17Apr Turning the Volume up on quiet microphones.
If you’ve been filming for a few years, chances are you have an old passive XLR to 1/8 inch adapter laying around. Beachtek and Studio 1 where the most popular for a number of years, but none of their early models had any kind of built in amplifier. If your microphone doesn’t put out a strong signal level, you end up with audio levels so low at the camera that they are hard to use.
More modern XLR adapters like the JuicedLink DT454 and the BeachTek DXA-SLR have built in amplifiers that provide strong signal levels back to the camera, but if you already own an XLR adapter or don’t want to spend $300 to $400 on a new adapter, you can cut some corners and buy a . I’ve seen auctions end as low as $20 and a few buy it nows for $60 and $70.
Once you have an adapter, just add a Fiio E5 headphone amplifier in line with your XLR adapter and presto you have stronger signal levels into your camera. Keep in mind that the Fiio E5 only adds about 6dB to 10dB of gain (depending on load impedance), a Juicedlink device, on the other hand, adds about 30dB of gain. 30dB is ruffly 7 times more gain then 10dB, (if I remember my math correctly) which means you’ll get a lot more volume out of a Juicedlink device then the Fiio headphone amp.
So if you have the money to spend the JuicedLink DT454 or the BeachTek DXA-SLR are the way to go, but if you’re just trying to get by the Fiio E5 should help you out. The video illustrates the amount of gain you can get out of the Fiio E5.
April 26th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
When you shoot your Youtube videos these days, are you using dual system sound (with your H4N, for instance) or are you going straight into your DSLR with your mics. Great videos, by the way. Thanks!
April 27th, 2011 at 5:30 am
Both actually. If i’m using my t2i with magic lantern firmware to shoot the video, I run my wireless mic directly into the camera. But when I use my 7d I use dual system sound and drop the clips into dualeyes when I’m finished. This does a great job of sync everything up, grab a glass of OJ and when i’m done everything is ready to edit.
May 10th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
[…] was looking for a battery powered pre-amp with a little bit more gain then my Fiio E5 has to offer. I wanted to use it in conjunction with microphones that don’t have a strong […]