The internal backup recording could be a decisive feature but unfortunately the way it is implemented it’s not more than a “prosumer feature” in the best scenario. You can’t control this backup function properly, when you can stop/start recording, it could delete the older files if the memory got full, so you need to track it somehow and you need a PC close to you to be able to know for sure, and you can loose it entirely if the RX/TX don’t connect at all and die before the connection happens. So it’s a nice feature but with serious flaws for a paid environment workflow. Maybe a mkIII with 32 bit float could make it :)
The new firmware of wireless Go II is mind blowing. Literally killed competition. Two mini field recorders plus wireless receiver for $299 with Rode software support.
I normally have questions, but in this case you covered them all. I particularly appreciate that you have us both the raw audio, plus an example of applying some processing to convey what the potential sound is like. Thanks!
As usual , a good presenation easy to follow. Personally I am tired to all inbuilt batteries and, I reject most of gears eaven if they work for 10 years and the reson is that I dont want moore stress factors for different maintenance of batteries during all time when I dont use them and I feel more confident for other sollutions. How hard can it also be to put a adjustment knob/button in gain steps instead of always have to go for unother app during a set eatch time or untill know, a computer. That is the most important con why I dont by it. The other different possibilities is for sure something you know in advanze but the gain .... and as a compromise for a good product sake you can adjust theese things in advance. Perhaps just only for one occation. The Sanken lavallier was much better then the Rode.
Hey Curtis, I've been an online marketer for the last year and a half. I just decided to improve my content with better audio and video. I am so glad I stumbled into your channel. Keep it up the great work. You know, probably better than I do, that you can never provide too much value, and you give a ton!
@@curtisjudd darn Curtis! I really appreciate the video! I purchased the Hollyland Lark 150 about 2 months ago! And it works great! But you’ve just said that these new rode wireless go II’s are better. I might need to swap em out now yikes
@@andrewsperspective I don't know about that. If the Lark 150 is getting the job done...But if you need the recording capability, the GO II is pretty compelling.
@@curtisjudd you make a good point here! Im honestly going to get the tentacle sync work flow next and just keep this hollyland as an easier wireless set up for smaller projects
The Wireless Go II receiver acts as an audio input device via USB-C, when plugged in to my Mac (probably same on Windows), in a live environment. This can be useful in an internet conference scenario, such as a Zoom call.
I would give a lot to see who was the ONE who voted "no" on his video. LIKE YOU could do better? Really? Good job helping the various levels of training to US geeks and producers. Thanks.
Brilliant review as always Curtis! You've definitely become the go-to for these kind of audio reviews. Although I would've liked to have seen a range test vs the original Go and filmmaker kit. Maybe that's something I'll do myself when I buy one of these 🙂
Thank you for the incredible effort you put into these videos. Hopefully doing live events again soon and this seems like it will be a suitable upgrade from the mess of wires we have.
@@curtisjudd Specs say it doesn’t record in 32 bit float, but can export in 32 bit float? What’s the point in exporting in 32 bit float if it can still clip while recording?
Great review! I'm done with all my testing as well and shooting my review today after three weeks of field use and tests. I agree with the phone app for field use, because I ain't trying to take a laptop with me on the field. LOL!!! Also, have you tried to record uncompressed for over 30 minutes? I shot an interview with backup recording for over 30 minutes multiple times and the uncompressed audio files are broken into 30 minute clips. Stitching them together is a bit of a pain with the name filing system, and there's a minute stutter at the stitching seam when the audio needs to be stitched together. I'm hoping for an app update to rename the files to custom names. This is just a sneak peak of my review. ;) I got so many more requests for doable features via firmware updates. My review is gonna be OVERKILL!
the only one to speak about the competition and to approach (always) all the aspects that a standard consumer like us does not know !! Always very relevant this Curtis!
If your camera has 2 microphone inputs, yes, should be possible in theory. Note that wireless systems like this generally tend to become less stable, the more transmitters you have running at the same time.
Great review Curtis, you really set the standard for what you do. Just got my RODE Wireless GO II yesterday and look forward to using it. FYI, just tested a Samson lavalier mike with it and it had an unacceptable hum, not compatible for whatever reason. Then tried what some have reviewed as the best cheap lavalier, Boya $20, and it sounded quite good, very quiet background and clear.
Thanks for the review Curtis! The adjustment you made with the equaliser really made a big difference. I’d love to see a video of you making those adjustments and listening to your thoughts will you do it. Making adjustments to audio has always been a bit daunting to me.
Mine are supposed to deliver Tuesday, so this review is the final seal of approval even after the purchase was made. Rode and Blackmagic are sure providing the best bang for buck.
