Topic: Is the new Rode Wireless Micro high SPL stereo device stealthworthy? Yes!

[Ozpeter]

Peter, thanks for the detailed description and demonstration, I am impressed, especially at the price point. Do you have experience with the Sennheiser Ambeo? If so, can you offer comparison, please?

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As soon as I can I will do a comparison between the Micro, the Roland binaurals, and the Ambeo.  Should be interesting!  But it may take a few days before I have a chance.

[Ozpeter]

I have never worn binaural mics to record live music though, because I suspect they would look odd and draw attention. I don’t think I would use these either for the same reason, but interesting nonetheless.

I must double check but I think it is possible to wear them beneath a cap kind of on the inside, so that only the back of the clip would be clearly visible.  But you are right about the potential to look odd - I felt a bit of a twit wearing the cap on a hot day with the wind muffs of the mics on the outside of it as if protecting my ears from the cold!  Still, people in Australia are kind of used to weird people from the UK wandering around...

[adrianb]

Still, people in Australia are kind of used to weird people from the UK wandering around...

Lolz … that was me in March this year.

[dyneq]

As for the low end, the specs say it goes down to 20Hz but without some kind of indication of how much that level is attenuated compared to 1kHz, the claim doesn't mean a lot.  I'm not aware of a bass rolloff value, and throughout my test I was actually very surprised at how well the bottom end of both music and street scenes was captured.  But I have no ready means of testing its real performance under gig conditions.  Maybe I should get out more.

There is a frequency response graph in the data sheet:
https://edge.rode.com//pdf/products/1465/Wireless%20Micro%20Datasheet_14a_FA.pdf

[Ozpeter]

Thanks for the link to the frequency response - I hadn't seen that - well, I'd still say that to me it doesn't sound 'thin' but I admit I need to do more tests.

[dyneq]

I appreciate you sharing your experience. I started a thread on Shure's MoveMic Two, so I'm definitely keeping my eyes out for a full range solution in the same form factor! These could still be useful for performances without much low frequency content (e.g. choirs).

I love Gutbucket's idea of having 2 people or stands arranged in optimal positions with respect to the PA, it could really open up some interesting captures.

[goodcooker]

^ If you look more closely at that frequency response graph the response rises almost 10dB starting at <2kHz and doesn't come back down to 0 until 13-14kHz then down 10dB at 17-18kHz which is totally reasonable amount of high frequency roll off for a lot of people.

I got the Movo version of this and have had limited success due to low SPL handling. A lot of the music I see is pretty loud. Since these claim to deal with much higher SPL they should be very useful.

IME line of sight is important for stable connection on these. The Movo work great up to 50 feet (the farthest I've separated them they claim 164 feet in their marketing) as long as they can see each other. Too many bodies or any wall corners and they get disrupted quickly.

[Ozpeter]

In my YouTube demo the music sample was chosen for a good range of frequencies, together with transients amid held tones to reveal any compression happening.  I thought it sounded fine, but younger ears might be more critical!  I can imagine that the device is optimised for voice, but nobody wants thin sounding or muffled voices.

[Edited to add that I just noticed that YouTube have added a link to the music I used, in the description element of my video.  This makes it very easy to compare the original track, against my recording of that track being played on my Tannoy bookshelf speakers, sourced from YT Music running on my TV.  Of course the speakers and the room etc will degrade the sound, but for all that it's better than I would have expected.]

[Ozpeter]

In the context of capturing ambient sound, this video may be interesting.  I walked through a suburban park with subtle natural sounds around me, wearing the Rode Wireless Micro devices attached to a baseball cap to provide 'binaural-type' sound.  Using headphones to listen, I really do get the impression of front and back as well as well-defined left and right.  Narration is via these mics also and the quality of my voice sounds perfectly good to me.

https://youtu.be/zacIDqupRG0

[Ozpeter]

And here is the opposite kind of soundscape, a busy outdoor bar in a city centre on a warm summer night.

https://youtu.be/6jDW8CKzQWI

This is not a video.  It was captured on my Android phone using the excellent 'Field Recorder" app.

[rastasean]

Thanks for the recordings - I like them and they sound good. I'm assuming the audio was recorded into your phone and the footage was from your osmo action camera and you later synced the audio?

I'm interested in this product, since I record video on my phone, sometimes with external mics. However, I'd prefer if the receiver had an option for an audio output jack that way it wasn't dependent on my phone.
To go that route, looks like you're spending easily $100 more on the other Rode products.

Even though I have an iphone, I would get the usb-c connection, since apple has started using that connection on their phones.

[Ozpeter]

Thanks for the recordings - I like them and they sound good. I'm assuming the audio was recorded into your phone and the footage was from your osmo action camera and you later synced the audio?

I'm interested in this product, since I record video on my phone, sometimes with external mics. However, I'd prefer if the receiver had an option for an audio output jack that way it wasn't dependent on my phone.
To go that route, looks like you're spending easily $100 more on the other Rode products.

Even though I have an iphone, I would get the usb-c connection, since apple has started using that connection on their phones.

The video was shot with DJI Pocket 3 with the Rode receiver plugged into the USB C socket of that camera.  No phone required.  Generally speaking the Micro will work with any device which accepts USB mics.  The audio-only sample was recorded just with the Micro receiver connected to my Android phone, screen off, in my pocket.  Pretty stealthy especially as the kit in its case looks like a slightly large bluetooth earbud set.

[datbrad]

Thanks for the recordings - I like them and they sound good. I'm assuming the audio was recorded into your phone and the footage was from your osmo action camera and you later synced the audio?

I'm interested in this product, since I record video on my phone, sometimes with external mics. However, I'd prefer if the receiver had an option for an audio output jack that way it wasn't dependent on my phone.
To go that route, looks like you're spending easily $100 more on the other Rode products.

Even though I have an iphone, I would get the usb-c connection, since apple has started using that connection on their phones.

The video was shot with DJI Pocket 3 with the Rode receiver plugged into the USB C socket of that camera.  No phone required.  Generally speaking the Micro will work with any device which accepts USB mics.  The audio-only sample was recorded just with the Micro receiver connected to my Android phone, screen off, in my pocket.  Pretty stealthy especially as the kit in its case looks like a slightly large bluetooth earbud set.

I ordered a set of these directly from Rode today after reading the receiver can be plugged into the usb-c audio input on a camera. There are no systems like this made by anyone that I know of, and if there is I bet it costs more than $150.

Edit to add: I considered the Rode Wireless Go setup, but the wired lavalier to a belt worn transmitter held me back. This micro setup is truly wireless and I can't wait to try it out.

[Ozpeter]

I hope you enjoy it!  One tip - work out which transmitter uses channel 1 and that will be the left mic in a stereo setup.  I put a piece of black tape over the Rode logo on both of mine, and a tiny additional piece on the channel 1 (left) mic, to avoid having to mess with channel swapping when editing - like I've had to do twice now!

[Massive Dynamic]

As soon as I can I will do a comparison between the Micro, the Roland binaurals, and the Ambeo.  Should be interesting!  But it may take a few days before I have a chance.

I'd be interested in hearing the difference between these two mics. I did a small comp between the Ambeo and the Naiant X-X. I didn't post it because the source wasn't great (small stage), but the Ambeo's sound was noticeably brighter than the X-X.