Tell Me What You Think About This New Microphone

[Tony]

As I state in the video, any money that comes to RCH I try to keep in RCH. So with a recent payment that I received, I purchased a new wireless mic for use in all of the videos. Last weekend, I listened to one of my videos with earphones in and the echo and hollow, far away sound of the video was quite annoying. It was then that I started searching for a new microphone to use in the videos.

I got a hell of a deal on it (about 80% off) so I ordered it. In the video below I test without the new mic, and with. I did say it "over attenuates" when I meant it over modulates, sorry about that.

But watch the video and turn up the volume so that you can hear everything. I don't do any yelling and I never go into the red on my mic bar, so it won't blow out your eardrums lol. The thunder however, I can't speak on that part lmao. I also turn on the low level filter so that you can hear that as well. I don't like it at all, makes me sound all nasaly and horrible sounding.

Let me know what you think.

Rc-Help's New Microphone. Tell Me What You Think - YouTube

 

[RandyDSok]

The built in mic... has a nice natural sound to it... not the best but not bad by any means.


The lapel mic... does have a fuller sound but the part, that is over modulated as you say, is somewhere close to the 500hz - 700Mhz area I suspect which can make things sound a little "boomy".

If the lapel mic is a plug in type... no problem... use it and then at some point you can get a different mic for the transmitter. If not, another way to address it is with an inline EQ on the receiver end ... I prefer a parametric but they are expensive and many people are intimidated by them... a little 10 band graphic should also work fine and would certainly be cheaper and easier to find.

I think the convenience that it will bring will certainly over come the minor sound issues.

 

[Tony]

No worries on the mic Randy, I have another one on the way. I watched some reviews on this setup, as well as the Sony mic and I decided to go ahead and upgrade. This is a 'plug in' system so I can change the mic, and thankfully this setup has phantom power so it will power the Sony mic. And, the Sony mic has a left and right channel (stereo) which I think would be better for flight videos. Well, for those that have good sound on their computers lol.

The new mic that I'm talking about is the Sony ECMCS3. It's not that expensive, but it's by far the best mic you can get for the money. It's worth a shot anyway. I did think ahead though and I ordered not only the Sony mic, but I also ordered the adapter to plug it into the transmitter (a 4 pin to 3 pin adapter) But I also ordered a 25' extension cable for the mic just in case the wireless didn't work with the Tx. Those pieces should be here next week unfortunately. I hate Amazon shipping. Took them 5 days to ship this crap.

But I'm getting ready to go out to the studio and do another comparison video where I will be shooting the videos. I think the difference will be more drastic out there seeing as the camera is about 8' away from me when I'm shooting. Video to come.

 

[Tony]

Okay guys, here is the actual test out in the studio where I did 4 different tests. In the beginning of the video I say 3 tests, but it turned out to be 4. The tests are, stock camera mic, wireless lapel without low level filtering, wireless lapel mic with low level filtering, and the lapel mic with an external recording device.

The external recording device is a pain in the ass because not everything records at the exact same speed. I was perfectly lined up in the beginning, but by the end of the video I was two frames off audio to video. Not a big deal, but more time editing and getting everything perfect.

And yes, I can use the new Sony mic on the phone as I did in this video. I'm thinking about using something else though other than my iphone. There are some pretty good apps out there for android that I may try out.

so have a watch and let me know what one you like best.

https://youtu.be/7USZXilQf2A

 

[trainrider06]

the wireless with low level lapel filter sounds the best IMO.
Hey you should do a flight video like one of those corny Kung Foo movies where the voices don't match and are outta sink, as well as over loud sound effects....haha
When the heli takes off dub in a real heli sound affect LOL when you walk around dub in like a crunching sound.....that'd be funny as hell!

 

[Tony]

And take an enormous amount of time to edit and render lmao. I will shoot it, you edit and render it lmao.

And really? The wireless with low level filtering ON is your choice? Wow. I didn't see that coming. IMO, the external recording device sounds the best, but is the biggest pain in the butt to do (again, more editing and rendering).

I will shoot a video with low level filtering ON and see how people like it. The video showing the SE V2 was with the filter OFF. Just FYI.

