Review: Fulaim 1000 Pro 2.4 GHz Wireless Mic Kit

In this review we’re going to be taking a look at the Fulaim 1000 Pro 2.4 GHz wireless mic kit.

There are plenty of 2.4 GHz microphones out there these days and rightly so, with the amount of spectrum available for old UHF microphones dwindling, and 700 MHz and 600 MHz sold off. Going to the 2.4 GHz spectrum gets you away from all of all those issues.

Let’s get right into it.

In the Fulaim 1000 Pro kit you get a battery/storage case that holds the microphones and the transmitter, all of which are charging right now. Also in the charging container is a little pocket in the back for accessories.

In the box, you get a manual, which has basic instructions in a half-dozen languages. The English is very understandable and clear. You get some dead-cat windscreens for the microphones. You get two lavaliere microphones, one for each of the transmitters. You get a USB C-to-Lightning cable so you can output the receiver directly into an iPhone or an iPad. You’ll find a stereo-to-stereo cable with right angles for analog, like to a DSLR. You also get a USB-C to USB-C, and last but not least, a USB-A to USB-C, most likely for charging the battery storage case.

Unlike some other wireless systems, these devices don’t record, but they do have one really nice feature which is digital signal processing in the receiver. In additional to normal mic audio pass-through, there’s a bass roll off, there’s automatic noise reduction with a gate, and there’s also voice processing with a reverb effect, which I don’t think people are going to use too much, but it’s in there if you want it.

Receiver and Transmitter Walkaround

Let’s do a quick walk around the receiver. The front panel has a color LCD screen, and the power/link button. If you press and hold the power button, you can relink the transmitter with the receiver. On the right side, you’ve got your output level. You can can increase the output level in four different steps. Next you’ve got your effects button. (E-F-X is how I would write it, but they wrote it E-X-F.) There’s a little pinhole reset button to use if things go terribly awry.

On the bottom, you'll find got two drop-in contacts, which is nice because you can just drop it into the box and it starts charging. There’s a magnetic click that holds things in place which is pretty slick. You don’t have to plug anything in. Lastly, on the other side of the receiver, you’ve got a USB-C port for audio out for mobile devices, and for direct charging. There’s also a 3.5mm stereo output for audio out to a DSLR, and an additional headphone output so you can monitor it directly from the receiver.

One of the really nice features I found is that the clip you use to attach the microphone to your clothes is not branded. I appreciate the simple fact that they’re not putting their branding in your face (or visibly in your shot). When I take this clip and I clip it on someone, I don’t see somebody else’s brand name sticking out.

Some of these mics put very bold branding on their devices. I really appreciate the fact that with this one, there's nothing on it. You can put your own logo on it if you want, but there's nothing on here saying Fullaim, or the model, or anything like that. It's plain. For my client, my job is not to advertise who makes my wireless microphone. That's something that I appreciate with this microphone.

Let’s walk around the transmitter now. On the top you’ve got the built-in microphone and the plugin for the lavaliere. You’ve got an indicator for power, and an indicator for linking. On one side, you’ve got the power button to turn it on, a USB-C for charging, and your reset button. On the bottom are your charging contacts for the battery case. There’s nothing on the opposite side.

How Does it Sound?

To turn on the transmitter and receiver, you press and hold the power button and you’ll see them light up. The transmitters and receiver are paired at the factory. In the display, you’ll see your output level on the left.

For my test I have one microphone connected and I have the receiver hearing the one microphone. By pressing the Level button, I can increase the level for the output. It has four gradations. I have a 3.5mm cable that I’ll use for analog audio output into my video mixer.

With the Fulaim powered on and connected, and the lav clipped to my shirt, you can hear in the video that accompanies the article how the mic sounds. As you’ll see in the video, I really don't have to do much of anything to get a good, consistent sound. If I’m moving around, the microphone is moving with me, so the audio doesn’t change whether I’m further away from the camera or closer to the camera. With the desk mic I have, if I move back a few feet, you can hear the difference from being really close to farther away. Having a microphone clipped onto yourself or your talent minimizes that effect.

Receiver Settings

When you first turn on the receiver, it’s set to mono. This means my one microphone is going to both output channels. If you turn on the second microphone, both microphones will go to both channels.

