These two look pretty similar but do sound quite different. A quick resume ..... the Lavalier seems to sound ‘thicker’ indoors than the Smartlav+ but a bit more balanced outside.
They both sound great.. but apparently you get what you pay for, because the more expensive one sounds excellent! But then, I would probably consider the sound of the Smart Lav equally excellent compared to most other generic lav mics. Loving these quality demos!!
I agree, Rocco. Bith are OK. The mic I use at the start and end video is my most used lav. It’s called a Little Clippy and uses a Primo EM 172 capsule. It has a much higher output and a noise floor that is unbelievably low. It’s quite large, but if it’s not a problem to see it or it can go out of shot, it is really excellent. Best part, it costs around £35. Less than the Smartlav+.
Hello. I wouldn’t use a lavalier mic to record a violin. They are more aimed at capturing the voice and are a bit constricted in frequency for instrumental recording. If it’s just a violin and nothing else, consider a pencil mic quite close to the violin and experiment where you point it... more into the soundholes or the fingerboard. That will alter how it sounds. A full sized condenser mic can sound brilliant as well but this also depends on the room because they are so sensitive to reverb. If it’s more than one instrument, then that is a bit more complex. Some use one mic to capture the lot, ut that isn’t the best because the room sound comes into play and sounds can get muddied. It also really depends on how much you want to spend. Lavalier mics are really not great for this. I have had some successful results though on just a Deity on camera mic with piano! I had to record a concert for parents and used a Rode NT1a and a Deity mic, both situated behind the piano. The idea was that I might ‘mix’ the two sounds because the Rode can be quite treble ridden so I was going to use the Deity to warm things up. Turned out that the Rode was a bit tinkly so I used only the Deity sound ...... no one noticed that it was a cheap mic and it sounded good because it was close to the piano, while I used three cameras to take varying angles of the players. The sound then remained constant from the Deity.
@@iancraig Oh... That's terrible news... First, Thank you for your fast and sincere reply. And yes it's just violin and nothing else. Actually I bought a used Rode Video pro for my cannon G7X camera, But after I bought, someone who knows better than me says these every unidirectional mic designed to kill every reverb. So that someone recommended to me these omni-directional mic such as lavalier because they are very cheap as used rode video pro and do not kill these reverb. In homepage of rode, filtering record, stringed instrument, 3.5mm minijack, it shows to me NT4, Lavalier GO, RODELINK LAV, PodMic, TF-5, NT-SF1. And as I said, I'm not a professional one. (If I was, I wouldn't buy this used video-pro old version;;) So in your opinion, under or near 150~200$, these "rode"s or not, which one(exact product name please...) is the best(or better) option(s) for me?
One option to consider..... but you would need 48v phantom power is the Rode NT1a. A full response cardiod. It will pick up room, but that can be controlled to an extent by getting it closer. If this is too big for you, there is a behringer pencil mic, (B5) but again, 48v phantom. The Rode pencil mics are good as well. I forget their model numbers. (Maybe m5) If you want a nice ‘all rounder’ kind of mic that uses 48v phantom or a 9v battery, the Rode M3 is nice. It will smooth the top end ‘screech’ that you can get from a violin but move it closer for more top detail and experiment with where it points. It can be quite ‘flattering’. I wouldn’t go too expensive if you just want takes of a violin because you can so easily get into a spiral of better .... even better ... best.... etc. Your friend is right. The on camera mic is more geared again to voice pickup and from the front mostly. Generally, people opt for pencil mics for stringed instruments. They tend to have an even response because the diaphragm is normally around 0.5” and so better controlled overall. Downside can be self noise. Full sized diaphragm will give big, full response with often less noise than a pencil. Lavalier mics just aren’t the best and are really more for convenience.
@@iancraig Thank you for your help. It's very useful to me. I still cannot sure, because of phantom, and my camera's 3.5 mm jack, but what you say is enlightening me. Thanks again.
These two look pretty similar but do sound quite different. A quick resume ..... the Lavalier seems to sound ‘thicker’ indoors than the Smartlav+ but a bit more balanced outside.
They both sound great.. but apparently you get what you pay for, because the more expensive one sounds excellent! But then, I would probably consider the sound of the Smart Lav equally excellent compared to most other generic lav mics.
