At school this year, we are staging a musical. For me, this means an endless list of jobs and a lot of stress. I’ve sourced props, sets, costumes, paid for production and filming rights and created a huge pile of planning and direction documentation. We start auditions this week! However, one thing that is still not properly sourced is the audio equipment. These days, musicals need microphones…so many microphones. Mics suspended over the stage, hand mics and headset mics. When I asked the editors at DRN to help me with microphones for a musical, I was hoping for one of those. Instead, I was offered Maono’s Wave T5 Combo AI Lavalier Microphones. 
Honestly, beggars can’t be choosers and a quick google search piqued my curiosity. Lavalier microphones are designed to be attached to your clothing or hung around the neck, like the pendant that the name comes from. While perhaps not right for my musical, it was clear just from the picture that these microphones would be useful in a lot of recording situations and I wasn’t going to turn them down. Further, they came from Maono which is quickly becoming a favourite brand for audio equipment.
First Impressions
I recently reviewed the PD300X and was disappointed by the lacklustre packaging. I had thought that Maono were pivoting away from their trademark boundless generosity and beautiful package design and was so happy to be proved wrong. The Wave T5 Combo AI Lavalier Microphones come with so much great stuff and are marvelously well packaged. 
Everything starts packaged in a hard cardboard box with Maono’s logo in gold – very decadent! Inside are two storage bags for the microphones, a hard shell case and a soft faux leather bag. In the combo pack, two transmitters (the bit of the microphone you speak into) and a 3.5mm receiver are stored inside a sleek charging box. The charging box has a magnetic lid and lights to indicate charge levels. The shell case doesn’t fit inside the soft bag so I imagine it is designed to store the charging box and a few accessories when users are on the go and space is at a premium.
The ‘combo’ package that I received contains two transmitters and 3 different types of receivers, each with different ports and functions. One year ago, I reviewed the WM620 lavalier microphones and complained that the receiver had limited functionality because it only connected to USB-C devices. In the Wave T5, they have clearly heard these complaints and drowned me in a wave of varied options as their response. One of the Wave T5 receivers looks very similar to the WM620 receiver and is designed specifically for USB-C phones and devices. Another is the same but features an iPhone Lightning port – despite them not being featured in iPhones any more because of an EU mandate. Thankfully, I’m an old man with an old phone and was able to take full advantage of Maono’s generosity.
The final receiver is called a 3.5mm receiver and features a 3.5mm headphone jack output and a USB-C charging port. It is designed specifically for cameras and has some interesting added functions and features that I’ll talk about later. The two tiny circular transmitters have two push buttons each with a few handy functions. They come with detachable fluffy ‘windscreens’, magnetic clips, magnetic backings, a magnetic necklace (for when you can’t pin the mic to clothing) and a few important cables. There are so many ways to use these transmitters that they are starting to feel like spy tools.
Set Up
The downside of offering so much stuff, is that it took me a bit of time to work out what each piece of equipment was for. I say downside, but it was more like Christmas morning, finding a new shiny object and asking myself “what does this thing do?” I decided to start by setting up the lightning receiver and using it with my phone. I plugged it in and immediately made two recordings, one with and one without Maono’s AI noise cancellation function. Both sound good and I can imagine using them both in different situations. You can listen to my recordings in the next section.
However, the best way to make use of the Wave T5 is in conjunction with Maono’s sound customisation software – Maono Link. For the Wave T5, this is currently only available for iPhone and Android phones and not yet for use on a PC or Mac. It’s a really good idea to install and use Maono Link.
Firstly, it allows for substantial customisation with sound. You can adjust the gain and customise the level of noise cancellation you want. You can also choose from four different ‘sound colouration’ profiles – one of which is ‘huskiness’. Most importantly though, Maono Link allows you to install firmware upgrades that have been made to every part of the device. While this was a bit time consuming, it’s clear that Maono are quick to respond to issues and make improvements.
In Use
From my phone, I made a series of recordings, varying the gain, noise reduction and sound quality you can listen to below. Each change made a big difference to the quality of the sound. I then plugged it into my Mac and recorded with and without noise reduction. It’s still a good microphone without the Maono Link custom options but when you have seen the best, it’s hard to settle for anything less. I posted my recordings at the bottom of this section.
In my review of the Maono WM620 I talked about why using wireless receivers for Lavalier Microphones is preferable to Bluetooth but it is particularly obvious with these. The range from transmitter to receiver is advertised as 300 metres and I couldn’t hear any noticeable delays when I recorded from the opposite ends of my house.
The microphones are so light and their magnets are so strong, it is very easy to forget you are wearing them and I definitely almost wore them to bed. They are omni directional and can pick up noise that is pretty close to them but the noise reduction function is pretty effective at isolating and boosting the speech of the wearer, even when worn as low as my sternum. I tested some high and low pitch sounds and got a pretty smooth and consistent gain. There were no audible mechanical or concerning sounds that shouldn’t be there.
I also shouted into it at full volume and was pleased that it didn’t seem to have any substantial distortion. As a full time teacher and former opera singer, I can bellow with the best of them. The fluffy windscreens have a little bit of an effect but I was happy with the quality of sound without them.
Finally, I tried to make use of the 3.5mm receiver despite not having a camera. The headphone jack in the side is clearly designed to provide input to a camera and I have seen some great videos of very clever uses for this device but I ultimately was not able to make it work for me on my computer. The receiver allows you to record in mono or stereo sound and adjust the gain when recording to a digital camera. It seems like a great tool for someone with better film recording devices than I own and a nice way to make sound still customisable without the Maono Link app.
Phone with Maono Link App Voice Enhancer, High Gain
Phone with Maono Link App Huskiness, High Gain
Phone with Maono Link App Huskiness, Mid Gain
Phone with Maono Link App Warmth, Mid Gain
Phone with no Maono Link app, Noise Reduction on
Phone with no Maono Link app, Noise Reduction on
Mac with Noise Reduction on
Mac with Noise Reduction off
Gripes
After I downloaded the firmware upgrades on all of the different devices, I noticed that the power button on the microphones and the one on the lightning receiver would turn my phone off if held for too long. This happened more times than I would like to admit as the connection between the receiver and microphones dropped whenever my phone went to sleep and I would have to re-establish their connection manually. This was a bit annoying but ultimately easily resolved.
Beyond that, the fact that each piece needs its own, separate firmware upgrade was a bit time consuming. I would have liked the Maono Link software to be ready for computers. Lastly, I would have liked a bit more clarity around the use of the 3.5mm receiver. The manual has a lot of useful information but that particular section was lacking. Beyond those gripes, the Wave T5 is a really great product.
Conclusion
Ultimately, this is a substantial improvement on the last Lavalier microphones I tested from Maono, the WM620, and those were already really good microphones. The Wave T5 microphones have great customisability, versatility and they are comfortable to use and wear. The sound is really good and the price is unbelievably low for how much product you are getting. I really don’t know how they will be able to top this in a year’s time but I’m sure Maono’s attention to detail and responsiveness to feedback will somehow find a way.
The Maono Wave T5 has a RRP starting from AUD$206.07 for a single connector type. If you want the combo (reviewed here) with USB-C and Lightning, it is a little more at AUD$237.77. All the models are on discount at time of publish with savings ranging from about $16 to $64. It is also available from Amazon US and Amazon UK.
DRN would like to thank Maono for providing the review unit.
