Aputure sent me this microphone package to review so let’s do that. I’ll compare it to a couple of other beginner to prosumer microphones, the NTG2 and NTG3 from Rode.

The first thing to notice about the microphone itself is the shape. It is almost Identical to NTG3 in length and diameter and I’m told its a carbon copy of the popular Sennheiser MKH 416. It might be a small thing but it’s nice to see it will work well with my current shock-mounts and wind protection. The NTG2 on the other hand is bulky by comparison. The form factor of this microphone is a nice touch.

It is also a fairly loud microphone. It requires much less gain than the NTG2 and is on par with the NTG3. I did find it a little noisier than the NTG3 but not by much. The biggest difference in their sound quality was the bass response. It is noticeably lacking on the lower frequencies. Dialogue won’t suffer to much, however, and it is to be expected being half the cost of the NTG3.

My biggest surprise was how heavy it was. It’s only a couple of grams heavier than the NTG3 but it is noticeable the first time you pick it up. My guess is the extra weight comes from their efforts in waterproofing this mic. Yep, you heard me right. This mic claims to be completely waterproof (a point on which I’m a little uneasy to test).

Something else I noticed is that it doesn’t have quite as tight of a pickup pattern as the NTG3. This is neither bad nor good, just something to be aware of. Might be perfect for your situation where you want to hear more of the space, might be a pain in the butt. You decide.