Three Lavalier Microphones for your Mobile Phone
Need to record better audio to your smartphone or even record video with better sound on your mobile? We’ve reviewed several lavalier microphones over the last few years and in this episode we’ll let you hear three of them back to back to help you decide which may be best for your projects. Each of them are well under $100 USD and two of the are well under $40 USD so there’s an option for any budget. You can get surprisingly good sound, even with a $20 USD microphone.
We’ll have a listen to the GORA Lavalier, the Aputure A.lav, and the RODE smartLav+. I personally prefer the RODE for the great sound quality and robust build quality, but the GORA also sounds really good, despite its lesser build quality. The Aputure A.lav wins as the most versatile as it can record, out of the box, to your phone, your camera, or your camcorder.
Each of these mics can be a great option.
Also, I'm finding the Rycote Undercovers to be a nice way to mount lavalier microphones and avoid clothing noise. We'll take a closer look at those in an upcoming episode.
Sound for Video Session: Preventing Noise When Recording
Last session we talked about the sources of noise and how to measure it. This week covered a few strategies for reducing noise while recording: Sound blankets and high pass filters.
GORA Lavalier Microphone Quick Review
GORA Products released a new lavalier microphone for recording to your mobile phone. This will record just audio or the sound for video shot by your phone. The GORA lavalier comes in at only $20 USD and overall, looks like a great buy with good quality sound, low noise, and decent build quality. Worth a look if you’re operating on a tight budget and need to get sound for your video that is better than what almost any camera can produce.
We'll follow up in about 2 weeks with a comparison of this versus a couple of other affordable lavalier microphones designed to record to smartphones: The RODE smartLav+ and the Aputure A.lav.
Sound for Video Help Session: Noise Sources and Measuring
This week we spent a while talking about the potential sources of noise in audio recordings and how to measure it using Adobe Audition. When I first started recording audio, I didn't realize how important the recording location was to ensuring a clean recording. One of the biggest things you can do to reduce noise in your recording is to either find the right location or hang sound blankets (or any blanket that will dampen audio reflections off of the walls).
But here we also talk about signal chains and where noise can creep into your recording along that signal chain. While the noise performance of your microphone and preamplifier are important considerations, they're not the only consideration so don't stress too much about those. Make an informed decision before buying but then move on and don't stress if your noise floor sits at around -60dB.
Most of the new recorders and microphones will easily get you into this realm, even prosumer mics and recorders. Let me know if you have any specific questions on which may be a good fit for your particular situation.
Next week we'll cover options for reducing noise.
Shooting an Interview
B&H Photo put together one of the most helpful pieces I've seen on shooting interview/talking head style pieces. The coverage of audio is a little light due to time constraints (I'd add that a cardioid condenser mic is probably the best choice for indoor/studio interviews) but great info overall.
Zoom F8 Audio Recorder Firmware v2.0!
As expected, Zoom has made a new firmware update for the Zoom F8 Audio Recorder with several nice additional features, filling some of the gaps we saw in the initial release! Let's have a quick look.
First, and perhaps most importantly, you can now set the potentiometer knobs for each channel to act as faders! This was one of the big missing features. And while the knobs are pretty small, its definitely nice to have the option to use them as faders without the fiddly process of switching each one (and I mean one at a time) over to change the fader level. Nice improvement.
False take: You can now mark a clip as a false take which will move it to a separate folder and reset the counter on the next recorded clip to the previous number. Another good little addition that will greatly simplify matters on production day.
Scene number advancement: You now get more options on how scene number file names advance. So you could select numeric or character options. Character option: Scene1 -> Scene1A ... Scene1Z -> Scene1AA -> Scene1AB, etc. Or a simple numeric option: Scene1 -> Scene2 ... Scene9999.
Trim ganging: You can now gang multiple tracks together and control their gain with a single potentiometer. Handy when you need to quickly adjust the gain on multiple channels at the same time while setting up.
And a few others:
- Change next track name
- Change previously recorded track names
- Show track names on level meter screen
- Take name format options
- Adjust the L/R track volume
- PFL solos tracks during playback
- Create sound reports
- Control shortcuts (e.g., show name of next track that will be recorded)
Nice work, Zoom! I was definitely disappointed when I found that the original firmware didn't let you use the pots as faders but you came through with much more than that!
Make Your Sound Loud in Premiere Pro CC 2015.1
Need a quicker, more efficient way to make the sound for your video projects loud and consistent? Premiere Pro CC 2015.1 has a new audio loudness normalization feature which can make this quick and easy. In this episode we review why you should loudness normalize your audio for video projects and how to quickly do it when exporting your video from Premiere Pro CC.
Tascam DR-701D Audio Recorder Review
If you like to capture the best sound for your video and film projects and you’re a solo or small crew operation, you might find the Tascam DR-701D to be a nice piece of gear. The recorder has 4 XLR/TRS inputs as well as a 3.5mm stereo mini jack input and can record 4 tracks plus a stereo mix at the same time. The build quality is a very nice step up from Tascam’s previous recorders with its magnesium alloy body. It also has some really useful and unique features like the ability to receive timecode from DSLR and mirrorless cameras via HDMI input and the ability to start recording when you press record on your camera.
We also spend several minutes comparing the DR-701D to the Zoom F8, another recorder targeted at independent and small crew filmmakers. One thing I ran out of time to include in the video is that the Tascam does not appear to have the ability to solo an input/track so that's another consideration if that feature is important to you.
Overall, this is a great little recorder for solo and small crew film and video making crews.
Recorder Rendezvous: Special Pricing on Audio Recorders
B&H has an Audio Recorder special pricing event going December 11th and 12th they call Recorder Rendezvous. If you're in the market for a recorder, there appear to be some nice deals worth checking out:
Tascam DR-70D and RODE NTG2 package with all the accessories you'll need (SD card, XLR cable, 3.5mm cable, batteries) for $499.
The good old Zoom H1 can be had for $69. This is still a great option to use in lieu of wireless lavalier systems when you're on a tighter budget. This and the Countryman B6 made an impressive combination in my tests.
One little item that caught my eye that I'd like to try is the Tascam DR10X (in this package with a Senal Reporter's mic) for $199. This is a tiny audio recorder you plug onto the end of a mic and it records the audio to SD or microSD card. Could be interesting to create a "wireless" boom mic with this. (Yes, in the photo they show a RODE mic but the package actually includes a Senal mic).
Sync Audio to Video in FCPX
Sync Sound or Double System Sound is when you record your video with your camera and record your audio to a separate audio recorder. The question is, how to you put them together? In this episode we show you how to sync them together using three separate options in Final Cut Pro X. It’s easy no matter which way you do it!
The three methods we cover here are automatic, manually syncing with a clap, and using timecode. I was excited to do this with timecode for the first time using my Panasonic GH4 and the Tascam DR-701D which I have on loan for a review from B&H Photo. Can't wait to finish up the review on that, it's a great new recorder for solo shooters. What's cool is that you don't even need that wonky interface unit for the GH4 to make this work--all done with a simple HDMI feed from the camera to the recorder.
