Introduction
The Sony ECMAW4 is a wireless microphone system offering crisp audio capture without tangling wires. It’s a solution for clear, hands-free communication, favored for its ease of use and reliability.
Design and Build
- Compact, light design
- Sturdy build ensures durability
The ECMAW4’s compact size and lightweight design make it easily portable. The build quality assures its longevity, making it suitable for various environments.
Connectivity and Compatibility
- Simple setup process
- Wide compatibility with devices
Setting up the Sony ECMAW4 is easy. It quickly connects to different devices, making it useful on many platforms.
Audio Quality
- Clear sound transmission
- Noise reduction technology
This microphone makes sound really clear and helps to reduce background noise so you can hear things better.
Performance and Battery Life
- Reliable performance
- Long-lasting battery
The ECMAW4 always works well and keeps going for a long time before needing a recharge.
System Pros
- Easy setup and operation
- Clear and reliable audio quality
- Compact and durable design
- Wide compatibility with devices
- Efficient technology for making less noise
System Cons
- Limited operating range
- Battery life may be insufficient for extensive sessions
Conclusion
The Sony ECMAW4 presents a commendable wireless microphone solution with its ease of use, reliable performance, and impressive audio quality. While it excels in most aspects, potential buyers should consider its limited operating range and battery life limitations.
Thomas W. Sulcer –
The beauty of these wireless microphones — one is a transmitter, and the other is a receiver, is that the speaker can record himself or herself while walking around. There’s no tether with a corded microphone, and it’s better than the microphone of the Canon Vixia camcorder (which will pick up sounds from the camera). The vocal quality is fair, and I use it when I’m recording my YouTube videos as well as my speeches. BUT remember to buy lots of AA batteries — the transmitter runs out of juice after about 20 minutes, and there’s no sign that it isn’t working until you replay your camcorder to hear the sad sound of silence. What I’ve learned to do is buy one of those packs of 16 or 20 AA batteries, and insert a new battery in both transmitter and receiver each time, problem solved. I assume the transmitting distance is only like 30 feet or so; I’ve only recorded myself when I’m in the same room as the camcorder, and it works fine, but I’ve not tested it at farther distances between the camcorder and subject.
SoulAFlame –
Not the best audio but when you get a mic close to a subject you are better off than a shotgun mic.
NickB –
Bought this to use with my Canon Vixia HFR52 camcorder. The Canon version of this appeared identical to this, but cost a lot more, so I bought the Sony-branded version, confident that it would be compatible with the Canon Vixia. Yep – works beautifully. Some folks have said it goes through the AAA batteries is uses very fast – that’s not been my experience. I’ve probably used my Canon Vixia with this mic system for about five hours of recording now, and the EverReady Lithium batteries in both the transmitter and receiver are still going strong. The mic works best when it’s within about two feet of the speaker, so clipping it to the lapel of the speaker is a good idea. I have, however, successfully just placed it on the podium used by the speaker and as long as they’re standing at the podium the sound is quite good. No problems working with the mic/receiver at a range of 70 feet. Overall I’m extremely pleased with this, and regard it as an essential accessory to my digital camcorder.
Ritvej Shrivastava –
I am re-writing my review about this product and reducing the star ranking.
This product of Sony worked good for just 3-4 months, soon one day it’s receiver and mic Wi-fi communication stopped and now my Rs. 20,000/- (approx.) product is waste. The receiver does not receives the signal sent by mic. The light (of emitting signal) of mic is blue (correct) but the receiver remains red (not receiving).
I tried to contact the seller but no return policy was the message given on my email. Now will go for their One Year warrently, which they have committed. If they do not respond & replace this Wireless Microphone, I will upload the video of this faulty product…
I will give One Star Now
icfguy –
I have used the earlier version of these for 7 years before one of the switches became locked in the on position. It still works great but I felt it was time to upgrade and these are even better than the early version. They are smaller and I like that they are black and seem to hide a bit better. They sound great as is but I bought a small lavalier mic to work with it and love it. These bluetooth microphone have never failed on me and I have posted hundreds of construction videos using them.
Jeff –
I bought this based on my experience with the ECM-W1M, which is a very similar system made for Sony’s own cameras that connects to the hot-shoe mount. That system works perfectly out of the box – everything’s matched and no tweaking is really necessary (or possible). The wireless works great with no noise and the sound quality is pretty excellent (some people have noticed hiss with that system, but I haven’t).
The ECM-AW4, being made for any camera, connects to an analog microphone jack via a standard 3.5mm plug and a wire. (That also means you need to attach the receiver somewhere on your camera with a clip – for me, the only thing I could do was attach the clip to its own wire. It’s light enough to do that, though it’s pretty inelegant.) So there’s an additional digital to analog conversion going on at the receiver. In my experience, the Bluetooth works as well on this system as the ECM-W1M, as you’d expect, but that extra analog conversion is a real weak point. It becomes very difficult to match the input level of the camera with the output level from the receiver, especially since the DAC in the receiver itself seems to have a very low gain tolerance.
