Today we have RODE Wireless Micro on review - an Ultra-Compact Wireless Microphone. Let's see what this microphone from the Australian company RØDE is capable of, as well as we will tell you about all its features. Today, we are reviewing the RODE Wireless Micro, an ultra-compact wireless microphone. We will take a look at what this microphone from the Australian company RODE is capable of and tell you about all its features. RODE has its origins in Australia, far away from us. Over time, they gradually developed and gained experience in the sound recording and audio monitoring market. Now, we have a stable impression that Australia is not only known for kangaroos, spiders, AC/DC, and cattle breeding, but also for high-quality sound recording equipment. To have one company take and pull the associative row on itself….. Impressive!
This time, they have released an equally impressive product: the RODE Wireless Micro, an ultra-compact microphone that should make life easier for millions of content creators with smartphones. As confirmation of our opinion of these wonderful microphones, even Rolling Stone magazine has spoken out. They deem this microphone worthy of being named "Best Microphone." On the product page of the Rode Wireless Micro, you will find the "Rolling Stone Best Microphone" plaque. We partially support this claim, but we'll figure out if it's true in our review. Before we begin our review of the Rode Wireless Micro, let's take a look at its specs, as usual.
A Few Words About Ultra-Compact Wireless Microphone SystemsOver the last five years, these systems have almost completely replaced cable lavalier microphones. You no longer have to use bulky transmitters attached to your belt that cause discomfort. All you need to do is attach a lightweight wireless lavalier mic the size of a button to your clothes, connect it to a camera, smartphone, or PC, and you're ready to go. Of course, wireless lavalier microphones have disadvantages, such as falling off, poor recording quality, low battery life, and etc. However, manufacturers of audio equipment have learned to solve these problems, and every year, we get more and more high-quality products for content creators, video production, and sound recording. This is reality — the world is changing by leaps and bounds!
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Best Price on RODE Wireless Micro
The RODE Wireless Micro is an excellent choice for creators who need a compact, easy-to-use wireless mic system with great sound quality. |
Classic Package
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The compact box contains a pair of furry windshields, a USB-C cable, and a charging case for the microphones. Inside the case, you'll find one receiver and two mic-transmitters. There are versions with USB-C and Lightning interfaces, as well as two color options: white and black. Such variability is very pleasant, because creative people often have a bright, non-standard thinking and sometimes they do not need to understand the technical details of the work of these or those tools, and much more important is what is in the frame. Black color can be quite sad for someone because of the direction of the content being created. And the possibility of a simple choice is always better than its absence.
The RØDE Wireless Micro Case is extremely light, even lighter than some TWS headphone cases. It closes tightly, and magnets in the middle keep all the accessories securely in place. The only drawback is that there is only one pair of furry windshields. You can't put them in the same case. They would be better if they were magnetic instead of push-in. This makes sense because the transmitter-microphones themselves have magnetic clips, so it would be easy to attach an extra part to them. However, it's a good idea for future windshield modifications if there's a strong desire for them.
The materials are of the highest quality, and judging by the lightness of the receiver and transmitters, you can afford to make mistakes, such as dropping the devices in the case or separately, because of their light weight. Rode never made a mess with the assembly, and tactilely, everything here is wonderful.
First, know that the RODE Wireless Micro does not require any applications or drivers. However, you may need the Rode Capture app to create videos. The Rode Central app is available for download in the Apple App Store & Google Play and provides full access to all of this device's features. With this app, you can customize the routing (split or merge recording channels), control the brightness of the LED indicator (or turn it off), and adjust the gain settings (low, medium, or high). However, this is completely optional. The biggest advantage of these microphones is that you can quickly take them out of your pocket, plug them into your smartphone, and start recording. The case has magnetic retainers, and the microphones have magnets that allow you to lock them onto metal interior objects while recording. There is also a non-magnetic windshield that, counterintuitively, holds securely.
Speed, quality, and compactness. We spun that phrase looking for a labeled acronym, but something didn't quite work out. But Rode has definitely got it right. The sampling frequency is 24-bit/48 kHz, and the frequency range is 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Despite its small size, there's no compromise in audio quality. Now, it's easy to record high-quality audio with your smartphone. Tracks recorded with the Rode Wireless Micro don't need any processing in an editor — their quality is excellent.
To get started, plug the receiver into your smartphone. Then, strap the transmitter to your clothes or attach it to the built-in magnet (or place it nearby). Finally, turn on REC. When you're finished recording, simply put everything in the charging case, toss the case in your pocket, and you're ready to go again for the next recording. When you take the receiver and transmitter out of the case, the devices instantly pair and are ready to use. Thanks to the convenient clip and lightweight design, you can place the transmitter on your shirt, jacket, or even a cap. Its lightweight design won't pull your clothes away or get in the way while driving.
