- This is a review of our topic
when it comes to the best wireless microphone system
for iPhone, Android, DSLR, and pretty much any other camera
with a 3.5 millimeter input right now,
including everything you need to know
to make sure that you're choosing
the right wireless microphone for your camera
and your video setup.
Hey, it's Justin Brown here from Primal Video,
where we help you grow an audience
and scale your revenue with online video.
If you're seeing value in this video,
make sure you're giving it a thumbs up.
It really makes a huge difference.
And all the links to everything I mention in this video,
you can find the link in the description box below.
Let's jump into it.
Now, a really quick disclaimer,
RODE did send us out a free unit.
I actually had no idea it was even coming,
but we are under no obligation to do anything at all
and we are 100% free to share our candid thoughts.
That's actually a condition of us accepting any gear
and they've agreed.
So for a while now, the RODE Wireless GO
was our top recommendation
when it comes to wireless microphones.
It's an awesome little package.
It's compact, it's affordable at just under $200.
It's compatible with most microphones and cameras
and it's got great audio quality.
But RODE has since released a brand-new upgrade
with some major features, the RODE Wireless GO II.
We've been testing it out for the past few months
and we think it's awesome
and definitely worth sharing with you all.
But which one is the best one for you;
the original version or the new updated version?
Or, is it worth the upgrade?
I'm gonna get to that and more in this review.
Okay, so both the original and the new version are tiny.
This is it right here.
They are super lightweight.
They've got some great mounting options.
Both the transmitter and the receiver
have a belt clip on the back
to help you mount the microphone,
and it also doubles as a cold shoe mount as well,
making it really easy to mount on top of your camera
or onto a smartphone rig.
The transmitter even has a built-in microphone,
which is actually really decent.
And there is a windshield adapter on top
to help eliminate any wind noise.
Now they have updated the connection for the windshield
so that it doesn't fall off as easy as it did
with the original version.
Now, the transmitters themselves
also have a 3.5 millimeter TRS microphone port
that will work with most lavalier microphones
with that connection.
So even though there's already a built in microphone
in the unit itself, you can use it
as a traditional wireless lavalier microphone as well
by plugging in an external microphone.
Now we've tested it with a few different microphones,
things like the BOYA BY-M1 microphone, the I-RIG Lavalier,
and a few Sonys as well,
and it's worked really, really well.
Or RODE also have their own specific microphone
that they've paired up with this
called the RODE Lavalier GO.
So it's cool that you've got options
to either just use the unit itself
and either clip it up on your shirt
or maybe onto your pocket or something
near your presenter's mouth,
or you can clip the unit onto your belt
or put it in a pocket and run a lavalier up,
which is what you're hearing right now.
I'm currently using the RODE Wireless GO II
with the RODE Lavalier.
And I'll get to some more audio tests
of the different options very soon.
And the new version of this microphone
is still compatible with RODE's other accessories,
things like the RODE Interview GO,
the handheld microphone and the magnetic clips
to, again, give you more mounting options.
But in terms of some of the bigger updates,
probably the biggest update
is that you actually now get two transmitters,
two microphones, in this kit.
This is gonna be perfect for having two people in your shot
or for having a second wireless microphone
as a backup option while you're recording.
So with the original version
and with most wireless microphone kits,
if you wanna have two people presenting
or two wireless microphones, it meant buying two full kits,
and you'd need some adapters and things
to make them all connect up to your camera.
But now having two wireless microphones included is awesome.
Now, both the transmitters and the receiver
all have a USB-C type port for charging,
but unlike the original version,
which had that port as well,
the new version now connects through to your computer
and it's automatically detected as an external microphone,
meaning that you can use this as a wireless microphone
for your computer as well.
They also now sell adapter cables
to connect these up to your iPad or iPhone's lightning port,
or you can connect them up to your Android devices
with the USB-C cable,
and you can still connect to a phone
using the 3.5 millimeter plug too.
So these mics, they can pretty much get working
with most devices out there.
Another really cool new feature is,
there's now built-in internal recording
directly into each of the two transmitters,
meaning that each of the two microphones
can record their own audio either as a backup,
which is awesome
in case there's any Wi-Fi dropouts or interference,
or they could even be used
as their own standalone recording device,
whether you wanna transmit back to the receiver or not.
Now, each transmitter can record up to 40 hours of audio.
And when it's enabled,
it's automatically going to start recording
the moment the microphone is turned on.
Now, when that 40 hours of recording is full,
it's going to start to auto overwrite
the oldest recordings on the unit.
So this is great because it's something
you'll never have to think about again,
and you're gonna end up with a perfect backup recording.
Now, the display on the receiver unit has also been updated
and it now gives you more information
on things like the transmitters volume and the battery life.
