GH4 audio bug discovered
- Thread starter tacotim
- Start date
I just did two battery run-down tests of my Fostex DC-R302 mixer/recorder with two phantom powered AT3031 mics plugged in with the gain set to Medium and the trim pot set to position 7 out of 10, which sounded great two feet from the mics, and I plugged in a pair of Sony 7506 headphones and adjusted the volume to what is comfortable monitoring for me. ( loud but not too loud )
With the two AT3031 mics and the headphones plugged in I was able to record for just over 4 hours, running from 4 AA Duracell NiMH rechargeables. ( recorded at 48 kHz 24-bit )
I repeated the same test with only one phantom powered mic plugged in and was able to record for 4 hours 20 minutes on 4 AA rechargeables. ( recorded at 48 kHz 24-bit )
I am guessing that with phantom switched OFF, you would likely see at least 6 hours of recording time while still monitoring with headphones.
This means that I can record while powering two phantom mics for an 8 hour day using just 8 AA rechargebles, which is definitely good enough for me.
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Hey Dingo,
Do you know if different mics would use different amounts of current, or enough to be significant?
Grant
Yes, I know that different mics use different amounts of current. Most of my mics are Audio-Technica ( AT3031, AT4053b, AT875R ) and the Sennheiser MKE600, which I think are all pretty efficient in terms of their power draw.
If battery life was a big issue, I would use one of the Sony NPF battery adapters because the generic Sony NPF-970 batteries are quite cheap and store a lot of power compared to AA batteries.
Ed Kishel
Veteran
I think I read somewhere else that the TRRS adapter was tried and did not remedy it. Anyone else try this?
Dave Dugdale's take on this issue: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0--T04MgUYo
Hopefully Rode comes out with some sort of adapter that would fix the issue.
Hopefully Rode comes out with some sort of adapter that would fix the issue.
Ed Kishel
Veteran
Glad to see this. Adam Wilt's review also talks about the audio issue. The more high profile reviewers/bloggers who bring attention to this the more Panasonic will take it seriously. By the way- I noticed that the thread about this is gone on Panasonic's Facebook page. Interesting...
Erik Naso
Veteran
I finally was able to duplicate the issue with the Rode VideoMic Pro. The good news is the Rode Lavalier doesn't have the issue so hopefully something can be figured out. I also noticed the issue is almost gone if the Rode VideoMic pro is set to 0db. and the camera is set to around -12db. I did some testing and posted it on my blog.
I also concur that the Panasonic DMW-MS2 is not as good as the Rode Videomic Pro. And thanks for those settings. I'll give those a go!
Ed Jeffersen
Active member
I watched your video - thank you for posting it. The amped guitar and ambient noise mask the problem. An acoustic instrument or voice in a quiet room is a different story. Yes, I have better options for critical audio recordings, but not everybody does.
Chadfish, this is not directed at you or any other individual here. This is a real problem that exists and we should not accept nor suggest excuses and work-arounds as solutions. It's no different than saying "use more light" when the image is noisy.
Panasonic blew it, and should step up and fix this. All I expect is the totally usable and trouble free audio reproduction the GH3 provides. Then and only then will I be happy.
BTW I still see it on Facebook...
https://www.facebook.com/Panasonic/...fset=0&total_comments=16¬if_t=feed_comment
https://www.facebook.com/Panasonic/...fset=0&total_comments=16¬if_t=feed_comment
Ed Kishel
Veteran
Yikes- you're right. Although it wasn't like this before- you have to be logged in to see the posts. My bad- sorry Panny....
Erik Naso
Veteran
I asked the question and Panasonic answered it. I'm sure others did too. I updated my blog with what Panasonic's response is to the audio issue. He says that the GH4's 3.5 mini input is designed for the Panasonic DMW-MS2 Stereo Shotgun Microphone that uses this configuration. It allows the GH4 to make setting changes in the menu on how you want to use this particular mic. It' has several options. The 3.5 mini on the shotgun is as follows.
TIP-RING-RING-SLEEVE
Most 3.5 mini's are
TIP-RING-SLEEVE
This is causing a grounding issue. He says they are still looking into it for a fix. This is pretty much the same info that was stated on the Facebook thread so nothing really new but at least they discussed it. Has anyone tried an adapter? Not even sure how to ask or google one.
TIP-RING-RING-SLEEVE
Most 3.5 mini's are
TIP-RING-SLEEVE
This is causing a grounding issue. He says they are still looking into it for a fix. This is pretty much the same info that was stated on the Facebook thread so nothing really new but at least they discussed it. Has anyone tried an adapter? Not even sure how to ask or google one.
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