Why I am excited about USB-C iPhones

I can make this quick: It has nothing to do with charging. I have more than enough ways to charge my accessories and USB-C will not make a meaningful change to that. What I care about are accessories, in particular, audio accessories.

I recently purchased the Shure MVX2U micro interface. It is a tiny XLR to USB-C adapter that allows you to use pro mics with pretty much anything. But these bus-powered devices do not work on iPhones because they have the wrong port.

We are about to enter a world where you can just plug in a random USB microphone directly into your iPhone and make a professional recording. I could run my Neumann TLM102 into my iPhone. Right now, I need to schlep around an iPad or a Mac to do that. But hopefully by next week, I can do it right from the iPhone. That would be a game changer for me. How about you. What, if anything, about the new connector excites you?

David Johnson

Rode Videomic NTG: Possibly the best $250 You Can Spend on a Microphone

It is no secret that I am very enthusiastic about microphones. I have more of them than I need. And I will acquire more still. Pro audio is a very expensive hobby. I love the gear, the process, and everything to do with it. Acquiring gear is just a part of the madness. Gear acquisition syndrome (GAS) is a real thing. And I have it, bad.

The Sennheiser MKE 600 was my introduction to shotgun mics. I'm in love. It is one of the best studio mics I have ever had. I use it for podcasting and vlogging. It works very well as a closeup mic. It was only the beginning. I had to see what else was out there. So I researched my way into a Rode Videomic NTG for a little less than $250. Short shotgun mics, where have you been all my life!

I'm not going to get into tech specs and techno-babble. You can get all that from the website and other reviewers. None of it matters. What you need to know is how it sounds and if it would work well in your setup. Lets start with something even more basic than that:

$250

At the time of this writing, you can get this microphone for roughly $250 or less. I believe mine was $243 at B&H. No need to mince words. That's a lot of money for a microphone, especially for podcasting. You can get the job done competently for $100. If you are not serious about podcasting and just want to sound better than Bob on the Zoom meeting, go with something less expensive. There are plenty of excellent options.

If you are semi-serious about podcasting or voice work and are ready to up your audio game, $250 is quite reasonable. When it comes to upping your audio game, the smartest money is sound treating your room. That can be difficult and expensive. If you can't do that, get a shotgun mic. It is the next best thing to actually treating your room.

What about studio dynamic mics?

A lot of people are drawn to the Shure SM7B. It has become the default recommendation for bedroom producers. I've had one for over 20 years. I'm never going to say it is a bad microphone. But I have retired it. The 7B is a permanent resident of the mic cabinet. If you have $400 to spend on a mic, you can do better than the 7B

Studio dynamic mics are usually recommended to recordists who need to work in a less than suitable environment. Dynamics tend to be a lot less sensitive than condensers. As a result, they do a better job at rejecting unwanted sounds in the room. Shotgun mics tend to be condensers. But they do an even better job at rejecting room noise much of the time. They often have a more narrow pickup pattern and are tuned to pick up only that which is directly in front of them. You get all the noise rejection while losing no quality.

There is also the matter of size. Shotgun mics tend to be long and skinny. Some are short and skinny. Volumetrically, they are almost always smaller than studio dynamics. They will not stress your mic arm mounted to your desk. And they will not get in your way when you use them for video and streaming. Dynamic mics are very good. But if you are in a situation where you think you need a studio dynamic, strongly consider a shotgun instead.

Features

The NTG has a few buttons and options. I mostly ignore buttons and switches on a mic. I find them to be more trouble than they're worth. The best sound is usually flat. Just use it the way you get it out of the box. For the record, I'm doing that with this mic as well. But I have tried the options and do find them to be genuinely useful.

The best feature is that the mic is small enough and light enough to toss into a bag. You are ready to do a professional, no-compromise podcast anywhere you happen to be. That is simply not the case with giant studio mics.

This is a sample of me close talking the mic while sitting at my desk with the window open and construction going on outside. The second sample is in the exact same circumstances except connected by minijack instead of USB Because I am close talking the mic, all samples are using a mouth de-click plugin I got in a bundle for under $30. No other processing is being used for these samples unless specified:

The next two samples are in a large room with a bit of echo. The first is USB and the second is also USB, but connected directly to the iPhone with the included USB to Lightning connector:

This is a USB mic. You wouldn't know it by the audio quality which is easily on par with XLR microphones that are more expensive. Because it is an on-camera mic as well, it also connects via minijack. I can detect no difference in sound quality between the minijack and the USB output of the mic. They are both most excellent.