Actually just received it a few hours ago. If plugged into a camera, it records the safety track on one channel of the video as well. So everything is the same as internal. Once you play with camera input levels and the output, it really does sound good on camera. So no exaggeration.
Thanks Curtis, We bought 3 days ago and love it! The killer feature is the ability to link to the rode Ntg usb for wireless shotgun mic recording! Many thanks Sandy
@@Photovintageguy hi John we just wired it using the supplied black cable that came with rode ntg USB the noise floor impeccable and the mic powers on and off with the transmitter, cheers sandy
@@sandyande that's the VideoMic NTG and it's usb-c headphone output to the usb-c input if the rx? If so how did think to even try it. That's interesting.
Ok for anyone looking into this it's not the usb but just the regular audio output. Referred to by black cable. It would have been interesting if could be usb to usb on boom to tx connection. But on further thought, if possible you might have to live with added latency. Fyi there are videos showing how the original NTG works with wireless GO ver 1. It's the same setup. And does look nice. For about $250 you add some great added ability.
Sir , Thanks for sharing your wisdom to the world ! I find your videos very knowledgeable because these days most of the reviewers only yells doing weird acting in front of their camera.
Got it the first day released. Very impressed. It's my swiss army knife... if I didn't have to record music I would not need my Zoom H8. It is that good. The audio interface and USB-C to lightning along with the backup recording is an absolute winner.
Was waiting for your review as yours is always the most thorough out there! You did not disappoint here. I’ve been leaning toward the RODE Wireless Go II and think this just clinched it!
Rode is killing it. Wireless Go II is head n shoulder above competitors especially considering its pricetag. Knockoff wireless system with two transmitters don't come much cheaper than the best, that says a lot about Rode.
Very helpful, thanks as always. I actually bought two sets of these to record 4 people at once into the camera using your previous technique you showed to hook up two of the original wireless go's. It works great. It's going to be an absolute game-changer for me and what I shoot. I've been wanting something where I can record 4 people at once without external recorders (because of weight and size) since basically forever.
@@curtisjudd Just an update in case this will help anyone in the future. When using two receivers and four transmitters outdoors and people are moving around, there are pretty frequent dropouts (everything works pretty flawlessly when everyone is facing the camera and not moving). So the backup recordings in the transmitters are essential. However, when using the Rode Central app to get those recordings onto the computer, the wav files don't have the original timestamp of the recording anymore, so it doesn't organize very well with your footage. I could live with the dropouts if those wav files could easily be dropped in with the rest of my footage all at once and be organized by the timestamp in the file. Anyway, hope this helps anyone who might see it!
@@RobbyHuang Thanks for sharing your experience, Robby. I try to warn people that 4 channels of 2.4GHz wireless microphones can be tricky. Sounds like this is your experience as well.
Great review. Before buying any audio equipment, I always check your opinion on it. Thank you for your brilliant effort helping others and sharing your knowledge. It is much appreciated ❤️
Another great review Curtis, and from my limited time with it, an excellent product. I love the fact It also works with a USB-c enabled phone, by using the Rode sc16 lead. That lead allows stereo recording into an android device, and works great with filmic pro, showing both left and right channels separately.
Yet again, a fantastic video! The Rode wireless go can also be connected to your computer through USB to be used as a USB mic to be used for Zoom, voice overs, skype, etc. I have tried this with a Mac, and while it does connect, the volume level is a little low. Usually you can adjust levels in the 'sound settings' but you cannot with the Rode. The 'input level' slider is not available. I emailed Rode about this, and they responded (great customer service!) They released a new update to Rode central, but it didn't fix this problem. Hopefully in a future update they will, as it would be great to use this as a USB mic. Thanks again for the great video!
Thanks for another great review Curtis. Just what I was looking for as I was comparing the Saramonic Blink 500 Pro with this Rode Wireless Go 2. Now I'm swaying to the Rode.
it would be great to run an in-depth range test of the Rode Wireless Go 2 system and its direct competitors, so we have a constant environment to judge the qualities of each system. Til now, I haven't seen one like this that would provide clear results and show the strenghts in terms of range of the various systems. Yet, it's a key aspect to make a choice for some people.
I wanted to write a comment that I was just waiting for Curtis' review, before deciding if I upgrade from my gen 1 or not. But it seems that everyone else beat me to that comment... ;)
I am so glad you reviewed this product. It was so in-depth comparing to other reviewers. I have one question though. How do you set your mic input gain on the transmitters? Can you do this? Or you just adjust input gain on the reciever? How do you make sure that you don't clip the signal on the reciever side? You can plug different mics to that. I guess you need to have analog gain there before ADC. Did I got wrong?
