Anyone used the Rode Stereo VideoMic?

[Tim Sills]

Hi All,

I have been searching the forum for posts relating to the Rode Stereo VideoMic and the HV20 but nothing so far - most times the word Rode comes up in the context of the regular VideoMic.

Has anybody had experience with the Rode SVM and HV20? I am looking for something to really up the ante from the internal microphone, and, something to really attenuate the motor noise. The SVM is about right price-wise, comes with a "dead-kitten" for wind reduction, and is not *too* big.

Thanks,

Tim

[Arthur Konovalov]

I have it about a week and made quick test.
It's like day and night! No motor's noise at all with Rode. Good stereo separation.
Mic not too big, but not small too :)

AK

[Alan Zenreich]

I used the Stereo Videomic (with the dead kitten) a few weeks ago at an outdoor graduation ceremony... very very good results.

[Guy Cochran]

It's a really nice mic. I just used it again on shoot near the water in windy conditions. I like it for a grab and go type mic for picking up ambient sound or dialogue if I'm close. It's small, easy to use and the sound quality is a dramatic improvement - especially with the dead kitten. We have some samples up at dvgeartalk.com of a drummer, a helicopter and a gal reading some lines in the SVM episode.

[Tim Sills]

All good stuff it would seem.

On the lighter side of things, for the Australian forumites, that thing on a pole in the videos reminds me of Dicky Knee...., or for anyone with an imagination, something from "The day of the triffids" - you decide !!

I have recently seen some pictures of this thing with dead kitten on top of a HV20 and it's pretty substantial. I am thinking whether or not I could even fit the complete ensemble into my bag - a Lowepro Nova 2 AW. I also have to fit a Canon powershot series digital camera and Vosonic VP2160 so it would be a tight fit I am sure.

All in all, seems much better than performing spectral analysis to remove various frequency components from ac3 soundtracks, etc etc ad nauseum. Might just have to check one out very soon.

Tim

[Elmer Lang]

Gee, guys, I like viewing roadkill and pet torture movies as much as the next guy, but what's a dead kitten?

Btw, I had the Rode VideoMic for a few days, I found it picked up motor/zoom noise, but may have to check out the stereo version. (What's great about B&H in NYC is you can take anything, nearly, back for a week after purchase.)

[Tim Sills]

Dead kitten = fluffy thing that goes over the front to prevent wind noise (or at least largely attenuate it...)

The SVM seems like a top notch unit, but it seems a bit too big for my liking. I have searched this forum (and others) for piccies of the thing on top of a HV20 and yep, it's big alright. Not as big as some mind you, but still bigger than I would like.

So, I have been in contact with an Azden distributor after seeing some piccies of the SMX-10 on top of a HV20 with the Rode SM3 shock mount unit. Much more to my liking, but then again, the SM3 is also quite big compared to the HV20 and so I searched for something else and came across the Azden SMH-1. This will take the SMX-10 and have a total height of 7.5cm on top of the HV20. Length is a tad under 18cm (apparently).

Another option to consider.

Tim

[Chris Ames]

Originally Posted by Elmer Lang

Gee, guys, I like viewing roadkill and pet torture movies as much as the next guy, but what's a dead kitten?

Btw, I had the Rode VideoMic for a few days, I found it picked up motor/zoom noise, but may have to check out the stereo version. (What's great about B&H in NYC is you can take anything, nearly, back for a week after purchase.)

LOL! Thank you for asking this question. I too was at a loss concerning the mystery of the "dead kitten".

Mystery solved, Scooby snacks for everybody!

Chris