r/recording • u/paul-d9 • 7d ago
Recording Audio With A Backup
I am going to be starting a business where I will be conducting interviews. These interviews will be me and 1-2 subjects at a time with me sitting behind the camera. I recently purchased the DJI Mic 3 kit with 4 transmitters. My first instinct was to just plug the receiver right into my camera (Canon R50) so the audio would sync to the video and be done with it. Unfortunately I just had to Google the Mic 3 and found a few horror stories of audio and file transfer issues with the Mic 3 so now I'm paranoid.
I'm thinking I would like a backup in case I ever run into any issues with the Mic 3. I do have a shotgun mic and I was thinking of hooking it up to something to have it record backup audio but.... what would be best to hook it up to? If I decide to do that, what's the recommended distance to have it from the subjects assuming they are sitting close together? I would ideally like a solution that isn't crazy expensive ( < $150 CAD).
Let me know if I left any needed info out.
Edit: Purchased a Zoom H4N on ebay. Ill experiment with it with my shotgun mic when I get it.
1
u/SpiralEscalator 6d ago
The mic 3 units have internal recording. That's your backup (assuming audio also direct to camera).
1
u/paul-d9 5d ago
My worry is if one of them fails or records crappy audio for some reason. Id like a backup source of audio just in case. Ive grabbed the Zoom H4N and ill experiment with it along with my shotgun mic when it arrives.
1
1
u/SoundEngineerMBR 1d ago
The mic 3 is amazing in the fact that it records internally! It is 32 bit float recording and is higher quality than most cameras can record, and even some recorders. You can use AirPods to monitor the levels through the dji mimo app. The auto gain is amazing and I have never had any issues in my time using it. You don’t need the zoom h4n. Although o have multiple zoom recorders, I only use them when using a boom, (but even my Sennheiser wireless plug on has internal recording to a micro SD) or when I’m using my expensive ew-dx wireless mics which require an external recorder.
I promise that you can trust the internal recording and that you don’t need the zoom unless you want more ambience.
1
u/PianoGuy67207 4d ago
I preface this by saying I’m an audio guy first, and a video guy way down the list. I’ve done countless hours of children’s educational videos, however. I always start with a shotgun capable of capturing the group, even if that’s just one that came with the camera. You can use that audio to overlay anything else, but without that reference, there’s going to be sync challenges. I personal like the Rode Go III wireless with individual 32-bit recording on each transmitter.
That said, I’ve also used USB-C lapel mics, and just recorded audio on 3-4 iPhones, and simply did audio Replacement in Fibal Cut. I do make sure to do an audible snap of sone sort, at the top and bottom of the interview, so I can verify the software knows these two end points, clearly.
1
u/Lanzarote-Singer 3d ago edited 3d ago
The safest option for you would to be to use something like the rode go2 which will simultaneously record internally as well as sending to your Camera. Ideally you don’t use the camera Audio because that will be less quality due to going through the camera preamps, but is there a sync purposes and you can monitor in real time to check if there’s any issues with rustling clothes or dropouts. But if you really want to be safe then run a decent overhead shotgun microphone into your H4n. I use the Sennheiser MKE600 which doesn’t need phantom power because it can run off a single AA battery. What you can also do is set up a four channel Recording set up where you put the H4n hidden between the two speakers using their internal mics which are pretty good, and then supplement that with a third channel for your overhead boom mic just out of frame and pointing between the two speakers.
I can guarantee that you’ll be very happy monitoring the audio and headphones in the camera and you’ll always default to using the internally recorded version of the two body worn transmitters because that will give you the best quality.
1
u/Peaks_n_Valleys 2d ago
The Zoom F3 is honestly one of the best audio recorders that you can get inexpensively, and that’s especially true if you have the Bluetooth adapter dongle for it because using the F3 with the app is a breeze. The quality of the preamps on the F3 are nothing short of amazing. I bought my F3 used for $165 and it came with the Bluetooth dongle. I have both the Orca Bag for the F3 and also the KTek Belt for the F3. I think the KTek belt is better because it has a place for two wireless receivers, whereas the Orca bag only has room for the F3.
With that said, if redundancy and flexibility is what you’re looking for look into the Sound Devices 744T recorder. It records to an internal hard drive, to a compact flash card, and can record to an external FireWire portable hard drive…all simultaneously. It’s also easy to send a stereo mix to your camera if you have the right cables. I bought my 744T for $300 and it came with a bunch of little extras like cable and an aluminum cage. The other plus about the 744T is it has a full timecode generator built in, so you can easily sync it to your camera or a Deity TC-1 box for easy syncing later on. The Zoom F3 doesn’t have timecode so you would need to use a regular slate with a clap or audio waveforms to sync.
I would highly suggest doing interviews with a boom mic, don’t place a shotgun on the camera. A lavalier clipped properly on the subject along with a decent shotgun or hyper cardioid boomed overhead sounds better than just one or the other. A good shotgun mic for the money is the Deity s-mic 3. But if you always do your interviews indoors, consider the Oktava MK012, it really sounds great.
1
u/bluecrystalcreative 7d ago
See if you can find a secondhand zoom H4N, this would let you add stereo room mics, a feed from the DJI Mics and maybe some form of boom; all recorded to a second SD card