The Shure MV88 mic used to be the perfect microphone for any iPhone owner who wanted high quality recordings with maximum convenience. With a Lightning connector, it plugged directly into your iPhone.
The company inexplicably failed to update it for many years after Apple switched to USB-C, but has finally corrected this – and may solve a common problem seen on YouTube …
The built-in iPhone microphones have gotten significantly better over the years, thanks to a mix of both hardware upgrades and software controls. All the same, they can’t compete with a high quality external mic.
The Shure MV88 used to be a popular choice for vloggers as it conveniently plugged directly into the Lightning socket of an iPhone, turning it into an all-in-one handheld mic and recorder. When Apple switched to USB-C, the company bought out an MV88+ model, but this relied on a cable connection and so lost the core benefit of the device. The latest model fixes this, replacing the Lightning plug with a USB-C one.
The microphone has four selectable modes – stereo, mono cardioid, mono bi-directional and raw mid-side – as well as allowing you to adjust the orientation of the mic from straight up or pointing toward you when filming selfie videos.
If you don’t want to fuss with settings, it offers auto levels and denoising as a simple plug and play solution.
With Auto Level Mode, the MV88 continuously adjusts gain in real time to ensure audio is never too loud or too quiet. There’s no need to set levels manually unless you prefer to; the microphone does it for you. Pair that with Real-time Denoiser, which intelligently removes unwanted background noise for clean, professional sound in any environment. Just plug in, enable these features, and start recording with confidence.
But for those who want greater control, there are plenty of options.
Choose from five quick-start presets or dive deeper with advanced controls like microphone gain, five-band EQ, limiter, compression, and a high-pass filter, all accessible through the MOTIV Video and MOTIV Audio mobile apps, as well as MOTIV Mix on desktop. The apps offer quick-start presets tailored for different recording scenarios, plus advanced tools like EQ, compression, stereo width adjustment, and real-time noise reduction.
Watch any YouTube video with someone talking direct to camera and you’ve probably spotted the ubiquitous wireless lavalier mic attached to their clothing. Some creators even hold this in their hand, which always looks absurd to me. The MV88 enables similar sound quality without making the microphone intrusively visible and without the risk of wireless dropouts or interference – and at $159, comes in at a similar price.
The Shure MV88 USB-C model is available now on Amazon.
Photo: Shure
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
