GoPros have fundamentally altered the way we think about video — we’ve never been closer to the action. The audio for the extreme footage we’re capturing, however, has yet to catch up to the action footage. Roland’s new Wearpro Mic is a step towards making the videos sound as intense as they look.
As its name implies the $129 Wearpro is a two-piece binaural microphone rig that you wear in your ears like buds. The two omnidirectional capsules capture your audio perspective exactly the way your ears do. The mics join together at a mini USB end, which plugs directly into your GoPro’s USB port. Poof, just like that, you have realistic left and right stereo channels for your video. It’s so easy and simple that it seems obvious.
A few notes: Though the buds plug directly into your ears they don’t actually reproduce any sound into your ear canals. You will, however, be able to hear the outside world owing to an open-air design. Another warning: Wearpro IS NOT waterproof. Do not go surfing! (Well, go surfing, just not with this gadget.) This is kind of a bummer because so much of what GoPros are good for is capturing extreme water sports. Hopefully a waterproof version is in the works down the line.
The Wearpro works with the GoPro Hero3, Hero3+, and Hero4. It doesn’t work with the Hero4 Session.