Igor needs some Sound Advice!

[FrankenWashie]

What's the actual rode mic you're using?

It's a Rode VideoMic Pro, shotgun type Mic. I'd originally picked it up to get better sound in the video i was taking for my car club runs.

It does okay, I did a demo video for my eBay Ibanez re-power and that went okay. I'm picking that the positioning was part of the issue.

[FrankenWashie]

I'm using canon 5D MKII, i can adjust the recording level from 0dB to -40dB on left and right channels so i am assuming stereo recording.
the only other adjustments are setting sound recording to Auto, Manual or to Disable.

By head room, i assume you mean knocking back the dB further towards the -40dB end of the range? (Sorry for the dumb, this is all new to me, i usually just set everything to 11!)

[Bakersdozen]

I'm using canon 5D MKII, i can adjust the recording level from 0dB to -40dB on left and right channels so i am assuming stereo recording.
the only other adjustments are setting sound recording to Auto, Manual or to Disable.

By head room, i assume you mean knocking back the dB further towards the -40dB end of the range? (Sorry for the dumb, this is all new to me, i usually just set everything to 11!)

Perfect! Yep, exactly right mate. Setup your shot, then your mic. Play and watch the meters. Just make sure back it off so it doesn't clip into the red and you should be golden

[DrNomis_44]

I'm using canon 5D MKII, i can adjust the recording level from 0dB to -40dB on left and right channels so i am assuming stereo recording.
the only other adjustments are setting sound recording to Auto, Manual or to Disable.

By head room, i assume you mean knocking back the dB further towards the -40dB end of the range? (Sorry for the dumb, this is all new to me, i usually just set everything to 11!)

Headroom is basically a measure of how much an audio signal can increase by until it gets clipped, the greater the headroom, the more a signal can increase before the onset of clipping distortion.


What you want to do is make sure your audio signal level is high enough so it doesn't get buried in hiss and hum-noise, but not so high that the signal-peaks start to get clipped, best way to achieve that is to set the gain control so that the loudest peaks in the audio just get to 0dB, or maybe -1dB, once it is set about there then your signal levels should be about optimal.

[FrankenWashie]

Perfect! Yep, exactly right mate. Setup your shot, then your mic. Play and watch the meters. Just make sure back it off so it doesn't clip into the red and you should be golden

Okey dokey, makes sense. The Rode mike also has a -10dB to +20dB adjustment, I am picking i should leave that somewhere in the middle?

Headroom is basically a measure of how much an audio signal can increase by until it gets clipped, the greater the headroom, the more a signal can increase before the onset of clipping distortion.


What you want to do is make sure your audio signal level is high enough so it doesn't get buried in hiss and hum-noise, but not so high that the signal-peaks start to get clipped, best way to achieve that is to set the gain control so that the loudest peaks in the audio just get to 0dB, or maybe -1dB, once it is set about there then your signal levels should be about optimal.

Thanks for that Doc.

[Bakersdozen]

Okey dokey, makes sense. The Rode mike also has a -10dB to +20dB adjustment, I am picking i should leave that somewhere in the middle?

Yep, I'd keep things simple and leave it at around 0db for now. Use those to either boost or lower the signal only if your hard pressed to get good levels with your on board gain control. Or if your experiencing noise/hiss/super quiet subjects in certain situations.

[Bakersdozen]

And when your setting up your shot, make sure your watching / setting the meters for the absolute loudest parts.

[DrNomis_44]

Okey dokey, makes sense. The Rode mike also has a -10dB to +20dB adjustment, I am picking i should leave that somewhere in the middle?



Thanks for that Doc.

Ah no worries at all mate, when I was doing the music courses at uni, we had to learn about getting the signals to the right level for recording, it does take some time to get a feel for it.....

[blinddrew]

Sorry I'm going to disagree with Doc here. Aiming for 0/-1 is fine for analogue systems but for digital you need to give yourself waaaay more headroom because you've got no margin for error. You need to be aiming for general levels bumbling along around -18dB and peaks at -10 / -12. In fact, the meters on your canon probably have a green dot at -12 on the scale. That's where you want your peaks. You can crank it up in post once you've mixed it.
Even at 16 bit you should be plenty off the noise floor using your Rode.
But if you're sticking the rode close to a source I'd drop the pad to -10dB and even then you might be overloading the mic as it's not really a tool for close-micing.

[FrankenWashie]

Sorry I'm going to disagree with Doc here. Aiming for 0/-1 is fine for analogue systems but for digital you need to give yourself waaaay more headroom because you've got no margin for error. You need to be aiming for general levels bumbling along around -18dB and peaks at -10 / -12. In fact, the meters on your canon probably have a green dot at -12 on the scale. That's where you want your peaks. You can crank it up in post once you've mixed it.
Even at 16 bit you should be plenty off the noise floor using your Rode.
But if you're sticking the rode close to a source I'd drop the pad to -10dB and even then you might be overloading the mic as it's not really a tool for close-micing.

Spot on Drew, there is a preset at -12 dB. What I will try, direct to camera, is having the mic at floor level aimed at the amp but at a distance. I want to do some more reading up and trialling with instrument to GB, which I can do with an IRIG set up I bought ages ago and forgot I had. I think that is probably the best course for now. When I’ve got a bit better idea of where I want to go with this stuff I can always upgrade and re-arm so to speak.