Another piece of this product's success is its 21-hour battery life. The case charges fully in three hours. The transmitters can be charged for up to seven hours, and the case can fully charge the transmitters twice more. However, if you only use one transmitter, you'll potentially have 42 hours of charge instead of 21 hours with two transmitters.
An important technical note about the omnidirectional audio capture pattern is that the microphone will capture sound from everywhere around you, which you should consider when planning your shoot. The same windproofing comes in handy to help with such specificity. But it's interesting that some wind protection is ALREADY built into the microphone design, and additional furry wind protection caps are included in the kit just in case of powerful winds. Therefore, in this context, RODE Wireless Micro has also proven to be a very reliable assistant.
An essential feature will be Gain Assist, a unique ability of this microphone that makes it possible to record at the perfect volume level without constantly adjusting it. Clever algorithms will automatically adjust the optimal balance, protecting your audio from clipping. You'll only need to focus on the creative aspects of your recording. Rode gives you the freedom to focus on the creative side of recording rather than technical adjustments. As mentioned above, the Rode Central app has an option to adjust the gain level, but it's optional because it only allows you to select the general nature of the gain — quiet for loud environments, normal, or strong for ambient recording. Gain Assist does everything else for you. Convenient!
With Rode Wireless Micro, you can use any camera for recording the video and your smartphone for audio. There's no need for additional microphones attached to the camera; just combine the video sequence in the editor with a separately recorded audio track. It's convenient on the one hand, but on the other hand, it's a big disadvantage because the Rode Wireless Micro can't be connected directly to the camera or your PC. For the most part, expect the RODE Wireless Micro to be suitable for smartphone use only.
You can connect the Rode Wireless Micro to your PC or laptop (Mac or Windows), but only if it has a USB-C port. This applies only to the Rode Wireless Micro USB-C version, not the Lightning version. We don't know if you can connect the microphone to a PC or laptop using a USB-C to USB-A adapter. We haven't personally tested it, and we couldn't find any information about it online. If you need to use compact wireless lavalier mics with Windows or Mac devices, buy the Hollyland LARK M2, which solves this problem.
If that's not enough, there's also water drop protection. The working distance between the transmitters and the receiver is up to 100 meters. It's impressive. We are happy with this product, which is full of features, and at this price, there's no reason to look for alternatives because there are none.
Honestly, the only competitor to Rode is Hollyland, which specializes in wireless microphones. For example, the Hollyland LARK M2 has more extensive functionality than the Rode Wireless micro and is slightly cheaper, but we will discuss it in other reviews. Many Chinese audio equipment manufacturers now produce wireless compact lavalier microphones, but they still have a number of issues. That's why we believe that only two companies currently dominate this market: Rode and Hollyland.
We've finally reached the end of our RODE Wireless Micro review. It's time to summarize the results. Rode already has an iconic line of products with a compact form factor, including the Wireless Pro, Wireless ME, and Wireless GO, as well as all their iterations and modifications. These products have helped creators produce colorful content for years. With the addition of the Wireless Micro, they are almost a monopoly in the portable recording solutions market (although Hollyland is a very serious competitor, producing devices that are just as good and, in some cases, better). We can compare and go against the mainstream all we want, but it would be strange not to recognize what Rode can do and, hopefully, love. In our sincere belief, you should base your choice of specific devices on your needs and usage scenarios, not the company's general reputation. But how can you not see the skillful, systemic targeting of your customers? How can you not see this new product as an improved realization of the company's previous ideas and intentions? It's the result of years of hard work, learning from mistakes, and finally bringing the perfect solution to life.
In this review, we may not look very objective, because we have in our personal use not the first Rode microphone, but we came to this choice for a reason. Of course, we have many products from other companies that we bought with our hard-earned money, but Rode's combination of stability, quality, and attention to detail at this price point is hard to beat. The Wireless Micro is useful for anyone. Whether you're at work creating videos or on vacation capturing memories, you can do so with the best possible video and sound quality. We admire this microphone system not just for its technical perfection, ergonomics, and extremely low learning curve, but also for its ease of use. Anyone — elderly people, housewives, or schoolchildren—can instantly take a microphone out of their pocket, plug the receiver into their smartphone, and start creating. This is power in simplicity. We highly recommend buying it.
We hope you enjoyed our review of the RODE Wireless Micro Ultra-Compact Wireless Microphone. Please feel free to leave your comments, questions, and suggestions in the section below. We will be happy to answer them all as soon as possible. If you already own a RODE Wireless Micro and have used it for a while, don't forget to share your impressions and tell us what you liked or disliked about this wireless mic system.
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