Saramonic Archives

DIYP reviews the Saramonic MixMic powered XLR microphone adapter

Jun 27, 2017 by John Aldred 1 Comment

Switching from the built in microphone to one that sits on top of the camera is the first step in getting quality sound. Whether it’s your primary audio source or simply offers a clearer track for syncing in post, external mics are the way to go. They help to eliminate handling noise and are often directional to help reduce random sound coming from your environment.

The Saramonic MixMic is one such system. Although designed primarily to be used as a on-camera microphone, it offers a lot of versatility. It’s comprised of two main parts. The MixMic XLR Adapter itself, and the Saramonic NV5 microphone. And you can add a second microphone if you wish. It offers features that you can grow into and expand upon as your abilities and needs increase.

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How and why to use a Rode VideoMic as a wireless boom microphone

Feb 20, 2017 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

Boomed shotgun mics are my preferred method of recording audio. Lav mics are great, but for interviews and talky pieces to camera, they really don’t have that richness of a shotgun mic. Rode’s VideoMic and VideoMic Pro are two extremely popular microphones that sit in a DSLR hotshoe, but it is possible to get them off-camera.

In this video from Indy Mogul, shows a simple way to get the mic off the camera, and boomed wirelessly using the Saramonic UwMic9 (review). But, it should work with almost any wireless microphone set, including Rode’s own FilmMaker Kit. And you don’t have to use just those two microphones mentioned above, either. It’ll work with the VideoMicro, and just about any other mic that doesn’t require phantom power.

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DIYP Reviews the Saramonic UwMic9 Dual Wireless Lavalier Microphone Kit

Dec 16, 2016 by John Aldred 15 Comments

Getting good quality audio is often the biggest challenge faced by DSLR & mirrorless video shooters. The microphones built into most cameras are notoriously bad. They hear all kinds of background noise and echo, they hiss, and pick up a lot of unwanted sound from the camera itself, like autofocus (or even manual focus adjustments).

The easiest solution, of course, is to use an external microphone. You can then plug this either straight into your camera or a separate portable field recorder. While there are many different types of microphone out there, sometimes a lavalier is your best choice. This is where there Saramonic UwMic9 dual wireless lav mic kit comes in.

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Increase your DSLR or mirrorless audio recording quality for only $23

Oct 6, 2016 by John Aldred 4 Comments

DSLRs & mirrorless camera internal microphones are pretty much useless. They also have notoriously bad preamps when using external microhpones. No matter how good a microphone you plug into it, when you bump up the record level on your camera, you add noise. Lots of it. The typical solution to this is record to an external unit, like the Tascam DR-70D, and then feed a line from your recorder into your camera to make it easy to sync up in post.

But what if you could skip the external recorder and actually get decent quality inside the camera to begin with? Well, Caleb Pike at DSLR Video Shooter has the answer. A $23 adapter for using your microphones with your cellphone. In this case, that adapter is the Saramonic SmartRig. Caleb offers two ways to use SmartRig to get quality audio into your camera.

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