A Insta360 lançou hoje o Insta360 Mic, adição intermediária à sua linha de microfones (que já inclui o Mic Air e o Mic Pro), contando com uma tela eink personalizável e armazenamento expansível via microSD.

Pensado para criadores de conteúdo que buscam recursos mais sofisticados de áudio sem investir em um modelo topo de linha, ele é ideal para vlogs do cotidiano, gravações de esportes nos fins de semana, viagens, transmissões ao vivo e conversas em grupo.

O painel eink customizável permite a inserção de logos, emojis, animais de estimação, paisagens ou elementos da identidade visual do criador.

Para quem adquirir apenas o receptor, é possível utilizar o Insta360 Mic com as câmeras da fabricante — Insta360 X6, X5, Luna Ultra, Luna Pro, GO Ultra e Ace Pro 2 —, bem como com smartphones, tudo via Bluetooth. Outra alternativa para as gravações é o cartão microSD, que permite armazenar os áudios capturados pelo produto.

Com o cartão microSD inserido, o Mic é capaz de gravar áudios em ponto flutuante de 32 bits diretamente no transmissor e conta com um chip dedicado à supressão de ruído, baseada na NPU ¹Neural processing unit, ou unidade de processamento neural. do microfone, que reduz sons ambiente com maior intensidade. 

O dispositivo tem dois modos de ganho automático: o Dynamic equilibra as variações de volume para manter a coesão sonora, enquanto o modo Auto ajuda a evitar a saturação de som.

Ele conta ainda com três predefinições de timbre (Regular, Rich e Bright) para ajudar a preservar as características naturais da sonoridade captada.

Assim como o do Mic Pro, um único receptor do Mic se conecta a até quatro transmissores ao mesmo tempo, o que inclui produções com múltiplas câmeras (que podem receber o áudio de até dois receptores simultaneamente).

De acordo com a fabricante, cada transmissor possui até 13 horas de bateria com uma única carga, enquanto a case de carregamento amplia essa autonomia para até 34 horas.

Preço e disponibilidade

O Insta360 Mic está disponível na loja oficial da Insta360, com a seguinte relação de valores (em dólares) para o Brasil:

• Insta360 Mic (dois transmissores + um receptor): US$250;
• Insta360 Mic (um transmissor + um receptor): US$140;
• Um transmissor Insta360 Mic: US$80.

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Notas de rodapé

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  Neural processing unit, ou unidade de processamento neural.

For more than a century, musicians have maintained that the way a pianist touches a key influences the sound that emerges. Many scientists, however, have argued that after the hammer strikes the string, the instrument itself determines the outcome, making the pianist’s touch irrelevant.

Now, a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides some of the strongest evidence yet in support of the musicians’ perspective.

A research team led by Dr. Shinichi Furuya of the NeuroPiano Institute and Sony Computer Science Laboratories developed a custom sensor system called HackKey. This system can record the movement of all 88 piano keys at 1,000 frames per second, with a spatial precision of 0.01 millimeters. The team invited 20 internationally recognized pianists to play notes while intentionally aiming for contrasting timbres, such as bright versus dark and light versus heavy. Listeners were able to distinguish among the different timbres, even individuals with no experience playing the piano.

The Movements Behind the Sound

The researchers identified a series of micro-movements beneath each keystroke. These movements are so subtle that they are almost impossible to see, but precise enough for listeners to perceive differences in sound.

Small changes in how quickly a key accelerates, slight overlaps between notes, and variations in the speed of initial contact with the key all influenced how listeners described the resulting sound. When each of these factors was adjusted individually, the perceived timbre changed. Adjusting a single movement feature was enough to reliably change how listeners perceived timbre. The results show that touch has a direct effect on sound, independent of factors such as volume or tempo.

The study describes these micro-movements as a motor skill developed through years of advanced training. The researchers call the emerging science of mapping movement to musical experience “dynaformics.”

A Debate as Old as the Modern Piano

The debate over whether touch can alter piano timbre dates back to at least the early 1900s, when music educators began discussing what distinguishes one performer’s sound from another. The piano’s mechanical action appeared to support the skeptics, since the hammer, once released, moves independently before striking the string and is not directly contacted by the pianist’s finger.

As a result of this mechanical process, many acousticians concluded that any reported differences in tone were psychological, influenced by context, volume, or timing rather than by touch. Musicians maintained their position but did not have the scientific tools to prove it.

To settle this debate, Furuya’s team developed a custom biometric contact-sensing system called HackKey, capable of recording the movement of all 88 piano keys at 1,000 frames per second with sub-millimeter precision. The system captured in-depth piano movement data that previous technology could not. For the first time, researchers could observe the specific actions of elite pianists and relate those movements to listeners’ descriptions of sound.

What It Means Beyond the Concert Hall

Piano teachers have often used general phrases like “play warmer” or “use a softer touch” because the specific movements that create certain sound qualities were not well understood. This study now offers a guide to those movements.

Future training tools may allow students to see precisely what their fingers are doing when a note is played successfully or not. Instead of relying on a teacher’s metaphor, students could compare their own keystrokes to a standard and work to improve their technique. The researchers suggest that this approach could make expressive technique easier to teach and visualize, especially for students who find it difficult to translate verbal instructions into physical actions.

The research may also apply to rehabilitation, robotics, and human-computer interaction. Discovering that small differences in movement can shape auditory perception offers new insight into how the brain links movement and sensory experience. Some researchers are exploring whether systems based on expressive musical movement could help patients recover dexterity and coordination after injury.

Most scientific research on music has focused on elements that are easier to measure, like pitch, loudness, and rhythm. Timbre, or the quality or “color” of a sound that makes one instrument or voice different from another, has been harder to measure. This study offers a new way to understand the mechanics behind this concept. The findings suggest that some of the most expressive parts of music come from movements too small to see, developed through years of practice.

Austin Burgess is a writer and researcher with a background in sales, marketing, and data analytics. He holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and a data analytics certification. His work focuses on breaking scientific developments, with an emphasis on emerging biology, cognitive neuroscience, and archaeological discoveries.