There are multiple digital effects built into the receiver, which you can hear me demonstrate in the video review. The first effect you’ll hear is the bass roll off. All the digital effects are applied to both channels at the same time, in the same amount.

The next effect you’ll hear is the DSP. The DSP digitally reduces the noise in the audio, and also applies a noise gate. When I was testing this earlier, I had the door to my home studio open. There was other noise in the house and, when I activated the DSP, you really couldn’t hear any of the background noise on the mic. This is because of the noise gate. Using a noise gate means any background sound has to be above a certain level before it will be heard through the mic. All of that other noise was lower, so the output of the receiver was quiet until I spoke.

I feel I can hear what we call the “opening of the gate” when I speak. It doesn’t have a soft ramp in but still Works well. The overall DSP really helps to minimize ambient noise while talking, and lets listeners focus on a person’s voice. The DSP makes a pretty good impression.

The next digital effect is the echo. It sounds like an announcer in a hall. I really don’t think you’re going to be using this sound too much.

In the last demonstration, I turned off all the processing. It sounds more natural because the microphone is always open. There is no gate closing off the sound when I’m not speaking.

There are additional settings when you hold the Level and Effect buttons down for three seconds. This is how you change the mode of the receiver.

When I turn on both transmitters, both are being received, and we are in mono mode. Pressing and holding both the Level and Effect buttons puts the receiver into stereo mode. This means each microphone is being split on the output. Each is going to its own destination: Microphone 1 goes to the left channel, and Microphone 2 goes to the right channel.

There’s also a third mode called Safety mode. This mode is also mono, meaning it mixes the output of transmitter one and two. However, the right channel is what we call a “safety” channel, meaning it is about 6dB less than the left.

Now, again this is a mono mode, so both mics are on the left, and both are on the right, but the output of the right channel is lower. It is the output level alone that differentiates left from right. If something is really loud happens, and it were to normally clip like somebody shouting, the safety channel on the right can possibly give you audio you can recover in post.

Accessories

A few other accessories come in the kit. You get a little “dead cat” windscreen for each mic. It has a rubber circle that basically holds onto the mic capsule on the transmitter with friction. I think it makes a pretty good difference in terms of wind actually hitting the diaphragm of the microphone versus being softened by all of the absorption on top of it.

The next accessory that we need to talk about is the lavaliere. You get one lavaliere for each of the transmitters. Each lav has a good three feet or one meter of cable. This gives you good flexibility in where you place the transmitter when you clip on the mic.

The lavaliere has a pretty good sound too. It’s not as crisp and as clear as the sound you’d get by spending $300 on a lav microphone by itself. But in terms of getting two lav mics, two transmitters, two windscreens, and the receiver, plus that DSP feature, and the recharging storage case, I think that's a pretty compelling package.

Charging Case

In the bottom of the charging case there are contacts on the bottom that make contact with each of the transmitters and receiver. I can just drop this in and that’s it—the system starts to charge automatically. The case is included in the kit. So you’re getting the charging case, both transmitters, and the stereo receiver.

The downside is that you can’t carry all of these extra accessory cables and microphones and windscreens in the charging case. There’s just not enough room. There is a little pocket which can hold the windscreens if you tuck them in there.

Fulaim also gives you a bag, which can be handy for carrying all of the cables. Then you could conceivably put the charging case in the pouch and all the cables in here and cinch it up. So there is a way to carry everything and keep it all intact.

But in terms of being a rugged pack for also protecting the units, you’re protecting the transmitters and the receiver, but the other gear has to fend for itself.

This has been my look at the Fullaim 1000 Pro, a 2.4 GHz wireless microphone system. I find it compelling both in terms of the completeness of the package, and I like the DSP filter. It can definitely be useful in terms of filming outside with ambient noise, or in echo-y locations. The DSP can help you get cleaner audio right in the camera, which can be especially useful for live production where there is no post.

In a field of 2.4 GHz wireless mic kits, it’s hard to stand out. The Fullaim kit covers the basics, comes with a nice set of accessories, including the charging case, and the built-in DSP will be handy for a lot of people who need to bring down the ambient noise in their recordings.