Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

For me the decision was between this and the Heil arm which is in the same price range (This arm was $100, the Heil was $120 as this was written) Neither arm is perfect. One nice thing about the Rode, and probably the Heil too, is that the arms are made in such a way that the angle of the mic is the same no matter what position the stand is in. Pros of the Rode arm: Comes with either a desk mount or a recessed hole mount - Note that using the desk mount adds about 2" of height as it sits on top of the desk, where as the recessed hole mount is flush with the desk. The Desk mount is better with the Rode vs the Heil - the Rode is very stable on the desk, as it's a small cone - another nice thing about the rode, is that the clamp that goes around the back of the desk only sticks out about 1/4 inch - I was able to push my desk right up against the wall with this one. The Heil requires a few inches of clearance behind your desk. So the Rode Desk mount is better than the Heil As for the arm itself, I believe the Heil is a better arm. The Heil has a channel to hide the cable - this one does not. The Heil arm is slightly longer, however it mounts flush with the desk, so if you're trying to clear a monitor, you're just as likely to clear it with the Rode. The Heil also is 5/8" threaded - so you don't need to use an adaptor, which means less chance for jiggling. (My Rode Arm DID include the 5/8 to 3/8 adapter so that is good!) But the big difference is at the end where the microphone attaches - The Heil comes with a slightly longer rod at the end - and this is important if you use a Blue Yeti USB Microphone. I could not use the Blue Yeti on this stand as the connecting rod was too short, and the USB cable would not clear the thumb screws used to tighten the stand. There is an easy solution for this, but it requires an additional purchase (see below) Tips for Yeti Owners: The Yeti is a very popular USB mic (Just look at the review counts here on Amazon) so I'll share some tips for its use. To use the Yeti with this Boom, and without a shock mount, you'll need to buy a small extender - if you don't the USB cable doesn't clear the arm (Hence my comment above about how the Heil has a longer rod) I bought the On Stage QK2X $11 (Also known as QK2B in black $9) on Amazon and that gave the needed clearance, and also made it easy to remove the mic for storage. Note that I don't own the Blue Shock mount so I can't speak to using that here. One user complained that the Yeti was too heavy - that has not been the case for me, so I can only assume that the other user also had a shock mount and perhaps a heavier pop filter. I'll update my review if I note any problems. One more observation: I was concerned if this would clear the top of my monitor, and it just barely does - I can put the arm even with the desk and it clears the screen by about 1/4 inch - however, here's some good news - I found I don't need the arm to be even (parallel) with my desk - by the time you add the Yeti, and the QK2X, the mic is so low that you end up pushing the arm up, which means you have even more clearance over the monitor! Update Feb 2014: I obtained a Heil PL-2T arm a few months ago, so I'm able to fully compare the two. I really wish there was a way to "merge" these two products into a single, best of breed arm. Both arms have internal springs - this is critical as external springs tend to make noise and resonate (as is evidenced by a few Ikea desk lamps I have that use external springs) I believe the interior spring mechanism used by both arms is superior to cheaper arms. The Rode has a better desk clamp and also includes the hole mount for free. The Heil arm is nice in that you can route the cable through it, it has a native 5/8 thread on the end a longer downrod - there's about 2" of clearance between the arm and the start of the threads on the Heil. Overall, I think both are great arms. I'm happy with both. I will say that the 3/8 to 5/8 thread adapter on the Rode arm bugs the heck out of me - the mic on that arm is ALWAYS Loose- it seems impossible to keep it tight. The connection from the Heil PL-2T arm to the Mic feels very solid by comparison, and is superior with 5/8 threaded mics if you're going to move the arm during the broadcast. I hope this review helps in your decision, if it does, please mark it helpful below as that will help other users see the review.