The Perfect YouTube Microphone: Rode NTG4+ | Review

Hey, what's up guys, Stephen Kohl's of Mac here

and today I want to talk about a new piece of kit that I've been using to make all of these YouTube videos

which is my Road NTG4 Plus microphone. Let's roll the intro, and I'll tell you all about it

Okay, so if you've been following the channel for a while, hopefully you've noticed the quality of videos getting better and better over time

Well, I hope you have, otherwise I've been learning nothing. But one of my favourite things to do is to make the videos look and sound as beautiful as possible

That's why I've recently switched to a different camera, and I got in touch with the lovely folks over at Road

to ask if I could check out one of their boom mics. Thankfully, they said yes

and sent over the road NTG4 Plus. Before this, I was using a Road SmartLab Plus

which hooked up to my iPhone, then a road Nt USB mic, which is great for doing voiceovers or podcasts

but not great for doing pieces to camera like this. Well, you can see why

So they sent over the NTG4 Plus. I bought myself a cheap microphone stand

and a Zoom H6, and now my audio is super crispy. Let's take a look at a look

my setup and the microphone itself. Right, here's my setup. I've got the NTG4 plus, which I'm recording sound on for the entire video

which is being held in the cheapest stand I could find on Amazon, which came up to around $22

which is then hooked up to a Zoom H6 recorder. I using the Zoom recorder as my GH5 camera doesn have any XLR inputs it gives me more control and the H6 has some awesome preams to avoid distortion and to eliminate as much as possible

The NTG 4 plus mic itself retails for around $39, but at the time of recording this video

it's currently listed for $337 on Amazon. I'll make sure to leave a link in the description down below

The build quality of the microphone itself is great and it comes with a 10-year warranty so

you know that Road trust in their products. There's three digital controls on the microphone, one for a 10 dB pad, which doubles up

as the on-off switch, a high frequency boost and a high-pass filter

If you're new to microphones, the 10db pad reduces the output of the microphone, so you can

record louder sounds for events and so on. For example, I'm currently talking without the 10-dice pad on, you can hear me really loud

and really clear, but if I turn it on, now that it's on, the sound is a little quieter

which gives me more room to manoeuvre if the sound is peaking, if I've not got control with a voice

voice recorder or the inbuilt controls on the camera that I'm using aren't good enough

The highح filter helps to get rid of some of the low rumbles, so if you're filming outdoors

with wind or traffic and so on, it'll help to eliminate it

The easiest way for me to demonstrate this is by blowing into the microphone and turning it on

And the last button is for the high frequency boost which gives a bit of sparkle and a bit more presence for deep voices and dull sounds One of the main reasons for switching to a boom mic was convenient When I had the lapel mic or the NT USB there was always a bit of setup time but this

way I can leave the rig all together and get to recording my videos much quicker

Another brilliant feature with the NTG4 Plus is the built-in rechargeable lithium battery

It charges via USB, which is super handy for when I'm filming whilst travelling, so I can plug this

into my laptop or car, and eliminates the need to find a digital. or use phantom power, then draining the battery from my camera

It takes around two hours for a full charge, and then lasts up to 150 hours

And with my three to four minute videos, this means the microphone lasts me weeks between charges

In fact, since I've had the microphone I've only charged it once or twice, which is ideal

for me as I'm awful remembering to charge things. As it's a directional microphone, it's ideal for my setup, as there can be a lot of surrounding

noise that I don't have control over. Cars driving past, wind and hail, and as the microphone mainly

picks up what's in front of it, it eliminates a lot of the surrounding noise for me

What's more, the sound quality in general is perfect, it's crisp and clear with deep bass

and the digital switches just help make everything so much easier. Whilst it's great for voiceovers and pieces to camera, it's great for indie filmmakers

just for picking up general sound. Overall, there's nothing a change about this microphone

I've tried others in this price range, but the road delivers my favourite sound quality, has

the most features and I can't stress enough how great it is to have that battery built in

There's also a standard NTG4, which doesn't have the built-in rechargeable lithium battery

But currently its price point is $365, so it's a no-brainer to pick up the Plus model

Well, that's it for this video, thanks again to the guys over at Road. for helping to up the quality of these videos

I really appreciate it. If you'd like to find out more about this microphone or pick one up

I'll make sure to leave a link in the description down below. If you enjoyed this video or would like to see more videos

on what kit I use to make all of these YouTube videos. Make sure to hit that like button down below

Subscribe if you haven't already, and I'll catch you in the next one