RØDE VideoMic GO II review: A hassle-free means of capturing high-quality sound to go with your visuals
RØDE’s latest brings crystal clear sound not only to your videos but to your smartphone and desktop too. Could it be the ultimate mobile microphone?
Review Overview
Our rating
9
Our verdict
⊕ No batteries required
⊕ Excellent pickup and directional performance
⊕ Apps unlock extra tools and functions
⊖ No USB cable bundled
⊖ No on-body physical level control
Modern cameras and smartphones boast incredible image quality but audio tends to come a rather distant second. As we know, however, sound is crucial for creating a high quality video. RØDE’s VideoMic GO II is a significant update to the company’s portable video microphone that hugely broadens its appeal to content creators.
The mic is lightweight and compact, sitting in its own shockmount and affixing to your camera via a cold shoe, which can also fit to a stand or tripod.
A small windshield is supplied and a larger one is available for trickier conditions. It doesn’t require batteries, powering either off its 3.5mm or USB connection – this is a bonus, as anyone who has fretted about the lack of battery level indicators on these kinds of mics will attest.
Multi mode
The mic works in two modes, the simplest of which is as a straightforward camera mic, plugged into the 3.5mm input on your camera via the bundled cable. There’s no level control on the body so you have to set the gain using your camera’s controls. The second mode, which is entirely new, is that it can connect to your Mac, PC, smartphone or tablet over USB-C. There isn’t a compatible cable supplied but RØDE will sell you one – Lightning to USB-C or USB-C to USB-C – for around £15-£20 depending on the model. You can use a third party cable but they stress it has to be an Apple-certified model to be able to do the job correctly.
RØDE Connect
In USB mode, the mic gains a bunch of new abilities. For a start, its 3.5mm port becomes a headphone output so you can monitor your recording and also playback from your device, with zero latency direct monitoring available. By using the RØDE Connect and RØDE Central apps for Mac and PC or the RØDE Reporter app for iOS and Android, you can change mic settings in software, with tools including adjusting input gain, toggling direct monitoring, activating the -20dB pad, high-pass filter and HF boost. The Connect app for desktop also features a noise gate, compressor, exciter and low-end boost that you can easily apply in real time.
RØDE’s mic has a frequency response of 20Hz – 20kHz and runs at 24-bit, 48kHz resolution using a supercardioid directional polar pattern. In almost every instance, you want this mic to pick up what you point it at and reject sound from other directions, and this includes when using it as a desktop mic pointed at yourself.
Time to GO?
Its performance is excellent in both of its modes; when on-camera in basic mode, it picks up a strong and clear signal, its directionality helping you focus pickup on your subject. In USB mode on the desktop, you can turn its level down a little since there’s less ambient noise and it functions superbly for video calling, podcast and voiceover recording, especially when paired with the Connect app and its audio processors.
The original VideoMic GO is still on sale for a little less, but the additional functions you get with this newer model – extended control plus the ability to use it with all your devices – are more than worth it.
Key Features
- Supercardioid polar pattern using pressure gradient electret condenser
- USB-C or 3.5mm connectivity
- No batteries required
- Stereo input and output in USB mode
- Shockmount and windshield supplied
- Change parameters using desktop and mobile apps
- 24-bit, 48kHz operation
- 110dB max SPL
- 95 dBA Typical dynamic range
- Direct monitoring in USB mode
- £99 / $99
- Contact RØDE
- Buy: ProAV, Thomann
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