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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).

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

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.

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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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The best wireless mics for $200 – DIYP reviews RODE Wireless GO

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I remember the first time I bought a wireless lav system. It was a lot of money, but I finally bit the bullet and bought my first wireless Sennheiser G2 system. There I was, $600 down, but as happy as a clam. At the time, you couldn’t get a (decent) wireless body-packs for less than $450. My eyes were always set on Sennheiser though. Fast-forward half a decade later, and we have a bunch of wireless options. The prices have been going down and good quality has become more affordable. At $200.00, the Rode Wireless GO is one of the cheapest, most discreet, featured pack wireless systems on the market.

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Here are 10 microphone tips to improve the audio quality in your videos

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Audio is often the biggest challenge for filmmakers, especially newer ones. Most people just coming into the world of video don’t realise how much of a big deal it really is to get good quality audio. And while can be quite gear dependent, you don’t always need the most expensive kit to get decent quality sound. In this video, filmmakers Parker Walbeck and Nick Sales talk though their top ten tips and techniques for getting good quality sound for your videos.

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Deity’s S-Mic 2S short shotgun microphone is designed for small spaces and weighs only 85g

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Deity’s S-Mic 2S short shotgun microphone is an evolution of their popular S-Mic 2 shotgun microphone. They had them on show at IBC 2019, but we were too focused on Deity’s new Connect wireless microphone system to notice. Now, though, the S-Mic 2S is getting ready to ship.

The Deity S-Mic 2S is essentially a shorter version of the Deity S-Mic 2, which has become one of my favourite shotgun microphones, offering a nice rich sound right out of the box. The S-Mic 2S has a similar sound but is tuned better for smaller spaces, but also fits well on top of the camera, too, for things like vlogging.

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This $15 gizmo is a perfect solution to add a mic to your Sony A6400

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The Sony A6400 is a camera of choice for many vloggers: it has good video features, a flip screen, and retails at a reasonable price. However, if you want to add an external microphone to it, you either have to rig it on the side of the camera, or it will completely block the screen when you flip it. In this video, Jason Vong will show you a simple and dirt cheap solution that will let you mount a microphone on top of your camera for cleaner sound without blocking the screen.

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Shure’s new MV88+ Video Kit turns your phone into a mobile video studio

Shure has announced their new MV88+ Video Kit for smartphone video shooters. The kit builds on the success of Shure’s previous MV88 iPhone microphone. This time, though, it’s compatible with Android, too, via Type-C USB and it comes with a Manfrotto Pixi tripod, phone clamp, and shoe mount microphone clip.

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Deity’s new “Smart” on-camera V-Mic D3 Pro features a lithium ion battery and analogue gain dial

Originally an Aputure product line, Deity is now its own separate company focusing on quality microphones. They have quickly become favourites of those who’ve tried them. I have a Deity S-Mic 2 myself (review coming soon!) and it very quickly proved its worth. Now, Deity is looking towards on-camera sound with the launch of two new on-camera shotgun microphones; The V-Mic D3 and V-Mic D3 Pro.

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Sennheiser’s new wireless smartphone “Memory Mic” is now available to buy

Sennheiser’s new Memory Mic is a wireless microphone designed for smartphones. We saw it teased at NAB earlier in the year, and it does look like a pretty cool piece of microphone tech. It connects via Bluetooth but keeps recording without dropping even if you go out of range of the phone. And if the Sennheiser samples clips are anything to go by, it sounds pretty good, too.

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