In the versatility department, you can also connect this mic to an audio interface via an XLR adapter.

Here is a sample of that with full processing:

About those buttons... You can set high-pass filters at 75 and 150. Normally, I would say that 150 is too much bass cut. But this mic has a lot of bass to spare. And if you are using it outside on a windy day, or close talk it as I do, those cuts can come in handy. If you are using a furry outside, you can even add some top-end to it to make up for what is lost when using wind protection. It is a nice set of EQ options that work well.

There is another button that allows you to record a safety track with a much lower gain at the same time you are recording your normal track. That is a very nice feature if you find yourself in a very loud situation where gain-staging can be challenging. This is something you will not find on many mics at any price. I will probably never use it. But it is nice to know it's there if I ever need it.

Other features include a builtin rechargeable battery that lasts 30 hours per charge according to Rode. This is another feature I will never test. If you have to use that builtin power, the battery is going to definitely get you through your session.

There is also auto-on and off. Using it as a USB mic, you never have to turn it on and off. And it charges the battery when plugged into a USB source. On some devices, it automatically comes on when plugged into a line-level device that supplies power. For line-level devices that do not supply power, you have that power button with battery life that you never have to worry about.

Finally, there is a gain dial on the back that is well-made and feels premium. If connected by minijack, it is a gain dial. As a USB mic with headphones in that port, it is a headphone amp. It is a very nice touch and something I very much appreciate. Rode has done a great job at making their features feel important and useful.

Included Accessories

Starting with the cables, you get a TRRS to TRRS, USB-C to USB-C, and USB-C to Lightning (specifically for use with an iPhone). I had to update the microphone's firmware before it would work with iPhone. Note that all of the cables are very short.

The rest of the odd packaging contains the main event. But the main event is actually three pieces already assembled for your convenience. You obviously get the microphone. It also comes with a very good foam wind screen. Rounding out the bundle is an exceptional shock mount.

Rode is a great company with excellent offerings across the board. But two things make them seem insecure about their place in the world: The first is their habit of pasting their branding on products in clownishly large and awkward ways. They really need you to know they exist the entire time you are using the product. The second is the fact that they give you a lot of stuff in the box. Road, give us less of the first and more of the second, please and thank you.

You really get everything you need to start using this highly versatile mic. They could charge you extra for the iPhone cable. It is an official MFI product. Further, it is the only cable I have that works with the iPhone. Other cables Apple includes with their products don't work. This cable is a very nice extra.

If you buy a Neumann TLM 103, you get a mic in a disposable box. That's it. If you want a useful shock mount, that is going to run you another $300. The mic has no buttons, knobs, nor switches. You just plug it in and start speaking. Neumann is extremely confident in their products for good reason.

Rode often includes a lot of expensive extras as if they fear users wouldn't choose them solely for the quality of their microphones. The add-ons they include are usually of higher quality. That wind screen is ver effective against plosives even when talking close up. The shock mount is a rebadged Rycote. It seems to have been made especially for this microphone because I cannot find any reference to it as a stand-alone product. Don't lose or break this mount. You won't get another one. The closets I could find was priced a $50. That is 20% of the total price of the package.

A note about that lightning cable: It also seems to be a proprietary piece. You can buy a replacement from Rode for around $30. Don't just assume your USB-C to Lightning cable will work. It probably won't, even if it is made by Apple. This seems to be a proprietary cable with a value over a 10th of the price of the package.

The windshield isn't even listed on the product page as being a part of the package. The only reference to it is the product photos that show it on the mic. Rode does not sell it separately. They do mention similar windshields that are colored for chroma key work. They don't even sell those. They link out to other stores which don't seem to have them in stock. If you like this windshield, don't lose it or damage it. What they do have is a furry made for this mic. Expect to pay $40 for it.

The problem I associate with getting a lot of nice accessories with a mic is that companies don't want to lose money on these products. So if you get $100 worth of accessories with a $250 microphone, how much could the mic really be worth? However, I have other mics in this price range. The Videomic NTG sacrifices nothing in terms of build quality and sound quality. So it is hard to see how they could possibly be making any money on the product.

Rode has been known to offer mics with amazing accessories included, only to later adjust the offering to include less expensive add-ons. Get this mic before Rode changes the value proposition in favor of making a profit. If they were more confident as a company, they would have just charged you more and included less. But the world of microphones is highly competitive. This is the golden age for gear heads.

Conclusion: A Strong Recommend

No need to beat around the bush. If you have $250 for a mic, get this one. Because of this Videomic NTG, I see other Rode mics in my near future.

David Johnson