Sound for Video Session: What are Impedance and THD and Other Specs?

In this week's sound for video session, I talk through a couple of the specifications you often see listed for microphones, preamps, recorders and such: Impedance & Total Harmonic Distortion. We also talk about impedance bridging and what this means when choosing a microphone, recorder, mixer, or preamp.

Impedance Bridging article at Wikipedia.

Steve Hogan forum entry re: impedance bridging

Sound Reinforcement Handbook (2nd Edition), Davis & Jones

This episode shot/recorded with:

Lectrosonics PDR (Body Recorder with Timecode)
Lectrosonics HM172 Omnidirectional Headset Microphone
Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro Cinema Camera (the noise you hear in the background was the fan in this camera)
Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 ART Lens

Outro music licensed from Artlist: Midday Moon by Vikings in Tibet. Artlist provides high quality music tracks for your film and video projects. You can receive two months off an Artlist account by using our link.

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd

Sound for Video Session: Lav Mics, Recording to Phones, Presets in RX, Headphone Volume

This week we have a question and answer session. These are the questions submitted:
- Best lav mic for recording in very noisy environments?
- Best microphone for recording to phones?
- Universal presets in RX?
- What do I set my headphone volume to so that I can tell whether I’ve set the gain correctly?

Links to gear we discussed or used to record this session:
Countryman E6i Cardioid Ear Set Microphone:

RODE VideoMicro - miniature cardioid microphone you could use on a smartphone rig (with the adapter below)

RODE SC4 Adapter (Use the VideoMicro with your phone)

Aputure A.Lav Lavalier Microphone:

Previous Sessions where we’ve covered how to process dialogue audio in Izotope RX:

Izoope RX6 demo:

Reduce reverb with RX6:

Loudness normalization in RX:

Process dialogue demo with RX:

Clean up extreme noise in RX and Audition:

Electrovoice RE20 (recorded this session)

Antelope Audio Orion Studio Audio Computer Interface

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

Voice Technologies VT500 Lavalier Microphone: Pro Quality Lav

We’ve had several requests to spend some time looking at pro-level lavalier microphones. In this episode we take a quick look at and listen to the omni-directional VT500 lavalier from Voice Technologies, a Swiss microphone company. For reference, we also have some sound clips from the Sanken COS-11D lavalier, one of the very common lavalier mics used by pro location mixers for film and video. And we include samples with male and female voice.

I was really impressed with the VT500 with it’s unusual front facing capsule and found it’s audio quality to be very good and its form factor easy to hide. The foam windscreen is thoughtfully designed with hard plastic backing to prevent noise from rubbing against clothing, and the RF shielding worked nicely to avoid those annoying interference issues. There’s also a waterproof model for those recording more exciting pieces in or near water.

You can find our previous review of the Countryman B6 lavalier microphone here:

Links to Gear Discussed and Used to Record This Session:

Voice Technologies VT500 Omni-directional Lavalier Microphone

Voice Technologies VT500 O Eco (same microphone without the waterproof case or extended accessories and lower price)

Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro - for talking head shots. quite a lot of moire with this particular shirt

RODELink Wireless Lavalier Filmmaker Kit

Sennheiser EW 112p G3 Wireless Lavalier Kit (516-558 MHz)

Panasonic GH5 Camera - for product shots

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 Zoom Lens

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

RODE VideoMic Pro+ Overview

RODE just updated their very popular RODE VideoMic Pro to the VideoMic Pro+ here in late summer 2017. The new version of the camera-top shotgun microphone includes several new features which make it a very worthwhile upgrade or option for those looking for a simple way to improve their sound quality.

In this episode we have a closer look at the new features and provide comparison sound clips from the older VideoMic Pro and the new Pro+.

Remember that to get the very best sound out of your microphone, you really need to get it off of your camera and boom it over the person speaking like this:

Also, if you do use the new safety track feature on the RODE VideoMic Pro+, this is how you use that safety track in post when the main track clips and distorts to save your audio:

Links to Gear Discussed and Used to Record This Session:
RODE VideoMic Pro+

Adapter Cable to use the VideoMic Pro+ with a smartphone (RODE SC7)
(Note smartphones have a mono mic input so the safety track feature will not work with smartphones)

Panasonic GH5 Camera

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 Zoom Lens

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

Immersive Sound Recording: Sennheiser Ambeo Smart Headset

Sennheiser introduced their new Ambeo Smart Headset and were kind enough to send an early version to us to try out. I took it along on a recent canoeing day trip and put together a little sketch to get a sense for how it works. Pretty impressive, immersive sound with this set of binaural microphones/earbuds.

For those not familiar with binaural recordings, this is a stereo recording where the microphones are placed at your ears. So the recorded sound is much more lifelike and immersive, and results in a more three-dimensional type of recording.

Please listen with the best set of headphones available to you!

