Lavalier Microphone

A lavalier microphone or lavalier (or lav or lapel mic) is a small electret or dynamic microphone used for television, theatre, and public speaking applications, in order to allow hands-free operation. They are most commonly provided with small clips for attaching to collars, ties, or other clothing. The cord may be hidden by clothes and either run to a radio frequency transmitter or a pocket-sized digital audio recorder kept in a pocket or clipped to a belt (for mobile work), or directly to the mixer (for stationary applications).

These miniature microphones are often supplied with a choice of push-on grilles of differing lengths that provide gentle high-frequency boost by forming a resonant cavity. A peak of approximately 6 dB at 6-8 kHz is considered beneficial for compensating loss of clarity when chest-mounted, as is a peak of a few decibels at 10–15 kHz when mounted in the hair above the forehead. This method of boosting high frequencies does not worsen noise performance, as electronic equalization would do.