The best mic for an AI scribe?
You might already own it.
Noctune works off the phone in your pocket, right out of the box. Here’s when an external mic actually earns its place — and the exact one we use.
Do you even need one?
Honestly? Often not. Noctune is built to work off the microphone already in your pocket. An external mic is an upgrade, not a requirement.
Your phone is plenty when…
A quiet, small-animal exam room with one or two people talking
You hold the phone or set it on the table within a few feet of the conversation
You are already getting clean notes you barely edit
Reach for a mic when…
Large-animal and equine work, where you need both hands and can’t hold a phone
Your phone normally lives in your pocket or lab coat — a clip-on hears you clearly, not muffled through fabric
Outdoor and barn visits with wind — the kit’s furry windscreen (the “rabbit”) tames gusts a phone can’t
Loud wards and treatment areas — clipped to your collar, the mic stays on your voice where a tabletop phone mostly catches the room
You’re soft-spoken — a mic inches from your mouth catches the quiet parts a distant phone loses
The logic is simple: better audio in means less editing out. Cleaner sound gives the AI more to work with, so the finished SOAP needs fewer corrections before it’s yours.
The DJI Mic — one clips on, one charges.
We tried the field. This is what we reach for. It has the best audio of the clip-on mics, and the two-transmitter kit is what makes it work for a real clinic day.
Best-in-class audio
Crisp, detail-rich capture with strong active noise cancelling — it holds up through barking, clippers, and the scaler in the next room.
Clip it and forget it
Ultralight lav mic that clips to a collar or scrub top. Hands-free for the whole exam — no headset, no holding a phone.
Level control for loud rooms
Turn the input down in a noisy ward or up for a quiet talker. One-tap pairing, ready in seconds.
Two mics, never caught out
Get the two-transmitter kit. One clips on while the other charges in the case — you always have a fresh mic ready, all day.
Always one charged, always one ready.
A single mic could die mid-afternoon and you’re back to your phone. With the two-transmitter kit, one mic clips to your collar while the other gets topped off in the charging case. Swap them during a quick break if you need to, and you’re covered from the first appointment to the last — no dead battery, no scramble, no missed audio.
Four habits for a clean note.
A great mic still needs a few good habits. None of this takes more than a second once it’s routine.
Swap mics out every few hours or at midday
Keep the spare transmitter in the charging case between uses. Clip on the charged one, set the used one back in the charging case — you never run dry mid-appointment.
Clip near your collar
A hand-width below your chin, pointed up toward your mouth. Close enough to hear you clearly, high enough to catch the client and the room.
Set the level for the room
Loud treatment area? Bring the input down so nothing clips. Quiet consult? Nudge it up. A clean signal means fewer edits on the finished note.
Record in Noctune, as always
Start and stop the recording in the Noctune app or your browser — not on the mic itself. The mic is just the ears; Noctune does the listening.
Go annual. The mic’s on us.
Commit to a year of Noctune and we’ll send you a free mic kit — the same gear we clip on for the cleanest notes from day one.
Available on annual plans. We’ll email you to arrange shipping once your subscription starts.