- What's the best shotgun microphone for YouTube videos?
Well there's a lot of options out there
so we're gonna run through my top three recommended
boom mics or shotgun mics across every budget.
So it doesn't matter if you're shooting with a phone,
a DSLR, or a professional camera setup,
we've got you covered.
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Hey it's Justin Brown here from Primal Video.
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to everything we mention in this video
you can find linked in the description box below.
So let's jump into it.
Shotgun mics or boom mics are a worthy addition
to any video kit.
As directional microphones, they allow you
to capture great audio within a targeted area,
reducing ambient noise that non-directional microphones
would otherwise capture.
There are several advantages of shotgun microphones
and they can provide a great deal of flexibility
when shooting outdoors or in changing environments.
But there's also a ton of options to choose from,
ranging from very cheap to very expensive.
So in this video we're gonna take a look
at my top three picks across a range of budgets
to help you decide which one is the best one for you.
Plus because shotgun microphones are a great choice
but they're not perfect for every scenario
once we're done, I'm also gonna share with you
my go-to lavalier microphone
that you can pick up for under $30
to complete your video microphone kit for all shoots.
And while we're covering off my top three picks,
make sure to jump into the comments
and let us know what's your go-to microphone for videos.
I'm keen to see what you're using
and I'll be jumping in to share my thoughts as well.
Now I've used a lot of different microphones
from all the major brands over the years,
but there's one in particular that seems to consistently
nail the quality-to-price ratio.
It actually takes out my top three recommendations
across multiple budgets.
I'm talking about Rode,
and they have an absolutely amazing lineup.
It's hard to find something else that beats them out
performance-wise in each of the price brackets.
So which three microphones then
are the ones that I recommend?
Well they're the Rode VideoMicro,
the Rode VideoMic Pro+ and the Rode NTG4+.
Each of these has a different price point
and there's some specific features
that you need to be aware of before making your choice
based on price alone.
So I just want to clarify at this point
that this is definitely not a paid or a sponsored video.
Rode have nothing to do with this video,
they just happened to make all three
of our top currently recommended best shotgun microphones.
So let's start off with the lower end
with our first recommended shotgun microphone
and that's the Rode VideoMicro.
So the Rode VideoMicro you can pick up
for around the $59 US price point.
It is a solid package
and it comes complete with a little windsock
or a windshield as well.
The microphone itself is tiny.
It's only about eight centimeters, or three inches long,
but it definitely packs a punch.
On the back of your microphone is the 3.5 millimeter plug
and the cable that they include with it
is a TRS to TRS cable, meaning that straight out of the box,
you've got everything you need to plug this microphone
into a DSLR or into a point-and-shoot camera.
You can also pick up an adapter or a different cable
so you can use this microphone with your smartphone
so the cable you'd need then is a TRS to TRRS cable
and Rode also sell that as well.
Again, all the links are gonna be down
in the description box below but this is a solid microphone
for use on your DSLRs, on your point-and-shoot cameras,
or on your smartphones as well.
Now this isn't a powered microphone,
meaning you don't need to plug it in and power it
or you don't need to put any batteries in it either.
Meaning that it just powers itself off the camera
or phone that you're using.
The other great thing about this microphone
is the mounting capabilities.
So the microphone itself has a full metal body
and the build quality is amazing.
It also comes with a full shock mount as well,
so it's ideal if you're gonna be moving around
and potentially shaking the camera or shaking the microphone
if there's any movement in there,
you're not gonna get that movement sound
back through the microphone
so the shock mount works really, really well.
Mounting-wise on the bottom of the microphone's shock mount
is a standard hot shoe adaptor,
meaning that it's easy to connect
onto any camera's hot shoe or cold shoe plug.
And there's also a 3/8 inch thread as well on the bottom,
so not your standard tripod thread,
the one that's just a little bit bigger,
but is the standard thread
for microphone and mounting microphones.
So there's a heap of mounting options
that are available for you there.
So in my opinion, where this microphone is perfect,
is for smaller cameras,
like a smaller point-and-shoot camera or a DSLR
or mirrorless camera,
if you don't have something big and bulky,
and obviously if you don't have the budget for
some of the other ones that we're gonna cover in a minute.
But also for use with a smartphone.
This is my number one recommended microphone
for use with any smartphone.
Now obviously if you're using this microphone
with your smartphone, you will need to mount it
next to your smartphone.
What we would recommend for that is a hot shoe extension bar
onto some sort of mini tripod.
The one that we currently recommend is the Arkon tripod.
Again, all the links to everything we mention
are in the description,
but you can also check out the video I linked on screen,
where we talk through our smartphone setup for filming.
