Upgrade to external microphone or external audio recorder?

[Dr Nick Riviera]

I am really a beginner in this field so please bear with me ;-)

I have an Olympus EM5-Mark III which I now quite frequently use to produce small videos of my son where he is 1 to 5 m away from the camera. I'm happy with the video quality, but the sound of the built-in microphone is nothing to rave about.

A while ago I bought a cheap Pixel MC-650 microphone and while the sound quality is surprisingly good, in about 1/3 of my videos I have a low frequency " wind-like" noise, no matter if I'm outside or not. This noise is also there when I use the microphone on my Nikon DSLR, so that any issue on my E-M5 can be ruled out. I haven't been able to trace back the origin of this noise. I have played with different options (preamp on the microphone set to 0, +10, -10, low pass filter on / off, different options inside the camera). I have also excluded any possible noise pollution from pressing buttons, AF or IBIS motors. My conclusion is that the thing is defective.

I now plan to updgrade to a higher quality option (up to 200 EUR). I was looking at something like the Deity V-Mid D3 Pro or the Sennheiser MKE 400 because Rode is overpriced where I am (China). I'm open to other suggestions, ideally with an earphone output because the E-M5 unfortunately comes without one.

However, I am not sure this will bring the most "bang for the buck". Would it be better to invest instead into an external audio recorder, like the Olympus LS-P4, Zoom H1N, Tascam ... ?

 

[Sean Nelson]

When the microphone is far from the subject, the automatic gain in the camera's audio circuit will boost the volume until it's at an acceptable level. The problem is that it can't distinguish what you want and what's just ambient noise or wind. They all get boosted the same amount.

Nothing beats getting the microphone as close to the subject as possible. That gives you the best signal-to-noise ratio between what you want to record and what you don't want. In other words, the subject is loud enough that the recorder doesn't have to boost the volume of all the junk you don't want.

You can do this by recording with the camera using a wired mic and a long cord, or a wireless mic. Or you can do it using a portable audio recorder, either using its built-in mic or using a wired mic plugged into the recorder.

Whatever solution gets the mic closest to the subject at a cost that's acceptable to you and with no more hassle than you're willing to put up with is probably the right solution for you.

That having been said, if it was me shooting on my own I'd probably use a lav mic plugged into an audio recorder in the subject's pocket.

 

[ashton lamont]

An on-camera external mic will never be great unless the speaker is no more than around 2 metres away. It will be just about acceptable though for general Youtube type use even to around your 5 metres. It needs to be of a shotgun configuration such as a Rode Videomic Pro clone available in your location. I have a couple of the Rode ones and they work great. And have a foam and a dead kitten to minimise wind if outside. Switch on its High Pass filter in windy conditions if available or learn how to do that in editing. The shotgun mic must not be so long as to intrude on a wide angle lens but you could put it on a cage to get it back a bit; I do that occasionally with my Rode NTG-2 as it is very long due to having the facility to pop in an AA battery to avoid the need for power from a cam.

I also have the Rode Videomic Compact. That works surprisingly well and is very small so may be a good choice for your cam. It may be more affordable in your location than the other Rodes as well.

The Zoom H1n works great. I have 3 among others. They are compact enough to fit into jacket shirt and trouser pockets. You can easily sit it on a mini-tripod or use a clamp or a gorillapod nearer to the source of the audio. A wired lav mic works well with a Zoom H1n when the lav is clipped to clothing, even a cheap lav mic is good as it is so close. Wired to longer distances can be awkward to handle though.

It is simple to synchronise a single video and audio source in editing just by using the waveforms n.b. use the camera's waveform just for syncing then discard it. To find the appropriate waveform moment - if you have not clapped your hands or suchlike - find a point when someone speaks with letters beginning B or P as these open the mouth straight away.

--
Pete

 

[Joe Lynch]

How old is your son? 1m to 5m is tough unless the mic is on the subject.

Joe

 

[Dr Nick Riviera]

How old is your son? 1m to 5m is tough unless the mic is on the subject.

Joe

He is 18 months old. Starting to run around everywhere but not speaking yet. Not sure a Lavalier microphone is a good solution at that age... Unless I go for a very expensive wireless one.

Thank you all for your great advice. In the end, I believe that I expected too much from a shotgun microphone. After all you cannot beat the laws of physics: the closer to the source you are the better the SNR. This is never mentioned in all those fancy YouTube reviews... Maybe because it is too obvious.

I will look into the options proposed by you. In any case I still have some to think about it because I cannot go out right now and all deliveries of non-essential goods are blocked.

Probably I will end up buying both: a new shotgun microphone because the one I have is defective, and an audio recorder.

