Audio review
Rode PodMic Review: Gain Hungry, and the Pop Filter Needs Help
It wants more gain than an SM58 and the built-in pop shield gives up if you get close. Sit six inches back with a decent preamp and it sounds like broadcast.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
Illustration, not a photo — we don’t have a licensed image of this product yet.
Rode
Rode PodMic
Good · researched from 3 sources
Sit six inches back, put a decent preamp in front of it, and this produces broadcast-ready voice with almost no processing. Get closer than that and the pop shield gives up, and lean off axis and the sound falls away.
- Buy if
- Podcasting and voiceover at a consistent six-inch distance · Multi-person setups, where the cardioid pattern separates voices · Anyone with an interface that has plenty of clean gain
- Skip if
- Interfaces short on gain, without a booster · Presenters who move around while talking · Anyone wanting a plug-and-play USB microphone
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
Six inches
Almost everything worth knowing about this microphone is a function of how far your mouth is from it.
The Podcast Host found the tone clear and crisp at the six-inch mark, with proximity effect not muddying the voice at that distance, and popping mostly disappearing. Closer than that and plosives get through the built-in shield.
MusicRadar agrees: plosives handled reasonably at normal speaking distances, some getting through when very close.
And The Podcast Host's other warning is about the horizontal axis rather than the vertical: off-axis pickup is unforgiving, and the sound thins dramatically if you drift off centre.
Sit still, six inches back, on axis. Then it sounds like broadcast.
The gain problem
The Podcast Host calls it gain hungry, and places it precisely: more amplification needed than a Shure SM58, less than a Shure MV7 in dynamic mode.
That is a useful bracket. The SM58 elsewhere in this catalogue needs almost nothing and works off any interface. The SM7B needs around 60 dB and usually a booster. This sits between them, closer to the easy end, and The Podcast Host still recommends an external preamp to get a clean level without amplifying the interface's own noise floor.
If you have ever run an interface near its maximum gain and heard hiss, factor a booster into the price.
The tuning is a decision
MusicRadar describes a response ideally suited to broadcast, delivering a ready-made sound that should not need much tweaking, with a scoop through the low mids, good mid-range articulation and restrained brightness up top.
That scoop is deliberate. It pulls out the boxy region that makes untreated rooms sound like untreated rooms, which is why a podcast recorded in a spare bedroom through this needs less work than the same recording through a flat microphone.
Built like a tool
All metal, just under a kilogram, about 17 cm long. MusicRadar calls it weighty and robust.
The swing yoke is integrated into the body, so there is no separate shock mount to buy, and The Podcast Host found it handled minor impacts well with secure locking screws.
MusicRadar's one complaint is about that mount: the clip does not leave much clearance at the socket end, which makes plugging in an XLR and adjusting the angle more awkward than it should be.
What is not in the box
No stand. No boom arm. No XLR cable. No pouch. No USB option, so an interface or mixer is required.
Wired Clip lists most of that and still concludes you cannot really go wrong at the price, which is a fair summary of a microphone that costs about a hundred dollars and sounds like it costs more, provided you buy the things around it.
How it scored
The overall 8.1 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Sound quality
MusicRadar says the response is ideally suited to broadcast and delivers a ready-made sound needing little tweaking. The Podcast Host found the tone clear and crisp at six inches.
Value
The Podcast Host scored 4.4 out of 5 and calls it a solid budget option. Wired Clip concludes you cannot really go wrong at the price.
Build quality
An all-metal casing that MusicRadar calls weighty and robust, at just under a kilogram, with a sturdy swing mount and locking screws.
Ease of use
The Podcast Host calls it gain hungry and recommends an external preamp. MusicRadar finds the mount clip leaves too little clearance at the XLR socket.
Off-axis rejection
Wired Clip credits the cardioid pattern with good separation between multiple microphones. The Podcast Host calls the off-axis pickup unforgiving, thinning dramatically off centre.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- MusicRadar says the response is ready for broadcast with little tweaking needed
- An all-metal body just under a kilogram, with a built-in swing mount
- No separate shock mount needed, since the yoke is integrated
- Wired Clip reports good separation between microphones in multi-person setups
- The Podcast Host found popping mostly gone at six inches
- A built-in pop shield inside the grille
What we didn’t
- The Podcast Host calls it gain hungry, needing more than a Shure SM58
- The built-in pop filter lets plosives through at close distances
- The Podcast Host says the off-axis pickup is unforgiving and thins dramatically off centre
- MusicRadar finds the mount clip leaves too little clearance at the XLR socket
- No pouch, stand, boom arm or XLR cable is included
- An interface or mixer is required, since there is no USB option
Specifications
| Type | Dynamic, cardioid, XLR |
|---|---|
| Gain | Needs more than a Shure SM58 and less than a Shure MV7 in dynamic mode per The Podcast Host |
| Pop filter | Integrated behind the grille |
| Mount | Built-in swing yoke with locking screws; no separate shock mount needed |
| Body | All metal |
| Weight | Just under 1 kg per MusicRadar; about 2 lb per Wired Clip |
| Length | About 17 cm per MusicRadar |
| Tonal character | A low-mid scoop with restrained highs per MusicRadar |
| In the box | Microphone and mount only |
How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
3
sources reviewed
The Podcast Host supplies the gain comparison against named alternatives, the distance-dependent pop filter finding, the off-axis criticism and the note about the missing pouch, and scored it 4.4 out of 5. MusicRadar supplies the tonal description, the physical dimensions and weight and the criticism of the mount clearance. Wired Clip supplies the polar pattern assessment in multi-microphone use and the list of what is not included. None of the three published a measured frequency response curve, so the response is described from their reports rather than plotted.
What we read
Common questions
Does the Rode PodMic need a preamp?
Is the built-in pop filter enough?
How does it sound?
Will it pick up my room?
What do I need to buy alongside it?
The bottom line on the Rode PodMic
Sit six inches back, put a decent preamp in front of it, and this produces broadcast-ready voice with almost no processing. Get closer than that and the pop shield gives up, and lean off axis and the sound falls away.
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