QuestionDJI Mic 2 or RØDE Wireless PRO for sit-down interviews?

Hi all, first post. I'm starting a small interview channel with local business owners in East London. One guest, sometimes two, sat down in their shop or office, me on an a6700 with the Sigma 18-50. Usually 30-60 minutes per interview. Right now I'm using a cheap wired lav and it's fine until someone moves their head and rustles the cable.

I've narrowed it down to the DJI Mic 2 or the RØDE Wireless PRO. From what I can tell both do 32-bit float recording on the transmitters. The RØDE has more storage, timecode and comes with two lavs. The Mic 2 is cheaper and smaller and the mic is on the transmitter itself.

For seated interviews, does any of the extra stuff on the RØDE actually matter, or am I paying for features I'll never use? I'd rather buy once than buy twice.

I've got the Mic 2 and use it for exactly this sort of thing, band interviews, sat down, two people. It's great. But for sit-downs the thing that matters more than either brand is getting the capsule off the chest and onto a proper lav, and hiding it. The built-in mic on a clip-on transmitter picks up every shirt rub and chin movement. Mic 2 has a 3.5mm input on the transmitter so you can plug any lav in, so I wouldn't count the RØDE's included lavs as a huge win, just factor in buying two decent lavs either way.

Timecode only matters if you're running more than one camera or a separate recorder and you hate syncing. With one camera you've got scratch audio and auto-sync in Resolve or Premiere does it in seconds.

32-bit float is nice as a safety net, but honestly if you set levels properly in a quiet shop you'll never need it.

Also on the Mic 2 here, with the ZV-E1. One thing I'd add: set the receiver to record a safety track as well if you're going into the camera, and still record internally on the transmitters. Belt and braces. I've only needed the internal backup once, when a guest leaned into the receiver range limit in a big warehouse, but that one time saved the episode.

ben_carrick said:

Mic 2 has a 3.5mm input on the transmitter so you can plug any lav in

That changes things a bit. So Mic 2 plus two lavs probably ends up close to the RØDE price anyway? Annoying but fair enough. One camera for now, maybe a second angle on a cheap body later.

kinda related, does the mic 2 connect straight to a pocket 3? i saw it on someone's video but couldn't tell if they needed the receiver

nate_ferreira said:

does the mic 2 connect straight to a pocket 3

Yes, the transmitter pairs directly with the Pocket 3, no receiver needed.

@kofiboateng if a second angle is genuinely on the cards then timecode starts to matter and I'd lean RØDE, or look at the Mic 3, which added timecode. If it's one camera for the foreseeable, Mic 2 and put the difference into lavs and some acoustic blankets for echoey shops.