So this microphone is the perfect solution
as a shotgun microphone for any small cameras,
or if you're on a budget
and want a really decent shotgun microphone
that doesn't need to be powered.
Now because this microphone isn't a powered microphone,
it does mean that you're gonna be limited on the amount
of audio or the volume of the audio
that you're gonna be able to capture
so it's gonna be perfect in scenarios
where there's not a heap of noise that you wanna capture.
Powered microphones or microphones with batteries in them
will let you boost that signal, boost that volume
that you're able to capture.
So you're able to capture audio over a greater distance
with a powered microphone.
So not having that functionality in here
definitely isn't a deal breaker.
It's something to be aware of.
So this microphone's gonna be perfect
for capturing in areas where there's not a heap of noise
or where the audio source is gonna be fairly close
to the microphone so if it's you presenting,
that you're pretty close to the microphone.
And that's actually a really important thing
with any microphone.
The closer you are or your audio source is to the microphone
the better the audio you're going to get.
And that also means the least amount of background noise,
or echo, or environmental noise, in the scene
or location you're filming in
that's gonna be picked up by your microphone.
So wherever possible, try to get your audio source
as close to the microphone as you can.
So the microphone that we recommend then
as the next level up, is the Rode VideoMic Pro+.
Now this is a relatively new addition to the Rode lineup
and it's the step-up or the new version
of the Rode VideoMic Pro,
which is a really, really popular microphone.
You can currently pick up the Rode VideoMic Pro+
for $299 US, and in my opinion it's a big step up
from the Rode VideoMic Pro.
It's a powered microphone,
and it does come with its own rechargeable battery.
You can also run the microphone off two AA batteries,
and you can also power it over USB as well.
It comes with a windshield
to help reduce any wind noise when you're filming,
and it's also got a detachable 3.5 millimeter cable,
and just the same as the Rode VideoMicro,
the cable is interchangeable.
So if you wanna use this microphone on your smartphone,
then you can pick up a TRS to TRRS cable
and that will work fine.
The Rode VideoMic Pro+ also has
a really awesome shock mount system,
meaning if there's any movement while you're filming,
you're not gonna get any of that movement
or camera noise picked up by the microphone.
On the back of the microphone, you also have a heap
of control over how the audio is actually captured.
There is a two-stage high pass filter,
meaning that you can control the amount of bass
that you want to remove
out of your audio that you're capturing.
So this is perfect if you've got loud noises,
like an air conditioner or if there's cars
or any low-level bass or any noise like that,
you can take it out with this microphone
at the time of recording.
And you also get three levels of gain control.
You can set your gain or your power boost to zero.
You can set it to +20, which is a decent volume increase
or you can set it to -10,
if the microphone is too loud for your camera.
Now the Rode VideoMic Pro, the model before this one,
was probably the most popular microphone
that people used for YouTube videos.
You've got people like Casey Neistat and Jon Olsson,
top YouTube vloggers,
that're using these microphones every day.
So they're an amazing, amazing microphone.
But this new version, the Rode VideoMic Pro+,
I think will overtake that in really short amount of time.
It's got an amazing feature as well,
where it's automatically going to turn on and off,
based on your camera.
So when your camera is on,
the microphone will automatically switch on.
When you turn the camera off,
it's gonna turn the microphone off.
So that's one of the biggest downsides with the original,
is that you would burn through your batteries
because it was so easy to leave the microphone on.
So that's a huge feature,
and it's definitely worthy of the upgrade.
Audio quality-wise and audio capture-wise,
this microphone is phenomenal.
It is a super directional microphone,
meaning that it's only gonna pick up the audio
right in front of where it's pointed.
Meaning that it's not gonna pick up any or much audio,
from the sides or from behind the microphone,
so whatever audio you wanna capture,
just make sure your microphone is pointing in that direction
that's pretty much it.
Mounting-wise again,
this microphone has the standard shoe adapter
on the bottom of the microphone.
And it's also got a standard 3/8 inch thread as well.
Probably the only downside with this microphone
is that it is battery-powered.
It's also one of the biggest advantages as well,
because you get to boost the volume up.
But having it battery-powered and having it not able to work
without the batteries means that if you run out of batteries
while you're shooting, then you're not going to have audio.
I think it's a really cool feature
that they've got with this microphone,
that you don't have to just use their batteries,
that you can use standard AA batteries
to power your microphone as well.
So that should get you out of that situation
if you're ever in it.
So the Rode VideoMic Pro+ is my go-to recommendation
for anyone with a decent DSLR camera, a mirrorless camera,
obviously a camera with that 3.5 millimeter plug,
or someone looking to get the best audio
when they might be moving around a lot with their shoots,
so something portable, something light,
and something that's gonna get great audio,
it's the Rode VideoMic Pro+.
