 

“I remembered the first time I used this microphone. I thought, ‘Wow, it’s amazing! Can this really work? Will it be able to fully capture the sound? It doesn’t need wires and batteries at all?’ You might feel surprised. If you plug in your earphones and listen to the audio, it will remove your doubts immediately,” said Mike. 

• Three switchable directivity patterns – Due to its compact body, most consumers may have doubts about ECM-B10 recording capabilities. Putting it to test, Mike’s review will put you at ease, “With Sony’s beamforming technology, the microphone cancels the noise and filters out unnecessary sounds. It is particularly excellent for recording human voices.” 

To ensure that it supports all your vlogging needs, the ECM-B10 is designed with three directivity patterns: super-directional, unidirectional and omnidirectional patterns. Its advanced digital signal processing and beamforming technology allows you to choose to the pattern where audio recording is to be enhanced through a convenient three-way switch on the rear panel of the microphone. 

Firstly, the super-directional pattern captures sound from a focused area in front of the camera while suppressing audio from the off-axis and behind the camera. It is best to use it when subjects are standing close to the camera, like when you are taking selfie vlogs with two to three people in the frame with you.  

In the video, Mike used the super-directional pattern in a room where the air-conditioner and electric fan were on. He compared the audio with the filter turned on and off. It was evident through his test that when the pattern was turned off, the microphone was able to detect only his voice and there was a reduction in environmental sounds as well.  

Meanwhile, the unidirectional pattern records audio mostly from the front side alone as it minimizes the audio pickup from behind. This means that it detects the audio from where the microphone or camera is pointed to. The unidirectional pattern is most suitable when you need to record balanced audio of the people you are shooting. Perfect for creating vlogs with your friends! 

Mike tested the unidirectional pattern in the same room, holding out the camera at an arm’s length as this was the angle most used by vloggers.  The result showed how the microphone clearly picked up his voice with minimal background noise. “We can hear voices clearly and the degree of filtering is clearly higher,” he reviewed. 

Finally, the omnidirectional pattern enables you to record things clearly, whether it is from the front or back of the microphone. It picks up audio equally from all directions. This is ideal when for content requiring environmental audio or filming interview-based content, where you will need to record your voice from behind the camera and the voice of an interviewee who is in front of the camera.  

To enable comparison to be fair, both content creators tested the omnidirectional pattern in the same room.  Like before, both the air-conditioner and electric fan were switched on. With the pattern turned off, the usual buzzing noise produced by both the appliances were distinctly audible when the pattern was turned off. However, upon switching on the pattern the buzzing noise was immediately eliminated. By putting the microphone to the test, the audio reflected how well the ECM-B10 microphone was able to filter low-frequency sounds from the surrounding environment. 

• Advanced beamforming technology – The ECM-B10’s digital signal processing enables beamforming technology, which detects and enhances a particular audio source from a narrow range in front of the camera. Thanks to this technology, you can easily achieve clear and crisp audio for your vlogs while reducing sensitivity from outside that specific area. Experts Mike and Ming agreed that the microphone’s capability to capture human voices is excellent, making it a superb companion for every vlogger’s content creation journey. 

“I think it is specially designed for processing human voices. The way it captures the speaker’s voice is incredible. The human voice recording really surprised me,” said Ming. 

In addition to high-quality video quality, your content also deserves high-quality audio. The ECM-B10 microphone is designed for your every need as a content creator. We promise that it will be well worth it! If you need more convincing, check out Visual Ice Cream Studio in-depth review of the ECM-B10 to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIdKm7r_OKM