Audio Setup - Recorder Vs. Just Mic

fazer_1000

fazer_1000

www.youtube.com/motolixious
I'm guessing this is something that's been debated here to the bone, but I'll ask still.

When I decided I'll Vlog while riding, I set a rule that audio is paramount, and must be top quality-ish.

Tried in the past to record with a lav mic to my GoPro 4 Black with no success (found out recently that it works only with Gopro's mic?).

I went a head and bought Zoom H4N Pro, and am recording and syncing in post.

Audio is top notch, most times. Buttttt... The process is a pain. Like, really.
Not just the syncing, that's easy. The dressing up part.

It's 10 minutes to set up. I used to put the recorder in my Kriega backpack and loop the mic through the harness and the remote to my jacket's pocket. Super uncomfortable, so started using a thigh bag which is better but still - long cord from my leg to the back of the helmet and duct taped around it to the front.. Getting the helmet on and off is not a breeze at all. I made a connector in the mic so that it can stay inside the helmet and be disconnected when in between, but still - this makes me not vlog as often as I would've wanted.

Keen on hearing your thoughts and experience and if you're using my method with a recorder - what's your deal.
 
Voice recorders are great but also a pain in the butt, I have snapped so many mic cables by forgetting they are attached to my helmet. I now tend to run my audio directly into the camera (when it works) as it is a far tidier setup.
 
I agree with HippoDrone. I got away from a voice recorder the first chance I had. The set up wasn't practical, and caused too many missteps that resulted in forgotten to turn one thing on or another.

-Wuf
 
My setup is a bit different. I record my audio separately as it is more versatile. I by no means have the best audio as it is a bit challenging to get great audio on a super loud bike. I have Vance & Hines Short Shots on a Sportster and it is very loud.

I have my mic in my cheekpad which removes most of the wind noise and coil the cord up into the lining when I'm not using it. I then record using an app on my phone, Voice Record Pro. It allows for me to drop the gain to help soften the blow of my exhaust and still picks up my voice pretty well.

I just pull the cord down from my helmet, plug it into my phone, hit record, set the gain, toss the phone into the inside pocket of my jacket and zip up. Hit record on my gopro, clap and I'm off. Maybe a minute of prep once I'm at my bike if my bones are creaking bad that day.

That Zoom isn't for motovlogging in my opinion, its much better suited for stationary recording or simple setups on a film set. The Zoom H1 Ultra Portable is more in tune with motovlogging, but still not what I would use if I moved away from my phone. I would get a smaller Sony or Tascam recorder as they are more durable than the Zooms. I have a digital Sony recorder thats been in car accidents and still records perfectly, but I when I use a Zoom I get agitated if someone even breathes on it as I've lost all audio to it because a table it was sitting on got bumped in the middle of recording.
 
When i started vlogging i used a handsfree mic from my samsung phone, pluged to my cel and then put it in the chest bag of my jacket, the syncing process was a pain in the ass, i had to press rec into the cam, then press rec into the phone, then clap to set an audio peak in booth records. Sometimes people around me looked at me like saying " Why is this dude clapping at all?"

The audio quality was terrible, so noisy, so i decided to buy a lav mic (sony Ecm-cs3) but... ohh surprise, it didn´t work with the celphone due to the plug differences (mic was stereo). So I bought a voice recorder (sony ICD-px370) which works great with the lav mic, the sound quality is very decent, but... the set up was still cumbersome. So i decided to buy a new cam with external mic option, Now i have the Gitup Git1, which is awesome.

And now when im home and need to record a "bonus material" for my MV, i record video with my celphone and audio with the voice recorder, then sinc them.

thats my sad story :(
 
Thanks for the info guys, but as I consider quality audio a key point in my videos, I'll try and make it work. Maybe it's a sunk costs issues, but I believe it's the right way to go.
I'm now trying to figure out how to do open face helmet vlogging, so I can also shot backward toward myself and not just with the helmet camera. That's going to be a tricky one with wind and with getting to place the mic in front of my mouth somehow.
 
Biggest improvement seems to be achievable when editing.
Adobe Premiere Vocal Enhancer is good for lifting your voice but helps mid-range bike noise over whistling wind-in-helmet noises too.
 
I'm using a Zoom H1 with a CVM-V01GP mic. I like the sound quality, but I'm working on making a setup that will work for recording directly into the camera. My mic is a bit too sensitive (-35db) and sounds bad while recording directly. I've ordered a far less sensitive (-55db) to reduce the input level. Hopefully that will work and I can stop syncing all the time. I've had too many vlogs fail due to the battery on my recorder going flat....
 
That should help. I've been trying a mic with -30dB sensitivity and I am giving up on it. No way to stop it from clipping when the sound levels get high. I used to use an Audio Technica ATR3350 that was -54dB and did not have that problem. The only thing I didn't like about that one is how long the cable is. I think I'm going back to that one and finding some way to deal with the cord.
 
MotoAdventureMe said:
That should help. I've been trying a mic with -30dB sensitivity and I am giving up on it. No way to stop it from clipping when the sound levels get high. I used to use an Audio Technica ATR3350 that was -54dB and did not have that problem. The only thing I didn't like about that one is how long the cable is. I think I'm going back to that one and finding some way to deal with the cord.
Click to expand...

Give it to a buddy with good soldering skills to trim that cord ;). Shouldn't be an issue.
 
I was going to do a split setup when I used to use an SJCAM SJ4000 WiFi but decided not to. Now I use a Drift Ghost S with a external mic. Just seemed liked to much effort and I the way I had my old camera mounted at a strange angle which was slightly annoying to watch back.
 
I just bit the bullet...I have been researching for a few hours trying to save a buck or two on this certain mic. a sony ECM-DS70P..e bay has them pretty cheap, because as I have found out most of them are china fakes, there are more expensive versions but I just couldn't pull the trigger..so, I purchased it from a reputable dealer B&H... with shipping it was $82.00..I had to pay shipping because it is a P.O. box#..on e bay it's $9.00-$35.00..$50.00+ for the so called "real ones" it's way overkill but what the heck!..If I'm going to buy the sony FDRX3000R whats a couple of more dollors..after the carbon helmet I will be riding around with $2,000 on my $10.00 head...lol!
 
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