Antlion ModMic 5.0 Review

5 reviews for Antlion ModMic 5.0 Review

1. 

   Rated 2 out of 5

   I Like Stuff – September 7, 2023

   The Mod Mic 4 Omnidirectional was a great product, but unfortunately it’s now discontinued; they knew it was the superior product. It was cheap, (£25-35) and sounded absolutely great.

   On this version, you are forced to pay for the useless unidirectional mode (which just sounds bad), and not only that, but the Omnidirectional mode sounds WORSE than the mod Mic 4 Omnidiectional. Like Jesus Christ. You’re now paying ~£55 for a mic that sounds worse than a previous, cheaper version, but also sounds worse than headset I bought in 2014 that cost me £25.

   I love the idea, but the Mod Mic 5 is just bad… I wouldn’t even mind that much if it just sounded the same as the Mod Mic 4 Omni, but it’s worse… and costs double the price…

   Wish I could just buy the Mod Mic 4 Omni again but the only version available now is Unidirectional (and Mod Mic 5), which just doesn’t sound as good.

   Way to kill a great product.

2. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   I Like Stuff – September 9, 2023

   Sound quality, ‘decent’ for this type of microphone (It’s certainly better than the later wireless version). But for me there are two things that let down the ModMic 5…
   * Build quality. Obviously there’s not much to it, which makes it feel very light/cheap, but the most concerning area is the point at which the larger end is screwed to the flexible arm. This is a massive weak point and feels like it will break at any moment.
   * Price. The price is on the high side when taking into account the above, and what you actually get.

3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   MadMu5icJunky – September 16, 2023

   Well, I had to decide between 4 or 5 stars here, but ultimately I gave 4 due to the crazy amount of jury rigging I had to do in order to get a setup the way I needed it!
   So, what I wanted was a high quality headphone that comes with a high quality microphone. Shouldn’t be so hard, right? Well, Master & Dynamic has caught on, and so has V-Moda; and they have created separate 3.5mm to 3.5mm cables that have built-in boom mics. The Master & Dynamic works very good, but it is a one-button only; no mute slider or anything-undoubtedly in order to appeal to both iPhone and Android users. Overall, an excellent product in a relatively untapped market.
   V-Moda Boom is also a great cable. While big and clunky, it does have the analog controller built in that can mute and control volume on any device. My issue with it is its lack of portability, not too mention only above-average noise cancellation. They cable is also too long. I’m getting a professional to shorten the cable for me, as it’s crazy amount of wire is unsightly and inconvenient if you’re out in public. Its a cable meant to be while sitting at a desk; period.

   I had purchased a ModMic in the past; don’t ask me which version, but it was Unidirectional without a mute toggle switch. The cable was insanely long, and made me long for the V-Moda boom again! I even reached out to Antlion to see if they had a shortened one, but the answer at the time was ‘no.’ Despite its painfully excessive (for me, that is) cable, I recognized its immaculate sound. It seemed to record in 3D. Its noise cancellation was better than the V-Moda and on-par with the Master & Dynamic.

   Years later (a week ago), I was again on the search for the perfect way to fit my on-the-go application where I can use my expensive headphones with a great, noise cancelling microphone. Through that process, I discovered that Antlion had created this ModMic 5. I will say, Antlion is one of the few companies that listens to its users and works very hard to improve their product. This ModMic 5 is such an incredibly better package than previous versions; all of them combined. I noticed that, with the 5, the cable direct from the Mic was incredibly short. Whether you know it yet or not, if you can get your cables shortened, you open the door to a lot of great configuration options. You can connect to a lapel bluetooth amplifier without a ton of extra cables (headphone only, unfortunately, which I’ll get to in a second). With the cables short, you can purchase an extension cable of a bunch of different lengths in order to suit your application; use a long one when at your desk, disconnect it and plug it into a bluetooth dongle to walk to the break room, and then plug into a nice 3ft cable with iphone controls. Long story short, I dig the shortened cable… a LOT.
   So, when I came across the ModMic 5 as previously mentioned, I was actually scowering the internet for a bluetooth, full-duplex adapter for smartphone; specifically with the ability to plug in my own external microphone. You would not believe how difficult it is to find a bluetooth device that, when you plug in a cable with built-in mic, it recognizes the external mic and allows you to use it on phone calls, voice memo’s, recordings, etc. All these bluetooth dongles can either send or receive at a given time. Or, they have their own built-in mic that overrides any mic you try to plug into it. While your headphones may get to enjoy great playtime wirelessly, your external mic is just dead weight. I found one, Pryme BTH-300, which I promptly purchased, only to find that, while a mic that I plugged into it worked, the sound coming through my headphones was abysmal.

   Meanwhile, a month ago I came across a nifty gadget on massdrop called the S.M.S.L iCON portable headphone amp. This device plugs into an iPHone lightning port (sorry Android, you get screwed on accessories yet again), and while it is powered by the iPhone, it pumps out high-quality sound to the headphones. What’s so particularly interesting about this gadget is not just the improvement in sound, but also the fact that, when you plug in headphones with built-in microphone, it is fully recognized! This gave me an idea.

   Using a lightning port extension cable (1 ft) to the iCon, I got the iCon about to my ribgage (if you need it longer, use a longer lightning extension cable). I plugged a headphone/mic splitter into the iCon, which brought me about to neck height. Then I simply connected the ModMic 5 with mute switch into the mic port, and a 3.5mm connection from headphone to mic/headphone adapter. This made my cables down to an absolute bare minimum, great high-quality sound, and a fantastic microphone. I’ve attached pictures of this application for a visual aid; sorry if my explanation is confusing/bad.

