Topic: Microphone options for DSLR

[aaronji]

Does your camera have a microphone input (that's what it said in the original post) or a line input (or both)?  With a mic input you won't need a pre, only something to power the mics.  That may also be the case for a line input if you are recording loud shows.   

[Temple]

It has a mic input but the cameras pre as with most cameras are pretty lame. Lots of background noise and other issues. I am really surprised more people have not chimed in with mic ideas...

[fguidry]

Not sure if this has been covered before but I am having a hard time finding much online about quality microphone options for a DSLR setup. Hope this is not far out of the realm of this forum.

I am trying to put together a live concert video recording set with a quality microphone. So far I have a DSLR that has a microphone input. I am looking into pre options now and have found a very inexpensive one that is called the iRig Pre. It has 48v phantom power and has a single XLR  microphone option. I will be recording in smaller music venues which get pretty loud so I will also need a mic that can take higher SPL. These recordings will be within a few feet of the stage and typically have a fair amount of ambient noise from people talking. Any input on a microphone that would work well with this setup would be great! I am also open to other pre ideas but they would have to be pretty compact and semi low cost. I have heard the iRig Pre and it does a pretty great job for its price...Thanks.

What DSLR? Does it have audio input level control? Auto-level? What max signal can this ?stereo? mic input handle.

Have you heard of Juicedlink?

Are you sure you need a condenser and P48? How about a nice flat dynamic? Through an unbalancing transfomer and mono to stereo connection and straight into the DSLR mic pre?

Any input on a mic for this setup would be great. I have pretty much decided on the irig pre. This is one mic that I found while looking around that might be a good fit. Oktava MC012

How will you mount the mic? Are you prepared to deal with handling noise? If the mic will be hand-held an MC012 is not a good choice.

Is there much of a difference between the two AT mics? Wonder if one would be better for high SPL events and would match up better with the irig pre. Thanks

What aspect of the mic and pre do you anticipate needing matching? Have you checked the max SPL ratings of the mics you're considering? That's one of the most commonly published specs and possibly one of the most accurately tested. Audio Technica publishes excellent specs at their site.

AT4041: http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/b43bffe4d4295274/
I find no listing for AT4031 at their site and a search returned no result as well.
http://www.audio-technica.com/cgi-bin/product_search/all/prod.pl

It has a mic input but the cameras pre as with most cameras are pretty lame. Lots of background noise and other issues. I am really surprised more people have not chimed in with mic ideas...

Since any outboard pre you add to this recording chain will go through the "lame" camera pre, I fear that your mic choice will not be the limiting factor in your recording.

There are many mics designed to be used with camera inputs. There are a number of single-point stereo mics at many different price and performance levels. Some of these would likely give a better result than any of the mics you've mentioned so far.

Have you tried taking your DSLR into the environment you plan to record? I would think that a basic proof of concept would start by shooting a show with nothing more than the on-board camera mic. From there you can identify problems that arise and come up with tools and techniques to address those issues.

Conscientious folks would probably only offer recommendations based on their actual experience, and I'm willing to bet that no one has any experience feeding a P48 SDC through an iRig Pre into a DSLR at the front of the stage.

Fran

[Temple]

I have not picked up anything at this point. I will try testing out the camera with the onboard mics to see how that works first.

[Temple]

Answers are inline.

Not sure if this has been covered before but I am having a hard time finding much online about quality microphone options for a DSLR setup. Hope this is not far out of the realm of this forum.

I am trying to put together a live concert video recording set with a quality microphone. So far I have a DSLR that has a microphone input. I am looking into pre options now and have found a very inexpensive one that is called the iRig Pre. It has 48v phantom power and has a single XLR  microphone option. I will be recording in smaller music venues which get pretty loud so I will also need a mic that can take higher SPL. These recordings will be within a few feet of the stage and typically have a fair amount of ambient noise from people talking. Any input on a microphone that would work well with this setup would be great! I am also open to other pre ideas but they would have to be pretty compact and semi low cost. I have heard the iRig Pre and it does a pretty great job for its price...Thanks.

What DSLR? Does it have audio input level control? Auto-level? What max signal can this ?stereo? mic input handle.

**The camera has mic level control. Putting the level at 1 notch above 0 should defeat the internal pre of the camera.

Have you heard of Juicedlink?  **Yes and a little more than I want to lay out for a pre.

Are you sure you need a condenser and P48? How about a nice flat dynamic? Through an unbalancing transfomer and mono to stereo connection and straight into the DSLR mic pre?

**Can you give me some ideas of a good flat dynamic that can handle an SPL around 125db?

Any input on a mic for this setup would be great. I have pretty much decided on the irig pre. This is one mic that I found while looking around that might be a good fit. Oktava MC012

How will you mount the mic? Are you prepared to deal with handling noise? If the mic will be hand-held an MC012 is not a good choice.

**Mic will be mounted on the hot shoe of the camera.

Is there much of a difference between the two AT mics? Wonder if one would be better for high SPL events and would match up better with the irig pre. Thanks

What aspect of the mic and pre do you anticipate needing matching? Have you checked the max SPL ratings of the mics you're considering? That's one of the most commonly published specs and possibly one of the most accurately tested. Audio Technica publishes excellent specs at their

**I have checked the max SPL and that is the reason why I came up with the mics I had listed.

AT4041: http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/b43bffe4d4295274/
I find no listing for AT4031 at their site and a search returned no result as well.
http://www.audio-technica.com/cgi-bin/product_search/all/prod.pl

**If you look at the link I posted above you will find the info on the AT4031. Maybe it was a misprint on that site.

It has a mic input but the cameras pre as with most cameras are pretty lame. Lots of background noise and other issues. I am really surprised more people have not chimed in with mic ideas...

Since any outboard pre you add to this recording chain will go through the "lame" camera pre, I fear that your mic choice will not be the limiting factor in your recording.


There are many mics designed to be used with camera inputs. There are a number of single-point stereo mics at many different price and performance levels. Some of these would likely give a better result than any of the mics you've mentioned so far.

**Can you give me a couple models that you know of? What makes you think that these mics would be better than what I had listed?

Have you tried taking your DSLR into the environment you plan to record? I would think that a basic proof of concept would start by shooting a show with nothing more than the on-board camera mic. From there you can identify problems that arise and come up with tools and techniques to address those issues.

**Good idea and that is what I plan on doing. I had done some testing yesterday and found the onboard mics to be of very low quality and that might also have to do with the onboard pre.

Conscientious folks would probably only offer recommendations based on their actual experience, and I'm willing to bet that no one has any experience feeding a P48 SDC through an iRig Pre into a DSLR at the front of the stage.

**Agree...

Fran

[2manyrocks]

I doubt the practicality of capturing good audio with any mic mounted to a DSLR camera from the standpoint that a desirable location from which to record audio at a concert is typically not a desirable place for shooting video or photos.  Either someone is in the way of the camera, making noise, or it's the wrong place to shoot around something in the way of a good photo, and on and on. 

Having said all this, I'll partly eat my own words by saying there's a guy on Gearslutz named JoelPatterson who has put up some interesting walk around video/audio shoots he has done with a DSLR on a steadycam rig he made using a Tascam DR-05 as his audio recorder.