RØDE VideoMic Shotgun Microphone

[Mike Beckett]

Stelios - on a PC, you can use Videolan player - www.videolan.org. It plays pretty much any video format you can throw at it.

As to the Rode Stereo VideoMic - I used one on my VX2100E and I loved it, it was great for ambient sound. One thing I didn't like was its physical design, it seemed very top-heavy and a bit ungainly up on top of the camera, but then the sound quality made up for that.

When it came to the new V1E, I went for the Beyer MCE72 stereo mic, as it fits into the mic holder in place of the supplied Sony stock mic, and leaves the accessory shoe free for a light or other gadget.

[Craig Irving]

Well coincidentally, Digital Producer's site put up a review today.
http://digitalproducer.digitalmedian....jsp?id=261084

I've used this mic on an FX7 once before for a concert. It turned out great. I ended up using its track, instead of the NT3 I had on a V1U w/ XLR.

If you're asking why, placement I would imagine. I just had the NT3 in the wrong spot. Cause usually I get great audio from an NT3. The VideoMic was great to have on the other camera that night though.

[Guy Cochran]

The SVM's "dead kitty" works surprisingly well. You can hear it in a 20mph wind in this video.

http://dvcreators.net/rode-svm-stereo-videomic/

Great bang for buck. I like the size on a small camera too. The Stereo Videomic doesn't feel like it is overwhelming the camera. One of our interns loves his on the HV20. He felt that the Videomic felt huge on that little camera. It depends on what you're shooting though as to which one would work better for you.

[Ronnie Lindqvist]

Anyone who has tried the Beyerdynamic MCE72 CAM microphone? I'm planning to buy it for my Canon GL-2. Sound samples or comparison to other microphones?

All the best
Ronnie

[Allan Black]

Digital Producers review says the Videomic is warranted for 2 years but if you register it on line with Rode, the warranty is 10 years. Read the info first.

I've found the RODE VM deadcat is more efficient than the similar Rycote. It restricts lower wind sounds, less low rumble.

Same with the SVMs deadcat; IMO it's the longer hairs, you should run a comb through them before use. But...you got wind you got wind.

The VM is now the worlds largest selling mic of its type. RODE don't sell anything from stock, everything goes straight out of the factory here in Sydney.
Cheers.

[Ronny Hofsoy]

Have a Rode Videomic, but I had some problem with it. It is very sensitive for electronic radio noise in emitted for instance in a crowded city center. Maybe cellular phones, automatic doors, incadescent lights or like that.

BTW.. Heard a rumor..

Rode's deadcat is better - cause its not a deadcat...

..it's a deadkoala. Could anyone confirm this? :-)

[Ty Ford]

Originally Posted by Stelios Christofides

Hi

Has anyone used the RØDE VideoMic Shotgun Microphone?
I want to use it on my FX7 Camcorder. The specs sound OK.
http://www.ltf-uk.com/html/videomics.html

Stelios

No Problem. I did an mp4 video demo of it a while back. It's in the "Video" folder in my Online Archive. Help yourself.

www.tyford.com


Regards,

Ty Ford

[Ronnie Lindqvist]

Hi,
I saw your videos in your archive TY, very useful indeed -Thanks!

Do YOU have any experince about the Beyer Dynamic stereo microphone that I mentioned earlier?
My choices to my GL-2 (an all-purpose-mic for music live concerts indoors) are narrowed to the MCE72, AT825 or AT822. Audio-Technica is a little bit expensive in Sweden.. and since my GL-2 doesn't have phantom-power it's probably just AT822 or MCE72.
The MCE72 CAM comes with cameramount and cords as well.
(I also have a Beachtech DXA-4p, but again without phant.)

Cheers
Ronnie

[Mike Beckett]

Ronnie, I use the MCE72 for my Sony V1E (as I said above). I took it on its first outing just before Christmas to film some Santa steam trains here in Ireland.

I'm not a sound expert, but it got me (in my opinion) very good, ambient, stereo sound. I paired it up with a Rycote 5cm softie and it coped quite well, considering there was a strong wind coming in off the sea.

Ambient sound quality was great - including the classic left-to-right speaker of a train passing across the scene.

I mount the MCE72 in the Sony on-board mic holder, and use a home-made 5XLR to 2x3XLR lead to connect it up. I've also used it in the Rode suspension mount (SM-5, I think) and it works great.

Just make sure the mic is turned on! The version I have is not phantom powered, and an unexpected shot led to me forgetting to turn the mic on in my haste!

I'll try to get you a sample clip tonight or tomorrow.

