This is a microphone I had been wishing into existence for years. A USB directional shotgun mic. I love it but certain issues render it completely unusable for my job. I am a voice actor, so I wasn't interested as much in its ability to connect to a camera, which I understand probably was its intended use. However, when a microphone has the functionality, it should (in my opinion) work properly in ALL its possible uses...
The sound quality is VERY high. That is, until you feed it a loud source, fairly close. I was unable to record even mildly loud voice overs in the booth. Even in the lowest of settings, it peaked. Engaging the -20db pad introduces a very audible noise, which of course becomes prominent when you bring the volume back up in post.
Another issue, albeit a minor one, is the back dial, which doesn't control the microphone input gain, but the headphones out. The manufacturer states in some instances that it controls the mic gain, obviously referring to the instances where you connect the microphone to a camera via the headphones out. In those cases, the dial does indeed control the volume that the camera receives, however it is incorrect to name this volume "microphone gain", by all accounts. Adjusting the gain of a microphone should control how much the microphone peaks in front of loud sources. So even in this scenario (connected to a camera), dialing down the volume would not help with peaking. The audio would still be distorted, just in a lower volume. The ONLY way to adjust the mic gain is via a smartphone / tablet / computer, through software. Personally, I find the back dial redundant, since it cannot help me avoid distortion.
Overall, this is a sturdy microphone that has helped me create many beautiful recordings, when I was recording in a soft voice. But its inherent noise with the -20db pad and its bad handling of loud sources make it completely unusable for me.
Rode later came up with the Videomic Go ii, which is less than a third of this mic's price, doesn't have an internal battery (it's powered by the device you connect it to) and doesn't have all the controls on the body of the mic (but still has the exact same functionality through the software) and sounds just as good. I bought that little beast and have not returned to this mic ever since.
