RØDE’s new Interview PRO microphone has sparked a lot of interest and controversy for many reasons. Of course, the Interview PRO is much more than a microphone and even more than a wireless microphone, since it’s also a standalone 32-bit float recorder (for use with or without a wireless receiver), so its potential applications extend even further, especially if we are willing to abandon certain old traditions or rules, which I will cover ahead. I’ll also share a video (recorded both in the studio and outdoors) and several audio recorded in a busy and noisy café.

First, let’s talk about the unreasonable criticisms the Interview PRO has received and then debunk them for most ENG (Electronic News Gathering) situations. Then we will talk about other applications, advantages and disadvantages, given the extraordinary quality and simplicity of the Interview PRO.

Criticism 1

«The Interview PRO has an omnidirectional capsule, not a cardioid or other directional pattern.»

For all those people who have made this unreasonable criticism, I must point out that the most popular electronic press microphones I have observed on TV news have always had an omnidirectional capsule. In my experience, this started with the ElectroVoice 635A (which was released in 1965) and its variants, followed by the ElectroVoice RE50 and its variants. Since I started publishing in ProVideo Coalition magazine in 2008, I have reviewed and compared several other ENG microphones, including (in alphabetical order) Audio Technica’s BP4002, RØDE’s Reporter, and Senal’s ENG-18RL, which derives its name from the Spanish word señal (which means «signal»). This is similar to what happened with the state of Montana which derives its name from the word montaña or «mountain»). In some cases, I made direct comparisons to ElectroVoice’s RE50. All of them have an omnidirectional pattern. There are reasons why the ENG industry has generally preferred the omnidirectional pattern for so many decades: Omnidirectional microphones are more forgiving when one of the two people in an interview interrupts the other unexpectedly, and (unlike directional microphones) and fortunately, there is no proximity effect with omnidirectional mics. As a result, even if one of the voices moves further away from the microphone, the pitch does not change, so only dynamic compression is required, without the need for continuous EQ as the microphone moves back and forth, as is often the case. Within the short outdoor section of the video below, you’ll hear and see an example of that.

All sound recorded in the above video was recorded with the Interview PRO, with slight post processing, to compensate for ambient noise and reverb. This video also incorporates Descript’s technology called Eye Contact (reviewed here) which does an excellent job of simulating my eyes being pointed at the camera, although unfortunately it turns my natural blue eyes brown.

Criticism 2

«It’s a condenser microphone, not a dynamic microphone.»

This criticism is partly reasonable and partly unreasonable.

Although historically the most popular handheld ENG microphones used for impromptu interviews have been dynamic (not condenser), including all the examples I covered in the previous section, all shotgun microphones, and 99% of all lavalier microphones have been condenser type. It probably won’t be a good idea to use the RØDE Interview PRO microphone as a substitute for a hammer (as some dynamic microphones have been used). However, considering all the other amazing features included with the Interview Pro, we should really give it a chance, especially since we are now in the era of instant noise reduction during post-production (or even live noise reduction with some microphones and workflows that we’ll cover soon). We should treat our microphones as carefully as we treat our cameras and audio mixers.

Audio recordings

The following were recorded in a busy café with a lot of ambient noise.

CC Limardo (Carmen Cecilia Limardo) converses with me and records an advertising spot, without processing.

CC Limardo (Carmen Cecilia Limardo) converses with me and records an advertising spot, processed.

In addition, my voice on CapicúaFM’s episode 89 was recorded completely with the Interview PRO.

Can the Interview PRO be used as a studio microphone?

Surprisingly the answer is YES, but I would only consider it if it is going to be a single microphone in the same room or studio, and can be placed very close to the sound source. In fact, the entire video I shared above in this article was recorded using Interview PRO, with only moderate processing applied in post-production. This is mainly to reduce ambient noise and reflections.

What about latency (delay) during monitoring?

As I clarified in my article RØDECaster latency-free headphone monitoring? Yes, no and yes! From January 2024, it depends on each individual’s threshold. For example,

• Original RØDECaster Pro — 3 ms (too low to be perceived even by me, since I’m very sensitive)
• RØDECaster Pro II and Duo — 6 ms (tolerable for many, but too annoying for me)
• Mackie DLZ and DLZ XS — 5ms (Mackie was recently purchased by RØDE.)

