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Digital mics - need some helpful info

Started 7 months ago | Questions thread
Entropy512 Veteran Member • Posts: 6,016
Re: Digital mics - need some helpful info

Markr041 wrote:

jjdp wrote:

Isn't a "digital mic" just a mic with an A/D converter built-in? Is it correct to assume the only advantage would be if the converter is better than what's in the camera?

As long as the mic/interface can be powered by the camera and pass audio through the shoe. I briefly had a Sony XLR-K2M and it was great in these regards, though I don't think it was digital.

1. No cable, which can pickup noise.

2. No mic battery to die - power is supplied by the camera, so only one battery to watch.

3. The digital mic has both a microphone preamplifier and a A/D converter. Either one could be better than what is in the camera.

In addition, how Sony sets up gain controls could be completely different between digital MIS and analog MIS, the latter of which has been documented in the past as being different from 3.5mm on at least some Sony cameras.

I would hope it is different because analog MIS has some serious limitations such as forced AGC on many Sonys (although the same bodies that support digital MIS might have fixed this issue with analog MIS at the same time...)

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