(instrumental music begins)
- What is up people Dunna here
and today we're gonna be taking a look at
and I don't say this lightly.
My new favorite on camera microphone,
the Rode VideoMic Go II.
But here's the thing, this mic is good for
so much more than just being an on camera mic.
You can connect it directly to your phone or your computer
for podcast, video conferencing.
You can even plug in your headphones and use it
as an audio interface.
So in this video, we're gonna take a look at the features
and functions of this mic.
We're gonna compare it to a couple other microphones
from both Rode and Deity.
We're gonna do some sound tests
in three different practical situations.
And finally, we're going to talk
about who this microphone is for.
So secure the cup and let's get into it.
First things first.
Here's what comes in the box
when you buy this microphone.
We have the microphone itself,
a 3.5 millimeter cable, the foam windscreen
and the hot shoe shock Mount with the thread on the bottom.
There are some optional accessories that you can get
and we'll talk about a couple of them a bit later.
Links for everything will be down in the description
if you want to check them out.
The microphone is a supercardioid pattern
which means is very directional
and mostly picks up just whatever it's pointing at.
If you're familiar with a lot of Rode's newer microphones
like the VideoMic NTG and NTG5.
You'll recognize a similar acoustic technique
that they've used with the body of the mic,
and from what I can tell the materials
are basically the same.
The big differences that we see
between this hundred dollar microphone
and the $250 VideoMic NTG.
Is that the VideoMic Go II has no bells and whistles,
no power button, no high pass filter,
no gain knob, no pad, no boost,
no dual channel split, nothing.
Just plug it in and go. Go two.
Now if you had asked me a few years ago
when the VideoMic NTG came out.
I would've said that I wanted all those controls,
I need to have all the power
to be able to make an infinite amount of decisions.
As I get older and wiser
I've realized that simplicity can be a blessing sometimes
and not just a curse.
Sometimes I bump that gain knob
and it changes without me knowing,
or I forget that I had a specific setting on
and I don't turn it off before the next shoot.
One of the biggest annoyances,
when it comes to the fancier on camera microphones
is the battery.
But the VideoMic Go II doesn't have one.
So you literally never have to think about it.
I don't even want to talk about my experiences
with dead microphone batteries
because it's just, it's too painful.
All that being said, there are some hidden features
that you might not notice right away.
For example, if it has no battery, why is there a USBC port?
If you've got the of right cables
you can actually connect this microphone to your computer
and use it as a USB microphone
for your podcast or your video conferencing.
And when connected to the Rode Central
or Rode Connect app, guess what?
There's those bells and whistles
that we thought we were missing.
We've got a pad to make it quieter if it's too loud,
input volume control, high pass filter
to get rid of the bass rumbles from your loud neighbors.
A high frequency boost if you're using
a wind screen and headphone volume
because you can now plug in your headphones
into the 3.5 millimeter output.
And here not only the microphone with no latency
but also whatever's going on on your computer.
And if you connect this to your phone
because you want to sound great
while you FaceTime your grandma, or if you need
to do a quick ASMR session in Starbucks,
you can have all those same controls
using the Rode Central mobile app.
Now a quick disclaimer on these extra controls
they don't stick with the microphone
when you're using it on camera.
It's only when it has the help
of a computer or smartphone that you get that extra stuff.
Okay? So it's super versatile, fun, hidden features
but one of the best things about this microphone
is the size and weight of it.
It's about 33% shorter than the VideoMic NTG.
And it's about 25% shorter than the Deity D3.
And even if we throw on the WS12 fuzzy windshield
and compared to the super tiny Rode VideoMicro.
The VideoMic Go II isn't that much bigger practically.
And I don't know if I mentioned this
but it's only a hundred dollars.
So here's the thing typically having no battery
and being a tiny microphone means
that you're making some sacrifices in the sound quality.
So I brought out a bunch of mics to compare
to the VideoMic Go II so we can see how it does.
Here's what we're working with and why I chose it.
We've got the Deity Vmic D3.
This mic is $60 with no crazy bells and whistles
but it does have a single AAA battery,
so that could give it an advantage.
We've got the Rode VideoMic NTG.
This mic is $250 and it's the bigger fancier version
with all the bells whistles and a built-in battery.
So I wanted to see if the sound was similar.
Then we have the Deity Vmic D4 mini it's super tiny
no battery, $50, easy to use and it sounds decent enough.
And it's also got a bonus second input.
And finally, we've got the classic Rode VideoMicro,
which is a $55 no battery microphone
with no frills, tiny little mic that sounds okay.
So my big question is,
is this mic going to sound more like the fancy NTG?
