[Ty Ford]

Rodney, Ed, Erik, et al

A couple of things about mic to camera cables.

If you don’t have XLR inputs on your camera, 99% of the time that mini jack on your camera will be a stereo mini jack.

Basic Fact: Plugging a mono mic into a stereo jack doesn’t work.

Solution: Although a good mixer like the Sound Devices 302 would be my choice here. You can make it work with an adapter cable unless the mic requires Phantom Power.

You do not need a cable/adapter that changes impedance. The impedance of mics matches just fine to these camera inputs. “Matching”, by the way, does not mean having the mic impedance match the camera input impedance. It is quite normal for there to have a 50 Ohm impedance mic feed a 2k Ohm or higher camera impedance input.

The reason the impedance adapter devices have received attention is that some have the right physical connections. Some don’t. More below.

If Phantom Power is not an issue, there is one other issue. Some camcorders provide a low voltage to power certain electret mics and other things. This voltage can mess with any other mic you attach, compromising the audio. So, in this case, you need something to stop this voltage from getting to the camera.

The simple converter cable (female XLR to male mini TRS) will not work in this situation because you have mono source feeding a stereo input. HOWEVER, if the plugs are wired differently, it will work. To do that, pin #2 of the mic must connect with BOTH the tip and ring of the mini TRS plug on the other end of the cable. That way the mic audio feeds both left and right camera inputs.

There are cables wired that way, but not all of them have a small voltage blocking capacitor that blocks the camera voltage from getting into the mic. If your camcorder doesn’t generate the voltage at its mini TRS input, you may find a properly wired cable without the capacitor, BUT a standard female XLR to mini TRS male WILL NOT WORK. Only one that’s wired for mono to stereo will.

Here’s a link to Trew Audio’s solution. There are two cables. One for using one XLR mic. One for using two XLR mics. (You can not use Phantom Powered mics with these cables).

https://www.trewaudio.com/store/home.php?cat=21

Let’s be safe out there.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.

[Ty Ford]

Rodney,

You do NOT need an impedance matching cable.

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.

[Ty Ford]

What are you plugging it into? Are you feeding it Phantom Power?

Regards,

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.

[Ty Ford]

What he said.

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.

[Ty Ford]

What he said, pretty much.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.

[Ty Ford]

You’re hosed. People noise isn’t continuous or predictable enough to be removed by noise reduction algorithms unless you’re working on CSI-Miami. (which is, of course, fiction.)

Regards,

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.

[Ty Ford]

Without knowing more, it’s impossible to comment. Your Lectros may have been assigned frequencies on which there were already other mics or other things.

Lectro has a very strong rep. Sennheiser also makes better systems than their G2 series.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.

[Ty Ford]

“Capture quality audio from your computer” ???

I’m going to assume you want to record audio into your computer, not from it.

You need a good mic. An audio interface with a mic preamp. If you plan on a condenser mic, your interface will need to supply Phantom Power.

As Stephen also states, you need a nice quiet room with good acoustics.

I suggest firewire interfaces rather than USB interfaces, with the exception of the Rode Podcaster mic which has its own headphone jack. You may already have software that records audio. You can plug the Podcaster USB mic in and be on your way.

I have a more expensive and exotic rig, but it costs quite a bit more.

A simple Pro Tools LE system should do.

For more complicated audio, you should consider haveing two drives. One for system and applications and the other for media files.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.

[Ty Ford]

No. You are hosed.

If you had been wearing headphones, you would have heard the distortion while you were shooting.

The correct answer to the question, “When do you listen to the audio going to the camera?” is ALWAYS, followed by ALWAYS, after which just plain always.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.

[Ty Ford]

ou are correct, no PTFree.

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
Download Ty Ford’s “Existential Boogie” from iTunes now.