Quote:
Originally Posted by
Squib
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Say SyneRyder, since you actually got the mic for yourself would you mind testing and sharing some audio here...
It might take me a while to post some audio, my voice in an untreated living room doesn't make for pleasant listening. But I did a quick shootout late last night between the Element and my other mics (NT1 Black, M2, SM58, SM57) and I'm disappointed with the Element so far.
I tried at 30cm away (supposedly the distance in the listening tests), and there's just too much room tone at that distance for it to be usable for me. Maybe it would do better with an Aston Halo / Reflection Filter. 15cm seemed to be a sweet spot (on all my mics) but the proximity effect on the Element already kicks in at that point. And there was so much mouth noise! As for being right up on the pop filter, the Podcastage video is definitely accurate on that, don't even try. (Nevermind without...)
Disappointed with build quality too, at least on that shock mount. It feels so flimsy & wasn't even completely clicked in out of the box. That's in comparison to my NT1 Black with the Rycote shockmount, and the Element makes the NT1 Black feel like luxurious quality. Honestly, the Element makes me want to support Rode a lot more than Aston, at least on initial impression. I do need to spend more time with it.
The purple light is fun & so is the pop-shield that affixes itself by magnets... and I feel like, together with the purple & acid green sticker of a snarling dog, there's a clear target market of gamers & streamers. That's not me.
You can see all my mics are low end / hobby market, but right now my favorite is the Rode M2, most of the performance of the NT1 but much easier form factor & easier to setup. I appreciate the NT1 Black more than I did before as well, I was hoping the Element might take the place of my NT1. I'd absolutely choose the NT1 Black over the Element.