You can use this system by itself out of the box – in addition to the receiver, the second part is a microphone that you can attach to a shirt. But it’s big and bulky and has a distracting blue LED on it (that you don’t want to cover since the battery life is quite short, and that’s the indicator). I see plenty of YouTube videos with people using this and it’s ok, it’s better than using the on-camera mic, but it’s just really obvious when you’re watching somebody wearing the included mic. It’s also not a great sounding microphone. Thankfully, the system is made to accept an external mic as well, allowing you to clip the included mic onto a belt or pocket and use it only as a transmitter/receiver system.
I’m using the ECM-AW4 with a Sony lapel mic (you probably see it somewhere on this page as a recommended add-on), which is basically made for this system as it’s got a very short wire, and I need to turn the “volume” on the receiver down to only about 3 or 4 ticks above 0 or it audibly distorts my voice. The problem is that at that low level, the signal then needs to be boosted in-camera, and you can then hear audible noise from the DAC or bluetooth transmission (not sure which; it’s clearly digital noise, but it’s equivalent to analog hiss).
That Sony lapel mic does have a lot of gain, which some people like because in a wired setup (which it isn’t even really made for with its short cord), that would let you turn down the recording levels in-camera, which would result in *less* noise. But with the DAC in the receiver of the ECM-AW4, it results in more noise because of its sensitivity to that gain and the fact that it distorts at reasonable level settings. So you have to set the level very low and boost it back up either in camera or in software, which also boosts the background noise.
I’ve tried other lapel mics with somewhat better results, but it’s still really hard to “dial in” a setting on both the receiver and camera that’s noise free and sounds natural and clear. If you do go with this system, I recommend looking for a very *low* gain lapel mic to match with it, so you can turn up the volume on the receiver a bit higher without it distorting. This is probably going to be a tough thing to find in a cheap lapel mic, because reviews typically aren’t technical enough to measure that… but look for reviews that say a mic is “quiet”.
FWIW, the included mic (that functions as a transmitter if you have a separate mic) is very low gain. But I found that it still distorts at a level that makes this mic sound like anything other than “dead”. Even with some distortion, or being very careful to modulate your voice, a separate lapel mic still sounds better than the included mic, which to me sounds like recording somebody with a cardboard box over their head.
Now, all that said, once you do get it set up in a way that sounds mostly okay, it’s… mostly okay. And that’s probably fine for a consumer-level wireless system. It is still wireless, and it’s very lightweight, so it’s *much* more convenient if you’re shooting YouTube videos or something than being tethered to a wired mic attached to your camera or having a big, bulky and expensive wireless setup.
Also FWIW, I had ordered a Saramonic SR-WM4C before this, which is a more traditional analog wireless system but at a very low price, and the sound quality on that was even worse. So the ECM-AW4 is still probably the best option in a reasonably priced wireless system. It’s just very, very fiddly trying to get it performing its best.
Jesus Ivan Vega Gutierrez –
EL envío tardo mas de lo debido, pero el producto sirve de maravilla, un micrófono que sirve para mucho y a un excelente precio. Lo recomiendo usar con entrada XLR para nivelar el volumen. El audio en general del micrófono es muy bajo.
K. Vanderpool –
Great little microphone for the price point. I looked at a variety before settling on this one; go any cheaper and the quality is not there, any more expensive and the price point really jumps up. I just wanted a wireless microphone so I could ride a horse and talk to the camera at the same time. By adding the SONY ECMCS3 clip microphone to attach to my lapel, this wireless mic works perfectly for what I need. For the price you get good sound and it works at quite a long distance. It is not difficult to use or setup, though if I don’t tuck it in my shirt, it always seems to fall of my belt. (The clip isn’t terribly strong) No other issues other than that.
Bruce –
I don’t usually give 5 stars to products, but there are exceptions. We tested the Sony ECM-AW4 Wireless Bluetooth Microphones to improve the audio quality of presenters and speeches when recorded on iPad video. After reading tons of reviews for other products, and trying another product, too, we are completely pleased with this unit and ordering more. Not only did the audio quality for the iPad video exceed our expectations, but the microphones are compact and lightweight (we travel a lot). The units store in a bag that comes in the package for easy packing for the workshops we give around North America. For recording devices such as an iPad, you MUST also order a Y-style Headset Splitter adapter. Carry some extra AAA batteries, plug the receiver to the iPad (or iPhone, or other video camera of your choice), turn them on and the audio is great. I tested this for an inside-the-building range of 60 feet with no problems.
PROS: Compact. Lightweight. Uses standard AAA batteries. Fast pairing between microphone and receiver. Clip is versatile with strong enough spring to attach to clothing or a lanyard. Good Carotid microphone range. Wireless!
CONS: Won’t directly connect to Bluetooth on the iOS device. Needs a headset splitter adapter for microphone connection to iPad/iPhone/iPod. Must carry spare batteries. Not sturdy enough for “heavy” action with bumps and drops. Multi-language instruction manuals weigh more than the device!