 

[RandyDSok]

The "boomyness" was location specific... ie the room you were in during that session... contributing to that issue... There is a bit more gain than the camera mic but not in the 500-700hz range... it's closer to the 1000hz ( 1kz ) perhaps a little lower but not a lot... a spectrum analyzer could identify exactly where but what's important is what you and the people like... no matter where that is actually at.

The external mic was still better sounding than the camera and I preferred it with the low pass filter OFF... it really made a big difference when you were recording in different locations. I didn't notice enough of a difference in the quality when using the external recording device but...

Using an external recorder does give you another option if you wish... you can then EQ the sound ( or apply any effect even ) on a PC using software like Audacity or WavePad if you chose. This would also allow you to keep the audio in sync but it'd be a pain still.


Personally... I'd use the lapel mic as is... then the Sony when you get it ( since it'll likely be more neutral sounding )... and only use the external recorder for certain situations where that brings something to the table on your side of making the final production. Your wireless trans/receiver don't appear to coloring the sound one way or the other.


I'm I the only one that wanted to say.... thats not a mic plug... this ( shaking a 1/4" banana plug in the air ) is a mic plug ...

 

[Tony]

Technically a 'mic' plug is the 3/4" 4 pin lol.

So we are 1 to 1 on the pass filter on or off.

I will wait until I get the Sony mic and see how that one sounds before "I" make a determination on what I like. Then I will make another video to see what everyone thinks.

 

[RandyDSok]

The XLR plug came out later after the 1/4" ( on mic's ) ... and they are typcially 3 pin plus the outer shield ( ground ) but can have up to 7 pins.

3 pins are what most mics use... the advantage is that it allows a balanced electronic circuit. A 4 pin plug is typical when also using an intercom headset. Another advantage they brought is they can also deliver phantom power for condenser mics so they didn't require an internal battery.

 

[murankar]

Personally I like it with out the low pass on. I had to use my earphones to really hear any good audio (Sennheiser noise canceling over the ear). With my earphones the low pass filter off was just fine. Then again my hearing is bad.

As for audio recording I like audacity myself. Its a great free option that works on windows. You get all the control you may need. In fact a few of the videos I shot while in PA were done on a wired lapel mic and recorded in audacity. I too used the clap method to line up the audio.

 

[Tony]

Here is a quick test of the stock mic vs the new Sony mic. I also did some adjusting of the audio settings on each of the devices (camera and Rx) and I got rid of most of the hiss. Let me know what you think.

https://youtu.be/mEY3haNBWAo

 

[trainrider06]

The filter off sounds pretty good Tony, better than with it on, but what about like being outside or something? How does it sound then?? If your just gonna use it for inside it might be ok, but maybe outside would be a different story??

 

[Tony]

I need to order wind socks for it, that is if I can even get them to fit on it. I'm thinking this whole order was a bust. But we will find out if/when I get the stuff to get these FPV videos going. From the looks of it though, it's going to be a while. Was hoping this would kick off this weekend, but nothing has showed up.

 

[RandyDSok]

I'm still a no vote on the low pass filter...

The gain on the original mic is a little higher... but the Sony has a flatter response. So each mic has their own advantages. Having the extra gain means the mic is more sensitive. Having a flat response means the mic isn't coloring the source... A recording engineer is going to look for a flatter response since they can EQ what they want it to sound like easier. Since the advantages each mic has are a wash... again pick the one you prefer to work with.

As for the recording level... just hitting the reds and going slightly over on the meters is fine. Use your ear to judge where the clipping is actually at and then the meters to base where you are once you know where that point is. Also, just like taking pics and you are adjusting black/white levels... just a little clipping on the bottom end is ok but you don't want any clipping on the top end.

 

[Tony]

Just went outside, and actually turned the gain down on the camera, and it was still over modulating but without hitting any high yellow or reds. I think it was trying to make up for the very loud birds and my AC that was running back there. Going to need more testing. But you are right, the stock mic has a higher gain than the Sony. I noticed that when I edited that last video. Just need to find that happy medium.

 

[RandyDSok]

Oh don't say modulation with mic in the same sentence...

Now I'm getting all nostalgic thinking of the Browning Gold Eagle ( tube type ) CB with a Silver Eagle D104 mic that I once had... talk about some sweet modulation...

I can almost still hear the ka-chunk of the mic switch...