I have an FX 1 with Beachtek Dxa-Fx adapter and an azden Sgm-1x and would like to get a better sound. I'm on a budget and can't go as far as me66/k6 way. Can someone recommend between AT897 and NTG-1 or 2? Thank you in advance.
KC.

NTG-2. I personally love the Rode short shotguns. I prefer them over the ME66, in fact. The ME66 sounds, as someone else said, too brittle and bright.
Unless the Beachtek provides phantom power, you'll want the NTG-2 because it is battery powered.

Yep the NTG-2 sounds better .. and when you come to sell it sometime waaaaay in the future you'll have more chance because of its battery option :)

A customer call RODE get is from folk who forget to remove the battery when they start powering the NTG-2 with 48 volts .. and the battery goes flat and some leak. That's not covered by warranty :(

Cheers.

Another vote for the NTG2. I love mine.

I bought it from BandH with the shock mount, and McGivered it to mount on my Z1. Helped a lot with the handling noise, which I found bad on the Z1.

Check the little screws on the barrel once in a while. They can come loose over time.

Another vote for the NTG2. I love mine.

I bought it from BandH with the shock mount, and McGivered it to mount on my Z1. Helped a lot with the handling noise, which I found bad on the Z1.

Check the little screws on the barrel once in a while. They can come loose over time.

Great minds think alike. I made a mount for my DVC30. I'm missing a screw on the side of my NTG-1, good advice to check them periodically.

I caught mine before losing the screw, but it was a close one. Here's the mount I made with the end of a broomstick, believe it or not. Works great. I painted it after this picture.

You guys are a great bunch. So NTG-2 over AT897?
I bought the Azden a while back before I knew about this forum and only based on a price, for some reason I never hear anybody recommending Azden at all, never see anybody using it either, I can't really complain about the one I have because I never compared it with another brand, but is the Rode really that much better?

Also, Edward, do you have a panny and fx1/z1? If so, when you do editing, do you find the picture profiles being hard to match? My partner has a dvc30 and when we shoot with two cameras his colors look way brighter and punchier vs fx1's dull and flat colors, what's the solution to this?

:( so, nobody owns azden? Is it that bad?