In this video I’m testing Antlion’s XLR Adapter for the ModMic 5 (and technically any 3.5mm mic), and I wanted to see if it actually delivers on the two big claims: higher fidelity audio and better proximity compensation. I ran a bunch of real-world mic tests—yep, lots of “quick brown fox” and “lazy dog”—comparing the ModMic through the XLR adapter versus straight 3.5mm. I also looked at that classic problem where getting close to a mic boosts the bass and can start to distort. The biggest surprise for me wasn’t some huge “night and day” tone change on camera—raw audio going into my camera’s XLR setup didn’t really change much. Where this adapter makes way more sense is on a computer setup for streaming/gaming: using an interface (I used a Scarlett Solo) gets the mic away from internal PC noise, and the adapter needs noticeably less gain to hit a good level, which helps keep noise down. Proximity compensation is there, but it’s not a magic fix—it still bass boosts and can still distort. At $24.95 it’s a little pricey for an adapter, but if you’re serious about getting the cleanest ModMic audio possible, especially with an XLR interface, I’d call it a worthy pickup—and I’m continuing to use it as my primary gaming mic.