Hi Paweł, yes, you set it on the receiver between 0 and -30dB. It is a different way of approaching gain staging. I can't tell if that is just output attenuation or mic gain. I think it is mic gain.
@@curtisjudd OK... So let's assume that this is proper analog gain that let us avoid clipping separately for both channels. How about the output gain from reciever to camera? Is it adjustable? Do you know, how it is designed in Blink 500 and Lark 150?
@@curtisjudd Update... In the specs on Rode website there is written mic gain 20dB. No one present this parameter for a mic. Rather they present gain range for preamps. That let me believe that they apply fixed amount of 20dB of analog gain assuming that this is best amount for most uscases and 0-30dB of gain control is a digital gain in the reciever so it would work as output gain also. But I would be worried if this 20dB of analog gain in transmiter is optimal for every lav mic you can plug to this transmitter.
Curtis, you are the most trusted source for my research. I've learned a great deal from you and I am grateful for your reviews and insight. I just purchased this system and I'm ecstatic about the field recording capabilites of the transmitters (based on a recent update) without the need for receiver connection. I recorded some ambient surf sound, crashing waves and such, on a recent trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and am pleased with the quality of the capture.. Being new to audio recording, I would like to know your opinion on the quality of the transmitter recordings. I just don't know how to quantify the recording quality.
Hi Loren, Congrats on your new GO II! My main use case is for dialogue recordings and I would say it is pretty typical of a decent lavalier microphone in the prosumer range - decent, but generally requires a bit of post work to make it sound really great.
@@curtisjudd I forgot to mention I used a Rode VideoMicro with a dead cat...the beaches are prone to harsh wind conditions. But, overall the recording capabilities with an even better microphone seems promising.
Theres one thing that I think you did not cover and that would be clipping from the in-built recording. Not entirely sure if I missed it. If I did, maybe someone can help point me to the part where it is? Thanks. Btw great work! Love the informative stuff you're doing😊
Fantastic review as always! Your editing style and calm way of relaying interesting information is like ASMR for my eyes. Fun dynamic with your spouse there, still wondering if you got the reciting of the song on your walk (when the audio dropped, but still was stored internally on the transmitter :) )
What about using an adapter to go from 3.5mm to XLR? My cameras all take XLR native; additionally, this would be preferable for a field recorder or similar.
@@curtisjudd would you use these in a commercial shoot? If not, do you have any recommendations for wireless mics besides the rode go ii that have built in recording and monitoring? I like the 32 bit option with the tentacles, but I'm concerned about not monitoring them. I currently own four AWS-2000 wireless mics but they're not the best. I also have used Sennheiser wireless mics but recently have been getting interference when at a car dealership. I have four tentacle syncs, so the sync e is appealing, but again no monitoring is a little risky. So, curious if you have any recommendations.
@@jonathanblair2283 No, I'd use my Audio Ltd. A10 system for a paid commercial job with possibly some RODELink as backup. I have no idea how these will fare at the car dealership - everything is so different location to location - but I did, one time, find that my RODELink worked at a location in Austin where my Sennheiser UHF system just couldn't find a good frequency without interference. That's rare, but it did happen once for me.
@@curtisjudd thank you! The Audio ltd A10 looks like a really good solution. 15k for a set of 4 is definitely on the pricy side, but well worth the investment for reliability. I'll put these on the wishlist and try to pick them up over the next few years. I hope they come out with a 32 bit internal recording version, but I guess it's less important as it's a backup. I appreciate your recommendation!
@@carlosq00 Hey Carlos, Are you thinking of having the Tentacle Track E at the receiver end as a super small recorder? Or would the idea be to use it at the transmitter end before passing the signal on wirelessly? I think the former should work fine, but the latter will not work because the headphone output turns off once you start recording.
Here's a question for anyone - it's about wireless in general but I only thought of it while watching this wonderfully detailed review by Curtis. I hope I didn't miss this information. I record into a Mixpre-3 II when I can, using the 32-bit option. Wow my post got so messed up when I uploaded it so here is my question one more time, maybe shorter: When it comes to wireless mic systems, would such a system have to have its own dual ADC in order to get a signal into the Mixpre that could take advantage of the 32-bit wide dynamic range option with its own dual ADC? I hope that makes sense. - Dave
Hi Dave, There are a lot of details to unpack here. Here's a short version: Yes. For the recordings on the GO II's transmitters to fully implement wide dynamic range recording, it would need to have multiple ADCs per channel, an algorithm for merging the multiple converted signals back into a single wide dynamic range signal which could then be written to a 32-bit float file.