In the particular case of the RØDE Interview PRO microphone that we are discussing today, I have the following to share with you:

1. Compatible receivers fortunately work with the RØDE Connect program (as detailed in the above video).
2. The RØDE Connect software mixer allows the Interview PRO to appear as a source through one of these compatible receivers.
3. The latency is excessive for me since I am very sensitive, but it would probably be fine for those who don’t mind the latency of the RØDECaster Pro II and Duo.

This screenshot demonstrates that the Interview PRO can be listed as a source for the RØDE Connect mixer using any of the supported receivers (covered in the video). The green button indicates that this source is being included in local monitoring.

The bottom line depends on how sensitive you are to latency. If you are as sensitive as I am, you can disable the LISTEN button for that particular source after doing the initial check and simply monitor the other sources (if there are any).

This screenshot indicates that this source (the Interview PRO) is no longer included in local monitoring.

Since there are no other sources active in this video, I didn’t use headphones in the video, although I did use them during the initial setup.

What does this mean if you are going to use the Interview PRO for a pre-recorded audio-only interview, without video and without any wireless receiver?

Taking into account that the Interview PRO does not have any headphone output, it means that we must rely 100% on the red light of the record button as our only confidence indicator, along with the fact that the Interview PRO’s only recording mode is exclusively 48 kHz (thanks RØDE!) and 32 bit float with a dynamic range of 1528 dB, there is no way to record a human voice at the wrong level inside the Interview PRO’s recorder. Now you’ll understand why I didn’t use headphones in the video.

Of course, a wireless receiver could be used with an external audio engineer who could monitor everything, since the latency wouldn’t bother anyone who isn’t speaking in the recording, but it would no longer be a one-member audio team: journalist and sound engineer combined.

I felt like a fish out of water.

After decades of recording field audio interviews with different portable recorders, I felt a bit like a «fish out of water» since I have been in the habit of using headphones for so long to be able to do quality control and (before purchasing my Zoom F3 recorder) adjust and monitor the levels. With the F3, I was able to pretty much forget about the levels, but I still used headphones for QC. For the first time, I could rely only on the red light indicating that the Interview PRO was recording.

3 buttons and a USB-C port

The Interview PRO has a USB-C port (No. 6 in the diagram) for charging the internal battery, updating the firmware, and transferring recorded WAV audio files at 48 kHz, 32-bit float to your computer. Using the free RØDE Central program, you can convert them to 24-bit if your editing programs do not yet accept 32-bit float.

• The button on the bottom (No. 4 in the diagram) is used to turn the unit on, off or to pair with a receiver.
• The first of the two buttons on the top (No. 2 in the diagram) is used to start recording (or stop recording) internally. When recording, a red LED illuminates continually.
• The second button on the top (No. 3 in the diagram) is for muting, although it only affects its use as a wireless microphone. That is, it does not affect internal recordings.

Autonomy (battery and recording capacity)

RØDE informs us that the battery will last up to 30 hours. During my testing, it never ran out.

The internal capacity allows recording up to 40 hours of 48 kHz/32-bit float WAV.

Branded windscreen

Although the Interview PRO comes with a branded windscreen which bears the RØDE logo, you probably noticed that in the video, I used my own branded windscreen, which bears the logo of CapicúaFM. My CapicúaFM show turned 10 years in June 2024, has had 499,146 unique downloads in over 161 countries according to Podtrac, the independent measurement company. CapicúaFM has also won two awards so far.

Conclusions

The RØDE Interview PRO offers a combination of quality and features and is able to challenge old traditions, in terms of confidence when recording without necessarily monitoring, in the case of audio interviews only, without a receiver. Plus, for video productions with wireless audio, it offers a backup recording inside the transmitter, just in case. Hopefully RØDE will soon allow the user to change the internal battery, to extend its lifespan.

Still Photo Credits

• The Interview PRO still photo is courtesy of RØDE.
• Still photos of the 635A and RE50 microphones and their variants are courtesy of ElectroVoice.
• The omnidirectional pattern image is courtesy of Galak76 under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Lee este artículo y ve el video en buen castellano

Reseña: micrófono inalámbrico-grabadora Interview PRO de RØDE

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FTC disclosure

RØDE has not paid for this article. RØDE has sent Allan Tépper units for review. Some of the manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur, BeyondPodcasting, CapicúaFM or TuSaludSecreta programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs. Allan Tépper’s opinions are his own. Allan Tépper is not liable for misuse or misunderstanding of information he shares.