Wearables and Wireless Microphones
You can run Hedy from an Apple Watch or an OMI pendant, or through any clip-on wireless microphone whose receiver plugs into your phone or computer. AirPods and other Bluetooth headsets aren’t covered here: their microphone sits by your mouth and mostly hears you, not the person you’re talking to.
If you mostly record conversations with someone sitting across from you, read Capturing the other person before you buy anything. A microphone clipped to your collar hears you clearly and the other person much less.
Which wearable fits your situation
| Option | Best for | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Watch | Meetings where you’d rather not put a phone on the table | An Apple Watch paired with your iPhone |
| OMI pendant | All-day capture you don’t have to start | An OMI device and Cloud Sync turned on |
| Clip-on wireless mic | Interviews, walking conversations, noisy rooms | A kit with a USB-C or Lightning receiver |
Setup for each is covered in its own article: Apple Watch Companion App and Connect Your OMI Wearable to Hedy. The rest of this article is about clip-on wireless microphones.
Clip-on wireless microphones
A clip-on wireless kit has a small transmitter you clip to your clothing and a receiver that plugs into your phone, tablet or computer. Your device treats the receiver like a wired microphone, so it skips the Bluetooth problems that make headsets cut out.
Most kits come with two transmitters and one receiver. One transmitter is enough to start, and the second one is how you capture a second person clearly.
Your device sees the receivers of these kits as a standard microphone, so they should work with Hedy:
- RØDE Wireless Micro: simple setup with no settings to configure. Sold in separate USB-C and Lightning versions.
- DJI Mic Mini: long battery life and long range.
- Saramonic Air: one of the lowest-cost options, USB-C with an optional Lightning adapter.
- BOYA mini 2: a budget kit that can include both USB-C and Lightning receivers.
- Hollyland Lark M2: smaller transmitters than most.
We haven’t tested each of these with Hedy. If one doesn’t appear in Hedy’s microphone list, contact support and tell us the model.
Choosing the right receiver
Match the receiver’s plug to your device:
- iPhone 15 and newer, recent iPads, most Android phones, Mac, Windows: USB-C.
- iPhone 14 and older: Lightning.
On Android, check the kit’s compatibility list before buying. Some phones don’t accept microphone input over USB-C, and a thick phone case can stop the receiver from seating fully.
Set up the microphone in Hedy
- Plug the receiver into your device and turn on the transmitter.
- In Hedy, open Settings → Sessions → Microphone Settings.
- Tap Refresh device list if the receiver isn’t listed yet.
- Select the receiver instead of Default System Input.
- Start a session and speak for a few seconds to check that words appear in the transcript.
On iPhone, iPad and Android, a new microphone selection takes effect at the next recording. Choose it before you start the session, not partway through.
Capturing the other person
Hedy records the microphone you select and nothing else, and it doesn’t boost quiet voices. So whoever is closest to the transmitter comes through loudest. With one transmitter on your collar, a person a metre away sounds faint and roomy, and their part of the transcript has more errors.
Your options, from best to simplest:
- Clip the second transmitter on the other person. Both voices come through at full strength. The receiver combines the two into one audio stream, which is what Hedy transcribes.
- Put one transmitter on the table between you. Both voices come through at similar levels. This is the best choice when you only have one transmitter.
- Keep it on your collar for conversations where you mostly need your own words, such as dictating notes or a talk you’re giving.
For a sit-down conversation at a table, your phone’s own microphone placed between you can do as well as a single clip-on worn by one person. The clip-on is the better choice when you’re walking, in a noisy room, or more than a metre or so apart.
Turn off the kit’s noise cancelling
Many kits have a built-in noise-cancelling mode that’s tuned to keep the wearer’s voice and remove everything else, so it can treat the other person’s voice as background noise. Turn it off for conversations, or set it to the lowest level. Leave it on only when you’re recording yourself alone in a noisy place.
Some kits also offer a “safety track” or a stereo mode that puts each transmitter on its own channel. Neither one helps with Hedy, which mixes everything into a single channel. Use the kit’s standard or mono setting.
