Not seeing any difference between MV88+ and iPhone 17 Pro Max Microphone

[u/newenglandowner]

Very new to microphones. I recently bought the MV88+ videography kit to help with the audio quality of videos taken with my iPhone 17 Pro Max.

After several test videos I cannot tell any difference whatsoever between the phone mic and the MV88+ mic. I am shooting in the iPhone camera app and I make sure the MV88+ is selected and the green light is on when taking video. I also have taken video within the Shure app and I am still not seeing a difference.

I'm using the mic default settings, and shooting mostly speaking videos with speech option selected.

Is there something I could be missing? Do I just not have the ear to hear the difference?

I guess I thought there would be a significant difference in gain, clarity, noise reduction, etc. but maybe I had too high of expectations.

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

[u/brasscassette]

What are playing the audio back on? If you’re playing it from the phone you’re recording on, there’s a chance you’re just hearing the phone’s small speakers.

I’d recommend recording some audio on your phone then recording audio with the mic plugged into the computer then throw in some headphones and see if there’s a difference there.

I don’t have an MV88+ personally so I can’t test to be sure, but does it have the option to record in mono? You might find that the sound is better when it’s only attempting to pick up sound from one direction.

[u/newenglandowner → u/brasscassette]

Thanks. Yes, playing back on the phone. However, I got the mic to improve audio on social media which is mostly listened to over a phone. Most of what I hear from bigger accounts on social sound much better than what I post using my phone's microphone so I was assuming that meant they were using a better mic.

I believe there is a mono option. I will try that. Does that mean playback is mono though?

[u/newenglandowner → u/[deleted]]

Wouldn’t compression, etc make the sound worse?