Rode PSA-1

TLDR: Hinges and internals are not greased from factory which causes unnecessary wear and noise upon use.

I have experienced what seems to be an "issue" with ALL PSA-1 arms. It squeaks and there's a metal grinding noise. One of the hinges can be oiled from the outside (which should not be ungreased/unoiled on such an expensive product) but there's a pin that is also ungreased on the inside that requires light disassembly to get to which is ridiculous. Once all this is done the arm functions properly. This is not a "problem" per se since Rode seem to not do this at the factory and are obviously aware since this happens to what seems to be everyone that bothers to even check their product before use, if they do not later notice it during. This will most likely never be fixed because of how long this product has been on the market.

The quality itself is closer to a 4 but gets a 2 star because of the problem above. Stability is decent but is a bit wobbly if your desk isn't stable.

The upper part of the mic arm, started making metallic noises when moved, after 2 months of usage. I must say, I did not expect that from Rode. I'm experiencing the same issues that another customer described in one of the reviews. I searched for this specific problem and found out that this metal to metal friction issue happened to even more people that bought the PSA-1. I guess that some of them are badly manufactured? I contacted Thomann's customer support and we reached to an agreement. Ignoring the issue I had, as a mic arm the PSA-1 is very steady and an almost perfect pair to my SM7B. For some weird reason, whenever I move the mic left and right, it becomes a bit loose and then have to tighten the screw that connects it to the arm.