   So, ultimately, minimum cables is finally possible with this ModMic 5; thus, a portable solution for pleasure and business calls. Only with this version can you avoid having to marry two long cables together with clips and tubes, etc. The sound quality is still great, and the mute module and included cable lengths can be handy as well; although I don’t use the cables.

   Finally, its not 5 stars yet because, as you can see, configuring this set up cost me quite a bit of extra money and hassle, which seems like it could be easily avoided. I hear that Antlion is currently semi-close to completing a wireless solution. However, I’m afraid that they’re missing out by not going the bluetooth direction. What I would like to see with the ModMic 6 is one or more of the following:
   A. bluetooth modmic with a 3.5mm jack for headphones
   B. TRRS connection on a 1.2m cable that terminates at the microphone with a split to a female 3.5mm to plug in heaadphones. The cable to have built in mute toggle switch and volume wheel. They’d call this their ‘mobile’ cable.
   C. Last option is a risky venture for Antlion, and that is start making their own headphones. If they go this route, they just need to ensure that their headphones produce high-quality sound to match the high quality mic. I’m a risk-taker, and this is likely the option I would be exploring, as it is the one with the best long-term ROI. There’s a loyal ModMic fan base that would automatically jump on a set of headphones stamped with the Antlion logo; featuring the ModMic that made them famous.

   Thanks for reading. I’m just a Music and Gadget junky. If this helped you in any way, click helpful. If questions, just comment on this review.

   P.S. My photographed application shows me using a ModMic on a set of CIEM’s called EarWerkz Legend Omega. CIEM’s are probably the only ones that could support a ModMic, singe they’re held so snuggly in place.

4. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   MadMu5icJunky – October 17, 2023

   I have wanted to use my better sets of headphones as headsets for a while now. Mainly I mean any decent set of headphones that are either wired without removable wires or use jacks and ports that are not 3.5mm so that I can use the V-Moda Boompro. For my uses I am looking at the Sennheiser HD558, the ATH M50x, and the Sennheiser HD650.

   I should start this review by saying the Modmic works and the magnetic system is clever and works very well strongly holding the mic steady and then flipping it up. Considering just the quality of the mic and the cleverness of the magnet system it is great but there are a lot of things to consider.

   Are you using this on the PC or for consoles? Well it will work for both with different levels of success.

   For the PC it is great and considering most people sit very close while gaming on the PC you don’t have to worry as much about cable lengths or clutter as much. You can also use harder to drive headphones through better soundcards or dac/amp setups while keeping the chat usage simple.

   If you’re using this for consoles things can get limited and a bit messier. If you’re running this straight from your controller it’s not horrible. You will have a mess of cables but at least you’re not connected to the tv or console. The problem here is if you planned on using your HD650 headphones you’re not gonna have terribly loud audio and you’re gonna have limited control of the volume on the fly. If you’re using a pair of headphones less difficult to drive then audio should be reasonably good but volume control will still be limited.

   An alternative to plugging in through the controller is to use something like the Astro Mixamp which I find to be a better alternative for using the modmic on the consoles and specifically a PS4(original or Pro). This way you can control the volume, amp the audio to make it louder through your harder driven headphones, control the balance of chat/game audio, and add the surround sound and sound profiles provided by Astro.

   If there are any other viable and realistic options to the Astro Mixamp I’d be happy to try them because while it works and while it drives my HD650 louder it still isn’t great. It also leaves a big mess of cables between you and the Mixamp.

   As far as the Modmic 5 goes it is nicely done for what it is and does. The quality is nice, audio from the mic is great, the gooseneck is appropriately stiff, and it is nice that it has a mute switch now. It comes with the mic, two different length cables, the mute switch pass through, two mount connection points, wire management clips, a wire management mesh wrap, a lot of extra adhesives for the mount, a cleaning swab, and a very nice travel case.

   Since I use my cables independent of the Modmic when I’m not using my headphones as headsets I am reluctant to use the cable management clips or wraps. It is nice that they thought of them and include them but it just makes the setup slightly less messy.

   If the Boompro from V-Moda made a version in 2.5mm or even some that would work for headphones like the HD650 or Hd700 or similar headphones, the Modmic would be irrelevant. In fact if you have a pair of headphones with a removable 3.5mm jack then use the Boompro it is a cleaner setup and works great.

   What I’d like to see first and foremost is a volume wheel on the mute passthrough switch. Controlling the volume from your headset is always a nice feature and I don’t think it would be too difficult to add.

   Second I’d really like to see better cable management. I don’t really have any ideas for this but optionally if they provided separate cables that worked specifically with the type of headphones that people would use this on like Audio Technica, Sennheiser, AKG, Sony, Beyerdynamic, Philips, etc… that would be probably the best. What I mean by this is make a cable specifically that plugs into a specific twist lock 2.5mm jack 😉 and splits into the Modmic. On the other end make it terminate into a single jack that can be split with an adapter If needed. Make many of these cables for a variety of brands and let people pick them upon ordering. Maybe there are licensing or trademark issues but this would be a much better solution if possible.

   Also they could make a Modmic similar to the Boompro since V-Mods makes the Boompro specifically for their headphones(which is brilliant btw) but make them for other types of common connection points.

   Overall the Modmic works and while it is messy it turns my better headphones into great headsets on my computer or consoles. If it just had a volume wheel I might have considered 5 stars but a combination of the price which is a little steep, the messiness of the setup, and the missing volume wheel led me to 3.8 stars but rounded to 4. It’s not going to be for everyone but if you don’t mind the price and you think this could work well for you, it works and I can still recommend it.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   TekNeil – November 22, 2023

   Good product came quickly