 

[John Koch]

Given that your "talent" is only 18 months old, his utterances will consist mainly of babble for another year or so. An external recorder should suffice, and there will be no particular urgency to synchronize the audio and video precisely.

But, since he is so young, most of your shots are likely to be taken quite close to the kid anyway. So the on-board mic should serve well enough.

Consider voice-over narration, where Dad or Mom comment on the action. That may double or triple the charm of the result.

25 years from now, extended video of Junior playing, eating, gooing, or making messes may draw little interest. But the comments or interaction of others (whether live or added in post) may draw eyes and ears.

Of course, in the shorter run of perhaps 15 years, Junior may be in a rebellious phase and show no interest whatever, or even loathe your well-meant endeavors. To be fair, people in their teens are often simply embarrassed by their own awkwardness, which they don't want to be memorialized.

 

[NickZ2016]

I think this is where older kids are taught to be boom operators.

 

[mkfed]

You could try the zoom f2 or it's predecessor zoom f1-lp on your body while you're close to your son. E.g. put the lav mic on your shirts long end of the sleeve, kinda like a boom operator That implies that the camera is on a tripod or similar though.

Zoom F1 I have personally, cool device, but the f2 has 32bit float recording, allowing you to capture everything from babble to full on screaming without clipping

 

[jjdp]

Could you post a sample of the noise you mentioned?

 

[RobBurke]

I have an Oly LS-P4. The sensitivity using the built-in mics is at least as good as a Rode VideoMicro. Given that the VideoMicro is the cheapest of the Rode mics, I guess a decent mic might do better. The advantage of a separate recorder is that you might be able to place it nearer where your son is playing.

The video and audio editor DaVinci Resolve is free, and has the ability to synchronise the in-camera audio with an external recoding. The learning curve is steep though, just because the editor has so many facilities.

 

[AstroVagabond]

If your son is in a regularly defined play area space in your home you might want to get a Mathews C-Stand and boom the Deity V-Mic D3 Pro overhead.

I do this for our outdoor pizza oven studio where we shoot videos for our YouTube channel. We wear Tascam DR-10L portable audio recorders as back up.

We've also placed the Deity V-Mic D3 Pro on our X-T4 pointed towards us where we are about 5 feet away and obtained decent results. Background noise level will impact results.

 

[Off The Mark]

What's your YouTube channel?

 

[AstroVagabond]

Twelfth Avenue Cuisine

Outdoor Pizza Ovens

AstroVagabond

Astronomical Imaging

Laurie and Bill Retired

Vanlife

 

[Off The Mark]

Twelfth Avenue Cuisine

Outdoor Pizza Ovens

AstroVagabond

Astronomical Imaging

Laurie and Bill Retired

Vanlife

Glad to meet other Bay Area Natives!!! I am up in Marin.

I only got to watch a moment of your video on Pismo Beach Camping. I would say that for you and Laurie, a set of wireless mics would be awesome!!! Like Rode Wireless Go or Saramonic Blink or something else.

Anyway, thanks for linking to your channel. Will check out more videos when I have a few moments,

 

[AstroVagabond]

Twelfth Avenue Cuisine

Outdoor Pizza Ovens

AstroVagabond

Astronomical Imaging

Laurie and Bill Retired

Vanlife

Glad to meet other Bay Area Natives!!! I am up in Marin.

I only got to watch a moment of your video on Pismo Beach Camping. I would say that for you and Laurie, a set of wireless mics would be awesome!!! Like Rode Wireless Go or Saramonic Blink or something else.

Anyway, thanks for linking to your channel. Will check out more videos when I have a few moments,

Agree on the wireless microphone suggestion. We have the following on order as a starting point.

https://store.dji.com/product/dji-mic?vid=109401

While we are making some money off our channels either through monetization, affiliate marking, or both we do the channels to keep our brains active in retirement.

Nice to meet another Bay Area Native too!

 

[Off The Mark]

Let us know how you like the DJI wireless mics after you get a chance to use them.

If you come up through Marin sometime, send me a PM and let us know. Be great to meet up. I am trying to get my 16-yeaar-old experience as a camera operator so having him run a second camera for you would be great for him. For payment just give him a plate of whatever it is you are cooking that day and that would be terrific.
--
What Middle School Is Really Like:

 

[AstroVagabond]

Let us know how you like the DJI wireless mics after you get a chance to use them.

If you come up through Marin sometime, send me a PM and let us know. Be great to meet up. I am trying to get my 16-yeaar-old experience as a camera operator so having him run a second camera for you would be great for him. For payment just give him a plate of whatever it is you are cooking that day and that would be terrific.
--
What Middle School Is Really Like:

lol! Ok maybe we can work that out!