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Deity VO-7U USB Microphone

Experiences with a Podcast Style Dynamic Mic

Peter Kun Frary

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My YouTube channel has hundreds of my guitar performances but, until recently, I rarely uttered a word. The guitar spoke for me. After the plague of 2020, my music teaching shifted online. It's now 2024 but most of my students are used to the convenience of online classes and avoid coming to campus. That means I have to talk on videos—not my favorite thing to do—and am always on the lookout for a better vocal microphone.

Video Set | Triggering my camera with a remote.

RFI is the Devil

Speaking on video has its share of pitfalls—I fell in many—but the big thorn in my side was RFI, radio frequency interference. RFI in my neighborhood increased exponentially due to installation of dozens of 5G transmitters on nearby buildings.

I choose camera mics based on reviews. I can't walk into a store and try one. RFI is a rare topic among mic reviewers. Thus, I bought mics—lavalier and shotgun mics from Sennheiser, Rode, Deity, Tascam and Movo—that were plagued with static, hum and random radio stations. Here's a typical example of RFI in my living room:

That track was recorded on a Rode VideoMic Go II and Canon R6 MK II camera. Save for me talking, it was silent in the room. RFI is so loud one might think a stereo was blasting! RFI from that radio tower—one block away—is heard on most of my mics, cameras, guitar pickups, phone (landline) and audio recorders.

USB to the Rescue

All my TRS analog output mics exhibited RFI, so I tried USB mics. My Rode VideoMic Go II that performed poorly through TRS output was pristine through USB. Apparently, digital signals are less susceptible to RFI than analog.

Deity VO-7U on Set | Talking head with VO-7U on boom arm.

The downside to USB mics is they must be plugged into a computer or mobile device rather than a camera, mixer or audio recorder. Thus, I stopped recording audio directly to my camera and switched to podcaster and streamer style USB mics, most recently a Deity VO-7U graced my boom arm.

Deity

Deity, the god or goddess of microphones? Deity, with corporate headquarters in Shenzhen, China, is a spin-off from Aputure and a newcomer to the podcast mic craze. And, yes, a wacky moniker for an audio company. Nevertheless, they are respected manufacturers of consumer and professional shotgun and lav mics for video. I took a chance on the Deity VO-7U Podcast Kit during a sale. Herein are my thoughts on this mic.

Build Quality & Features

The metal cylinder body is reminiscent of the Audio-Technica AT2020, a popular home studio mic, and looks attractive in videos. Yes, the YouTube, network gaming and streaming era has made mic fashion a thing. While the VO-7U looks like a side address mic, the capsule is on the end of the tube, so an end-address dynamic mic design like the Shure SM58 and Rode PodMic.

Deity VO-7U | Image courtesy Deity

The metal barrel and yoke of the VO-7U feel substantial, albeit a level below the military grade build of the Rode PodMic. Fit and finish are generally excellent. However, plastic controls feel delicate and the yoke pivot point hobbles.

The knurled knob on the cradle yoke hints at industrial precision. However, it doesn't adjust anything—doesn't turn. It's simply there to hold the yoke on the mic. Deity calls it a "floating friction pivot." That's marketing speak for a bolt that allows the mic to change angle. The yoke has 3/8" and 1/2" female sockets and fits most mic stands and booms. Threading it onto a mic stand is tricky: not easy to start the threads.

Deity VO-7U Podcast Kit | Image courtesy Deity

I bought the goth black edition but it's also available in white.

Plosive Protection

Like stage mics, the grill cap can be removed for cleaning. Inside and found a removable interior foam pop filter. Beneath was a smaller foam over the 22mm diaphragm. Three layers of protection—metal grill and two foams—control plosives and assorted puffs of air from the speaker. They work as designed, besting the industry leading Rode PodMic in plosive reduction.

My kit came with a foam filter for the exterior and, after using the mic with and without it, I prefer the sound with the outer foam—slightly warmer. With that said, the grill and inner foams are plenty of plosive protection without the extra foam.

Cables

USB-C to USB-C and USB-C to USB-A cables are included for connecting to computers and tablets. If you use an older iPad or iPhone with Lightning ports, the Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter will be needed.

Boom Arm The included boom arm is sturdy but only articulates on the second segment. In other words, you're stuck with one upright angle at the base, limiting reach and positioning. With that said, the arm works fine if you only need rotation and angle changes in the upper segment. The arm must be mounted close to your speaking position to be useful. Also, due to a lack of cable management (hideaway channels), it's less tidy looking on camera than some other booms. Finally, it only has a 3/8" thread.

I prefer my InnoGear Mic Boom Arm over the kit boom: articulates both arm segments, has a channel to hide the cable, a standard 1/2" thread, is more heavy duty, and better looking. It can actually hold a 900g (2lb) Rode PodMic. If I were to do it again, I'd buy the basic mic kit and pick a better boom arm.

