Rode video mic... Can you change settings?

G

gutterball321

Well-known member
I've seen in some videos people say if you are plugging mics like the videomic by rode it is best to set it to +20 then you can turn down the audio in the camera reducing camera made noise. Is this right? And how do you change the setting on a rode videomic, there isn't an actual switch and you can't push on the button while the mic is ok bc the battery is in the way.


So in short, what's the best way to get audio with the rose videomic plugged into a gh4?
 
As far as I know, only the Rode VideoMic Pro has a +20 gain setting. I believe that is on a switch on the back of the mic.

Other Rode mics, especially older mics, may have a switch in the battery compartment to change the gain. But I don't believe any have the +20 dB gain setting.


From Rode:


For VideoMic:

A -10dB and -20dB level attenuation (or PAD), selectable from inside the battery compartment, allows recording of loud sound sources, such as live music or motorsport.​


For VideoMic Pro:


Easily accessible on the rear face of the microphone are the power, filter and level controls. In addition to the microphone's native 40Hz-20kHz response a selectable high-pass filter at 80Hz is available, which will prevent low end noise such as air conditioners and traffic from being recorded.​
​
Below these controls are the level settings, which attenuate or boost the recorded level as required. The -10dB level attenuation (or PAD) is ideal for recording loud sound sources, such as live music, motorsport, or interviews where the subject is very close to the camera. The +20dB level boost is designed for use with DSLR cameras, allowing the user to reduce the camera's preamp level (or mic-input level), effectively reducing the amount of noise generated by the camera's comparatively low quality audio circuitry.​



If the mic that you have doesn't have enough "power". you may need to use a portable recorder - such as a Zoom H1, H2n, H4n, Tascam D40, Tascam D60, etc. - to get sufficient volume to pass into the camera without turning up the cameras amps. Then you can use the cleaner sound from the recorder to sync up with the in-camera sound in post.

Good luck!

Michael
 
Thanks I get good audio when I can get the mic up close but have to turn it up in camera and get some noise when more than a couple feet away. For bigger shoots I normally use my ntg-2 to my tascam dr-40 (which has even more problems) or my video mic to my zoom h1.

i just saw these settings where the battery goes but had no idea how to change those settings or why they would be there if you couldn't change them. Weird
 
The gain switch setting would be dependent on the source SPL. Obviously on a low-talker, you would want a lot of gain, opposed to a 115dB SPL rock band where one would want a lot less.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top