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Can a $78 shotgun mic really make your video sound better? Or, just make you sound like crap? That’s why we’re going to find out in today’s video blog.

Hi there internet fans, Ryan Perry here helping small business owners harness the power of video. If you’re a small business owner looking to use video to promote your business. Be sure to subscribe to the channel now.

One of the best ways to improve the sound quality of your videos is to get an external microphone. Most people when they step up and buy a microphone they get a… what’s called a hot shoe mount or a cold shoe mount microphone that attaches to the flash known as the hot shoe on top your camera. It just plugs right into the side of the camera and it’s a great step up. The biggest problem with that is going to be the distance that the speaker, myself in this case, is from the microphone which is about six feet right now. The next step up is going to be buying an actual dedicated boom mic or shotgun mic that actually attached to a boom arm. This is what I call a boom mic.

Typically, these are really expensive $250, $500, $1,000, even more. When I found this Vidpro mic on B&H for $78, I had to give it a shot. And, I have to tell you I’m impressed. Although I’m not an audio file, I actually am really impressed with the sound quality that you get out of a $78 microphone. And, ultimately, I’ll let you be the guide because I’m going to switch over to the Rode Mic Pro, the stereo mic pro that I have on top of my DSLR in just a minute, so you can see what the sound difference is.

First, let’s talk about what is in the kit. This is the Vidpro model XM-55. And, it says right here on the box and yes it comes in this beautiful plastic display case. This is a professional video and broadcasting microphone kit. Therefore, it must be great! A couple of features that comes with it. You do get the microphone. You get the holder. You get the XLR cable. It’s 26 feet of XLR cable which is really nice. The boom arm that it’s attached to, does not come with the microphone. The other thing it does come with is, it comes with an XLR to 3.5 headphone jack so you can plug it into a smaller device if you are not able to plug into the XLR. In my case I’m running the XLR cable straight into Saramonic SR-PAX2 preamplifier before it goes into the Canon T5. And, I do that so I can really drop the audio levels really low on the Canon because Canon is notorious for adding a lot of noise and that’s why I use a preamp.

I did say I was going to let you judge the sound quality. Let’s switch over to the Rode stereo video mic now. All right, this is what it sounds like. Now, this microphone, the…the…the… This is what the Rode stereo mic sounds like. The biggest disadvantage is that the Rode stereo mike has, is the distance. Again, I’m about six feet away from the camera and the microphones attached to the top of the camera. So, all of the echo. All the reverb that I have in this small office is just bouncing off all these hard walls and windows and it’s going right into that microphone. It’s really not a discredit to the microphone, it’s just simply mechanics if you will. You know, having a microphone this close truly is going to make a difference.

Now, let’s talk about cost. The current cost for a Rode Stereo Mic Pro is $250 on B&H. The model I’m using right now is a couple of years old and I found a use model for $180. essentially for $100 more than this unit here, you can get this type of sound quality. Is that really what you want?

If you’re looking to use video as a marketing tool but you just don’t know what to say? Be sure to download my free Ultimate Content Creation Guide where I actually step through step-by-step how to create relevant content that both your prospects and clients will want to watch. You can download it in the link below.

All right YouTube friends! You know what to do next. I’d love to hear your comments $78. Is it worth it? Let me know in the comments below. If you want to keep on getting great marketing tips like this video for small business, go ahead subscribe to the channel. Also, feel free to give me a thumbs up if you like the video. If you didn’t, give me a thumbs down. And, if you want to check out some more content I’ve selected two more videos for you to check out here. All you’ve got to do is click. All right everybody. Take care. Hope you have a great day.