GH2 How do you guys handle your audio?

E

ecd

Member
I'm trying to figure out the best way to record my audio with the GH2. Right now I've got a Rode VideoMic but with no headphone jack on the GH2 I can't monitor my audio during the shoot which is important to me. I've been reading up on getting something like a Tascam external recorder and hooking up my Rode mic to that.

All I really want is to be able to monitor my audio through headphones during a shoot but also record the audio straight to the sd card with the video and not seperately. I'm entering a 24hr film fest in Feb and the last thing I need is headaches caused by syncing issues. Can anyone shed some light with their setups?
 
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I have the tascam dr 100. Its light, easy to use, and I get great audio...but of course I have to sync in post. I recently have been using the Beachtek 5DA with a a wireless LAV. This gives me the option to use my wireless lav which are XLR, to go right into the camera onto the card....no need for syncing. The Beachtek also has onboard monitoring, and AGC disabled. Although I guess this is technically "less quality" then the Tascam.....it sure did save A LOT of time with my footage that was over 5 hours of interviews.

Hope this helps.

Ryan
 
For interviews and documentary style work, I'm not a fan of dual-system audio. But that lack of monitoring is an issue that has concerned me when using the GH2 for that sort of work. Magic Lantern supports the ability to monitor via headphones if you are using a Canon camera, but sadly no hack like this exists for the GH series at the moment (this is one of the reasons I still keep around a Canon as well, but that's a whole different story).

What you could do is use a headphone splitter, have one channel going into the camera from the mic, and the other going into a headphone amp (like a cheap fiio for $20) and then to your headphones. The problem is, you can't be absolutely certain the the audio going into the camera is exactly what you are hearing. The best way to monitor audio is from the last link on the chain obviously (in this case the camera), since there is still the chance that the connection to the camera will be weak and/or the camera's pre-amp clipping or recording too low.

What I have seen people do, however, is run the mic into a recorder, and then take the line out from there and run it into a headphone splitter that also goes into the camera. The idea is that you don't have to sync audio if all goes well, but if something goes horribly wrong you have a backup recording. You may need a -10db pad cable to bring the volume down far enough to not overload the mic input on the camera.

But for more ideas/suggestions, I would recommend you poke around the audio sub section of the forum.
 
Rtwalker, I'm gonna check out that Tascam recorder. In my own research though I've come across this juicedlink preamp.

http://www.amazon.com/JuicedLink-Minijack-Camcorder-Preamplifier-Disable/dp/B004VG27IC

Seems like a good price and although I haven't seen too many reviews it seems like it does what I'm looking for and also gives me the option of adding an external recorder too. Has anyone used a preamp like this before? Are there any sort of issues in the field I should be watching out for?
 
ecd said:
Rtwalker, I'm gonna check out that Tascam recorder. In my own research though I've come across this juicedlink preamp.

http://www.amazon.com/JuicedLink-Minijack-Camcorder-Preamplifier-Disable/dp/B004VG27IC

Seems like a good price and although I haven't seen too many reviews it seems like it does what I'm looking for and also gives me the option of adding an external recorder too. Has anyone used a preamp like this before? Are there any sort of issues in the field I should be watching out for?
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1. This is not a recorder.
2. Most juiced link preamps are beneficial to get around limitations that plague Canon cameras (AGC disable, requiring a hot signal, etc). This was necessary on certain Canon cameras (especially the 7D), but not so much on the GH2, as their audio limiter works differently. In fact, pre-amping a signal such as the +20db gain on the rode video mic pro, already starts clipping the audio, so you are far better off NOT using one of these.
3. It offers you headphone monitoring, but you are no better off than a line splitter ($3-$5) and fiio headphone amp($10-$30) that I mentioned earlier.

If you want a backup recorder , the Tascam mentioned above is a nice option. I have one as well, and its about the same price as the JuicedLink amp, it seems. Another option is the Zoom H1.
 
