- In this video, we're going through the Deity D4 DUO
versus the RODE VideoMicro.
Both of these are super-tiny, lightweight microphones
that are geared towards content creators; however,
the Deity has some interesting features up its sleeve.
And so we're gonna go through 10 reasons
why you would choose the Deity
over, say, the RODE VideoMicro.
All right, guys, let's get into it.
(light music)
(object thuds)
That sucks.
All right, before we get into the 10 reasons,
I just wanna mention
that Deity did send me this microphone for free.
They didn't pay me to make this review.
I actually didn't even know the microphone
was gonna show up.
It just showed up in the mail.
Been playing around with it and it works great.
So let's get into the video.
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So I'm gonna record the rest of this video
using the Deity D4 DUO.
And this is a really unique microphone
that's really catered towards content creators
but honestly, I don't think it's just for YouTubers
or it's just for one use.
Like, I could see myself using this
in a lot of documentary-style settings.
And the reason is, you have two microphones.
You have one on the front, you know, standard,
and then you also have one on the back
so you can be behind the camera,
explaining what's going on in front of you
or doing an interview with someone that's over there,
and you're picking up audio on both sides.
Right now, I'm up here hiking on the Backbone Trail
which is a trail that goes all the way
through the mountains of Santa Monica,
working on a concept for a different channel.
But two microphones makes this a really unique product
in the whole world of content creation.
So the first reason you would wanna get this microphone
is that it's super easy to use.
Now obviously, both of these are very easy to use.
You just plug them in and you could start recording.
So there's no battery in the Deity D4 DUO,
it's just a microphone, a cable,
you plug it in, you can start recording audio.
And one thing I wanna mention,
right now, the audio that you're hearing
is coming from this microphone.
So I'm recording just from the Deity
just using the front capsule.
So what you get in the box is the dual microphone,
you get the shock mount, you get the cold shoe mount,
you get the cable, and you get the two windscreens.
One goes on the front and one goes on the back.
The only other aspect that you have
on this microphone is a switch right on the top,
and this switches between either just using a stereo track
for the front microphone
or splitting that stereo track into two mono tracks
for the front and the back.
(upbeat music)
I'm sure there's a lot of you out there
that are wondering how this all works
when you really only have one input into the camera.
Well, your camera has a stereo pair of audio tracks.
And the reason that you would record in stereo audio
is that it gives you a more sense of 3D space;
however, when you're recording with small microphones,
a lot of times you're never gonna notice the difference
between using a stereo track and a mono track.
So if you have the switch on this mic flipped forward,
you're gonna record a stereo track, a left and a right.
And if you flip it backwards,
you're going to get two mono tracks,
one for each microphone.
All right, so let me show you this in action.
Right now, you're getting audio just straight from camera
and you're gonna hear me on the right channel.
Now if I rotate the camera
and now I'm on the front of the camera,
you're gonna hear me on the left channel.
And the reason they do this is
so that you have the ability
to edit each channel independently
and they're not mixed as a stereo pair.
So instead of being a stereo track
that you bring into your editing software,
it's gonna be two mono tracks.
Now I'm gonna show you what you have to do
to be able to split these and be able to start editing them
but it gives you a lot more flexibility in post.
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So when you get into edit,
it does take a little bit more time
to get this audio to sound how you want it
because what's happening is you have
that left and right disparity going on,
so you're gonna have to make stereo tracks
out of each of the microphones that you're using.
So I use Final Cut.
If you go into Final Cut,
what you'll do is select the track that you're using
and then you go over to the inspector.
And in the inspector, you'll have this option
to click from Stereo to Dual Mono.
So what that does is it splits the stereo track
into two independent tracks
and puts them on both the left and the right.
So now you have two stereo tracks.
Now in your inspector,
you can turn off one side or the other.
Now instead of just turning one side off,
if you wanna use audio from both,
how I do it is I create a duplicate
of the audio track of my Final Cut Pro file,
and I'll layer it underneath the other audio track.
So I basically have my video and the two audio tracks.
Each of the audio tracks, I turn off one of the microphones.
So now I have independent two tracks that I can work with
and I can bring them up, bring them down.
I can take out sections of it, or I can use my volume
to change how intense I want each microphone to be.
So there's a ton of flexibility
because essentially, you're creating two different tracks
that you can independently work with and edit.
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So this microphone is small.
When you look at these side-by-side,
the Deity is slightly longer; however,
for having two microphones it's almost the exact same size.
And when you put the windscreen on,
you can actually see that the windscreen
of the Deity is smaller than the windscreen of the RODE.
And this just has a bigger puff on it.
Now it's not the biggest issue in the world,
it's not a huge size discrepancy
but this does look a little bit smaller
in its whole package.
Now when you use the second windscreen, it does get bigger.
So when you put the windscreens on it,
it does look like a bigger microphone;
however, depending on the situation you're in,
there's a lot of times
where you're not gonna be using this back one.
So it actually is a pretty small microphone.
