Antlion ModMic Wireless Review: For A Very Particular Set Of Users
The original ModMic had a clear goal, to provide an affordable microphone solution to gamers who do not wish to let go of their cans for a pair of dedicated headsets. Like most peripherals, cutting the wires was an inevitable evolution that most products have benefited from. While the idea of going wireless also seemed like a good one on paper, the result was the ModMic Wireless, a confused version which in hindsight kinda only 'upgraded' the mic in its price and connectivity, well, unless you have a very specific use case for it.
The ModMic Wireless is a very straightforward product by itself, a wireless microphone extension that you can magnetically attach to your headphones to convert them into a “headset”, you get the benefits of still using your favourite headphones while gaming within a cable-free environment.
It connects via the included USB-A dongle and the setup process is very straightforward as well, simply stick the magnetic clasp to your headphones, attach the ModMic, plug in the USB dongle and turn it on by holding the button on the ModMic, a blue LED will flash and once it turns solid you are good to go. It’s almost plug-and-play!
We tested out ModMic Wireless on our PC and PS5 and they both worked just fine with little to no latency thanks to its aptX enhancements similar to those you find in wireless Bluetooth headphones. Of course, like all wireless products, the connectivity will drop when the distance increases or when walls separate the mic from the dongle. The product page claims a good 10+ metres range but I don't think anyone will stray that far to use the ModMic anyways, rest assured it will work just fine sitting on a couch about 2-3 metres away from the TV and if you do find yourself using it further away, Antlion also includes an extension cable for the dongle.
The battery life is pretty good as well, we had it on for the whole day of about 10 hours with interval usage of gaming, Discord and Google Meets, ending the day on low battery. When testing with my PS5, my DualSense ran out of battery before the ModMic, both from a full charge. While this is not an accurate test by any means, it does show that there is little to worry about in terms of battery life as long as you remember to charge it regularly.
The ModMic Wireless charges via micro USB and you can use it whilst it's charging as well. In our case, we do it at night using a magnetic charging cable. The one time we forgot to charge it, it died during a PS5 session and if you don't have a USB port readily available nearby it's going to be a hassle to get your mic up and running again. Considering many peripherals now support Type-C charging, the lack of one on the Wireless does leave us wanting.
With all that out of the way, let's take a look at the mic quality itself, after all, it is the primary function of the product. The mic features two pickup patterns, omni-directional and uni-directional, if you are unfamiliar with microphone terminologies, simply put, omni-directional opens the mic to sounds all around while uni-directional only picks up sound directly in front of the mic making it ideal in situations with lots of unwanted noise around you.
For everyday use, the omni-directional mode will work just fine with your voice being put out crisp and clear, the uni-directional mode will sound cleaner if it’s positioned right but you will need to do some volume adjustments when switching modes due to the shift in frequency responses. Here are some samples.
The ModMic Wireless is available on Antlion Audio's website at US$139.95, if you don't already own a pair of headphones to consider, Antlion does have bundles available for all versions of the ModMic with popular headphones like Beyerdynamic and Audio Technica.
Picture this, you’re an owner of a pair of headphones looking for a microphone solution so that you can game while maintaining that high-quality audio output. Would you rather spend a good 130 US dollars for a wireless microphone extension, having to regularly charge it?
Or if you are stationed at your desk anyway, would you rather spend the money on a condenser microphone which can produce just as if not cleaner audio without that hassle of charging? Or even save a few bucks for the regular ModMic which brings all of the same benefits and eliminates the potential of a flat battery mid-game?
Since the ModMic Wireless isn’t supported on the Xbox at the moment, would you get a ModMic Wireless just to game on your PS5 when you can similarly save a few bucks for the wired version? To add to this, the wired version will work on any device with a 3.5mm audio jack.
Maybe if you already own a pair of wireless headphones, like the Sony WH-1000XM5 and wish to achieve a completely cable-free setup, this might work?
Considering all of these scenarios, the target group for ModMic Wireless seems extremely narrow, but if you fall within that particular group, are able to reap its benefits, or if you really want wireless connectivity, this may be a product that's made for you! If wireless connectivity isn’t your priority, the regular ModMic is also a very solid choice, bringing about the same set of utilities, with cables attached!