Now there is still a couple of scenarios
where you will want to jump up to my third
and most expensive recommendation, the Rode NTG4+.
So the Rode NTG4+ is actually totally different
to the other two microphones.
This one doesn't have the 3.5 millimeter plug.
This one has an XLR plug, so it's a professional plug,
and it's typically used on professional cameras as well.
You can currently pick up the Rode NTG4+ for $399.
So it's a little bit more expensive but as I said,
it's also totally different
to the other two shotgun microphones.
The other two are standalone microphones,
meaning that they come with a mount
and you can easily connect them to your cameras.
This is a more professional solution,
meaning that most cameras that you will be mounting this on
would already have some sort of shock mount
that you can just put this microphone in.
Or you can buy your shockproof mount afterwards,
and use that with any camera.
So these are the types of microphones
that you will typically see on big-budget productions.
You will see these on a boom pole,
or you'll see someone holding this microphone,
or you'll see it mounted on top of the cameras as well.
So what you get in the box with the Rode NTG4+
is a micro-USB cable for charging it,
because it does have its own built-in battery.
You also get a foam windshield and a pouch as well.
Now you're probably thinking,
"How does the audio quality differ with this microphone
versus the previous two?"
Well this one, the Rode NTG4+, is classed as broadcast audio
so it is a much higher fidelity sound.
It's a much clearer, much crisper sound,
that is approved for broadcast.
It also has a much lower noise floor.
As you'll find with most professional broadcast microphones,
it's gonna have a lot less hiss or humming in the audio.
So it's gonna be just that much crisper.
Now usually with a microphone like this,
they're usually powered from the device
that you're plugging them into, using a 48-volt connector.
So whether that's the camera
or whether that's an audio recorder--
But this microphone obviously supports that as well,
but it's also got a built-in battery
so that you can use it with devices
that don't have that 48-volt connector.
So what that also means is you can actually get an adapter
from XLR back to 3.5 millimeters
if you wanna use this on your DSLR or on any other camera
or audio recorder that takes a 3.5 millimeter plug.
So where would you use a shotgun microphone like this,
over a microphone like the Rode VideoMic Pro+?
Well, the Rode VideoMic Pro+ is more designed
for run and gun style filming
so filming where you're gonna be moving around a lot,
and you don't wanna be cabled in
and you want that flexibility to be able to pick up and move
anywhere at a moment's notice.
The Rode NTG4+ is more designed for higher production
or broadcast shoots, or for setup in a studio setup,
so you could definitely set this up
and leave it set up in your studio
if you're not gonna be moving around a lot.
You could also connect it through to an audio recorder.
Or you could connect it through to your broadcast camera,
or professional video camera.
The easiest way to look at it is it's the next level up
in terms of quality, but it's definitely not as portable.
Not designed to be as portable as the Rode VideoMic Pro+.
Now if you're looking for the next level up again,
then there is also a Rode NTG3.
Now this is where they've confused a lot of people
with their numbering, but the Rode NTG3 is the next level up
from the Rode NTG4+.
So if you're after something that's used on movies
and really, really high-end productions,
then you could also consider the Rode NTG3.
The biggest difference there is the step up
in audio quality once again.
Now for most of us and for the videos that we're creating,
for online or for YouTube, you're not gonna notice
much of a difference between an NTG4+ and an NTG3.
So unless you're working in really high-end broadcast,
or documentaries or feature films or you're someone that
really wants to have the best audio that you can get,
the Rode NTG3 might be for you,
but for the rest of us, the Rode NTG4+,
it's gonna be hard-pressed to hear the difference.
You can currently pick up the Rode NTG3 for $699,
so it's definitely not cheap but it is a step up.
Now shotgun microphones are awesome,
but as I mentioned, they're not perfect for every scenario.
In fact, most of my YouTube videos,
I'll go with this cheap BOYA BY-M1 lavalier microphone,
which you can pick up for around the $20 US price point.
It works with both DSLRs and phones,
and the biggest advantage of using a lavalier microphone
is that the microphone is positioned so close to your mouth,
meaning it's not gonna pick up a heap of background noise
and no matter where you look or where you move around,
the microphone is so close to your mouth,
meaning you're gonna get decent audio.
On that note, if you're wondering
when you should be using a lavalier microphone
over a shotgun microphone or vice versa,
check out the video linked on screen now,
which gives a full breakdown of the advantages
and disadvantages of each type of microphone,
and when to use each for best results.
I'll see you soon.