Deity VO-7U in "Apple" White | The VO-7U is powered by USB—no batteries required. The USB-C port is on the back. | Image courtesy Deity

Controls

I'm used to mics without physical controls but appreciate the gain and mute controls on the VO-7U. No messing with software for gain tweaks. It lacks a high pass filter but sports a hardware based limiter. It engages when gain is at 50% or higher. The limiter worked well—never clipped—and I didn't hear artifacts when output approached 0dB. I'd prefer a switch to toggle the limiter on/off.

Shock Mount

The VO-7U lacks an external shock mount. When mounted on a boom, it picked up vibrations from my steel desk, especially percussive taps and hum from my backup drive array. I attached the VO-7U to my YOUSHARES Blue Yeti X shock mount and it nixed the hard drive and desk vibrations. Since the VO-7U has a cradle yoke, it should fit most shock mounts for cradle or hanging mics. In fairness, all of my mics need a shock mount when mounted to my desk, but the VO-7U is more sensitive to vibration than average.

Deity VO-7U | On a YOUSHARES Blue Yeti X shock mount.

RGB Lighting

To appease gamers and New Age podcasters, the VO-7U has RGB lighting effects, twelve of them! Long press the gain knob followed by quick pokes to cycle through a rainbow of colors and assorted psychedelic pulsing on a LED light ring. Reminds me of my wife's New Age hippie EO diffuser.

An illuminated level display instead of the light show would be a better choice. However, the light ring has one useful function: a red pulse to show mute is on.

Thankfully, the default for the LED light ring is off. If you want it on, it must be reactivated after each power shutdown.

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Connectivity

The VO-7U has USB-C and a 3.5mm jack for headphones. There is no line level out and, unlike its nearest competition, the Rode PodMic USB, Shure MV7 and Samson Q9U, the VO-7U lacks an XLR port. Thus, this mic can't be used with mixers, cameras or audio recorders. In other words, if you want to jack into a Zoom or Tascam audio recorder on set, it's not happening with this mic. The VO-7U only works with computers, smartphones and tablets.

Headphone Output

A headphone cable tangling off a mic is not good for recording—a single bump can ruin a track—and adds clutter if visible in videos. However, for casual use, I understand the attraction of a headphone output.

I plugged my Sennheiser HD 650 into the VO-7U headphone preamp and it sounded bad: weak gain, fuzzy reproduction and RFI galore.

I use an iFi amp or Tascam 208i audio interface for monitoring, so the poor headphone output of the VO-7U is a non-issue for me. However, this funky headphone preamp might be a deal-breaker for some people.

Computer Use

The VO-7U was plug and play on my iMac and MacBook Pro under Sonoma 14.5. It works jacked into a USB-C hub or straight into my Macs. No restarting or messing with drivers. Plug in and it appears in the system sound panel and/or recording app. Select the VO-7U in the recording app and/or system and it works. I've used it with Logic Pro, TwistedWave, OBS, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Audition and encountered no problems. Oddly, it even works in Shure's Motive Mix (beta).

I don't have Windows, Android or iOS devices, but Deity says the VO-7U is compatible.

Vegas Neon Reflections | EOS 90D and EF-s 18-135 3.5-5.6 IS USM

Sound Quality

The VO-7U sounds decent for baritone male speaking voices. I have no experience with female voices but I suspect it sounds fine. Optimal vocal tone is from 3 to 6 inches straight on or offset 25 or 30 degrees. Offset speaking rolls off the highs slightly (my preference)

The VO-7U has a slight EQ bump in the lower highs. That boost in the lower highs gives it a tonal character somewhat reminiscent of Shure dynamic microphones such as the SM58, but with bass frequencies rolled off a little more.

Gain

For my soft spoken style, the VO-7U needs mic gain at 75 to 100% for good levels (-12dB) but output is clean. A loud talker is likely to be around 50 or 60%. Output is about 6 dB hotter than the Rode PodMic USB, but weaker than the Blue Yeti X.

RFI Resistance

Here in RFI infested downtown Honolulu, I encountered no static, clicks or rogue radio stations while using the VO-7U on my iMac and MacBook Pro. Alas, I wish this mic worked on cameras.

Sound Isolation

The super cardioid polar pattern of the VO-7U is focused on sound near the front of the capsule, rejecting off-axis sound. In other words, sound reflections, distant traffic and AC rumble are absent or reduced compared to omnidirectional mics and many cardioid mics.

VO-7U Super-cardioid Pattern | Best sound pickup is between 330 and 30 degrees. Sounds are reduced or rejected on rear and sides of mic.

