The Hero 10 may be the latest and action camera from GoPro, but there’s one area it still comes up short; audio. If you’ve used a GoPro in anything less than perfect conditions, you’ll find the audio to be decent at best – and unusable at worst. The solution? GoPro’s Media Mod.
Designed to work with both the Hero 10 and the Hero 9, the Media Mod aims to give the two most recent GoPro's much-improved audio. Consisting of a bespoke microphone and cage-like structure, it’s designed to add to the functionality of your Hero 9 or Hero 10 – and provide a massive dose of sonic performance.
Is it any good? And is it worth the £70-plus pounds GoPro wants for it? Read our review to find out.
Build
• Sturdy
• Light
• Fits Hero 9 and Hero 10
At £70, the Media Mod isn’t cheap, but it’s immediately obvious where some of your cash has gone. Sturdy and chunky, the Media Mod has the same black finish and high build quality as the Hero 9 and Hero 10. Despite being plastic, the hinges are thick, the metal hot shoes for other accessories look well built, and overall, it’s far from delicate. It’s not the sort of gadget you’d want to drop frequently – but it does hold up well to most demands of filming.
What’s more, the microphone unit itself – located on the top right corner of the Media Mod – is also robust. There’s also a slightly flimsier jacket that can be added to the external microphone if needed.
Usability
• Easy to install
• Just as quick to mount
• Just as quick to mount
As you’d expect from an official GoPro product, the Media Mod works seamlessly with the Hero 10 and Hero 9. It’s effectively a plastic cage with a microphone attached, and it’s moulded to wrap perfectly around a compatible GoPro camera. The only thing you must do is remove the existing GoPro’s door.
Everything is well designed, though the original USB-C port is blocked. As a fix, the Media Mod adds a replacement port, along with a Micro USB socket and a 3.5mm line-in for an additional mic, too. There’s even a recess under the case, so it won’t rub against any of your other GoPro mounts.
Performance
• Makes the GoPro even more versatile
• Greatly improved sound
• Not a huge size or weight penalty
We used the GoPro Media Mod for a few handheld videos and also mounted it to a motorcycle helmet for some onboard footage. When used for more casual videos in better conditions, the Media Mod offered a decent step up in quality and made for more polished videos. However, the biggest step up in quality came with our noisier, louder, onboard motorcycling footage.
Without the Media Mod, our footage had reasonable audio but wind noise meant it became unusable at anything over 20mph. Even with the GoPro’s noise reduction software, the footage captured wasn’t suitable and didn’t feature recognizable engine noise or speech.
Add the Media Mod, however, and the footage captured got much closer to the sound of the bike we experienced. There was much less clipping, much clearer sound – and the effect of the wind was considerably reduced. The overall increase in quality was transformative.
What’s more, we didn’t find the Media Mod to be much of a distraction when fitted to our riding gear. It wasn’t noticeably heavier, didn’t cause significant additional stress on our helmet mount – and it didn’t make a noticeable dent in battery life, either.
Price
At around £70, the Media Mod for Hero 9 and 10 isn’t cheap – especially when you factor in the circa-£300-minimum cost of the GoPro camera you’ll need to connect it to. What’s more, there’s not really an alternative microphone if you’re already got a GoPro. Most microphones you’ll find on Amazon use a 3.5mm plug – and there’s no 3.5mm connector as standard on the Hero 9 or Hero 10. You’ll actually need the Media Mod’s 3.5mm jack to use a third-party microphone anyway…
Verdict
The Hero 10 and the Hero 9 are both solid action cameras, but they’re built to a price that makes them useful for most use cases and attractive to as many people as possible. And in that quest for the correct price point, GoPro has initially sacrificed audio capability.
Simply put, the Media Mod gives compatible GoPros the audio performance to match the image quality. It won’t be essential for everyone, but if you’re filming in windy or more demanding conditions – or if you’re interested in using lights or external microphones – then the Media Mod is a must-buy.
What’s more, its ability to work with a Hero 9 or Hero 10, means those with the older camera can still use the Media Mod if they upgrade to the 10 in the future. Equally, those with both cameras can easily swap the Media Mod between the two if needed.
