60d for sound

I just bought a 60D together with a H4N, Sennheiser Wireless ep112p-g3 and the Rode Videomic.
My Plan is to record both microphones directly to the 60D so I don't have to sync sound later in post. I'm trying to achieve this with the help of the H4N looping the sound through to the mic input of the 60D.

My setup is as follows:
H4N set to stereo Recording

H4N Port 1: Rode Videomic, connected through a TRS to TS Adapter (converts the fake stereo signal of the rode back to mono so that you can use the H4N with the rode through the XLR port)
H4N Port 2: Sennheiser Wireless

Headphones out of H4N connected to a Y Splitter:
Output 1 connects the H4N out with the Mic In of the 60D.
Output 2 goes to the Headphones to Monitor the Sound

Even though I disabled AGC in the 60D the recorded audio sounds rather bad (only in 60D not the one recorded by H4N). I suspect this to be the problem of a missing line input of the 60d. The mic input gets preamplified which is already done by the H4N.
Any tips on this to improve sound quality of the 60D?
 
Last edited:
I think you've missed the point with this post - whatever happens, you willl need to sync the H4N sound to the canon pictures in post - because the canon pre-amp introduces an objectionable hiss, whatever the microphone source. Fullstop. No way round it. Finito.
 
60D audio = Hiss. It's not what you need for good audio. Resign yourself to the fact that you need to do second system audio when using consumer video cameras.
 
Chadfish said:
60D audio = Hiss. It's not what you need for good audio. Resign yourself to the fact that you need to do second system audio when using consumer video cameras.
Click to expand...
I don't want to! There will be a way! ;)
Lets see how usable the sound can get... will do some testing tonight!
 
mr bill said:
I think you've missed the point with this post - whatever happens, you willl need to sync the H4N sound to the canon pictures in post - because the canon pre-amp introduces an objectionable hiss, whatever the microphone source. Fullstop. No way round it. Finito.
Click to expand...

Actually, if using something like the H4n as a preamp, you can pretty much eliminate the hiss entirely. Its not hard, and JuicedLink actually sells preamps that can attach to the bottom of the camera.

Seriously- there's too many of you guys not trying this.

Check out the real-world testing this guy does:
http://vimeo.com/5388476
 
You're right dishe, it looks like you can get decent audio on a DSLR, but in your linked video Jon did it with a juicedlink preamp going into a 5D, or an H4N. He didn't use the H4N, which has only so-so preamps itself, as a preamp for a DSLR. I don't think putting crap in front of crap is the answer. The 'magic bullet' in his videos was the JuicedLink going into whatever recorder (H4N, 5D, Microtrack, etc).
 
Chadfish said:
You're right dishe, it looks like you can get decent audio on a DSLR, but in your linked video John did it with a juicedlink preamp going into a 5D, or an H4N. He didn't use the H4N, which has only so-so preamps itself, as a preamp for a DSLR. I don't think putting crap in front of crap is the answer. The 'magic bullet' in his videos was the JuicedLink going into whatever recorder (H4N, 5D, Microtrack, etc).
Click to expand...

Yes, you just need to be sending a "hot" signal into the mic jack to get decent audio and no hiss. Magic Lantern helps because I believe you can set the analog vs digital gain on the camera (which you might not be able to do on the 60d I guess), but even without that you can get decent audio with a little amplification before going in.

You can even use the H4N as a meager amp to then go into the DSLR. I haven't tried this, but I think it would work... heck, John even says that using a sennheisser wireless lav receiver is enough to send a slightly hot signal and not need any other preamps (I intend to try this soon).

The biggest issue for me, however, is the lack of monitoring headphones since I'm using a t2i. Even with ML, you can't monitor live audio.
The Juicedlink amp has an option for a headphone monitor, which would be awesome, but some people like to hear it directly out of the camera to make sure you hear EXACTLY the way it is being recorded.

I suppose if I have a very important shoot that I can't afford to do over if the sound doesn't come out right, I'll use an external recorder or something. I hope ML manages to get the audio out working on the t2i, though. That would be great.
But, meanwhile my point is that you can certainly get good audio and not worry about sync in post.
 
Last edited:
good to hear dishe! i will use the h4n as backup and otherwise go with the looped through signal!

btw cant you use monitoring with th t2i and ML? apparently it breaks usb functionality though ( but who cares?)
 
Chad fish. After much time that has passed since we talked back and forth on this 60d audio usability issue I've come to the conclusion that it is plain better to just do it correctly and do a dual recording system then sync it in post. Can't agree with you more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top