Loving these quality demos!!
I agree, Rocco. Bith are OK. The mic I use at the start and end video is my most used lav. It’s called a Little Clippy and uses a Primo EM 172 capsule. It has a much higher output and a noise floor that is unbelievably low. It’s quite large, but if it’s not a problem to see it or it can go out of shot, it is really excellent. Best part, it costs around £35. Less than the Smartlav+.
great review, Ian. you're awesome
Thank you Sandro.
Thank you. Helpful. ✨
the EM 272 kicks everybody's asses , I have to get one.
The Primo capsules are indeed, excellent.
Hai I from India I am using Samsung mobile and I'm really confused 😕 which one best please reply??? rode lavalier go vs rode smartlav +
Lavalier is slightly better than +
@@iancraig once again explain to me please 🙏
The Rode Lavalier is better than the Smartlav +
Hello, I'm a guy who consider both rode mic, but I'm not a professional one.
And I'll gonna record a music of my violin,
then what's your suggestion?
Hello. I wouldn’t use a lavalier mic to record a violin. They are more aimed at capturing the voice and are a bit constricted in frequency for instrumental recording.
If it’s just a violin and nothing else, consider a pencil mic quite close to the violin and experiment where you point it... more into the soundholes or the fingerboard. That will alter how it sounds. A full sized condenser mic can sound brilliant as well but this also depends on the room because they are so sensitive to reverb.
If it’s more than one instrument, then that is a bit more complex. Some use one mic to capture the lot, ut that isn’t the best because the room sound comes into play and sounds can get muddied.
It also really depends on how much you want to spend. Lavalier mics are really not great for this.
I have had some successful results though on just a Deity on camera mic with piano! I had to record a concert for parents and used a Rode NT1a and a Deity mic, both situated behind the piano. The idea was that I might ‘mix’ the two sounds because the Rode can be quite treble ridden so I was going to use the Deity to warm things up. Turned out that the Rode was a bit tinkly so I used only the Deity sound ...... no one noticed that it was a cheap mic and it sounded good because it was close to the piano, while I used three cameras to take varying angles of the players. The sound then remained constant from the Deity.
@@iancraig Oh... That's terrible news...
First, Thank you for your fast and sincere reply.
And yes it's just violin and nothing else.
Actually I bought a used Rode Video pro for my cannon G7X camera,
But after I bought, someone who knows better than me says these every unidirectional mic designed to kill every reverb.
So that someone recommended to me these omni-directional mic such as lavalier because they are very cheap as used rode video pro and do not kill these reverb.
In homepage of rode, filtering record, stringed instrument, 3.5mm minijack,
it shows to me NT4, Lavalier GO, RODELINK LAV, PodMic, TF-5, NT-SF1.
And as I said, I'm not a professional one.
(If I was, I wouldn't buy this used video-pro old version;;)
So in your opinion, under or near 150~200$, these "rode"s or not, which one(exact product name please...) is the best(or better) option(s) for me?
One option to consider..... but you would need 48v phantom power is the Rode NT1a. A full response cardiod. It will pick up room, but that can be controlled to an extent by getting it closer. If this is too big for you, there is a behringer pencil mic, (B5) but again, 48v phantom. The Rode pencil mics are good as well. I forget their model numbers. (Maybe m5)
If you want a nice ‘all rounder’ kind of mic that uses 48v phantom or a 9v battery, the Rode M3 is nice. It will smooth the top end ‘screech’ that you can get from a violin but move it closer for more top detail and experiment with where it points. It can be quite ‘flattering’.
I wouldn’t go too expensive if you just want takes of a violin because you can so easily get into a spiral of better .... even better ... best.... etc.
Your friend is right. The on camera mic is more geared again to voice pickup and from the front mostly.
Generally, people opt for pencil mics for stringed instruments. They tend to have an even response because the diaphragm is normally around 0.5” and so better controlled overall. Downside can be self noise. Full sized diaphragm will give big, full response with often less noise than a pencil.
Lavalier mics just aren’t the best and are really more for convenience.
@@iancraig Thank you for your help. It's very useful to me.
I still cannot sure, because of phantom, and my camera's 3.5 mm jack, but what you say is enlightening me.
Thanks again.