In this video, I’m going to review and do a couple of sound tests with Deity D4 Duo, which is a little shotgun microphone that you can use with your DSLR or with your mobile device
Note: Deity Microphones did send me this mic for free, but they did not pay for this review, nor did they have any say over the final video.
Deity D4 Duo Technical specs: https://www.deitymic.com/d4-duo/
Order the mic: https://deity-microphones.myshopify.com/collections/video-microphones/products/d4duo?variant=34448503275680&aff=114
🕒Timestamps🕒
What’s in the box: 0:50
Attaching the D4 Duo to your DSLR: 1:23
Attaching the Deity D4 Duo to your smartphone/iPhone: 2:14
Start of the sound bites: 2:40
Reference with Canon 90 D inbuilt mic: 3:05
Deity D4 Duo front mic on Canon 90D indoors: 3:10 (in front of Rodman jersey)
Deity D4 Duo front mic on Canon 90D indoors: 3:32 (in living room with aircon and click background noise)
Deity D4 Duo back mic outdoors on the balcony: 4:32
Deity D4 Duo with V Lav plugged in outdoors: 5:03
Deity D4 Duo front mic with iPhone 11 Pro Max: 5:43
Microphone switch on the D4 Duo: 6:26
Other notes:
*I showed the Joby Gorillapod Mobile Rig with my iPhone and the D4 Duo: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BVP8K1W/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=sara07f-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07BVP8K1W&linkId=c2bca4f2129846d6daf6c466127a9bef
* The Deity D4 Duo currently retails for $99 USD
* My review of the Deity D3 Pro Shotgun: https://youtu.be/6QExTwjiBBg
🔴Get your free Facebook Live Cheat Sheets🔴: https://saranguyenonline.com/special/facebook-live-cheat_sheets/
Deity D4 Duo Review – Video Transcription
Deity sent me the Deity D4 Duo, which is a little shotgun microphone that you can use with your DSLR or with your mobile device. And in this video, I’m going to review and do a couple of sound tests with the microphone.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sara Nguyen and I kind of live stream about live streaming, and I help coaches, consultants and creative pros build their business using video on social media, with ease. Make sure that you check out the links in the description because I’ll go back and I’ll add all of the timestamps to this video, as well as any resources that I mentioned.
Now, I have to say that Deity did send me the D4 Duo for free, but they didn’t have any influence over what I actually say about the microphone, nor did they have any say over the final video review itself. With that said, let’s talk about what you actually get inside the box with the D4 Duo.
Inside the box you get the microphone unit and it also comes with this shock mount. The shock mount itself has a 1/4 inch thread, and you can remove that to expose the 3/8 inch thread. It also comes with this coiled cable and you get two Deity windshields as well, which you can attach to each side of the microphone.
The Deity D4 Duo attaches to your DSLR really easily. You can just slide it into the mount and then turn the dial to adjust the fitting of the microphone. And then it plugs directly into the microphone jack of your camera. What’s really interesting about this microphone is that you’re able to use the shotgun and narrate if you were recording content this way and to get your sound source from behind the camera, but you could also switch it around and still record sound from the front of the microphone as well.
In addition to that, there’s also an input port where you can attach a lav microphone or another microphone source, which allows you to record a lot of different sound sources. I find that really interesting. It works also really seamlessly on mobile as well. In terms of attaching the D4 Duo to my mobile device, I like to use it with the Joby GorillaPod mobile rig, so that I’ve got an arm where I can attach the microphone to the tripod and then just cable it together using the coil, going into the iPhone attachment thingy and it all works really seamlessly.
But it all really does come down to the quality of the sound that you get from the microphone. I’m going to play a couple of soundbites in different environments where I had the microphone. I also want to mention that I haven’t edited the sound of these soundbites, I’ve just adjusted the sound so you don’t get these high and low volumes with the sound test. I’m going to play them for you right now.
This is what it sounds like using the inbuilt microphone of the Canon 90D, recording this as a point of reference for the sound quality. This is what it sounds like using the Deity D4 Duo plugged into my Cannon 90D. I’m speaking into the front microphone and I’m about 80 to 90 centimeters, about arms distance away from the actual microphone.
Now I’m going to be quiet so you can listen to the ambient noise, so here’s what it sounds like using the Deity D4 Duo, plugged into my Canon 90D and I’m speaking into the front camera.
We’re filming indoors at the moment, and I’m a good meter and a bit away from the microphone, trying to get a bit of a sound to see what you can hear in terms of the quality of sound and any of the background noise. At the moment, I can hear the clock ticking, so I wonder if you could pick that up in the sound test as well and now I’m going to be quiet so you can listen to the ambient noise.
Now I’m going to step back a little bit further, and I’m a good two meters away from the microphone now. You can listen to the quality of sound with a little bit more distance between me and the camera. I’m probably now a good two meters away from the actual microphone, and now I’m going to be quiet so you can listen to the ambient noise.
This is what it sounds like using the Deity D4 Duo plugged into my Canon 90D. I’m recording outside and I’m speaking into the back of the microphone. I’m probably about 25 centimeters away from the actual microphone. This is probably how I would use it if I was recording and narrating into the back of it. Now I’m going to be quiet so you can listen to the ambient noise.
This is what it sounds like using the Deity D4 Duo plugged into my Canon 90D. Now I have a lavalier microphone, specifically the Deity V Lav, plugged into the Deity D4 Duo. I’m not quite sure why they have this feature, but I’m doing a sound test anyway so you can listen to the quality of sound that you get when recording outside. There’s a little bit going on at the moment. I can hear cars, I can hear a little bit of wind and I can hear some birds. Now I’m going to be quiet so you can listen to the ambient noise.
This is what it sounds like using the Deity D4 Duo, plugged directly into my iPhone 11. I’m about 30 centimeters away from the microphone, and now I’m going to be quiet so you can listen to the ambient noise.
At the time of this recording the Deity D4 Duo currently retails for $99 US dollars. I think that’s pretty fair given the features that you get from this mini shotgun microphone. I also like that the microphone doesn’t need to be charged in order for you to use it. It’s pretty much foolproof.
On the microphone itself, you have this switch, which tells you that you’re recording either using both of the microphones, which is the top one there, or if you switch it, you’re just using the front microphone. It really is a great microphone. You’re not going to get the same quality of sound that you would get from their higher end microphones, such as the Deity D3 Pro, but this discreet little microphone does improve the quality of the sound.
Let me know what you think in the comments and if you found this video useful, give me a thumbs up and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel. And if you’re looking for more ways to grow your business with live streaming, make sure you grab a copy of my Facebook live cheat sheets. It’s a super simple guide to get you up and running on Facebook Live even if you’ve never hit record before. To get your hands on it, simply click on the link in the description box below and thanks for watching.
