Welcome to our ultimate Azden SMX-10 Review that we hope will help answer any questions that our readers may have regarding the SMX-10 microphone that is becoming more and more popular. We have realized that there is a distinct lack of information out there regarding the SMX-10 so we are hoping to fill the void.
Now, the main question that we see people asking is if the microphone is able to hold its own against the two main competing microphones from Rode at this price point. You have the slightly cheaper Rode Video Mic Go (Click here to check for product prices and availability) and the slightly more expensive Rode Video Micro (Click here to check for product prices and availability) that both have excellent reputations within the community as well as great performance.
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As shown in the photograph above, you can easily attach the Azden SMX-10 on to your cameras hot shoe mount and plug in the 3.5mm jack to your cameras external mic connector and go about recording some decent quality audio. The process has been designed to be as quick and easy as possible to do allowing you to get to your recording location and rig up your device as required.
This thing is, all the other mid-level microphones on the market these days also have the plug and play features this doe now help push the Azden SMX-10 ahead of the competing microphones, especially at this price point.
Table of Contents
Key Specifications
The main key specifications of the Azden SMX-10 are as listed below:-
- Type: Stereo electret condenser
- Frequency response: 100-18,000Hz
- Sensitivity: -40dB @1kHz (1V/Pa)
- Output impedance: 1.5 k ohm @ 1kHz
- Signal-to-noise ratio: 60dB (1kHz @ 1Pa)
- Dynamic range: 66dB
- Power supply: 1.5V DC; AAA size battery (not included)
- Max. SPL: 100dB
- Battery current drain: 0.5mA
- Battery life: 400 hours with Alkaline battery
- Weight w/o battery: 1.83 ounces
- Dimensions: 7-inch length, 0.7-inch diameter
- Output cable: Permanently attached with 3.5mm plug
Audio Quality
The example video below offers some example audio captured using the Azden SMX-10 showing you the type of audio quality that the microphone can provide for you.
Another common problem when recording with a microphone mountd on your cameras hot shoe mount is that if you have an auto-focusing lens on your camera some microphones will pickup the clicking sound of the autoforcus motor correcting. Although the Azden SMX-10 does pick these clicks up, they are very quiet and can easily be removed from your audio track in post production with minimal effort.
Provided you use the inclusd windscreen for the microphone the SMX-10 is actually suprisingly good are minimising the amount of wind noise it picks up. Again though, just like any mircrophone, this will depend on on the specific conditions at your location as well as how hard the wind is blowing. That said, any sound from blowing wind is usually low in the audio track and easy to remove in post production.
As the microphone is powered by one single AAA battery it remains cheap and easy to opperate. Although battery life will depend on what you are using your microphone for, the list battery life from Azden for the SMX-10 is up to four hundred hours with a single fully charged AAA battery! This blows a large number of the compeating microphones at this price point out of the water offering some superiod battery life.
As we have seen a few people reaching out asking if the Azden SMX-10 is suitable as vlogging microphone rather than a videography microphone we would like to confirm that it will perform fine for vlogging. That said, if you only want an external microphone for vlogging or recording Instagram stories then we would recommend that you pick up the Rode Video Mic Go (Click here to check for product prices and availability) instead. It is much smaller, provides a very similar audio quality while also being cheaper than the Azden SMX-10 making it a better microphone for vlogging in our opinion.
Our Verdict
That concludes our Azden SMX-10 Review and we feel that it is a solid microphone for its price point and can hold its own against most of the competing mics on the market. Picking it up and adding it to your camera accessories will help provide you with a budget-friendly audio track that won’t break the bank and be useful in a large number of situations.
That said, in our own personal opinion, we would actually pick up either the Rode Video Mic Go (Click here to check for product prices and availability) or the Rode Video Micro (Click here to check for product prices and availability) but that is just down to our own personal opinion. Additionally, we are also big fans of the Rode mic range anyway so we may be a little bit biased.
We hope that you have found our review of the Azden SMX-10 helpful and that it has saved you some time and made your decision easier.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
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The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Azden SMX-10 to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.
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