And you can see if it's actually recording internally
on the device as well.
Now you also have the ability now
to either record audio from the microphones in stereo,
like a mixed track of both microphones,
or in dual mono mode, where audio from one mic
is gonna come through, say, the left channel,
and the other mic is gonna come through the right channel.
This will give you the ability to adjust the microphones
or to mix the two microphones afterwards in your editing.
There's also now a RODE Central app for Mac and PC.
And this is how you can enable
things like the internal audio recording,
and it's also how you can access your audio recordings
that are saved directly to the transmitters.
Now, the app also gives you access
to more advanced features and controls as well,
things like a safety channel,
where one of the audio channels
is recorded at a lower volume.
Just in case your audio gets too loud at some point,
you can then use the lower version instead.
You can also enable more granular volume control
or gain control in there as well.
And once it's enabled through the app,
you can then adjust with more precision
the microphone levels from the receiver unit.
Now, in terms of battery life,
there is a built-in rechargeable battery
that lasts up to seven hours.
This isn't something that you can replace,
but the wireless transmission has also been increased
and is now up to 200 meters line of sight.
Now in the box, you get the two transmitters,
you get one receiver, you get three furry windshields,
three USB-C to USB-A charging cables,
one TRS to TRS audio cable, and a carry pouch.
Now, in terms of what it sounds like,
what you've been listening to in this video so far
is the RODE Wireless GO II.
I do have it clipped on to me here
using the RODE Lavalier GO lavalier microphone.
One, two, one, two.
Now for comparison,
this is what the RODE Wireless GO I sounds like
without any microphone plugged into it.
Okay, one, two.
And what you're hearing now is the RODE Wireless GO II,
again, with nothing connected to it.
And if I go ahead and connect it
to the RODE Handheld Microphone Adapter,
then this is what it sounds like if you're gonna be using it
as a handheld microphone as well.
Over to you Justin.
One, two, one, two.
(Justin tapping)
And now I'm back using the RODE Wireless GO II
with the RODE Lavalier GO microphone attached.
Now, those audio tests that you just heard
won't have any post-processing or any audio effects
or anything applied,
you're just gonna hear them
as they come out of the microphone.
The only thing that we would have changed
is probably the volumes,
just to make sure that they're all set right.
Now in terms of the downsides, the cons,
or the things that you need to be aware of,
you currently can't adjust the volume levels individually
for the two microphones,
you can adjust both of them together,
but not just make one of them louder
and one of them quieter.
Something else worth noting is that,
a computer and the RODE Central app is gonna be required
for some of those more advanced features
or even just to enable them initially.
So things like the more granular gain control,
you only need to enable that feature through the app,
but then once it's enabled on the device itself,
you can make those granular adjustments.
So again, it's not really a problem,
you can either set these settings
before you go out on your shoot,
or if you're creating similar videos all the time,
you might only need to set them up once
and then they'll be good to go from then on in.
Now, there's still no screw locking connector
for the microphones.
It will be a nice-to-have
so that your microphones aren't going to pull out,
but I really don't think it's a big deal.
I have never had an issue with the microphone coming out.
And while the kit does come with a cable
to connect to a TRS input on a camera,
to connect to a phone or to a tablet
via the headphone jack, USB-C, or lightening,
you will need to purchase an adapter for that to work.
And we'll have links to those adapters
down in the description.
Now, in terms of pricing,
given all the features and how amazing this unit is,
it is crazy that it comes in at under $300.
It's currently selling for 299.
Now the original is still a great deal at 199,
but I think it's definitely worth the upgrade.
Even if you don't want the two microphones,
having features like the inbuilt audio recording
and the computer capability
to use it as a wireless microphone through your computer
are definitely worth the upgrade.
But if you don't need those things,
then the original is still an awesome deal.
Now, my personal preference
is to use these RODE wireless microphone kits
with a lavalier and microphone as well.
So the one that I'm using right now is the RODE Lavalier GO.
It currently sells for $79.
But again, this can work
with most lavalier microphones out there
that have that TRS connector.
So we have tried and tested a lot of microphones,
a lot of wireless microphone kits,
and this is definitely my top recommendation right now,
best bang for buck wireless mic on the market.
Most of the others that come close to this
are a lot more expensive
and still don't do everything that these do,
or they're cheaper and they sound terrible.
And some of them I've tried even have interference issues
and dropouts while you're recording.
So that's really what makes the RODE Wireless GO II
the complete package.
And this is now what we're using
for most of our YouTube videos too.
So now that you know
how awesome the RODE Wireless GO II microphone is,
there is another video that's linked on the screen.
I have no idea what it is.
It's a suggestion from YouTube.
I hope it's good, I hope it's amazing.
I'll see you in the next video.