For your situation, unfortunately 3.5mm mics had issues with hiss for me. - Digital: Canon Directional Stereo Microphone DM-E1D is pricy but clean.
- Analog: Rode VideoMic Pro+ is cheaper but hissy. Digital wins!

Seconding the recommendation above! Yes, the digital connection is AMAZING for cutting out hiss. I think it basically bypasses the internal preamp which is SO good. * Digital conversion = cleaner signal
* No cables = faster vlogging
* No extra batteries to charge Not 100% sure on the tech specs but it sounds fantastic!! Honestly your gonna love it.

> "Does the digital connection actually reduce hiss?" Hey! So I've been thinking about your question, especially the hiss part. Honestly, for me, while hiss is a definite concern, my biggest worry now is *reliability* when I'm out vlogging. I had a really frustrating time a while back with a standard 3.5mm mic setup (not a Rode, just a generic one). It was working fine, then like, 15 minutes into a shoot, it just *quit* recording audio and I didn't even notice till I got home to edit. Lost a whole segment of speaking parts! It made me super paranoid about anything that feels like it could have a loose connection or just randomly fail. I'm kinda leaning towards those digital hotshoe mics too, not just for the hiss reduction everyone's talking about, but because I figure fewer physical cables and a direct link to the camera *might* mean less chance of something going wrong or disconnecting mid-shoot. It's less about the audio quality for me at that point, and more about just making sure I *get* the audio, period. Has anyone else had issues with mics just randomly failing and giving you silent footage?