Just got a Rode Video Mic Pro and not that much impressed with it on a GH2.

Feels like I'd rather have a Wireless Lav + XLR to 3.5mm jack setup going instead.

But, as far as monitoring goes and feeding straight into camera (syncing is old hat.. >:[ ) we may try Beachtek or similar. Wouldn't mind having a little extra bulk on camera, and definitely don't like syncing sound in post.

M. Gilden said:
What I have seen people do, however, is run the mic into a recorder, and then take the line out from there and run it into a headphone splitter that also goes into the camera. The idea is that you don't have to sync audio if all goes well, but if something goes horribly wrong you have a backup recording. You may need a -10db pad cable to bring the volume down far enough to not overload the mic input on the camera.

But for more ideas/suggestions, I would recommend you poke around the audio sub section of the forum.
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Never considered this. I have an H4N... will try it thanks.
 
I really like the dual system, personally. It's all I use, both for my low scale personal work and on larger TV shows. Having the audio untethered is a huge advantage in efficiency and freedom. For interviews I often get backup audio from the built in camera mics, though I've never had to use it. Mostly its the freedom of being untethered that works for me. Syncing is incredibly easy once you get used to it, it takes me about half a minute per clip.

I did try the dual recording system once, and it worked well, but again... untethered audio is awesome.
 
Kholi said:
Just got a Rode Video Mic Pro and not that much impressed with it on a GH2.
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It was a bigger deal on the Canon DSLRs because of the +20db gain. With magic lantern, I could turn down the camera's amps entirely to zero (both analog and digital, something the GH2 doesn't seem to be able to do), and feed a hot signal already preamplified, thereby avoiding both any kind of AGC / limiter and the weak preamps of the camera. The results were usually more than usable.

On the GH2, turning down audio levels as low as they go (1) is still not low enough to use the +20db preamp of the mic, so it really sounds similar to the regular rode video mic- or any other decent compact shotgun for that matter.
Phillip Bloom demoed using it in a crowded bar at night on a GH2, and I think his comment on it was something along the lines of it "sounding better than any mic of this size has any business sounding". ::shrug::
It works well enough that I use it, but don't have any other compact mics to compare it to.

Feels like I'd rather have a Wireless Lav + XLR to 3.5mm jack setup going instead.
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I could be wrong about this, but a lot of popular wireless lav systems (like the sennheiser Gx models) actually work over 3.5mm jacks. It comes supplied with a 3.5mm to XLR jack cable because most people are connecting to pro audio equipment. But when I first experimented with switching from full sized cameras to DSLR video, I remembered that the box also came with a standard straight 3.5mm male-to-male connector as well. Dug it up and plugged it in (then performed that test in my sig).

No adapters needed. Considering you'll also need a 2.5mm adapter, the less adapters the better. :)

Cassius said:
I really like the dual system, personally. It's all I use, both for my low scale personal work and on larger TV shows. Having the audio untethered is a huge advantage in efficiency and freedom. For interviews I often get backup audio from the built in camera mics, though I've never had to use it. Mostly its the freedom of being untethered that works for me. Syncing is incredibly easy once you get used to it, it takes me about half a minute per clip.

I did try the dual recording system once, and it worked well, but again... untethered audio is awesome.
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There is merit to both methods depending on the situation. I wouldn't use either exclusively.
 
If portability and ease of setup are important factors, take a Zoom H2 and patch the output to your GH2. The H2 has four mics in one tiny box, and acts as a mic-preamp combo PLUS you can record to the card in case you want to. No cables and mics to attach, no big powering issues, etc, etc. The H2 has the best mics of the Zoom lineup, but no XLR inputs. The H2 is boomable, if need be, or can be used in the middle of a group with mics in different directions. IMHO better quality than most video mics, in a slightly larger box--but you have the option to backup or dualize your audio.
 
I did some simple tests earlier with my audio rig direct to camera.

