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Audio questoin

Started Aug 23, 2021 | Questions thread
uncle dunc Senior Member • Posts: 1,222
Re: Audio questoin
1

If you're recording in camera, your audio would be at 16bits, with a built in limiter circuit that can be engaged in the menu. Camera preamps can be noisy, and limiter circuits can sound bad when they process a peak. It's tricky. If you're in a "peaky" noise environment, you need to be conservative with your input levels. If you're in a more controlled noise environment with no chance of unexpected peaks, you can be less conservative. Keep in mind, you can probably display the audio input level meter on your screen while you're shooting, with an assigned button to access the input level control.

It would be a good idea to do some test recordings to see how your camera reacts to audio peaks, and compare results after you've imported your test files into the editor and bumped up the volume of the quieter recordings. You might like the sound of the limiter circuit squashing the peaks.

Recording to an external device is much easier. It would be at 24 bits (the highest quality setting) with the possibility of a safety track as explained earlier. In this case, -12db is fine, or maybe -6db if you don't expect peaks. If you're shooting nature videos, or any video where the audio is important, an external device would be highly recommended. You'd get quieter mic preamps and more headroom at 24 bits.

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