More like the video micro or somewhere in between?
The first test I did was
in my reasonably sound treated studio
with the microphones boomed similar
to how I normally have them for a video.
Pointed down, just past my mouth.
Oh my God, we're back again.
Brothers, sisters, everybody sing.
We're gonna bring the flavor show you how.
I've got a question for ya, better answer now.
Oh my God. We're back again.
Brothers, sisters, everybody sing.
We're gonna bring the flavor show you how.
I've got a question for ya, better answer now.
Oh my God. We're back again.
Brothers, sisters, everybody sing.
We're gonna bring the flavor, show you how.
I've got a question for you, better answer now.
Oh my God. We're back again.
Brothers, sisters, everybody sing.
We're gonna bring the flavor, show you how.
I've got a question for you, better answer now.
Oh my God. We're back again.
Brothers, sisters, everybody sing.
We're gonna bring the flavor show you how.
I've got a question for you, Better answer now.
After each of these recordings,
I left a few seconds of silence at the end.
So we can here if there's any significant
noise difference between them.
The fans from the lights and the noise of the room itself
should be constant, so any difference should
just be the noise of the microphone.
Next, I went outside and stood about nine feet
from the mics to see how they would do at longer distances.
All the mics had some kind of furry windshield on them
for this test because that's a practical way
I would actually use them outside.
Now, throw your hands up in the air
and wave them around like you just don't care.
If you want to party, let me hear you yell.
Cause we've got it going on again.
Now throw your hands up in the air.
And wave them around like you just don't care.
If you want to party, let me hear you yell.
Cause we've got it going on again.
Now throw your hands up in the air.
And wave them around, like you just don't care.
If you want a party, let me hear you yell.
Cause we've got going on again.
Now throw your hands up in the air.
And wave them around, like you just don't care.
If you want to party let me hear you yell.
Cause we've got it going on again.
Now throw your hands up in the air.
And wave them around, like you just don't care.
If you want to party, let me hear you yell.
Cause we've got it going on again.
And finally I did a vlogging test
with the microphone on the camera at an arms length away.
Everybody rock your body.
Everybody rock your body right.
Backstreet's back, all right?
Everybody rock your body.
Everybody rock your body right.
Backstreet's back, all right?
Everybody rock your body.
Everybody rock your body right.
Backstreet's back, all right?
Everybody rock your body.
Everybody rock your body, right?
Backstreet's back, all right?
Everybody rock your body.
Everybody rock your body right.
Backstreet's back, all right?
After reviewing the samples, here's what I'm finding.
The new VideoMic Go II sounds very similar to the $250 NTG.
They both have a similar, nice rounded sound.
That being said, the NTG goes much louder.
I only had it at six on the gain knob
to make it match the volume of the Go II.
And it goes up to 15.
The Go II was still the second loudest mic in the bunch.
I didn't have to crank up the camera volume
to get good levels at all.
So I'm really happy with that.
To me the Deity D3 was close in sound quality,
but not quite as nice as the Go II or the NTG.
It almost seems like the D3 has some kind of
high pass filter that gets rid of a lot of the nice low end.
And then as I suspected with both the Deity Vmic D4 mini,
and the classic Rode VideoMicro, they both sounded okay.
Not great, but good enough.
I was super happy that the VideoMic Go II sounded
basically as good as the NTG because I know that
a $250 mic is out of the range
of a lot of people who are just starting out.
So to be able to get basically that same sound
in a smaller package for a hundred dollars.
This microphone is awesome value and much more accessible.
So with that said, who do I think this microphone is for?
The answer is basically everyone.
It's great for online video creators and YouTubers,
because it's got no batteries, it sounds great, it's tiny.
It doesn't take up much room on your camera or in your bag.
It's great for people starting podcasts
because you can plug it in straight, via USB.
You get a bunch of extra control and the headphone out.
And it's great for anyone who's doing
a lot of video conferencing,
either from your phone or from your computer.
Again, Plug and Play and the headphone out
gives you a complete audio system in a tiny little package.
With all that said I do highly recommend
getting the WS12 furry windshield,
If you film outside at all.
If you're just inside or using it for
podcasts or voiceovers, you can probably get away with
just the included foam windshield.
And again, if you're gonna be using it
with a computer or phone.
Make sure to get the proper cables so that you can do so.
There's definitely some info on that, on the Rode website
and links to everything in the description.
But as always, I wanna know what you think
which was your favorite microphone out of all
the tests that you heard here.
Let me know down in the comments
and on your way down there hit that like
and subscribe button hit the bell notifications,
So you'd don't miss out on future reviews and tutorials.
Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time.