I’m off to Goodwood FoS this year and would like to improve the audio recording for the event, loud and throaty engines, to enjoy with headphones at a later date.
The current thought process is;
I have a GoPro Hero 8. Maybe a media mod add on, which has a better microphone.
iPhone 15 pro with an external microphone, say something like this….
WEXPHOTOVIDEO.COM I’ve also got a
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V
which takes great photos and video and has a decent zoom, but not sure how I’d get improve audio as it doesn’t have microphone input.
Any thoughts on what might be the best option, in a reasonable budget?
Make sure it's set to stereo so you can hear it twice as loud.
So you are saying you want to improve the audio... but that is pretty vague.
What issues specifically are you experiencing with audio that you wish to improve upon?
I suppose it’s really to broaden the depth and dynamics of the recording. I’ve recorded a track day with an iPhone and it felt a little distant and a little shallow. Not getting the rumble and grumble of engine noise.
I filmed a large firework display on the iPhone, and plying that back, the audio was weak, compared to experiencing it live. That sort of thing.
I'm surprised you have not had much feedback, so I will stick my basic thoughts down.
I have been playing with cheap and cheerful ways of improving the sound of my iPhone and GoPro videos and would advise some caution. Some of the Bluetooth Mics come with noise cancelling by default. That can a positive or a negative. I was narrating while driving my car with the window open and it took out the majority of the wind noise(good), but it also took out the majority of the engine noise which is what I was talking about (bad).
The best results for me have been a simple Bluetooth Mic for voice (clipped to the mic boom on my crash helmet and connected to my phone which is recording audio only) and then GoPro audio or another phone Mic feed for the background noise which i fade in and out as required using the basic tools in iMovie.
Next try I may include a cheap mic in the engine bay or by the exhaust pipe as well.
I'm surprised you have not had much feedback, so I will stick my basic thoughts down.
Its been a bit mixed up witha double thread. And some of my replies have definitely not been coming through recently.
My wife uses a DJI Mic Mini after struggling with sound issues on her work videos. They sound much clearer now, and I've seen a few car folk stick them their rear numberplate to record exhaust noise with decent results.
Appreciate the comments so far, but to be clear, I won’t be able to attach anything to a car. They will be screaming past me at full chatter and I’ll be probably 15/20 yards away. It’s these sounds I want to pick up, no voiceover from me, just engines blasting past.
A crossed pair stereo mic sometimes an XY mic.
I would be wary of ones that usb into the base of a phone, you want the mics to be horizontal.
That will give you good stereo seperation of the cars zooming past.
Go cheap to start. But anything will be better than the mic behind the tiny hole in a phone or go pro.
Put your phone in your pocket and enjoy it with your eyes and ears.
That way you then take away memories for the future
I don’t get this modern obsession of having to film everything when it’s already on tv
You can watch it on TV later through headphones
The difference between hearing it live and on playback is a huge amount of volume. Stick headphones on and crank the volume up and it will be similar. You could also compress the video audio in post to get a better result.
Put your phone in your pocket and enjoy it with your eyes and ears.
That way you then take away memories for the future
I don’t get this modern obsession of having to film everything when it’s already on tv
You can watch it on TV later through headphones
I do agree with this but i tried to answer the actual question.
If a microphone has Rode on it, then really you can’t go far wrong. I’ve got a pair of their NTH-100 headphones, and I see they’ve brought out a smaller NTH-50 version. They’re pro studio monitors, and are excellent quality and excellent value. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen presenters doing O/S broadcasting with a Røde microphone somewhere, easily identifiable by the ø logo, so if their products are good enough for national television broadcasters to use, then I’m sure they’ll perform well on a top-end iPhone.
Put your phone in your pocket and enjoy it with your eyes and ears.
That way you then take away memories for the future
I don’t get this modern obsession of having to film everything when it’s already on tv
You can watch it on TV later through headphones
Except, it often isn’t or else what’s filmed is edited and you only get to see the highlights. I was lucky enough to see Kate Bush in 2014, and understandably phones and photography weren’t allowed. I did grab several photos between sets, but it wasn’t filmed, or only during rehearsals, and there were things that I saw, that I honestly don’t believe actually happened, or my increasingly shonky memory saw something different to what I remember. I take lots of photos at various events, and with them, I have something tangible I can show to friends who weren’t there what I saw.
What I don’t think you understand is that these things become part of historical record and context, unexpected events can happen, and it’s not unusual for images or footage from spectators can be valuable for investigators to refer to.
Telling me to keep my phone in my pocket and rely on my memory for the future is sanctimonious and condescending, I’m now in my 70’s, and like most older people, I feel that my memory is not as reliable as it was, so my photos are my memory! Remember, opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one, so don’t be too surprised at getting a contrary point of view!
Plumped for one of these. Seems a decent upgrade for £25, and doesn’t affect the phone handling too much. Automatic clipping and back up channel.
Harumph, it appears I may have only bought the charging case…the description from the seller is a bit deceiving, listing features of thr (missing) contents.
A crossed pair stereo mic sometimes an XY mic.
I would be wary of ones that usb into the base of a phone, you want the mics to be horizontal.
That will give you good stereo seperation of the cars zooming past.
Go cheap to start. But anything will be better than the mic behind the tiny hole in a phone or go pro.
Mostly this, you'll never make it sound like TV because TV production spends as much time and effort on sound as it does the pictures, they'll have microphones al over the place, all with different polar plots, cardioids, shotguns, omni's, etc that they mix in post production to give you the right effect. The mic bolted to the top of the camera is really the last resort. Your best option is probably just whatever Rode make that plugs into your camera.
Put your phone in your pocket and enjoy it with your eyes and ears.
That way you then take away memories for the future
I don’t get this modern obsession of having to film everything when it’s already on tv
You can watch it on TV later through headphones
But especially this. Someone else will be filming it for TV (and I know one of the sound recordists for Goodwood) watch that instead, he'll do a much better job.
