Rode VideoMic Pro Rycote - Return (Condition: Very Good)

RØDE VideoMic Pro Rycote - Directional Microphone for Camera Mounting!

At just 15 cm long and weighing only 85 g, the VideoMic Pro Rycote is a professional mono camera microphone that can significantly upgrade the audio quality of your video sound. It slides easily into a standard hot shoe and locks with the integrated knurled nut. Alternatively, it can be mounted on a tripod, handle or boom pole—there is a 3/8" thread in the base. Thanks to the Rycote double "Lyre", a special thermoplastic suspension, the VideoMic Pro is optimally decoupled from the camera. Structure-borne noise and handling noise therefore cannot reach the sensitive 1/2" condenser capsule of the microphone.

The VideoMic Pro Rycote is powered by an optional 9V block battery, which lasts up to 70 hours. The connection to the camera is via a fixed integrated cable with a 3.5 mm TRS plug. The tip ("T") and ring ("R") of the plug carry exactly the same signal, so the camera records in dual mono and the audio plays back centered in the mix.

The supercardioid capsule of the VideoMic Pro Rycote has a relatively narrow pickup angle of about 45°. If you hold both hands forward at roughly a half-right angle, you can clearly see which sound sources fall within the pickup area and will therefore be captured preferentially. As a mono directional microphone the VideoMic Pro Rycote is generally recommended for speech recordings and for any other sound sources located directly in front—i.e. on-axis in the frame. It is especially ideal for close-ups: off-axis sound from sources not visible in the frame is largely ignored.

On the rear of the VideoMic Pro Rycote there are two switches: the power switch and the level switch. The power switch also activates the rumble filter (high-pass filter), which reduces low-frequency interference. In practice this makes the production audio sound airier and improves speech intelligibility. If low frequencies are an important part of the sound source, do not engage the high-pass filter.

Thanks to its low self-noise (14 dBA) and high maximum SPL (134 dB), the VideoMic Pro Rycote can handle very quiet and very loud signals cleanly and without unwanted artifacts. Many cameras, however, cannot and will add either ugly noise (when the input is too low due to high gain or the automatic level control) or distortion (with signals that are too loud). You can counteract this by setting the level switch—the lower of the two—from the default "0" to "+20" to bring quiet signals (e.g. speech) into a healthy level range, or to "-10" to attenuate very loud signals so the camera's mic input does not clip.