Microphone Review

Saramonic BlinkMe wireless mics sport an innovative touchscreen OLED

May 20, 2023 by John Aldred Add Comment

Saramonic recently announced the new Saramonic BlinkMe (buy here) wireless microphone system. Like many small wireless microphone systems before it, it operates on public 2.4 GHz frequencies, and is designed to attach to clothing to pick up your voice and send it to a camera or other recording device.

Saramonic BlinkMe has a trick or two up its sleeve, though, with a couple of nice features that the competition are lacking. It’s by no means perfect, but it’s the first wireless microphone I’ve seen in a long time that showed any kind of original thinking. I’ve had one for a couple of weeks now, so let’s take a look at it in more detail and hear how it sounds.

The Rode VideoMic GO II should be your new go-to low budget on-camera microphone

Mar 30, 2022 by John Aldred Add Comment

Rode recently released their new Rode VideoMic GO II, replacing the VideoMic GO in their lineup. But this isn’t simply an update, it’s a complete overhaul, redesigned from the ground up. So, it presents a pretty major upgrade over its predecessor that inherits a number of features from its more expensive big brother the Rode VideoMic NTG, including the new holey design as well as USB connectivity.

I’ve been using one for a little while now and have done some tests and comparisons on the camera and when it’s plugged into a computer as a digital USB audio device. I’ve also done tests with and without the windshield to see how well it stands up to the breezy weather we’ve been having recently in Scotland.

Rode NTG5 – The ultimate all-rounder shotgun microphone

Dec 19, 2019 by John Aldred Add Comment

The Rode NTG5 short shotgun broadcast microphone came with a lot of interest and intrigue. The biggest question being “What’s with the holes?”. The NTG5 has an all-new design over Rode’s previous shotgun microphones, which Rode says helps to produce a more natural true-to-life sound. We put the NTG5 to the test to see how that claim holds up.

The Deity S-Mic 2 shotgun microphone punches well above its weight

Nov 26, 2018 by John Aldred Add Comment

Amongst the various types of microphone that are available, a good shotgun microphone is probably my favourite. It’s certainly the type of microphone I use most often. Their design allows them to pick out very specific directional sounds while ignoring the rest of the world around them – at least, that’s the theory.

You might remember that a while ago, lighting company Aputure decided to get into the microphone business with their new “Deity” microphones. Well, Deity Microphones is now it’s own separate company and I recently received their new Deity S-Mic 2 shotgun microphone. Priced at a fairly modest $359 it’s quite the bargain if it lives up to its claims, so I wanted to put it to the test.