AG-HCK10 & AG-HMR10 question

P

pgovotsos

Member
Hello,

Don't know if this is the best place to ask about this combo, but nothing else makes sense. Mod - please move to appropriate forum if necessary.

My wife and I are looking at this to use in her therapy office to record sessions for supervision. It looks like it will just fit the bill. We can get 2 of the heads and mount them in each room and connect the recorder to the head in use.

Our one concern is the audio quality of the built-in microphone in the head since there doesn't seem to be any way to connect an external mic.

Does anyone have any experience with this combo or know of any links to someplace that might be able to help.

The heads will be placed in a 10' x 16' room in the corner near the ceiling aimed downwards.

Audio is a real important concern so that the supervisor can hear, and not just see, what's going on. If the microphone onboard stinks, is it possible to use some kind of mic plugged into the audio input of the HMR10? It looks like the only audio input it has is 3.5mm. What are the length limits for that - the camera and head will be about 40' apart (using the 65' cable)? If I have to use an external mic, I assume I'd have to use a mic with (mini)XLR connector by the head and a XLR to 3.5mm adaptor by the recorder. I'd have to get a mic that can be AC powered because the mic / head will be up high and not easily accesible so will be plugged in at all times.

Sorry if this is a bit rambly. Thanks for any help.

Panagiotis Govotsos
 
If audio is really a concern, I wouldn't use the built in mics. In that location its going to pick up every sound in the room and going to be hard to get good levels on the speech with all the room noise. Best thing would be a wireless LAV of course, or shotgun mic pointing at the subjects.

Long audio cables should be balanced (XLR) so you dont get any added noise in your line. But even if you can't, a 3.5mm cable with the right mic will be better then the built in mics from what I am thinking...

Getting an audio XLR recorder or mixer with phantom power will both give your mic power via ac adapter, and have a 3.5 out to your camera.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'd love to be able to use a wireless mic, but since this is supposed to be unobtrusive recording, I can't really do that. Because of the width of the space we're monitoring, I'm not sure if a shotgun wouldn't have too narrow of a pickup area.

I'm really surprised that with everything that Panasonic seems to have done with this system, they don't provide for an external mic.

Thanks,
Panagiotis
 
According to the image on B&H, it does have a 3.5mm mic jack on the recorder itself. Perhaps a boundary mic might work in this situation, they use them in boardrooms on the table to pick up multiple speakers a lot of times, and it would be unobtrusive.
 
Yes, on the recorder there's a 3.5mm jack, but it's going to be in another room (~40 feet). I doubt a 3.5mm cable can maintain a clean signal over that distance. What would you suggest as a mic that can be AC powered (it's too high to be easily accessed to change batteries) with an xlr that I can adapt at the recorder to 3.5mm.

Of course the best answer would be if someone has experience with this system and could report on the performance of the built in mic.
 
It's actually no problem, especially if you use an XLR adapter (juicedlink or similar) and XLR mic. Heck, i've used my shotgun with a 20' 3.5mm headphone extension cable and adapter as well as 50ft via xlr to my minijack cam.
 
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