@@curtisjudd Do you know if there is any difference between the GO Lav and the Rodelink lav mics? The GO is a bit cheaper, but the specs seem very similar.
As usual , a good presenation easy to follow. Personally I am tired to all inbuilt batteries and, I reject most of gears eaven if they work for 10 years and the reson is that I dont want moore stress factors for different maintenance of different batteries during all time when I dont use them and I feel more confident for other sollutions. How hard can it also be to put a adjustment knob/button in gain steps instead of always have to go for unother app during a set eatch time or untill now on a computer. That is the most important con why I dont by it. The other different possibilities is for sure something you know in advanze but the gain .... and as a compromise for a convenient product you can adjust in advance. The Sanken lavalier mic was much better.
Thanks Magnus. One note: You can change the gain setting with the buttons on the receiver. You only need an app to turn on recording in the transmitters or to switch to the finer-grain gain setting. The ability to turn on the recording should be easier in the field.
Fabulous review. From the review I couldn't really tell how any of tx or rx controls worked or if they had a hold feature to prevent accidental key presses. In the Zoom F2 review there was plenty of detail about how the buttons worked, including the nice hardware "hold" switch> I'm still debating whether to go for a simple F2 since it comes with a lav and always having to sync double system sound or going with the Go II and having to worry about gain staging, but not having to sync double system sound unless there are drop outs. Sigh.... Pretty cool tech either way.
Thanks for the feedback Gerard. I don't find wide dynamic range recording critical in very many situations for dialogue recordings, personally. I've found that being able to monitor while recording is far more important than wide dyanamic range because often the problems are things like noise in the room or clothing rustle, and not mis-set gain. So for me, I'd opt for the GO II over the F2.
485 / 5000 Wyniki tłumaczenia Curtis, I watched your RODE GO II video and just bought it. The practical tests convinced me the most. When it comes to small distortions in the sound, etc., I already have a lot of experience dealing with their elimination. Thank you for this video because I found the right wireless kit for me. And I was just thinking about the Saramonic Blink 500 B2 Pro, which are really excellent, but this RODE kit is better for transmitter recording. Thank you again.
Great review. I've been enjoying mine, along with the Rode Interview Go and the Rode VXLR plugged into a pre-amp. I grabbed the Rode Lavalier GO, and found the built-in mic sounds better. The sound quality is great :-)
Thanks for this excellent video! If Rode would allow the mic input to switch to line-level, that would be amazing for a million reasons (especially for gameplay streaming, capturing game audio). The Saramonic can do it. Hey Rode! Firmware update, please?
Hey Curtis,I've had these for a few months and they work great for event work the way that I use them. I'm going into production on a shoot where we can't afford a proper sound person. We've run sound ourselves on previous shorts and a feature, and for our lavalier setups we ran G4 kits with Sennheiser mics into a Sound Devices mix pre 6 ii.This time around we're thinking Wireless Go II packs for their size and ease of use. I just bought three Sanken Cos 11d microphones to use with them, and I'm reading on some threads that the pre-amps of the Transmitters won't take advantage of a microphone like that. I'm not super clear on if this would be noticeable to a non audiophile like myself, and with the Rode microphones, I think the sound is fine, but not nearly as good as the Sankens based on tests I've listened to online (including your review video).I'm wondering if we're really going to take a hit quality wise. I really like that there are internal recordings in case of cutouts, but I've never experienced cutouts, even in NYC. I've done a lot of reading on reddit that 2.4G is really bad, but with these units, even in packed rooms with cell phones (at weddings) I haven't had issues with cutouts yet.On set we're going to be filming in pretty rural environments and we'll be turning our cell phones off/airplane mode when shooting.If you can chime in, I'd love your take. We are on a budget and deciding whether or not to rent g4s is something I'm considering, even after testing the units with the Sound Devices after I get the sankens in. Thank you, Jordan Tetewsky
That's a really tough call, Jordan. When I do location sound, I use UHF wireless systems in most cases like the G4, unless I have a really low-budget, low stakes, two person quick interview or something like that. The thing with 2.4GHZ systems like the RODE Wireless GO II is that they're fine for non-audiophiles until they don't work. And it is hard to predict when they will or won't. If you're just running 2 channels, they're pretty solid in most places. When you get to 3 and 4 channels and beyond, things get really unpredictable. So I think it depends on how many channels you plan to run at the same time. The Wireless GO inputs are...ok, but not stellar. They're not a LOT worse than the G4 which I think is your main question.
