Insta360 Mic Pro Review: A studio microphone the size of a two bite brownie

First of all, I’ll be real, those two-bite brownies aren’t two bites. Second, the Insta360 mic Pro sounds great. However, there are a few quirks that don’t have me recommending it outright. The Insta360 Mic Pro could fit your workflow depending on your gear and the type of content you create. So does the Insta360 Mic Pro suit the content you make, or are you better off getting something else?

What I like about the Insta360 Mic Pro

The Insta360 Mic Pro comes with two microphone transmitters with an E-Ink display. The display covers nearly the entire front of the microphone and doesn’t require a battery because of its display technology. You can put anything you’d like to display, which can blend into the attire. Even with the thick bezel, they don’t stand out. In recordings, there is no flickering or moire effect because the display doesn’t need to refresh. You don’t have the obvious indicators that it’s a microphone, such as blinking LEDs or mismatched black dots with a microphone logo. In the age of clipping, you can always have a little bit of the logo showing.

The transmitters feature a 3-microphone array, offering considerable flexibility for nearly any scenario. You have multiple polar patterns to choose from: Omni, cardioid, figure-8, and unidirectional pickup patterns. This allows you to use it as a lav mic, a podcast mic, and even an on-camera shotgun microphone. The audio from the Insta360 Mic Pro even offers multiple features to ensure you’re unlikely to get unusable audio, including 32-bit float recording.

32-bit float is an audio recording format where the audio is highly flexible. This means it can record both the loud and quiet versions of audio in a single file while maintaining stereo. With this audio format, you can adjust quiet or loud sounds with no issue. 32-bit float has become the standard moving forward, as it doubles as a safety net without sacrificing stereo. However, this comes at the cost of much larger file sizes.

If you would like the safety of 32-bit float without the large file sizes. There’s the safety track mode, which splits regular 24-bit stereo audio so the left channel is loud and the right channel is quiet. This ensures that if you become too loud, you can use the quiet side. On the other hand, if you’re too quiet, you can use a louder audio setting. Unfortunately, this still means you’ll have to set one of the audio tracks correctly, unlike with 32-bit float.

Another awesome feature is the excellent Auto gain. It’s where the microphone automatically adjusts the volume of the sound it picks up. This means it decreases the volume when you’re too loud and increases it when you’re too quiet. This also ensures that you have a consistent volume throughout the recording, which is helpful if you have a speaker with highly varying volume. At worst, you can add an extra layer of flexibility by recording the unprocessed audio while having the processed audio tied to the video recording.

What I don’t like about the Insta360 Mic Pro

Insta360 mostly designed the Mic Pro for content creators. It still fits in as another too in the audio tool belt, but it lacks a 3.5mm jack despite its large size. Sure, it sounds great, but it’s difficult to hide. Having a 3.5mm jack would be great, as it’s easier to hide a lav mic the size of a fingernail. Given that the target audience is content creators, it makes sense that branding takes priority. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter from Insta360 to add that functionality, but it’s available as an extra purchase on the Insta360 website.

What I don’t like about the Insta360 Mic Pro is how Insta360 built the lav mics. Starting with the awful clips. The clips on the back can be a pain to use. While it fits a hot shoe or cold shoe, it lacks a secure attachment method. Simply pushing it off will detach the microphones. However, if you decide to use the included magnets instead, removing and installing the clips is a pain. Removing the clips requires significant force in such a small area.

While the transmitters and the clips fit in the case, it doesn’t fit everything. There isn’t any space for windmuffs either, even when they’re installed. For those who use a full digital camera, the included hard case doesn’t fit the 3.5mm cable. This can make it prone to getting lost. While there is a soft case that keeps the rest of the accessories, it adds extra bulk.

The case aside, the app is where most companies fall short, and Insta360 is no exception. The app constantly asks you to log in, while hiding the ability to skip creating an account. Even if you can skip the account creation process, the UI is filled with adverts. The microphone setting is hidden in the bottom, which looks like a start recording button. Absolutely hate that companies constantly try to obtain your data.

How does the Insta360 Mic Pro sound?

The Insta360 sounds great, very close to a full-sized microphone. Of course, it’s not going to break physics. Having the microphone in the middle of the chest will pick up vibrations from the chest cavity. However, it’s great when used similarly to a regular mic on a stand. Having it in front while showing your brand is the point, so it’s not a problem.

I like how the microphone sounds without the noise cancelation. I typically prefer to do the noise cancelation in post. Here are some samples from typical content creator use cases:

Insta360 Mic Pro microphone outdoor interview demo (IRL interview):

Insta360 Mic Pro microphone Outdoor vlog demo (Vlogging):

Insta360 Mic Pro microphone indoor interview demo (Podcast):

Insta360 Mic Pro microphone with cardioid polar pattern indoor vlog demo (Vlogging):

Should you buy the Insta360 Mic Pro?

Despite the Insta360 being large, in the age of AI and clipclothingth self-indulgent attitudes, ensuring that your branding is in shot is great. It also sounds great and has flexible polar patterns to adapt to almost any scenario. The front screen can be used for branding or blended into the clothing, despite its larger footprint. I’ve even seen some creators hide them as pendants.

Judging by the sound alone, I would recommend the Insta360 Mic Pro over the DJI Mic 3. It’s a lot easier to hide despite the size, and can use a 3.5mm lav mic (even if it’s an extra purchase). The only real downside is that the case is terribly bulky, even though it can’t carry everything. For a better sound alternative, there’s the Sennheiser Profile Wireless. The Profile Wireless has a similar form factor to the Profile, without the E-Ink display, but with great sound.