It's good to have a second windscreen
but you're not always gonna be shooting
with both microphones
so you don't always need to be using this.
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So beyond the two microphones,
you actually also have an input,
so that means you can add another microphone
and plug it into the side of this tiny little mic.
And what it does is that input
will take over the back capsule.
So now I'm recording audio using a wireless mic
that I have plugged into the side of the Deity D4 DUO.
So it's in the auxiliary jack,
but I'm still capturing audio using the front microphone.
So if you are in a setting
where you wanna use wireless audio,
you can still get good audio
right into the camera using the shotgun mic on the D4 DUO.
And when you're in a situation where it's run-and-gun
and you wanna carry less weight,
you don't always wanna have to bring on an additional unit
to be able to have two inputs.
So this allows you to do more and carry less.
'Cause you don't need to bring an extra mix
or anything like that.
D4 DUO, wireless pack, that's all you need.
You got two different independent audio sources
that you can record from,
all going through this one microphone.
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Another reason to get the D4 DUO is that it's lightweight.
It's actually lighter than the RODE
which I thought is kind of crazy
because the RODE is 1.5 ounces and this is 1.4.
I mean we're splitting hairs at this point
but it just shows that you could have more flexibility,
more power in this microphone,
and it's pretty much the exact same weight.
So you're really not adding any more weight,
the only thing that you add between these two microphones
is a second windscreen.
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So let's talk about the build of this.
One thing that really stands out for me
is the fact that you plug in on the side
of the microphone rather than the back of the microphone.
With the RODE, you have the audio output
coming straight out the back,
so your cable's always hanging this way.
Now it's not the end of the world,
but it is nicer having it just off the side
so you don't have a cable coming off the back.
Now design-wise, it comes with a yellow cable,
and beyond just having the cold shoe adapter, underneath,
you have the option for a quarter mount or a 3/8 mount.
So you can really use this with any setup
that you're thinking.
(mellow music)
Okay, that's much better.
Oh, man, it is crazy windy out here.
We're in like this cave.
So with the D4 DUO, you get two windscreens;
you get one on the front and one on the back.
And they're just a little puff
so that when you're in windy situations
or there's any sort of air hitting the microphone,
you're not gonna hear like a (imitates crackling).
Hold on a second, let me go out into the wind
and let me show you what it sounds like without them.
Okay, so this is the sound in direct wind
with the windscreen on.
And now here's with it off.
And you can totally tell the difference between the two.
So when you use a windscreen,
you just get rid of all that annoying sound
and minimize it as much as possible.
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Number nine, one of the most important things
is that it does sound good.
You've been hearing the audio from this microphone
throughout the entirety of this video
and it sounds great.
Whether you're using the front,
or let me switch this,
or you're using the back, you have solid audio
from either side of this microphone.
Sounds great.
All right, let's just do a quick side-by-side comparison
of the D4 DUO and the RODE VideoMicro.
So camera's on a tripod,
it's an arm's length away, completely stretched out,
and I'm just gonna talk for a second
so you guys can get a sense of how this sounds.
♪ So this is one, a two, a three, four, five ♪
What do you think about this microphone?
Do you like it?
Tell them about your day.
How did it go?
Okay, five, four, three, two, one.
All right, same exact settings, same distance.
I actually have the same camera settings
and it's hitting about the same range on the audio,
so they're very similar in the setup.
So what do you think about this microphone?
This is the RODE VideoMicro.
I've used this one for a long time.
I've always liked having this small microphone on my camera
just because it's nice to have a lightweight camera
that you can take anywhere and you don't need a battery.
What do you think?
So this is the audio, five, four, three, two, and one.
All right, she had to go down for her nap.
So I just wanted to do one more test.
This is the back microphone of the Deity.
Now typically, you're not gonna be this far away,
you're gonna be more like here.
So this is how the sound is
if you're pretty close to the camera
in a normal setting for using this back mic.
Now guys, after you finish watching this video,
if you wanna see some creative ways
on how to use your Deity mic,
my buddy Dave from Kinotika actually did another video
that he just released at the same time as this video.
So I'll put a link down below the description
where you guys can check that out
if you wanna see another video about this mic.
(mellow music)
All right, so let's talk about price.
The RODE is $59, it's a cheap microphone.
The Deity's $89 and for that extra $30,
what you're getting is an extra microphone
on the back which is unique.
No other microphone that I've come across
has this kind of feature and then bonus,
you have that audio input.
So if you are someone who does use wireless audio,
I do it all the time when I'm out hiking, this works great.
It's definitely a mic
that I'm gonna start incorporating more and more
into my workflow
just because I like having all the flexibility
with this microphone.
And having that option to speak behind the microphone
gives me just more freedom if I need
to do an interview or capture something
where I'm behind the camera.
And if you wanna learn how to capture better audio,
I've teamed up with my buddy Sidney.
Check out this video right here.
It goes through everything you need to know
when it comes to recording better audio for your videos.
All right, guys, I will see you over there.