@@curtisjudd This was helpful. Most scenes will only have two going and phones will be set to airplane mode, but this is good to know for when we have up to four channels going at once. I have a couple g3 packs that will be available on the shoot so we'll probably use those for the lead talent.
@@curtisjudd Update- I think for what it is it's a great product BUT, when paried with the Sanken Cos11d microphones, the Receiver transmits a hiss that does not exist on the internal records. The receiver signal is uaully a better ratio than the Transmitter's internal record, however the internal recordings saved our audio on several days. Hard to complain for the price point, but I'd love to know a work around to the hiss. Pad was off, we tried different cables and the cos 11d mics played perfectly with our two Sennheiser G3 units we had on set. however with the wireless go ii, while they sound better than the internal mic and rode mic, it's really tough to monitor when it is paired with it. Pretty unfortunate. Also, despite what rode claims about having up to 8 rode wireless go 2 units working at once, getting that to go cleanly is definitely not the case. Having shot a few weddings now where I set extra units up as "plant mics" when monitoring from two receivers near each other (so as to have audio on separate channels without using a stereo splitter), there tends to be interference that isn't at play when using two transmitters linked to one receiver.
Hi Curtis, huge fan of your highly detailed reviews. Any chance you could review the new DJI Mic? I'm curious how it will fare against your favourite prosumer wireless mic, the Rode GO II.
These things are simply amazing. I love how you can record directly to one of the transmitters without needing to attach it to a device. The ONLY thing that I wish they had...is a way to hear directly from each mic....so u can have a conversation with someone without either person needing to be near each other OR the receiver...which would be very useful on a bike ride. Anyone know a work around?
I currently stream corporate training videos using zoom and the ATEM Mini PRO. I use the Rode link filmmaker Lav microphone connected to my Sony NX100. I have (1) trainer in the room. As such, there is only (1) active microphone . The trainer can interact with customer and there are no feedback issues. The preferred method is to have (2) trainers in the same room conducting the session,. If I use the Rode Wireless Go system, will there be an issue with feedback, as I technically have (2) live microphones which will hear the same audio output when the computer. Note: So that the trainer can hear the customer from anywhere in the room, I have attached a Bluetooth speaker to amplify the audio from the computer. The training is conducted ion very large x-ray systems , so they are constantly moving . Appreciate the expertise. Ray
Hi Ray, there is a good chance you will get comb filtered audio, yes. You shouldn't get feedback unless you're feeding the trainer's audio out of the speakers as well. I'd avoid that if you can. The ideal for that situation would be an auto mix feature and in-ear monitors for the trainers.
@@curtisjudd Yes - so far, so good! Edit 3/24/21: I spoke too soon. The second mic wouldn't pair today on a shoot and I haven't been able to get it to pair regardless of the steps I try. I've reached out to RøDE, but it's a bummer and makes me nervous about future shoots. Good thing I had a back-up solution!
Hey Curtis, hope you're doing well and thanks for the review. Three questions that I asked Rode but they hadn't gotten back to me yet: 1) Is the signal that's transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver compressed, or uncompressed audio? 2) How does what is transmitted compare to the internal recording? Do they both have the same amount of automatic gain control? Anyway, apologies if you've answered these questions before. I swear I remember you talking about the differences between internal recording vs transmitted audio, butI just can't remember what video that was. Thanks so much.
Hi Andrew - 1) I don't know for sure but I believe the system is transmitting at least 16-bit 44.1kHz, but on consumer kits like this, the manufacturers usually don't like to share those details. 2) I was told by RODE that the internal recording is 24-bit, 48kHz. 3) Not sure on auto gain - a detail they haven't shared with me.
Thanks Curtis, good review. I don’t think you mentioned how the transmitters handle high level sound. As there is no input gain settings for the transmitters, it would be good to know how easy it is to distort the internal recordings.
It is hard to distort as you can see by the distortion test later in the video. I had to set it to the max gain level on the receiver and nearly yell. So unless you plan to record a LOT of really loud yelling, it seems like it should be fine.
Hey Curtis! As always great video with lots to learn. I recently bought a Rode Lav Go mic with a DR07-X after watching your videos and realizing that wireless could have potentially crippling results for my passion project, which will take me around the town and in rural areas for talking head video. I am yet to see if the combo will be good but DR07-X by itself sounds much better than my iPhone combined with an Aufgeld lav mic via adapter. Want to learn more from you. Keep going man.
Hi Curtis. Great review showing all the many cool new features!! Your review is the best...of the best! Thumbs up! Plus nobody can afford to use those fancy Sanken lav mics...besides you! Kidding! :-)