[Ronnie Lindqvist]

Thank you very much for your information. I'm really looking forward so hear some samples. It's very hard (for me) to buy a microphone just looking at the specifications.
I'm planning to buy the MCE72 CAM version as mentioned before.
This version is powered by a 1.5V battery.
What kind of recordings do you use the microphone for and at what distances?

Thanks again.
Cheers
Ronnie

[Mike Beckett]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Lindqvist

Thank you very much for your information.
What kind of recordings do you use the microphone for and at what distances?

Hi Ronnie,

I should point out again that I'm not an audio expert - I just like the audio to sound "good"!

I use the MCE72 purely for ambient sound. In the steam train example above, it was used for all the general scenes - from the noise of the trains themselves to the crowd noise. I used it at distances from 1 metre from the sound source to 20 metres. Even though the sound is quite loud at times, there is no obvious clipping or other distortion. I had the audio levels set manually to around 70% on the V1E.

It didn't pick up any sound at all from 1km away across the bay in heavy wind at full 20x telephoto. But I'm not too surprised about that!

To be honest, it's my first real outing with this mic and camera and I haven't got much experience with it yet (other than messing around for practice purposes). I felt that the NTG-2 shotgun mic I normally use wouldn't give the right 'atmosphere' for this particular project.

One of the reasons I purchased this mic was the option to use it off-camera on a portable audio recorder like a Zoom as well. Beyer supply an XLR-3.5mm lead for this purpose.


Mike

[Ty Ford]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Lindqvist

Hi,
I saw your videos in your archive TY, very useful indeed -Thanks!

Do YOU have any experince about the Beyer Dynamic stereo microphone that I mentioned earlier?
My choices to my GL-2 (an all-purpose-mic for music live concerts indoors) are narrowed to the MCE72, AT825 or AT822. Audio-Technica is a little bit expensive in Sweden.. and since my GL-2 doesn't have phantom-power it's probably just AT822 or MCE72.
The MCE72 CAM comes with cameramount and cords as well.
(I also have a Beachtech DXA-4p, but again without phant.)

Cheers
Ronnie

Hello Ronnie,

I have not heard the beyer. They make some nice mics and some that are built to sell to the low end. The AT 822 is the unbalanced version of the 825 and has been in the line for quite a while.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Mike Beckett]

Ronnie,

Here's a sample vid for you:

http://www.mikeb.org.uk/vids/steam-audio-320.wmv (13MB)
http://www.mikeb.org.uk/vids/steam-audio-640.wmv (30MB)

Both files have the same sound quality: 192kbps, 44kHz, Stereo, 16 bit CBR. I have put some rudimentary captions up to label each scene.

In one of the shots where you can hear birdsong, the camera noise is picked up slightly. This is because it is a quiet location and I had the mic on-camera - I wasn't intending to use audio from that shot.

The images aren't final and are not HDV and I haven't given much thought to visuals in this edit - I chose shots for the sound only.

For a first video with the MCE72, I'm quite happy with it. As I said before, I found the SVM great as well, apart from its physical attributes.

[Ronnie Lindqvist]

Hi Mike,

Thank you VERY much for sharing your clips, and for your time and effort you have made for providing these samples. The mic seems very sensitive and that's a good thing for me and my purposes. BTW, what are your experience on having the mic mounted on the camera?
Does it pick up much noise from the camera in quiet enviroment?

In Sweden there is a price difference between AT822 and MCE72 about 150$ (AT822 around 520$ and MCE72 370$) if I buy from Germany. I know BHpoto has much better prices, but with tax, custom fee etc - it gets alot more, so...

You have made it a lot easier for me, I think I can borrow the AT822 or AT825 for some testing. After that it's shopping time.. :)

Thanks again!
Cheers
Ronnie

[Mike Beckett]

Ronnie,

I find the MCE72 pics up camera noise just the same as the NTG-2 shotgun or the standard Sony mic that comes with the camera. In a totally quiet room, or in the birdsong shot I captioned in the video in a sheltered, quiet corner, it picks up a slight noise of the camera whirring along.

If you turn your sound up you can hear it during the scene titled "birdsong 15-20m away". There was a collared dove on top of a roof some distance away, coo-ing his heart out!

However, I have the Rycote Pistol grip and short softie:

http://www.rycote.com/products/softi...softie_handle/

I have yet to try this in a quiet environment, and it can be tricky as a one-man band, but I've got a 5m lead that would enable me to get far enough away from the camera and closer to a subject to avoid the noise and get better audio.

Like I said, in the shot where you can hear the camera noise it wasn't a big problem because I wasn't expecting to use that audio. On camera, the mic is fine in a normal environment - outdoors or indoors, as long as you're not recording silence then it's not too bad. I would need an extra arm to be able to cope with the mic off-camera most of the time!