“Beyond the general awesomeness of the mic’s swappable connectors, the RODE sounds outstanding.”
As you may know, RODE Microphones has recently entered the Lavalier market with their own iteration. I happened to be shopping around for a new lav for an upcoming project, and RODE kindly sent me one of their units to evaluate and share my thoughts on.
What makes the RODE Lav particularly unique is their MiCon connector system, which allows you to easily swap out different connectors for use with different types of audio devices. Previously, if you wanted to use one mic type across different connectors and cable types, you would have to custom-wire an interchangeable connector system yourself, or find someone do to this for you. The other option was to buy a different set of lav mics for each connector type — not a cost-effective venture by any means. To my knowledge, RODE is the first the solve this problem by using a interchangeable system right out of the box. This makes it an obvious first choice for standardization.
Beyond the general awesomeness of the mic’s swappable connectors, the RODE sounds outstanding. The tonal range definitely sounds deeper and fuller to my ears than my other lavs, especially in contrast to the Sennheiser ME-2. It has more bassy umph in the lower range, and less of a tin-can sound. This may make it a better contender for cutting between a shotgun mic. The handling noise seems acceptably comparable to other high-end microphones. The RODE has noticeably less self-noise over the ME-2.
I threw together a quick video comparing the RODE Lav alongside the Sennheiser ME-2 (which comes standard with many of the Sennheiser G2 and G3 wireless kits) and the Audio-Technica AT899. This is not a scientific test by any means, and I don’t have a sound-treated room at the moment — but it should give you a general idea of how the RODE Lav sounds in contrast to these other mics.
In case you can’t tell from the images, the RODE Lav’s head is a little smaller than both the ME-2 and the AT899, perhaps making it a bit easier to conceal on your talent, though of course not as small as other tiny lavs, such as the Countryman B6. The AT899 has a rather large and cumbersome power module, something the RODE does not require, since it will accept Phantom power directly.
When you buy the RODE, you get a little hardcase along with it, which is a very nice touch. They also provide a lapel clip and a mini dead-cat windscreen, which should come in handy when outdoors.
After using this mic a few times, I haven’t yet found any major drawbacks. I was initially a little scared of the tiny threads where the connectors mate with the lav cable, and fearing that the center pin would turn out to be a bit on the fragile side. If you accidentally threaded this at the wrong angle, it might cause damage. But after I’ve swapped my different connectors back and forth at least a few dozen times, this doesn’t seem to be a problem, as they seem to be surprisingly robust. I would perhaps now argue that larger connectors may actually be cumbersome and undesirable. But as with any small gear such as this, you should still slow down a bit and use them with a little care.
You can pick up the RODE Lavalier for $249 at DVeStore. Don’t forget to also order the connectors you need, as these are each sold separately, and none are included in the base package. Also be sure to check out Chad Johnson’s excellent comparison of this microphone with the Sanken COS11D and Tram TR50. Guy Cochran has another great video showcasing the RODE’s features.
Special thanks to RODE for providing the evaluation unit.
great test, thanks I think the 899 sounded the best with the ME2 sounding a pretty good second, wasn’t overly impressed with the Rode sound at all, it sounded like a compressed audible.com audiobook where they fit like an 8 hour book into a 27mb file. Great voice if you aren’t already a voiceover artist you should be.
thanks