Godox announced a new audio wireless solution with a special capability to allow it to connect directly to Sony cameras without the need for a 3.5mm connection. The Godox Virso S for Sony cameras and the Godox Virso for other brands includes two mono/stereo mics a case/charger with an ultra-long battery life on a single charge and several other advanced features.
Godox Virso S and Sony Multi-Interface shoe
Several years ago Sony introduced its Multi Interface shoe which allows power and data to be shared via the camera hot shoe. Since then the company announced several supporting wireless systems based around this technology including the advanced (and expensive) UWP-D27 and the much more basic ECM-W2BT.
Until now no 3’rd party manufacturer has been able to take advantage of this digital interface integrated into most of the recent Sony cameras but this is now changed with the introduction of the Virso S.
The big advantage of using the Multi Interface shoe to record audio is the elimination of the need for a 3.5mm cable which can be lost or get damaged (or worse damage the camera connector if the camera gets hit which can be very expensive to fix).
The Godox-Virso-S – no need for cables on Sony cameras
Advanced features
Besides the direct camera connection which allows the user to record from either one or two transmitters totally wirelessly, in either mono or stereo, the Godox Virso S has several other useful features.
The receiver has a mico-SD with up to 256GB of storage for up to 400H of backup recording. The official battery life of the units is also impressive with 13H on the TX units and up to 17H on the RX unit with 2.5 times charging with the included charging case.
The unit uses 2.4GHz frequency with an official range of up to 200m (650ft) and includes an optional -6db safety track.
Each transmitter unit has its own screen (which can be rotated if necessary) and controls as well as a built-in mic and a 3.5mm jack for a neck mic. There is also an optional noise cancelation feature.
Another interesting feature is a built-in microphone in both the transmitter and receiver. This allows to record both the person behind the camera and the person on camera.
While you can use the Godox Virso S with older Sony cameras which do not support the Multi Interface using a 3.5mm cable, if this is going to be your main use case you might want to opt for the basic Godox Virso which is a more basic version.
Internal recording option
Pricing and avalibviity
As for pricing, the Godox Virso S comes in two kits:
- Godox Virso S M2 – with two transmitters and two nec mics – $300.
- Godox Virso S M1 – with a single transmitter and nec mic – $210.
- Godox Virso – with 3.5mm cable – $180 / $250 (with case).
At the time of publication, we are unsure as to when the mic will reach the market.
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Iddo Genuth 
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Why should you trust us?
The Godox website doesn’t specifically point to the MI hotshot but indicates a cable is needed to connect to the camera – I assume this is a generic reference and doers not apply to the Sony model. A comparison to the Hollyland Lark Max would be invaluable as they are nearly identical. Need to know if noise reduction is equivalent, etc.
Hi Bstrom,
Please note that Godox has two models. A general model – which is indeed similar in nature to many existing wireless systems and a special S model which is designed to work in direct connection to the Sony Shoe on all recent Sony cameras and can communicate directly without a cable. We should be getting the unit soon and the Lark as well so maybe at some point we can talk about differences (we also own the DJI and the Rode so we have a lot of basis for comparison in general).