The fact that the VO-7U is a dynamic mic, rather than a condenser mic, also makes it less sensitive to background noise. The downside to dynamic mics is the lower sensitivity requires high gain levels and close mouth placement.

Using the Deity VO-7U

While working with the VO-7U I found it consistent in performance and easy to use. Here's my first talking head and voiceover video done with the Deity VO-7U.

Staff Notation and Musical Pitch | Talking head and voiceover passages recorded on the Deity VO-7U.

I recorded the voiceover in Logic Pro. No processing other than trimming audio clips and normalization. For precise positioning in the timeline, I bounced each topic as a separate audio clip.

The final component was shooting the talking head scenes with a Canon EOS R6 MK II and Godox UL60 video lights and soft boxes. I used the VO-7U on set, jacked into a MacBook Pro running Logic Pro.

Finally, I assembled the video, audio, and graphics in Final Cut Pro. It took me a week of toil to create and assemble all the elements for a 4 minutes and some seconds video!

Sound Comparisons

Below are audio samples of the VO-7U and other mics I use for voiceovers. All were on a boom arm in a partially treated room and recorded into TwistedWave at 48 kHz and 24 bits. I staged gain to hit at -12 to -6 dB. No normalization or processing was used.

Deity VO-7U

The VO-7U is crisp and clear sounding. While there is no controlling software, the VO-7U has a limiter and powerful built-in preamp.

The VO-7U performs nearly as well as my favorite mic for off-axis sound rejection, the Shure 849. However, as mentioned earlier, the VO-7U picks up vibration and hum easily and needs a shock mount.

The Deity VO-7U kit sells for $199 USD.

Shure 849 with Shure MVX2U

The Shure MVX2U USB interface was plugged into the XLR port of the Shure 849 and recorded in TwistedWave.

I bought a pair of Shure 849 condenser mics in the late 1990s to record classical guitar. This is an instrument mic—looks and sounds similar to the current SM137—with small diaphragm and minimal windscreen protection. It was too bright in the lower highs for classical guitar and is better suited for miking guitar amps and percussion.

Oddly, I found the 849 flattering for my speaking voice: smooth, warm and clear. It is surprisingly forgiving of plosives and small puffs of air. Because it was designed for isolating and miking stage instruments, off-axis rejection is excellent. It has extensive side vents to narrow the polar pattern and increase side rejection (like a quasi-shotgun mic). Like Shure stage mics, it has an internal shock mount to reduce handling noise. Among the mics I tested, it and the Shure Beta 57A were the only ones that picked up no vibrations or hum from hard drives and nearby AC units.

Rode PodMic USB

The Rode PodMic USB, a dynamic mic with noth USB and XLR output, is one of the main competitors for the Deity VO7U. This PodMic USB sample was recorded through its built-in USB-C port. Gain was maxed out at 63 dB in Rode Central.

The PodMic retails for $199 USD.

Rode VideoMic GO II

The Rode VideoMic Go II is a shotgun mic designed primarily for camera hot shoe use. Besides TRS analog output for cameras, it supports USB-C for computer and mobile devices. Unlike TRS output, USB-C is resistant to RFI. It is compatible with Rode Central for settings but I recorded without processing. It has a tight polar pattern and, along with the Shure 849, has better background sound rejection than other mics in this group. The USB output of this wee condenser mic is hot—gain was set at 25% for -12 dB.

The VideoMic Go II is tiny—size of a partially smoked cigar—and, for computer use, is at its best boomed just out of sight. It retails for $99 USD.

Deity V-Mic D4

Deity's V-Mic D4 is a camera shotgun microphone with similar features to the Rode VideoMic Go II and VideoMic NTG: shotgun mics optimized for close use such as desktop, interview and video blogging. Like the Rode mics, it has both analog and USB-C output for connectivity with cameras, audio recorders, mobile devices and computers. I used the USB-C output for this audio sample. It sports a preamp with adjustable gain from -5 to +10 dB. For usable output, I need to keep it cranked all the way to +10 dB.

Compared to the Rode VideoMic Go II, the Deity is more bass heavy, but also more rolled off in the highs. It's sensitive to off-axis coloration: at 30 degrees off-axis the Deity has considerably less high frequencies than speaking straight into the capsule. The same angle with the Rode VideoMic Go II made only a tiny difference. With that said, it sounds better than the V-Mic D4 Mini. Not a good choice for my voice but many YouTubers seem to love it, albeit probably because they got it free.

Finally, the included foam windscreen dulls mic tone too much so I used a pop filter to nix plosives.

This mic retails for $99 USD.

AKG C3000B with Shure MVX2U

The AKG C3000B, circa 2009, is a large diaphragm side-address condenser condenser mic. It remains in production as the AKG C3000 and sells for $350 USD. The lower treble frequency bump makes it too bright for classical guitar. On the other hand, that bump makes it a decent mic for the speaking voice, exhibiting good clarity albeit a somewhat bright and slightly nasal tone.

