Poor man's XLR to GH2 adapter

[Guy Smith]

Thanks for providing the audio samples, Bill - very helpful! Your results are significantly better than what I got with my 8035. Still more hiss than I'd like, but it likely wouldn't be noticeable when used in situations with even a small amount of ambient sound.

[Eric Lagerlof]

"I'm editing in Premiere and "think" any stereo track has to be worked with as a whole. If the 2 channels can't be separated then if I am off shooting away from him I guess I will need to unplug the LAV input from the mixer for those shots."


Ron, In Premiere, select the clip in the project manager, than go to: Clip>Audio>Breakout to Mono. You will get the original track with the stereo track and 2 completely mono tracks as well. If dragging a mono track onto the timeline doesn't work, (because the tracks might default to 'stereo' tracks, drag the mono tracks to the empty space below the audio tracks in the timeline window and new mono tracks will be created. They will be independent tracks so once they are aligned with the video select and right click all the tracks and 'link' them so they'll stay in sync.

Sorry if I'm posting a bit late...

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Bill, I always find your thoughts useful.

In the case of the microphone demo, you are comparing a mono shotgun microphone to a stereo cardioid microphone. Of course the former is better-suited to a talking head video; the stereo cardioid is supposed to pick up ambient sound, the shotgun not. And that is what you hear - more ambience from the Azden. This has nothing to do with pro versus amateur or balanced versus unbalanced (as you know, the distances for this demo were short anyway). I am not arguing that the AT mic is worse or better, only that this was an apples-oranges comparison.

If you recorded a horn quintet, the stereo Azden would very likely provide better audio than the mono shotgun.

The key for good audio is more picking the right kind of mic and mic placement for the situation, not so much the quality of the mic (that matters too). In this case (of a talking head), a $29 unbalanced lavalier might have done even better than the shotgun.

[Bill Bruner]

Thank you for the thoughtful comment, Mark. I have found your posts to be very helpful and informative as well.

I take your point about pickup pattern and stereo vs. mono, but the published specs tell the story for these two mics.

The Audio Technica's signal to noise ratio is 70dB, while the Azden's is 60.

The AT's frequency response is 40-20,000kHz, while the Azden's is 100-18,000 (you can hear the lack of bass from the Azden in the test).

As one might expect, the AT835's specs show a nice cardioid pickup pattern with minimal sidelobes and good rejection of noise from behind the camera. The frequency response chart is also very clean, with a smooth bass rolloff and flat response across the frequency range.

Because the Azden is a consumer mic, it is a challenge to find an illustration of the pickup pattern or a frequency chart, but Azden's specs call it "uni-directional", so consumers should reasonably much expect better off-axis rejection of room noise.

I don't think I'd record music with it :)

Cheers,

Bill

[Duane Adam]

I did my first sound test on the GH3 last night by running an audio signal into the mic input to simulate an external pre amp. Unless I'm missing something, there doesn't seem to be a way to set the input to line vs mic. To set workable levels I set the camera audio to 1 and controlled the input with the audio player.

A couple of observations. When you get anywhere near 0dbfs (to my ear it sound like -10-dbfs) there is a limiter that is triggered which kills dynamic range. Best settings seemed to be about 60% of max input or less which bypasses the limiter. Also, there is a noise gate that masks hissing. At first I though the GH3 had a dead quiet mic pre but it was just the noise gate cutting of the input when it didn't hear a signal. The GH3 input creates a lot of hiss. I doubt the signal to noise ratio is more than 60 and for me there's too much hiss to use the camera audio for any pro projects. If it had a quiet line stage you could use an external pre but with its current configuration that doesn't seem possible.

[Alan Halfhill]

I have been using my Rode Video Mic Pro, Sennheiser Wireless plugged directly in to the camera. Also the JuicedLink DT 454. Here is my video tests. An Early Present, The GH3: It Sounds Real Good » FrugalFilmmakers.com

[Terry Wall]

Hey, Bill! I really like your rigging--and step-down configuration to get to 2.5mm, while minimizing noise. I think I'm going to replicate it. Hopefully, I can pick up a GH3 this Summer, and, like you, forego the GPM-467. Thanks for the tip!

TW

[Bill Bruner]

Glad to be helpful, Terry. This is really turning out to be a good value for money setup, but the AT835 is a little long. I'm looking to sell it and buy a:

-

$170 AT875R

 

$170 AT875R

,

- http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/406900-REG/Denecke_BELT_CLIP_for_Denecke.html and

- $80 Denecke phantom power.

Pro quality mic with a balanced output and 48V phantom power for $260. Not bad :)

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[Terry Wall]

I already have the Sennheiser ME66 and 67 with the K6 capsule, so I'm good to go in that area! The '66' should work well as it's the shorter of the two.

Cheers,
Terry