Long-term reviews of budget photo & video gear.

KIT PLAN RECOMMENDATION:
Neoteck NTK 059 Amplifier
This image is 100% REAL, and no A.I. (or Photoshop compositing) were used to make it, and I know because I took it myself.
Quality?
LIGHT USE OK
Yes
MEDIUM USE OK
Yes
HEAVY USE OK
?
Portable?
Yes
CAMERA BAG
Yes
Yes
Common?
ON AMAZON
Yes
ON EBAY
No
Easy To Use?
SKILL LEVEL
MEDIUM
OVERVIEW:
This is a portable headphone amplifier, designed to be used with older cell phones that had 3.5mm audio out. Yet, while these might be outdated for cell phone use (due to a current lack of 3.5mm output jacks) there is a really neat way to use these: as an audio BOOST for almost any 3.5mm microphone (I say almost because some require "plug-in power" which this amplifier doesn't provide).
MAIN POINTS:
PART 1: IS IT PORTABLE?
PART 2: IS IT AFFORDABLE?
PART 3: IS IT COMMON?
PART 4: HOW’S THE QUALITY?
PART 5: IS IT EASY TO USE?
PART 6: NEEDS ADD-ONS?
PART 7: WHERE DO I BUY?
PART 1: IS IT PORTABLE?
Yes, it is portable.
PART 2: IS IT AFFORDABLE?
Yes, it's usually around $30 US or less, on Amazon.
PART 3: IS IT COMMON?
It's pretty common new (on Amazon) but there are a few other models from this same brand that seem to go out of stock more often. I prefer this specific model, because it has a LOW-HIGH gain switch, instead of a bass boost.
PART 4: HOW’S THE QUALITY?
This part is amazing...it seems to create a very clean, transparent, low-noise output, which really helps because you're using it to boost audio from mics that may not be perfect, so it's nice to not add any noise to that signal.
PART 5: IS IT EASY TO USE?
Yes, it's pretty easy to use, except for the old USB plug (don't put it in the wrong way!)
PART 6: NEEDS ADD-ONS?
I do add a cell phone holder to it (so I can mount it to a camera hot shoe) but other than that, it works as is.
PART 7: WHERE DO I BUY?
I bought this on Amazon.
RECOMMENDATION:
If you don't mind adding another item to your camera rig (worry not, it's small and light) I think having one of these is super helpful. It allows you to boost the signal of almost any 3.5mm microphone without adding any bad noise.
These reviews are just my opinion and are focused on my Q.P.A.C.E. packing method, so they're not comprehensive. I wrote these mostly to help me remember what items worked for my KIT PLANS (and which didn't). If I said anything negative I apologize, as these products still may work well for you in your situation, but they were not Q.P.A.C.E (Quality, Portable, Affordable, Common, Easy-to-Use) enough for my budget filmmaking KIT PLANS.