Good audio gear into camera and it sounded WAY better than I expected.

Just for reference my chain was
Sanken COS11- Lectrosonics SMV/SRA - Sound Devices 552 - out the "mono" 3.5mm jack - a 3.5mm to 2.5mm adaptor cable I got for $1 on ebay

I had to run my 552 way lower than usual. Usually I'm running +8 to +12
which compressed the camera audio way too much. If I sent a signal at about -10
the signal was nice and clean.
Granted I was in a dead silent room so the onboard GH2 compression might sound out of wack in a noisier situation,
but for this completely unscientific test I was more than pleased at the results.
Would I want to trust it on a paying job? probably not. Less critical situations.. I think I could get totally useable sound
off this camera.

I'm going to be doing some interviews in the coming weeks with this. (while recording to the 552 as well).
I'll post the findings.
 
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I've used Sony wireless lavs (URXP1 receiver and UTXB1 transmitter) with my GH2 with good results. The URXP1 receiver has a 3.5mm monitor jack which I use with earbuds to monitor the audio. We've used Sennheiser wireless lavs too, but the receiver doesn't have a monitor jack, so I recommend the Sony. You just need to purchase the cable/adapters that get you from a locking 3.5mm to a 2.5mm plug.
 
Zxander34 said:
Rippie, how well does that .99 adapter work? Does it output stereo or mono?

Thanks.
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These adapters are stereo in and stereo out.
There are any types of any cable/adapters out there online so if these don't fit your needs just look around.
 
ecd said:
I'm trying to figure out the best way to record my audio with the GH2. Right now I've got a Rode VideoMic but with no headphone jack on the GH2 I can't monitor my audio during the shoot which is important to me. I've been reading up on getting something like a Tascam external recorder and hooking up my Rode mic to that. All I really want is to be able to monitor my audio through headphones during a shoot but also record the audio straight to the sd card with the video and not seperately. I'm entering a 24hr film fest in Feb and the last thing I need is headaches caused by syncing issues. Can anyone shed some light with their setups?
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I use a pair of good ole' Zoom h2's and Pluraleyes software for synchronizing. One h2 rigged next to camera and optionally another one near talent. Sometimes mounted on boom, sometimes otherwise hidden from camera. I usually monitor levels with headphones from the one next to camera. 24 bit wavs give me plenty to work with, if mics are positioned and gain levels are set somewhat correctly. These separate audiotracks allow me to mix ambient and near mic if needed, and I still have backup audio from camera. Xlr jacks, juicedlink preamps, lavs, shotgun mics and all that would be nice, but I personally don't want unnecessary distractions: light, composition and story are more important to me than messing around with lav transmitters, batteries and such. (Actually I might get a rode video mic going straight to gh2, that would give me more directional backup audio...)
 
Rippie said:
These adapters are stereo in and stereo out.
There are any types of any cable/adapters out there online so if these don't fit your needs just look around.
Click to expand...

I just bought one at radio shack that was mono but these sound good. Thanks.
 
I fussed around for 6 months with y-cables, separate recorders, yada yada. Nothing was streamlined enough for the somewhat run-and-gun shooting I wanted to be able to do, so eventually I simply bought one of these: http://www.beachtek.com/dxaslr.html A bit pricey, but instantly solved all my issues - I love it! I run 3.5mm self-powered lav mic into the 3.5mm input, and a XLR cable from my on-camera shotgun into the other channel (supplied with 48V phantom power from the Beachtek). If one or the other is not needed I pull that plug and switch the remaining signal to both channels. Monitoring with headphones, obviously. Feed a nice strong signal to the GH2, with its seneitivity cranked down two notches, and I have zero complaints about the onboard recording quality. Signal strength monitored on the GH2's LCD, plus a clipping-indicator LED on the Beacktek. Oh and it comes with its own 3.5mm to 2.5mm output cable. Highly recommended!
 
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