Hisong AirStudio S1

Hisong’s debut product is a mic that contains its own wireless recording studio.

Produced by the crowdfunded start‑up Hisong, the AirStudio S1 is a compact USB mobile recording microphone that aims to offer a complete recording solution by incorporating its own wireless monitoring earbuds, which charge from a dock housed inside the mic’s body. The AirStudio S1 operates at up to 24‑bit/48kHz resolution, and the free Hisong Link app (Android and iOS) allows access to the mic’s internal settings. Bluetooth connectivity also enables audio playback from a phone or other mobile device through the mic’s monitoring system. It’s available in three editions: the 4‑in‑1 Musician Kit (reviewed here), the 5‑in‑1 Creator Kit, and the 6‑in‑1 Master Kit. The Creator and Master Kits ship with additional wireless connection options, about which more below.

The microphone itself features two independent capsules: one is a cardioid‑pattern capacitor offering a wide frequency response, and the other is a supercardioid dynamic, with a response tailored to vocals and a pickup pattern designed to reduce off‑axis ambient noise. A built‑in lithium battery charges from the mic’s USB‑C port and provides up to 10 hours of run time per charge. The mic includes a built‑in pop filter to help reduce plosives, and ships with a semi‑rigid carry case, inside which you’ll also find a soft foam windshield, a USB‑C cable, and a metal base plate with a magnetic mount that can be attached to the mic for standing it on a desk or other flat surface.

If extreme portability is important to you, and you value the ability to monitor without carrying additional headphones or earbuds, the Hisong AirStudio S1 offers a very elegant solution.

The RX Plus offers either USB‑C or mini‑jack connectivity, and can be attached to a DSLR hot‑shoe mount for recording direct to camera.The Bluetooth audio connection I mentioned earlier is one‑way only; it’s intended solely for wireless playback, not for recording. This makes sense, as Bluetooth introduces significant latency (up to 250ms), whereas minimal latency is important when recording. To record to a computer or mobile device using the Musician Kit, you’ll need a wired USB connection. The mic operates as a class‑compliant USB audio interface, so you can record to pretty much any device (Hisong provide ASIO drivers for Windows machines for lower latency). The Creator and Master Kits, however, include the RX Mini wireless USB‑C dongle, which Hisong claim boasts “imperceptible latency” (as low as 24ms) for recording, via the company’s proprietary ZeroSync 2.4GHz transmission protocol.

The Master Kit additionally includes an RX Plus dongle, which offers stereo I/O on mini‑jacks, and can be fitted with either a USB‑C connector or a hot‑shoe attachment for use with a DSLR camera. It also includes a short curly mini‑jack cable, so you can record audio directly to your camera from the mic.

Darling Buds

Sliding back the cover on the mic’s body, which also mutes the mic, reveals a pair of wireless earbuds tucked into their charging dock and held in place magnetically. These use the same low‑latency (24ms) ZeroSync connection as the RX Mini and Plus receivers.

The wireless earbuds can be stored and charged inside the mic itself, by sliding the outer shell of the mic down.On the opposite side of the mic body is another cavity that can house the RX Mini. A minor irritation was that on my USB‑C hub, the RX Mini was slightly too wide to allow further USB cables to be plugged into the adjacent ports. The earbuds pair automatically with the mic once the mic is powered on and the headphones are removed from their dock. They charge quickly and offer up to 3.5 hours of use per charge. When the RX Mini dongle is plugged into a computer, audio from DAW software can be sent wirelessly to the mic’s monitoring system.

The published specifications include only a single set of figures despite the two mic modes. Frequency response is given as 20Hz to 20kHz, and maximum SPL is quoted as 137dB. Without a frequency response graph or defined roll‑off points, these figures are of limited practical value, but in use the mic proved very effective at capturing natural‑sounding speech with a reassuring sense of weight. It was also more tolerant (though not immune) to popping than many USB mics I’ve tested. Sensitivity is quoted as ‑41dB (±3dB), SNR is ≥72dB and THD is under 1% for 1kHz at 94dB SPL. The supplied foam windshield improves the resistance to wind noise and popping, and is likely to be essential for most outdoor use, although a third‑party furry windshield would offer even better protection in windy conditions.

The Hisong Link app provides access to the mic’s internal DSP, as well as recording features and other settings.The menu button, which features a red/green indicator LED and also functions as a mute control, is used in conjunction with the buttons on either side to increase or decrease mic gain. A slide switch powers the mic on and selects between the two mic modes. Onboard DSP — accessed via the Hisong Link app — includes EQ, reverb, noise reduction and compression/limiting, with visual displays of EQ curves and other parameters. These all offer one adjustment slider, but in some cases the slider affects more than one parameter. For example, in the case of the (rather good) reverb, as the slider is moved up the reverb gets louder and its decay time gets longer. When recording into a DAW, you may prefer to use your own plug‑ins so that processing is not permanently recorded, but having DSP available is useful when recording to a phone or for live streaming. Battery status can also be checked via the Hisong Link app, which includes a separate‑track recording feature allowing you to add vocals to a backing track (monitored through the mic’s earbuds) directly on a phone. Hisong Link also supports one‑tap export to social media apps, cloud services and similar platforms.

Something In The Air

On the opposite side is a cavity for housing the RX Mini low‑latency wireless dongle.

Hisong recommend the AirSong S1 for portable recording applications, as it removes the need for a separate audio interface and has integrated low‑latency wireless monitoring. It’s also well suited to live streaming and social media video production, with the RX Mini and RX Plus wireless dongles being especially useful in those scenarios. It can also be used for field recording, albeit in mono, to a phone or tablet as long as you have either a USB adaptor or a device with a USB C port.

So what advantages does it offer over a conventional USB mic? The main attraction is its wireless operation, combined with a neat design that stores both the earbuds and USB dongle inside the mic when not in use. The earbuds deliver good sound quality, although perceived tonal balance will inevitably depend on how well they fit your ears. For confidence monitoring, they proved reliable and effective.

If extreme portability is important to you, and you value the ability to monitor without carrying additional headphones or earbuds, the Hisong AirStudio S1 offers a very elegant solution, with its app‑controlled DSP effects providing a useful added bonus.