Rode VideoMicro Microphone - Long Term Review

[@awlthatwoodcrafts8911]

A very thorough review. For this kind of mic, the number of different location samples you used was key to this great review. I have to ask though, being so soft spoken as you are, did you do anything to the audio afterwards to bring the level up? The outdoor shot on the bench is what made me wonder. The shot where you had the mic on the boom over your head, compared to on the camera, was like night and day. When the clip started, I was looking for your lavalier mic and was surprised when you said that you had mounted the Rode on a boom above your head. What a difference. I am looking to do some woodworking videos from my garage and when I saw this mic in a review for another piece of gear, and then saw the price, I had to see what people thought about it. This is the best review I have seen thus far. Unfortunately for the mic, I don't think I would use it in a garage setting as the echo would be just too much, especially if I'm going to be more than a meter, uh, excuse me, 3 feet away from the camera (lol). A wireless lavalier is likely going to be the best solution. I still loved the review. Extremely helpful as well as top quality.

[@ShaneBethlehem]

Thank you very much! I def have a very soft voice the majority of the time which makes audio capture a pain for myself I find, and often I use a lav for that reason. I did my best to make sure the audio was balanced in the camera to limit how much I had to adjust it in post, so besides normalizing the levels very slightly there was nothing changed. I've shot some woodworking video in the past and that is an audio adventure 😅 between the tools and dust it requires a lot of concentration on keeping your levels up and gear clean. I think you are right about the echo in a garage, though you could probably dampen it significantly if you were to drape some moving blankets over some walls or objects to deaden the reverb. Drop sheets would also work but may be a little thin when I've used them with that intention in the past, but they at least keep the dust off stuff. I think a lav is the way to go too, perhaps though if you want a bit of room noise for ambient shots you could have a splitter for your L/R audio channels, so you can run this mic on camera on also a lav on you. With that setup you get the best of both worlds without needing to sync audio in post.

[@awlthatwoodcrafts8911]

@@ShaneBethlehem, thanks for the info and suggestions. With regards to the splitter, are you saying to plug in two mics to the same jack with a splitter? I like the moving blanket idea but I'm not sure how I could do it in the space that I have. My garage is all drywalled in so I don't have any exposed beams to throw a blanket over.

[@ShaneBethlehem]

@@awlthatwoodcrafts8911 Yeah exactly, though I don’t have any specific one I’d recommend, I currently use a rather rubbish one when I need it that I found on Amazon a long time ago. If you plan on recording your audio externally than something like a Zoom F2 or H1n would be easy too, That would make it rather tricky though with the drywall, you could potentially get like galvanized pipe fixtures and make your own hipster curtain hangers, but that is a rather invasive approach. Light stands or C-stands are a more portable solution but also can get pricey quickly as well

[@awlthatwoodcrafts8911]

@@ShaneBethlehem the Zoom would certainly be a good idea. My intention though is to use a lav mic for my voice, when I need it in a shot, and then do voice-overs when I'm not in a shot. Even for those shots though, a Zoom would be nice for getting quality ambient sound. More expensive than the Rode you reviewed, but definitely something to consider. When I thought about your moving blanket idea, all of your suggestions went through my head, Lol. The more I thought of it, I don't need more gear to have to store when not in use.

[@mauriciomarin5599]

Yet, another great review! Canadians are so nice they subconsciously use the imperial system to not alienate their friends in the South, at least that's how I like to think of it 😅