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Microphone

Rode’s new PodMic USB also sports an XLR socket

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It looks like Rode has started a new design trend in some of their microphone releases. At least, they have with microphones potentially destined for life next to a computer. It began with the 5th Generation Rode NT1 (buy here), and now they’re implementing it again with the new Rode PodMic USB. Yup, the newly announced PodMic USB (buy here) offers both USB and XLR connectivity.

As the successor to the original Rode PodMic, the new PodMic USB offers the same great sound you’re used to from the original, but with extra versatility. As a USB microphone, it features Rode’s Revolution Preamps and includes all of the usual APHEX audio processing features we’ve started seeing in Rode’s other digital USB-capable microphones, such as the Rode Wireless GO II (buy here) and Rode NT-USB+ (buy here).

Rode’s 5th Gen NT1 microphone makes it impossible to clip your audio

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Rode has announced the Rode NT1 5th Generation large-diaphram cardioid condenser studio microphone. Building on the sound of the classic Rode NT1, the new 5th generation model offers some great advantages over its predecessors. It still brings features we’ve come to expect, like extremely low self noise, wide frequency response, high sensitivity, high SPL handling and an XLR socket that utilises 48v phantom power.

The new 5th gen NT1 has an extra trick up its sleeve, though. It also has USB-C output for plugging directly into your computer. The USB output uses an ultra-low-noise, high-gain Revolution preamp, offers up to 32-bit float digital output at 192kHz. It also features an on-board DSP with advanced APHEX processing, including compressor, noise gate, high-pass filter, aural exciter and big bottom.

Rode’s NTH-100 headphones are now a headset with the new NTH-Mic microphone

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A few months ago, Rode, a company more popularly known for its microphones, decided to get on the other end of the audio gear process with their first pair of headphones, the Rode NTH-100. They quickly became very popular headphones – and for good reason. They’ve been the main headphones I use on my desktop computer for editing, as well as general use, since they were first launched.

Now, Rode’s expanding the capability of the NTH-100 headphones with the new NTH-Mic. It exploits a feature of the headphones in that it has two audio sockets – one underneath each earpad. When you’re just using them as regular headphones, this means you can plug the cable into either side of them for ease of use. With the NTH-Mic attached, one is still used for the audio cable, but the other is used for the mic.

Rode introduces its newest entry-level on-camera Rode VideoMicro II microphone

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The Rode VideoMicro has been an extremely popular microphone since its introduction way back in 2015. It’s a super low-budget alternative to its higher-end VideoMic series of on-camera microphones. It’s been very popular for a reason, though. Despite its low price tag, it’s a very good microphone compared to its similarly priced competition. Well, now, Rode has announced its successor, the Rode VideoMicro II.

The next-generation update comes with the now-familiar annular line tube design of microphones like the Rode NTG5, VideoMic NTG and VideoMic GO II. Essentially, a tube with an array of round holes in it. Naturally, it’s smaller than the other microphones, but Rode says its annular design with all-new electronics still provides a transparent and natural, full-bodied sound with low self-noise.

Rode’s NT-USB+ desktop voiceover and streaming mic comes with powerful internal audio processing

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Rode has announced the new Rode NT-USB+, an update of the company’s popular Rode NT-USB desktop USB microphone, released in 2014. It’s designed for voiceovers, podcasting, streaming and even singers who want to capture studio-quality sound into their computer without a bunch of expensive equipment and interfaces. And it satisfies that need easily, requiring only a single USB cable directly from the microphone to your computer.

It brings “next-generation” features over the original NT-USB, with a studio-grade condenser capsule with a tight cardioid polar pattern to minimise unwanted environmental sounds. It has an ultra-low-noise, high-gain Revolution Preamp with a 24-bit 48kHz analogue-to-digital converter and internal DSP for advanced audio processing directly within the microphone itself.

Exclusive! Sneak preview of Hollyland’s brand new microphone for iPhone

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DIYP got an exclusive first look at Hollyland‘s brand new Audio Lark C1 microphone system for iPhone. It’s so new, it hasn’t even been announced yet. It’s due to be announced in October 2022. But nonetheless, we got to chat to Skylar Liu from Hollyland and see this secret new product with our own eyes and find out why it’s so groundbreaking.

This isn’t Lark’s first rodeo at producing microphones. They already have the Lark M1 and the Lark 150, but the new C1 is a bit of a game changer.

OpenRefMic is a cheap open source low-noise reference microphone you can build yourself for under $40

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Reference mics can be a vital tool when it comes to audio. They’re the microphones that capture the uncoloured sound, with a flat response and almost complete transparency to let you measure the acoustic characteristics of the room in which you’re recording. They let you test rooms for echo and reverberation. They let you hear (and see, on charts) what frequencies your room naturally enhances or destroys.

Reference mics can be quite expensive, though, so GitHub user loudifier decided to design his own and make it open source. It’s called OpenRefMic and it promises a low cost with a high performance that “meets or exceeds the performance of professional reference microphones”. And while commercially available reference microphones aren’t all expensive, they usually come with pretty high self-noise levels. And none are this cheap!

The Godox VDS-M3 XLR shotgun mic has a built-in battery for when you don’t have phantom power

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Godox has been building up their microphone collection for a little while now with various different mics including a dual wireless mini lav kit, and now they’ve added a new phantom-powered XLR shotgun microphone to the lineup. It’s the Godox VDS-M3 and looks like your typical super-cardioid shotgun microphone, with a longer interference tube than the Godox VDX-M1, except that this one comes with a built-in battery.

Described by Godox as a “production class shotgun microphone”, they say it’s ideally suited to indie filmmaking, commercial production, broadcast and all the usual places you’d expect to use a shotgun microphone. Except, this one’s a little different as you don’t have to use a phantom-powered recorder. It also features a built-in battery for recording straight into devices like cameras and even smartphones (with the right cables).

Sennheiser’s 2nd Gen MKE 400 comes with auto-power, headphone monitoring and Type-C digital output

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Sennheiser has launched the second generation of its MKE 400 on-camera microphone, bringing with it some significant improvements over its predecessor and a stylish new design that looks a lot more like last year’s MKE 200 than the previous model MKE 400. Those features bring it in line with some of the models we’ve seen from the competition recently.

The two stand-out features for me are auto-power that turns the microphone on and off when it detects that you’ve turned the camera on and off as well as the Type-C USB audio connection, turning it into a digital audio device when plugged into a smartphone, bypassing low-quality preamps. It also has more gain settings, headphone monitoring and more.

Sony launches two new CM-W2BT wireless and ECM-LV1 stereo lavalier microphones

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Sony has launched two new microphones for use with Sony cameras. The ECM-W2BT, a Multi Interface Shoe compatible wireless microphone and the ECM-LV1 compact stereo lavalier microphone. These allow you to get good audio away from your camera without having to deal with any cables (even between the receiver and the camera), but with the option to lav up when needed.

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