Lavalier microphone

A lavalier microphone or lavalier (also known as a lav, lapel mic, clip mic, body mic, collar mic, neck mic or personal mic) is a small microphone used for television, theater, and public speaking applications 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 kept in a pocket or clipped to a belt, or routed directly to the mixer or a recording device.

These miniature microphones are often supplied with a choice of push-on grills 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.