The Best Reviews, list, tips and blogs
The Rode VideoMic Pro is a true shotgun microphone designed for use with camcorders DSLR cameras and portable digital voice recorders as the primary and reference audio source. The Rode VideoMic Pro+ is one of the most well-known compact directional shotgun microphones on the market.
The RODE VideoMic Pro is a true shotgun microphone designed for use with camcorders DSLR cameras and portable digital voice recorders as the primary and reference audio source. The Rode VideoMic Pro+ is one of the most well-known compact directional shotgun microphones on the market. As we will see later in this review, there is a noticeable balance between the affordability of this on-camera microphone and the level of audio quality it produces. For many years, we have worked with a wide range of film professionals to help them perfect their sound recordings, and having been in the industry long enough, we have worked with every on-camera microphone the market has to offer.
We’re going to use this level of expertise to help you uncover the pros and cons of the Rode VideoMic Pro+ so that by the end of this review, you’ll know if it’s worth it. There’s a lot of science that helps make shotgun microphones extra effective. We go into additional technical details to help you better understand how this microphone compares to others and what features to look out for. We understand how important it is to find the best microphone for recording your movie sound. Let’s dive deep into the acclaimed Rode VideoMic Pro+, starting with what we think is the best.
Then we’ll cover all the drawbacks and do a quick shuffle of the pros and cons. At the end, we discuss some alternative streaming microphones to consider, and you should have a clear idea of what you need yourself. The Rode VideoMic Pro+ is a super-cardioid directional condenser microphone. The strength of the directivity ensures that the microphone picks up sound where it is aimed, while canceling sound from other directions. As a shotgun microphone, it uses what is known as phase cancellation to prevent unwanted noise, using the built-in side slits to essentially “follow” sound coming from other directions.
As with previous models, the VideoMic Pro+ relies on Rode’s Rycote Lyre suspension system. This flexible plastic material acts as a shock absorber to reduce unwanted noise from various shocks and movements the camera undergoes during filming. During our testing, the suspension system proved fantastic, especially when shooting run-and-gun style with a handheld camera that underwent a lot of shaking.
The windscreen has been redesigned with a larger, “optimized” shape, making the VideoMic Pro+ less compact than its predecessors, but it still works well as an on-camera microphone. In addition, we noticed minimal wind noise during our test, even in windy situations. If the VideoMic Pro+’s larger windscreen still isn’t quiet enough for your needs, Rode has an accessory that should stop all but the strongest gusts of wind.
This microphone has a clean sound, with a very low self-noise of only 14 dBA. This makes it suitable for recording in a quiet environment not all microphones, especially DSLR microphones, are capable of this. When the recorded signal is weak, it needs a lot of amplification, so on microphones with higher self-noise this can become obvious. At the same time, it has a high dynamic range of 120dB and is specified for a maximum SPL of 134dB, so extremely loud sounds are not a problem either.
This can be useful if you want to record music festivals, for example, without degrading your sound, but more importantly it prevents the microphone from overloading if you use it at close range. video-mic-pro-plus_small_2 In addition, the Videomic Pro+ has a safety audio channel, which records in parallel but at a lower gain, so even if the main audio is damaged, you can still replace the bad parts with the safety audio in your editing software. Overall, this microphone gives you great sound quality, not only because of its high gain and low noise as mentioned earlier, but also because of a tight microphone pattern.
Rejecting ambient noise is just as important, and shotgun microphones are suited for this task. However, when it comes to DSLR microphones, the degree of rejection of the Videomic Pro Plus is second to none. The super cardioid pattern is almost as tight as that of full-sized short shotguns. This is very important, and is actually the biggest difference between the Pro Plus and the regular Pro version. The non-Plus version is smaller, shorter, and has lesser repulsion. The latter, however, has a more neutral, production-ready response. The difference in directivity is directly responsible for the difference in sound between the two.
Since not everyone is familiar with the previous model, we go over its features and draw attention to a host of small improvements to provide an accurate overall summary. The Rode VideoMic Pro+ microphone has a low self-noise of 14 dBA, which helps to eliminate noise when it is used in a quiet environment or when it is not pointed close enough to the subject. It also has an active amplifier circuit, which allows it to improve the electrical output signal by up to 20 dB, or x10 if measured in volts.
What does that mean? The simple answer is that it is a DSLR microphone, and when combined with camera preamps it can provide higher quality sound. The long answer is that in professional applications microphones are usually connected with a balanced XLR cable. This cable has three pins, one for ground and two for the signal, which is usually passed in a different way from ground using a stabilizing output loop, so that when ground is subtracted at both ends on the receiver side, this is effective in cancelling out any noise introduced by EMI.
Professional preamplifiers, however, are quite quiet by themselves and can amplify the signal as much as needed without adding any more noise, so the only limit is the acoustic noise floor of the microphone, measured in dB or dBA Professional preamplifiers, on the other hand, can be quite expensive, and even then they won’t work unless they are connected to a balanced or low impedance source via an appropriate jack, such as XLR.
One of the biggest changes with the VideoMic Pro+ is the digital switch interface. Instead of dragging a switch from one setting to another on the back of the camera, Rode now relies on a pair of buttons. When pressed alone or together, the buttons activate different recording modes depending on your needs. The first mode is a two-stage high-pass filter. This is turned on to help reduce low-frequency background noise in recordings, such as the sound of an air conditioner or the rumble of cars on a nearby highway, while allowing higher frequencies to pass through undisturbed.
The next mode is a three-level gain control. This setting is used to boost the audio signal to compensate for the quieter preamps built into mirrorless and DSLR cameras, which often introduce noise when their own gain settings are set too high. This allows you to lower the gain in the camera, which should result in a cleaner sound. An additional high-frequency gain mode helps bring out more detail in recordings, especially those with dialogue.
We hope you understand and enjoy this review list. The VideoMic Pro+; they have improved their already standard product with some useful features. The long battery life combined with the safety channel makes this a great upgrade. We would have liked to see the eight inch output placed elsewhere on the mic, but that is a minor inconvenience. RODE gives you great value for money with the VideoMic Pro+.
Bollyinside provides you the latest Guides, Tech Tips and tutorials. Which you find here: So never forget to check our Bollyinside Blogs, for technology computer mobile guides and Tips, Top lists, best 10, and bussiness guides.
Bollyinside is part of Tofido ltd, an international media group and leading digital publisher.
© Tofido Publishing Media Network Limited