Canoe sequence shot with iPhone 7+ and Ambeo Smart Headset

Links to Gear Discussed and Used to Record This Session:

Sennheiser Ambeo Smart Headset for iOS (iPhone and iPad) - Coming Soon

Sennheiser Ambeo Smart Headset for Android phones and tablets - Coming in the future

Music in canoe sequence: "Cosmos" from Meta-Music - Save 10% with coupon code JUDD

Talking head sequence shot with:

Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro Cinema Camera

DPA 4017B Shotgun Microphone

Sound Devices 633 Audio Recorder/Mixer

Panasonic GH5 Camera

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 Zoom Lens

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

Indoor Boom Microphones: Oktava MK-012, RODE NT5, Audio Technica AT4053b

In my efforts to help you choose a microphone for recording dialogue indoors, here is another comparison of three cardioid (to hyper-cardioid) options: The Oktava MK-012 (cardioid), RODE NT5 (cardioid) and the Audio Technica AT4053B (hyper-cardioid). We take a closer look and listen with female and male sample clips, demonstrations of off-axis sound rejection, off-axis phase issues or coloration, handling noise, self-noise, and my overall impressions. I hope you find it helpful!

Links to gear discussed and used to record this episode:

Oktava MK-012 (cardioid capsule)

Oktava MK-012 (hyper-cardioid capsule “Movie Set”)

RODE NT5

Audio Technica AT4053b

Sound Devices 633 Audio Recorder/Mixer:

Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro Camera (talking head shots were filmed with this:

Panasonic GH5 Camera

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

6 Affordable Lavalier Microphones Compared

One of the least expensive ways to improve the quality of your video is to use a microphone that you can get close to your talent/actors. Here are six affordable lavalier microphones that will help. We chose an assortment to work with your smartphone, DSLR or interchangeable lens cameras, your laptop or PC, or even GoPro action cameras.

Links to Gear Discussed and Used to Record This Session:

Dutch Kings Lavalier Microphone (For smartphones or GoPro)

Aputure A.lav EZ (for smartphones)

RODE smartLav+ (for smartphones)

Aputure A.lav (for smartphones, cameras, and PCs with headset inputs)

Comica Dual Head Lavalier Microphone (for recording 2 people into smartphones, cameras, PCs, or GoPros)

Sony ECM-CS3 Stereo Lavalier Microphone (for cameras)

RODE SC3 Adapter (If your microphone has a TRRS plug - 3 colored rings on the plug - and you want to use if for your camera or audio recorder, use this adapter)

RODE SC4 Adapter (If your microphone has a TRS plug - 2 colored rings on the plug - and you want to use it for your smartphone or PC with a headset input, use this adapter)

Panasonic GH5 Camera

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

5 Shotgun Microphones: Audio Samples and Off-Axis Test

In this episode we listen to five different shotgun microphones and also listen to how each of them sound when off-axis (the person speaking is off to the side of the mic).

Gear used or mentioned in this episode:

Azden SGM250 Shotgun Microphone - Entry level mic with good off-axis rejection. Sounds decent but not particularly warm.

RODE NTG2 Shotgun Microphone - Entry level mic with nice warm sound. Off-axis rejection is not as pronounced as the higher-end mics, but decent.

Aputure Deity Shotgun Microphone - Nice sounding mid-level mic with warm sound. Off-axis rejection is not as extreme as Azden, RODE NTG4+ or DPA 4017B.

RODE NTG4+ Shotgun Microphone - Mid-range mic with decent sound and good off-axis rejection. Not as warm as NTG2 or DPA 4017B

DPA 4017B Shotgun Microphone - Great, warm, but articulate sound with good off-axis rejection and more natural off-axis falloff compared to other mics here.

Sound Devices 633 Audio Mixer/Recorder - My main recorder/mixer. Great sounding, low-noise preamps. Can also be controlled remotely with iPad or iPhone (adding the Wingman USB transmitter)

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

Aputure Deity Shotgun Microphone Review

Aputure has just announced their first pro-grade shotgun microphone, the Aputure Deity. let’s put this new mic through its paces to see how well it does relative to other microphones in the same price range.

I'm pretty impressed! Usually companies that don't specialize in microphones don't do this well. Personally, I prefer the sound of this mic over the others we compared it to here. Nice work, Aputure!

Azden EX-507XD Lavalier Microphone for PRO-XD Wireless System or Phone

Last year we reviewed the Azden PRO-XD digital wireless lavalier system. For its price, around $200 USD, it was surprisingly good. The only major downside we found was that the included microphone didn’t sound great. We gave Azden that feedback and now they have introduced the new EX-507XD lavalier which they pitch as the upgrade you can add to your PRO-XD system.

In this episode we give you some sample audio so you can hear it for yourself. Pricing and availability to be determined.