I have them both and both of them are fantastic! The M2 is a more of a traditional mic design that probably supports vocal applications better whereas the M3 is more of an instrument focussed microphone, however if used properly and mic placement is taken care of, the M3 can act as a wonderful vocal microphone, when I say vocals, it means not just singing but podcasting, voiceovers, booming applications for indoor dialogue, etc. the 9V battery feature is a huge plus too, you will almost never run out of juice if you intend to record a podcast or some dialogue outdoors. The M2 and the M3 have a relatively flat sound signature and they are not harsh sounding at all, they have an inherent smoothness to them which is just so good for applications like podcasting as they don’t tend to fatigue the listener a lot, personally the M2 does have an edge over the M3 when coming to podcasting or even love performances, but with proper placement and right mic technique the M3 is a very very good option for podcasting. The sad part is that both of these mics are not talked about a lot and people continue buying condenser mics like the 2020 or now the Lewitt 240 which don’t work very well in untreated spaces, these mics don’t suffer from those limitations, they offer great rejection capabilities and definitely a superior sound than any condenser mic in untreated spaces. As far as the noise spec goes, the number might be higher on paper but in actual usage even in quieter spaces you will not feel that the mics are very noisy, and even if you do, it can always be taken care of in the post very very easily with tools like RX. These are great microphones and absolutely a value for anyone’s money no doubts!
Great video, I just ordered an M3 (only 78 Euros right now...) which I hope to use for dialog overhead but also some musical applications in the near future. Thanks for the breakdown.
I couldn't agree more. I have both of these microphones and the M3 in particular is getting lots of use - a genuine all-rounder at a bargain price. You're absolutely right about the self noise, the ambient noise in my little home studio is much louder than the noise generated by these mics.
not sure but in that example i was getting crazy good noise scores normalising to -23LUFS. Hang on a sec ill do an 'under the duvet test' aiming to hit -3db levels and measure the noise floor on a quiet section. give me 20 mins!
Ok quick and dirty test here: drive.google.com/file/d/1OtIcK6t0bSFoIZ863v9fWtEIFgy_q66n/view?usp=sharing - i'm measuring about -60 to -65db avg rms noise level when peaking about -3db, sometimes louder - handling noise being picked up so its about finding the quietest section of the silence - have a play with the file. I'd thats pretty good / usable for gating or noise reduction.
@@thedarksidemic wow this is so useful. Thank you for replying to my queries in such a detailed way and taking the time to do these recordings. This is greatly appreciated.
You might have a defective unit, the M2 does have some QC issues, so return it if you can & get a replacement, I have the M2 & my unit does not have any such issues at all
@@agambhasin Thanks for the comment! I actually did that. They (not Rode but a local distributor) said they couldn't reproduce the issue, but swapped the PCB, which didn't help. I chalked it up to a design flaw. After reading these comments I may have another go.
@@UnusualAudio I am sure if you are able to swap your unit with a new one you will really enjoy the sound of the M2, its a really nice sound signature, you have my best wishes
I have them both and both of them are fantastic! The M2 is a more of a traditional mic design that probably supports vocal applications better whereas the M3 is more of an instrument focussed microphone, however if used properly and mic placement is taken care of, the M3 can act as a wonderful vocal microphone, when I say vocals, it means not just singing but podcasting, voiceovers, booming applications for indoor dialogue, etc. the 9V battery feature is a huge plus too, you will almost never run out of juice if you intend to record a podcast or some dialogue outdoors. The M2 and the M3 have a relatively flat sound signature and they are not harsh sounding at all, they have an inherent smoothness to them which is just so good for applications like podcasting as they don’t tend to fatigue the listener a lot, personally the M2 does have an edge over the M3 when coming to podcasting or even love performances, but with proper placement and right mic technique the M3 is a very very good option for podcasting. The sad part is that both of these mics are not talked about a lot and people continue buying condenser mics like the 2020 or now the Lewitt 240 which don’t work very well in untreated spaces, these mics don’t suffer from those limitations, they offer great rejection capabilities and definitely a superior sound than any condenser mic in untreated spaces. As far as the noise spec goes, the number might be higher on paper but in actual usage even in quieter spaces you will not feel that the mics are very noisy, and even if you do, it can always be taken care of in the post very very easily with tools like RX. These are great microphones and absolutely a value for anyone’s money no doubts!
Great video, I just ordered an M3 (only 78 Euros right now...) which I hope to use for dialog overhead but also some musical applications in the near future. Thanks for the breakdown.
I couldn't agree more. I have both of these microphones and the M3 in particular is getting lots of use - a genuine all-rounder at a bargain price. You're absolutely right about the self noise, the ambient noise in my little home studio is much louder than the noise generated by these mics.
What do you think what the m3's noise floor is in dB at a normal gain level? Can the noise be thoroughly eliminated with a gate?
not sure but in that example i was getting crazy good noise scores normalising to -23LUFS. Hang on a sec ill do an 'under the duvet test' aiming to hit -3db levels and measure the noise floor on a quiet section. give me 20 mins!
Ok quick and dirty test here: drive.google.com/file/d/1OtIcK6t0bSFoIZ863v9fWtEIFgy_q66n/view?usp=sharing - i'm measuring about -60 to -65db avg rms noise level when peaking about -3db, sometimes louder - handling noise being picked up so its about finding the quietest section of the silence - have a play with the file. I'd thats pretty good / usable for gating or noise reduction.
@@thedarksidemic wow this is so useful. Thank you for replying to my queries in such a detailed way and taking the time to do these recordings. This is greatly appreciated.
Which will be more suitable for live on stage environment? For singing
M2 by miles. Really good at plosive rejection.
I really like my M2. Unfortunately it's very susceptible to RFI from nearby phones (mine is anyway) so it doesn't get much use, sadly.
not had anything like that, but electrets can be funny, could be as simple as a wire touching something it shouldn't be.
You might have a defective unit, the M2 does have some QC issues, so return it if you can & get a replacement, I have the M2 & my unit does not have any such issues at all
@@agambhasin Thanks for the comment! I actually did that. They (not Rode but a local distributor) said they couldn't reproduce the issue, but swapped the PCB, which didn't help. I chalked it up to a design flaw. After reading these comments I may have another go.
@@UnusualAudio I am sure if you are able to swap your unit with a new one you will really enjoy the sound of the M2, its a really nice sound signature, you have my best wishes