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Comparing Audio Systems


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I have two different systems for recording audio which are both run into the 3.5mm jack on my GH5 camera and I’m looking to get more recording systems. Before pouring a ton of money into additional expensive system systems, I want to make sure it makes the most sense for my application.

 

I will be recording natural sounds in the environment and I’m not using an audio recorder for the extra cost/complexity of syncing thousands of clips. What’s the best way to compare these microphones/systems? I’m guessing rather than playing various frequency sounds which could depend on my speaker quality, I should I just put them both in the field and record what I'll actually be studying to see if I can hear a difference between the two, or maybe even upload audio clips here. I’ll be recording video for a wildlife documentary but don’t know how big of a difference the audio quality will be between the two. It’s possible the internal GH5 audio recording quality might be so bad the nicer system won’t make a difference.

 

My system will be left in the field weeks at a time turning on and recording with motion and I will preset the levels when I leave the system out. 99% of the sound I expect is very quiet, literally crickets in the background, but occasionally I expect loud noises in front of the camera such as howling or barking. If I set level to record the quiet sounds I’m guessing I’ll be clipping for the really loud ones. If I set for loud I’m guessing the quiet ones will have too much noise when I bring the audio power up in post.

 

1)      The expensive Setup:

Diety S-Mic 2 with a Beachtek pre-amp

 

2)      The Cheap Setup

Rode VideoMic

 

 

1)      How best should I compare the audio from these systems (without an anechoic chamber or fancy equipment)?

 

2)      Is there a way to preset levels for mostly quiet but occasionally very loud nearby noises without compromising the quiet noises or the very loud ones?

 

3)       Do you think there will be a big difference in sound between the two systems, as in noticeable to a TV audience?

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You should post this query on the DVI or DVX forums. This is a pro PSM (production sound mixer) forum.. and a tough room if you are not an experienced pro audio person to begin with.

That said, those items are low budget items and most forum members here would not even consider them in a  primary audio chain.

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You might like to read the responses here, as your question is generally speaking at the same kind of level:

 

 

I'll make a couple of quick points though;

 

Syncing hundreds of clips can be done in a nanosecond if you use timecode. 

 

Nobody should be using a Beachtek with a GH5 in 2022, that doesn't make sense these days. You'd get a MixPre3 or the XLR1 instead. 

 

 

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On 5/9/2022 at 3:50 PM, IronFilm said:

You might like to read the responses here, as your question is generally speaking at the same kind of level:

 

 

I'll make a couple of quick points though;

 

Syncing hundreds of clips can be done in a nanosecond if you use timecode. 

 

Nobody should be using a Beachtek with a GH5 in 2022, that doesn't make sense these days. You'd get a MixPre3 or the XLR1 instead. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the link and to quote that post: 

"Wow! Well i didn't even know that this kind of top tier forums exist in the first place. Good to hear that. Now i understand and will adapt myself accordingly. 👍"

 

That's fair. I've spent a lot of time researching mics and preamps but my network is small and there's no way I can have time to even begin catching up to people on this forum. Man it's tough getting started, most of the time it feels like there's too much information out there, lots of conflicting reviews, opinions, etc...but that post has links to some good channels and I now follow them. I will post on other forums, continue to read here, and maybe look for someone I can bounce audio ideas off of. My day job is an electrical engineer so maybe someone in audio will want to bounce design ideas off me and we can both benefit.

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