DSLR Audio: Aputure A.lav vs. RodeLink Filmmaker Kit vs. Rode VideoMic Pro

When it comes to DSLR and audio you really don’t want to use the microphone in your camera. It involves echo, directionality, mic quality, sound bouncing and more. The short version is that it just sounds crap.

We compared three options for DSLR audio (four if you count the crappy in-camera sound) and we wanted to put it out there. Of course, you want to get the best microphone out there, but there are other aspects than sound quality, like budget, intended usage, power and wired vs wireless.

The three microphones we are comparing are:

Aputure A.lav, a wired Lav mic @$35: Amazon | B&H
RodeLink Filmmaker Kit, a wireless lav mic @$400: Amazon | B&H
Rode VideoMic Pro, a shotgun mic @$229: Amazon | B&H

Now, depending on how you intend to use the mic, the type of mic (i.e. wireless lav vs. shotgun mic) is already taken. For example, if you are usually far away from the camera, you would need either a wireless lav or a wired lav and a small recorder.

For this specific test, we were using the Tascam DR70D that we usually use, but results would be similar if we plugged the mics directly into the camera.