BOYA BY-MM1 Pro: the best shotgun microphone under $70?
Just picture this…
A microphone… no no, a dual-capsule condenser microphone. That is compatible with both your camera AND your phone. You only need one cable for every device, no batteries required, headphone output… and all of that for less than $70!
A couple of months ago I reviewed the BOYA BY-MM1+. In my opinion the Boya BY-MM1+ is one of the best budget microphones of 2020. Recently BOYA came out with the BY-MM1 Pro and I was curious to know if this could be the best budget microphone of 2021.
The BOYA BY-MM1 Pro
What's in the box?
In the box you get the microphone, which comes with the cable attached to it. There's also a shock mount and a nice quality case. In the case you get two fury windscreens and two foam pop filters.
Specs
The thing that actually sets this microphone apart from it's predecessors is that it's a dual-capsule condenser microphone, so you get two microphones in one. One facing forward and one facing backwards. There’s a letter F that indicates which one is the Front microphone and an R that shows which one is the Rear microphone. This is a great feature for filming interviews! Or if you’re a vlogger and you keep switching from being in front of the camera to being behind it. With the BY-MM1 Pro you can do this flawlessly without having to worry about the audio quality. What's also interesting is that the Rear microphone records at 12dB lower than the Front microphone since people tend to stand closer to the microphone when they're behind the camera.
There are two switches on the microphone. One is for you to choose between recording on a camera or a smartphone. The other one is for switching between the different recording modes. Front mode, Front and Rear mode or Rear mode. The BOYA BY-MM1 Pro has a headphone output on the side for monitoring audio. I should point out that this is meant for playback and only works when using the microphone with a smartphone.
Tests
I did some indoor and outdoor tests with the microphone on my phone and my camera. If you want to get an idea of what the audio quality is like you can check the video below. During the outdoor test with my phone I did notice some distortion in the audio. Since my iPhone 11 uses a 3.5mm jack to lightning adapter I tested the microphone on my iPhone 5c and got the same results. I'm still not sure what the problem is, but I think I can rule out the adapter being the culprit.
While doing the outdoor test on my Canon EOS M50 I noticed that the fury windshields do a terrible job at cutting out wind. Not only that, but in Front+Rear mode the BY-MM1 Pro merges the audio of both microphones together instead of recording the audio onto two separate channels of the same track so you can split them in post if you want. Personally I think THIS was a missed opportunity on Boya's part to make this microphone perfect. Let's say the audio of the Rear microphone clips or there's some other kind of distortion. It will ruin the whole audio track rather than just the audio of the Rear microphone.
Boya decided to go with the same shock mount as the BY-MM1+ which is pretty stiff. Because of the stiffness the shock mount doesn't absorb shock so well. This is noticeable in the audio if you walk and talk.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
You have two microphones in one. So, you can record two people at once.
It’s compatible with multiple devices. You can choose which device with the flick of a switch.
You only need one cable.
You can choose between different modes of recording.
There’s a headphone output.
Comes with a case
Cons:
You can only monitor the audio during playback.
The windscreens are too small. A bigger windscreen helps the mic pick up less wind.
In Front+Rear mode the audio records on one track. You cannot separate the audio onto two separate tracks.
The shock mount.
Conclusion
I’m not sure if I would recommend this microphone. While I think it has potential there’s the problem with distortion when recording videos on my smartphone. I would have to do some more tests to find out what the problem is. In Front+Rear mode it records the audio from both microphones on one track. If you want to record an interview without having to worry about editing audio in post then, sure… the BY-MM1 Pro is a great microphone! But I want to at least be able to separate the audio from both microphones in post. Since that's not possible it doesn’t fully fulfill my needs. However, it does record good audio. I have to give it that!
Some of the links in this blog are Amazon affiliate links. Read more
Did you find this review helpful? You can support me on Buy Me A Coffee