The C3000B was recorded with USB-C output from the Shure MVX2U USB interface. Gain was set at 46 dB in ShurePlus MOTIV.

Shure Beta 57A with Shure MVX2U

And that was the sound of the Shure MVX2U USB interface plugged into the XLR socket of the Shure Beta 57A. This mic's isolation from background noise, handling noise and resistance to plosives is surprisingly excellent—better than the Rode PodMic, Neumann TLM 102 and AKG C3000B. It ties with the Shure 849 in terms of background noise rejection. And, yeah, it sounds great for spoken word, singing and miking guitar cabs! Not handsome on camera but what a studio workhorse.

Blue Yeti X

The Blue Yeti X was my first non-XLR mic, purchased during the plague of 2020. It gets a lot of hate because of its popularity and, for that era, the gamer teen styling. I find it less aesthetically pleasing than average and yet it sounds decent and is flexible with stereo, omnidirectional, cardioid and bidirectional patterns. Yes, off-axis rejection isn't as pronounced as the VO-7U or 849, but is good enough if I close the bedroom door! Most USB mics—heck, most mics—only have one polar pattern. The powerful built-in preamp, gain meter and software package set it apart from many mic designs.

Thoughts

Each of these mics have their own character, but the VO-7U holds its own against the Shure 849 and AKG C3000B in terms of off-axis rejection. I find the tone of the VO-7U pleasant but, for my voice, the tone of the Shure 849, Rode VideoMic Go II and PodMic USM are more flattering.

The 849 and C3000B are considerably more expensive than the VO-7U and require an audio interface. The Blue Yeti X is priced about the same as the VO-7U but includes software filled with presets for gaming and streaming. The most surprising mic is the tiny Rode VideoMic Go II: sounds great, only costs $99 and can be used in a camera hot shoe or as a USB mic with computers and mobile devices.

Honolulu Harbor | No RFI problems here. | EOS R and RF 24-105 4L IS USM

Musings

For talking head sessions, I prefer an out of sight shotgun mic or a lavalier. But I couldn't whip RFI with my existing camera mics. Using outboard audio—VO-7U plugged into a MacBook Pro—was a good solution and, as a side benefit, the sound of my talking head was close in timbre and presence to the voiceover. With that said, my all-in-one role as speaker, sound man and camera man, would be easier if an audio recorder like a Zoom F3 or Tascam DR-60 MK II could be used on set instead of a computer.

Outboard audio requires syncing audio to video guide tracks in post production. For guitar performance videos, I always use outboard audio and sync in post for best audio quality. I was hoping to avoid the extra toil of outboard audio for 15 or 20 seconds of live speaking, but that was not to be.

Final Blurb

Deity doesn't provide mic settings software like Rode Central or Shure Motiv, so adjustments like EQ, compression, high pass, reverb, etc., must be done in a hardware mixer such as a RodeCaster Duo or in a DAW during post production. However, the built-in limiter is ideal for gamers prone to shouting during play. I basically liked the straight VO-7U sound as tracked and it needed little post production beyond normalization.

For $199 USD, there is lots of completion for the VO-7U. The 800 pound gorilla in the room is the Rode PodMic USB. It sells for the same price but has both USB and XLR outputs and industry leading software. And it sounds very good.

The bottom line is the VO-7U is a jim-dandy USB dynamic mic, ideal for podcasting, Zoom, streaming and voiceovers.

Finally, please help support this website by purchasing this item at Amazon:

Deity VO-7U (with table top tripod), black edition

Deity Podcast Kit (with boom arm), black edition

Deity VO-7U (with table top tripod), white edition

Deity Podcast Kit (with boom arm), white edition

Louis Armstrong Mural | Eureka, California | ©Peter Kun Frary

Features & Specs

• Super-cardioid pattern
  
• Large diaphragm dynamic capsule
  
• 50Hz to 20kHz response
• 600 Ohms
• 24-Bit / 48 kHz with USB-C interface
• SPL of 135dB
• SNR 84 dB @ -24dB sensitivity
• USB bus power
• Headphone output with volume control for monitoring
• Cradle yoke with 3/8" and 5/8" female sockets
  

Weight & Size

• Dimensions: 58 x 153 mm
• Weight: 646 g

Deity VO-7U Podcast Kit | included accessories

Boom arm, 2 USB cables, foam windscreen, 3 cable ties, and paper manual

Deity VO-7U (basic kit) | included accessories

Table top tripod, 2 USB cables, 3 cable ties, and paper manual

Country of Origin

People's Republic of China (PRC)

Instruction Manual

Deity VO-7U PDF Manual

Price

$199.00 USD

07/28/2024