Looking for a budget microphone to start making videos? Perhaps the microphone I mention in this video below might be just for you.

tldw - too long, didn’t watch.

The microphone is

  1. cardiod i.e. directional, with adequate side and rear noise rejection
  2. can be plugged in to smartphone, dslr, and audio recorder
  3. doesn’t require any battery

I tested the microphone in windy conditions in the video below.

Side by side comparison test audio recorded into smartphone. I’ll keep this a blind test. Listen to the audio and decide which sounds better to you. It is best to use headphones to hear the difference.

The sound clips are 40 seconds long.

Original unedited wav files from smartphone

Recording #1 (Download Recording #1)

[audio wav=“https://jameswoo.net/wp-content/uploads/Recording-1.wav"][/audio]

Recording #2 (Download Recording #2)

[audio wav=“https://jameswoo.net/wp-content/uploads/Recording-2.wav"][/audio]

Audio after editing

Recording #1A (Download Recording #1A)

[audio wav=“https://jameswoo.net/wp-content/uploads/Recording-1A.wav"][/audio]

Recording #2A (Download Recording #2A)

[audio wav=“https://jameswoo.net/wp-content/uploads/Recording-2A.wav"][/audio]

Let me know which recording sounds better to you, in the comments below.

Update 2018 Oct

From the comment below, Dave mentioned that the Rode Videomic is better value to him. This depends on where you live.

Where I live, the Rode Videomic is more than double the price of the Boya. However both mics are at price points, where there will be variation in different units in terms of quality. I might have gotten the Rode if they were at similar price points.

The Boya still work well 9 months from the day I got it. I hope this has been helpful for you if you are looking for a budget microphone.

Although I don’t consider myself an expert, after testing and making videos and audio for a few years, I have this much to say. Assuming the microphone isn’t faulty, whatever microphone you use, you need to know how to use it.

The next thing is tweaking the audio or processing it. After I processed my audio, it usually sounds a whole lot better. You can check out my course on using Audacity to improve you audio.

Check out the Boya mini cardiod mic here on Amazon.