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Renton Maclachlan August 27th, 2012 04:03 AM

External mic arrangement
 
1 Attachment(s)
You may be interested in the arrangement I've made for using an external mic with myGoPro

Chris Harding August 27th, 2012 04:59 AM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
That's neat Renton

It, of course, wouldn't be totally waterproof any more but would certainly protect the camera in a light drizzle...What mic are you intending to plug in there??

Chris

Renton Maclachlan August 27th, 2012 05:34 AM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
Hi Chris.

The case is totally waterproof...though obviously not for underwater (though it could be - I won't try it!), and the mic will not be protected. The right angle jack is a tight fit in the rubber gromit.

Just ordered a couple of elcheapo mics off ebay ...be interesting to see how they go...

Sony ECM-DS70p Mini Microphone Mic for Skype iChat MD | eBay

Mini 3.5mm Flexible Microphone Mic For PC Laptop Skype MSN Internet Telephony | eBay

Chris Harding August 27th, 2012 07:26 AM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
Hi Renton

Just make sure the mics are self powered!! I bought a neat el-cheapo from Jaycar here and it doesn't work as it's a dynamic mic ..I have always been under the impression that only condenser mics need either a battery or phantom power and dynamic mics work without powered inputs...the Hero didn't like it at all!!!

Let us know how those work?? I shot a wedding 2 weeks ago and used the Hero in the Church and the audio was quite good ..I guess it was because they had a speaker bank about 3 m from the floor and I had the GoPro on a stand just a tad lower and it was in the skeleton case.

Chris

Warren Kawamoto August 27th, 2012 10:34 AM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
I've yet to hear a decent audio recording from a GoPro. The bitrate is so low that no matter what I did, the audio was pretty much useless.

Renton Maclachlan August 27th, 2012 02:42 PM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
I'm not look for top notch audio from it. Just better audio...from a mic just outside the case, or a lot closer to the sound source...

Renton Maclachlan August 27th, 2012 02:47 PM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Harding (Post 1750167)
Hi Renton

Just make sure the mics are self powered!! I bought a neat el-cheapo from Jaycar here and it doesn't work as it's a dynamic mic ..I have always been under the impression that only condenser mics need either a battery or phantom power and dynamic mics work without powered inputs...the Hero didn't like it at all!! Chris

If they don't work, there's little loss. I've seen some others suggested...but they cost more...

Lynne Whelden August 27th, 2012 03:04 PM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
Yes, good luck in your experiment. I tried six different mics ranging from $30 to $80 to no avail. You'll discover that unless the audio is constantly LOUD, you're going to get hiss and static. The Hero's preamp, coupled with an AGC that's impossible to control, is always the insurmountable problem.

Allan Black August 27th, 2012 03:41 PM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren Kawamoto (Post 1750196)
I've yet to hear a decent audio recording from a GoPro. The bitrate is so low that no matter what I did, the audio was pretty much useless.

That's right, you need a separate audio recorder to get usable audio .. especially if you're going to match and mate it to 'good' audio from your real camera.

Cheers.

Lynne Whelden August 27th, 2012 05:08 PM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
Who knows, maybe the ProTune upgrade will address this problem?

Ian Newland August 27th, 2012 06:54 PM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lynne Whelden (Post 1750269)
Who knows, maybe the ProTune upgrade will address this problem?

Nope, poor audio is hardware based.

Best audio I've had from a GOpro with mic socket is a powered lav, battery is inline.

Dean Sensui August 28th, 2012 03:37 AM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
I modified a "skeletal" housing by making an adhesive gasket out of 3M's VHB, then covering the openings with transparent packing tape.

The result is a housing that's splash-proof yet allows sounds to get to the GoPro's built-in mics.

Had a problem when inserting GoPro's dessicant strips. I made the mistake of putting them on the sides. They got stuck to the adhesive packing tape, and blocked the sound. So if you do this mod, be sure to keep the dessicant strips on the top and bottom -- not on the sides.

The audio qualtiy overall isn't great. But all I need is a sync reference. The production audio comes from wireless mics feeding a 4-track recorder and the main camera.

Kevin Walsh August 28th, 2012 02:36 PM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
I plugged a Rode NT3 into my GoPro for a quick test. It doesn't sound that bad to me.

GoPro with Rode NT3

Lynne Whelden August 28th, 2012 04:08 PM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
The test I'd really like to hear with that Rode NT3 is to simply record "room sound" or "room tone."
See what the AGC does then. Room tone is such a valuable sound to have on hand for editing but it's also very hard to capture. (Same goes for "natural sound," that pervasive outdoor sound of faint wind, or rustling grass, or distant birds and insects. Beautiful audio but oh so hard to get.)

Lynne Whelden August 29th, 2012 01:25 PM

Re: External mic arrangement
 
Ian...can you mention the brand lapel mic w/ battery that worked for you?
What's your take on why it worked better than others? An inherent noise level that inadvertently served to tamp down the Hero's AGC? A better impedance match?


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