The B3 is essential to any well-stocked pro audio toolkit: it captures the highest quality audio available in a lavalier mic, with field-selectable high-frequency response caps and extremely low handling noise.
Whether you need a tie-clip lavalier for an interview, a hidden hair mic for drama, a water-resistant mic for reality TV, sports, or hurricane reporting, or simply a small mic to hide in a prop flower vase, you’ll never run out of applications for Countryman’s B3 Lavalier.
The cable is protected from stretching by a rugged aramid core, and the mic’s protective caps are extremely resistant to water, sweat, and makeup.
You’d never expect such a mic to be so affordable, making the B3 one of the highest-value audio investments in your kit.
Unobtrusive
Looks great when you want to see it, virtually disappears when you don’t. The B3 is easily hidden in hair or on costumes, with five colors to match clothing, hair, and skin tones. Use a felt tip marker to color the white caps for near-perfect concealability. Never suffer the hassle and degraded sound quality of under-clothing miking again
Rugged and Reliable
The B3 is exceptionally resistant to makeup, sweat, and moisture when used with the supplied protective caps, and works well in hair or on the body. The protective caps are easily removed for cleaning or replacement, and the Aramid-reinforced cable gives it world-class survivability.
Exceptional Sound Quality
The B3 provides the highest-quality audio available in a lavalier mic, with low distortion at SPL up to 150 dB on 48 V Phantom Power. The aramid cable and ultra-thin diaphragm combine to set a new standard for low handling noise. The ultra flat frequency response accurately captures voice or instruments, and the small size makes the B3 easy to position for ambient noise and feedback rejection.
Versatile
Changeable protective caps let you shape the frequency response for different situations or to match other microphones. Versions are available
for different speaking or singing styles, with high overload capability for recording instruments.
Specs
Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz
Equivalent Acoustic Noise: 24 dBA
Dimensions: .23” x .18” (5.8 mm x 4.6 mm)
How do I choose the right color for my skin tone?
Tan works very well for Caucasian skin tones as well as olive complexions. Light beige works well for light and pink tones. Cocoa is the ideal choice for very light brown to chocolate tones. Choose black for deep brown skin, or on other tones when you want the mic to be visible. When in doubt, choose the darker option. That’s because a mic that’s too light can resemble a scar or blemish, while a mic that’s slightly darker than the background resembles a shadow and draws less attention.
Which cap should I use?
The B3 Lavalier should always be used with a protective cap in place to keep sweat, makeup, and other foreign material out of the microphone. The caps make the B3 very water resistant. The three omni caps each have a different high-frequency response characteristic that controls the amount of “crispness” or “sibilance” (response at 15 kHz). The B3 ships with the +0 dB (Flat) protective cap fitted to the mic. Switch to the +4 dB or +8 dB cap to boost the perceived amount of presence in your sound, while leaving the lower frequencies unchanged. If you experience problems with high-frequency feedback, you should switch to the +0 dB cap.
Which sensitivity should I choose?
Making a microphone more sensitive to catch soft sounds means it will overload sooner for loud sounds. Because sound pressure levels vary between individuals and applications, we provide two sensitivities with two different overload or clipping characteristics.
- The most sensitive (W4, no band) is appropriate for positioning on the chest or lapel and is a good choice for most lavalier uses.
- The less sensitive version (W5, red band) is ideal for instruments or as a hair mic in theater.
What are other popular applications for the B3?
- Installation Mic
- The protective cap of the B3 shields it from moisture and dust and reduces vibrations, making it an excellent installation microphone.
- Hair Mic
- The B3 is a popular choice on Broadway as a hair microphone. Placement at the top of the forehead at the hairline provides good gain before feedback and natural sound that doesn’t change when the head moves.
- Concealed in Clothing
- Positioned in the knot of a tie or behind a shirt button, the B3 delivers flawless audio and hides in plain sight. When placed completely under clothing use the +4 dB or +8 dB protective cap to boost high frequencies.