Do any other Rode lovers hate the Videomic Pro shockmount?

[Chris Harding]

Thanks DJ

I would still like to find a clamp style mic mount that I could somehow adapt to a cold shoe. My AC130's (before I sold them off) had the Sony style clamp on the side of the camera and the actual suspension was just a whole bunch of rubber nipples inside the clamp. By just clamping this onto the Videomic round bit (with the suspension removed) worked really well and there is nothing to jump off either and I never noticed any noise transmitted !!

Can you buy these mounts anywhere??

Chris

[Mike Beckett]

Chris, what's the problem with a device like the Rycote one? Apart from price, obviously, they're never cheap. Maybe I don't understand (now there's a first...!).

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/629485-REG/Rycote_042901_InVision_Video_Hot_Shoe.html
I think that design of clamp (the "Lyre") is superior to the circular clamp on most cameras. I've even got a Rycote adapter that goes into the circular Sony clamp on my camera, leaving the cold shoe free for other uses.

Do you want something that is basically a clamp directly above the cold shoe? The Rycote clamp is offset to one side, but adjustable... mind you, I think it's possible to take it apart and put it directly above the cold shoe. I'd need to try to dismantle mine!

[Chris Harding]

Hi Mike

Actually they are rather neat..I was just seeing what alternatives were around. Maybe I will give one a try???

I was looking for a standard mic clamp like the one below.

Chris

[Chris Harding]

Hi Guys

Just for interest I was sifting thru all my mounts in my GoPro case and found the Hero "handlebar mount"
It basically a clamp with a bunch of swivelling fittings so I ripped the suspension off the Videomic and also took off the coldshoe The GoPro clamp goes around the body of the VideoMic just in front of the housing with a strip of neoprene rubber between the mic shaft and the clamp. With just one fitting the end comes out to exactly where I need the mic to sit so I drilled the original 4mm hole to 5mm in the coldshoe fitting and put a bolt with locknuts up to the GoPro clamp....works like a charm..no transmitted noise AND instead of the silly little self threading screw into plastic that ALWAY's comes loose ..this doesn't move at all. It's a lot more practical than the Videomic suspension mount.

I'll post a pic soon as it's 11pm on this side of the world!!

Chris

[Lee Mullen]

Today I recieved a modified replacement VMP mount which has the rubber bands firmly attached to the mount, thanks to Scott Emerson at Rode who kindly offered me a free replacement. Its much better and the bands seems firmer too.

[Jos Svendsen]

Oh yes indeed. This is the worst shock mount ever. And the usage of a 9 V battery is also a very bad idea - just to be modest.

[D.J. Ammons]

Originally Posted by Jalan Salur

Today I recieved a modified replacement VMP mount which has the rubber bands firmly attached to the mount, thanks to Scott Emerson at Rode who kindly offered me a free replacement. Its much better and the bands seems firmer too.

I also received the replacement mount thanks to the kind folks at Rode. I have only had one shoot since putting it on but so far so good! No bands came off from handling. Rode not only has great products but excellent customer support.

[Allan Black]

Originally Posted by Jalan Salur

Today I recieved a modified replacement VMP mount which has the rubber bands firmly attached to the mount, thanks to Scott Emerson at Rode who kindly offered me a free replacement. Its much better and the bands seems firmer too.

That's Scott Emerton Jalan :) And DJ, he and the folks at Rode appreciate your comments about their products.

Cheers.

[Lee Mullen]

Originally Posted by Allan Black

That's Scott Emerton Jalan :) And DJ, he and the folks at Rode appreciate your comments about their products.

Cheers.

Do you know him?

[Adrian Tan]

Originally Posted by Lee Mullen

Today I recieved a modified replacement VMP mount which has the rubber bands firmly attached to the mount, thanks to Scott Emerson at Rode who kindly offered me a free replacement. Its much better and the bands seems firmer too.

I have two VMPs from about a year or two ago, and two ones purchased this year. The ones from this year have a groove for the rubber bands built into the shock mount that seems to hold them more securely. It sounds like the same sort of thing as what you're talking about.

More secure, but they do still pop off and/or break.

By the way, does anyone else have the problem of finding it difficult to extract the 9V batteries from the microphone? I'm sure this has been discussed before, but anyway... My solution is to attach a thin strip of gaffer tape to the side of the microphone to create a tab to pull the batteries out by.

[Andy Wilkinson]

I can confirm from personal experience that Rode did modify the design of the VMPs cradle. I have had the original VMP one and one with the newer design for over a year and it seems much less prone to the bands "popping off" - but it would occasionally still happen, albeit far less frequently. Many will know by now of my "superglue trick" for more securely fixing Rode bands in place (see post 4 in this thread for example).

At first I found the battery door and absolute pig to open/close during battery changes - so much so that I practiced it half a dozen times in case I ever had to do it in front of a client. Fumbling around with ones gear does not look professional (and in the corporate world I operate in it's all about image). Now I find it no trouble at all - but I often read of people struggling with it so there is no doubt it could have been designed better!

Personally, I don't have issues extracting the battery - however that tape tag sounds like a good idea. Maybe the 9V batteries you use are slightly fatter than the Duracells I use?

Rode (generally) make great products and have superb after sales service but they dropped the ball a bit with the VMP design. At least the sound quality is similar to the original VideoMic but with the advantage of a much smaller unit.

[Tim Lewis]

I have the original stereo video mic with eight small black rubber bands suspending the mic in the mount. After several years of good service from the device I lost one or two of them, but was able to replace them from the spares that came in the box.

When sometime later I started to lose quite a few due to perishing, I was a bit disappointed that I could not get replacements. I trawled the web to no avail. I ended up emailing Røde and got a polite response asking for my mailing address. I replied and received enough of the NEW design bands to last the life of the mic from Matthew Piccolotto at the Sydney Service Department.

Well done Røde!