Besides this website, I also run a YouTube channel- John ThruMyLens.  I had been a photographer working in Photoshop for at least a decade before I ever heard of YouTube.  So I’m much more comfortable photo editing than I am editing, videos.  And to the extent of that, I’m finally getting pretty dangerous when it comes to grading LOG flat file in Final Cut Pro, getting professional audio has been a challenge.  When I First started recording videos on YouTube, it was with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Rode Stereo VideoMic – a relic that debuted on the market back in 2008.  Back then, and probably for most of my YouTube career I recorded product review videos with the tripod mounted camera, focused on a “stage” inside of a light box with the microphone mounted on the camera hot shoe pointed at me while I narrated.  Later, as I transitioned to reviewing firearms, I wanted to be able to get footage of me on the range shooting the firearm I was testing .  Obviously my Rode microphone wouldn’t work well for this type of application, so that’s what I strand, looking into the first generation of what all call affordable wireless mic systems.  I first chose the original Picomic system which worked extremely well, but didn’t stopped working after a couple of years.  and then transition to the DJI Mic and later DJI Mic II.

Technology has advanced both on the hardware side and on the software side in post production to the point where you can really get incredibly good audio from just about any source if you know what you’re doing.  It’s taking me some time, but I think I’m finally getting “there.”  Now, I’m not going to tell you that the Rode VideoMic NTG produces definitively better audio than say my DJI Mic II set up.  Audio Engineers can in most cases distinguish the difference between a wireless mic and a shotgun mic.  Which is to say that while most professionals will prefer the audio from a shotgun mic, I think a wireless mic will be more than fine for most YouTube creators.  So why did I make the switch?

The first reason I switched to a shotgun mic set up is convenience.  A couple of years ago, I added the Neewer ST 200 Overhead Camera Mount Rig to my studio set up.  The main reason I purchased it was it provided me so much flexibility within the confines of the relatively small space in which I both shoot product, photography and record YouTube videos.  With my DJI mics, I have to set them up on my camera and again on myself each and every time I want to record a video.  When I’m finished. I have to tear it all down and put it back.  I figure it was at least five minutes to set up in five minutes to take down and put away – that’s 10 minutes per video.  And I try to at least record one video a week.  By mounting a semi-permanent shotgun mic the my Neewer ST200 I could reduce my setup to just putting my camera on the tripod and plugging in the mic into the camera.  The other big time savings switching to a shotgun mic got me was in post.  Typically I mount the wireless mic on the inside of my shirt and use the included mic magnet outside my shirt to hold it place:

The little black square on my shirt is the magnet which holds the wireless mic on the inside of my shirt in place.

The problem with the microphone mounted so close to your body/chest is that it’s going to pick up your breathing a lot more in the audio.  I found myself multiple times in each video that I recorded editing out sections of the video where I would take a long breath – it’s one of those things that once you hear it you can’t unhear it and it drives you nuts.  I’ll bet I was at least spending another 5 to 10 minutes on each video just removing audible breaths.  Some people also don’t like a wireless mic because no matter how you mount it you’re going to have some sort of visual queue that the audience can see.  In the screen and capture from one of my videos above, you can see the little magnetic square on the outside of my shirt, which always found to be pretty unobtrusive, but others want absolutely no audio attached to clothing that’s visible in frame.  Both of these problems were solved with a shotgun mic set up.

Rode VideoMic NTG Specifications:

• On-camera shotgun microphone

• Highly directional supercardioid pattern (great for rejecting room noise and focusing on what’s in front of the camera)

• 3.5mm auto-sensing output (works with cameras and mobile devices) 

• USB-C digital output (works as a USB mic for computers/tablets/phones)

• High-pass filter: Flat / 75Hz / 150Hz 

• Pad: -20dB (for loud environments) 

• High-frequency boost (adds clarity, helpful outdoors / muffled voices) 

• Safety channel (records a backup track at a lower level to save you from clipping) 

• Infinitely variable gain control (not just “levels 1–10”)

• Internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery Rated for 30+ hours of operation

• Frequency range: 20Hz–20kHz

• Frequency response: 35Hz–18kHz ±3dB

• Max SPL: 120 dB SPL

• Self noise: 15 dBA

• Signal-to-noise: 79 dBA

The magic arm clamps to the cross bar on one end, and connects to the Rode NTG on the other.

THE SET UP

Mounting the Rode VideoMic NTG to my Neewer ST 200 Overhead Camera Mount Rig required a few accessories to do the job properly.  The first required item was the Small Rig Magic Arm Clap Kit.  This particular version of the Magic Arm allowed for the easiest, most flexible way to not only mount the Rode VideoMic NTG to my Neewer ST 200 Overhead Camera Mount Rig, it also allowed me to get the microphone, the proper distance in position relative to my body position while recording while at the same time ensuring the microphone was not in frame when video was recording:

I also needed to purchase a 3.5mm audio extension cable to run from the Rode VideoMic NTG to my mirrorless camera tripod mounted on the opposite side of my workbench where I record my videos.  This new set up is fantastic – All I have to do is pull out the camera I want to use, mount a lens to the camera, put the camera on my tripod, and plug in the audio cable.  I’m ready to roll.

The 3.5mm audio cable runs from the Rode NTG to the camera on the tripod.

In this photo you can get a sense for the distance between me and the Rode NTG when I’m recording.

So far, I’ve recorded two videos on my YouTube channel with the Rode VideoMic NTG as my audio source and I’m super happy with the results.  Everything about the production process is faster and easier and yes, the audio is improved.  Though to be fair, in the process of researching the proper pre-and post production settings to use, I did make some changes to how I edit my audio in Final Cut Pro, which also improved my audio.   But I feel like for my set up, the Rode VideoMic NTG is probably going to provide me about the best audio that I can get without installing a lot of sound dampening materials in my basement (which I have no desire to do) and getting super high end, XLR input microphones.  But if my 5000 subscriber YouTube channel suddenly grows to 10 times the size, maybe we’ll talk again about upgrading audio.

Here’s my YouTube video comparing the audio on the Rode VideoMic NTG with the DJI Mic 2: