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August 27th, 2012, 04:03 AM | #1 |
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External mic arrangement
You may be interested in the arrangement I've made for using an external mic with myGoPro
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August 27th, 2012, 04:59 AM | #2 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
That's neat Renton
It, of course, wouldn't be totally waterproof any more but would certainly protect the camera in a light drizzle...What mic are you intending to plug in there?? Chris |
August 27th, 2012, 05:34 AM | #3 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
Hi Chris.
The case is totally waterproof...though obviously not for underwater (though it could be - I won't try it!), and the mic will not be protected. The right angle jack is a tight fit in the rubber gromit. Just ordered a couple of elcheapo mics off ebay ...be interesting to see how they go... Sony ECM-DS70p Mini Microphone Mic for Skype iChat MD | eBay Mini 3.5mm Flexible Microphone Mic For PC Laptop Skype MSN Internet Telephony | eBay |
August 27th, 2012, 07:26 AM | #4 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
Hi Renton
Just make sure the mics are self powered!! I bought a neat el-cheapo from Jaycar here and it doesn't work as it's a dynamic mic ..I have always been under the impression that only condenser mics need either a battery or phantom power and dynamic mics work without powered inputs...the Hero didn't like it at all!!! Let us know how those work?? I shot a wedding 2 weeks ago and used the Hero in the Church and the audio was quite good ..I guess it was because they had a speaker bank about 3 m from the floor and I had the GoPro on a stand just a tad lower and it was in the skeleton case. Chris |
August 27th, 2012, 10:34 AM | #5 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
I've yet to hear a decent audio recording from a GoPro. The bitrate is so low that no matter what I did, the audio was pretty much useless.
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August 27th, 2012, 02:42 PM | #6 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
I'm not look for top notch audio from it. Just better audio...from a mic just outside the case, or a lot closer to the sound source...
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August 27th, 2012, 02:47 PM | #7 | |
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Re: External mic arrangement
Quote:
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August 27th, 2012, 03:04 PM | #8 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
Yes, good luck in your experiment. I tried six different mics ranging from $30 to $80 to no avail. You'll discover that unless the audio is constantly LOUD, you're going to get hiss and static. The Hero's preamp, coupled with an AGC that's impossible to control, is always the insurmountable problem.
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August 27th, 2012, 03:41 PM | #9 | |
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Re: External mic arrangement
Quote:
Cheers.
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August 27th, 2012, 05:08 PM | #10 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
Who knows, maybe the ProTune upgrade will address this problem?
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August 27th, 2012, 06:54 PM | #11 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
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August 28th, 2012, 03:37 AM | #12 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
I modified a "skeletal" housing by making an adhesive gasket out of 3M's VHB, then covering the openings with transparent packing tape.
The result is a housing that's splash-proof yet allows sounds to get to the GoPro's built-in mics. Had a problem when inserting GoPro's dessicant strips. I made the mistake of putting them on the sides. They got stuck to the adhesive packing tape, and blocked the sound. So if you do this mod, be sure to keep the dessicant strips on the top and bottom -- not on the sides. The audio qualtiy overall isn't great. But all I need is a sync reference. The production audio comes from wireless mics feeding a 4-track recorder and the main camera.
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August 28th, 2012, 02:36 PM | #13 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
I plugged a Rode NT3 into my GoPro for a quick test. It doesn't sound that bad to me.
GoPro with Rode NT3 |
August 28th, 2012, 04:08 PM | #14 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
The test I'd really like to hear with that Rode NT3 is to simply record "room sound" or "room tone."
See what the AGC does then. Room tone is such a valuable sound to have on hand for editing but it's also very hard to capture. (Same goes for "natural sound," that pervasive outdoor sound of faint wind, or rustling grass, or distant birds and insects. Beautiful audio but oh so hard to get.) |
August 29th, 2012, 01:25 PM | #15 |
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Re: External mic arrangement
Ian...can you mention the brand lapel mic w/ battery that worked for you?
What's your take on why it worked better than others? An inherent noise level that inadvertently served to tamp down the Hero's AGC? A better impedance match? |
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