Adobe Audition 2015.1 Includes a True Peak Limiter
Dialogue not loud enough for your film or video project? Using Adobe Audition? Good news! In the 2015.1 release of Audition, Adobe added a true peak limiter! This means that you can use the “match loudness” panel to make your dialogue audio loud enough and at the same time, not worry about the audio peaks clipping and distorting.
This is a great little timesaving feature. Thank you Adobe!
Sennheiser MKH50 Microphone Overview: Super Cardioid Mic for Indoor Dialogue
What are the best microphones for recording dialogue indoors? I’ve been using the Audio Technica AT4053b for a little over a year with very good results. But one of the microphones often used in productions with a decent sound budget is the Sennheiser MKH50 super cardioid condenser microphone. A few episodes ago we compared these two mics and found that there was no clear winner amongst viewers, at least when recording my voice.
But when would you want to move up to a microphone like the Sennheiser at $1,200 USd? Let’s take a closer look at this mic and see which circumstances and for which types of voices it works best.
RØDE VideoMic Pro Black Friday Pricing $179
Another amazing deal for those into audio: B&H has the new version (2015) of the RODE VideoMic Pro accessory shoe shotgun microphone for only $179 USD. Normally they go for $250. I was quite impressed with the sound they capture back when we reviewed it earlier this year. And while this is not my first choice for capturing dialogue since I prefer to get the mic closer to the talent, this is great for run-n-gun type shooting.
https://youtu.be/B_esjF1KtVw
Also, you can get it closer to your talent. I have used RODE's RODELink wireless system to boom the VideoMic Pro in close to an interviewee:
https://youtu.be/CONhcUiyIXg
K-Tek Carbon Fiber Boom Pole Special Pricing
B&H has special pricing on the carbon fiber K-Tek Avalon KEG 150CCR boom pole. This is the pole I use and I don't think I could be happier with it.
It is amazingly lightweight, sturdy, internally cabled (with a coiled cable so it doesn't slap around inside the pole), and has a right angle XLR connector at the base of the pole so that I can rest the pole on the ground between takes. The XLR female connector at the top of the pole comes with a plastic webbing on it to prevent the connector from damaging the carbon fiber pole when not connected to a mic. Thoughtful design through and through.
This pole has five sections and extends to 12.5 feet which has not left me wishing for more reach yet. The twist lock for each section is very smooth and firm.
No, it isn't a cheap, but this is a pole that should serve for years to come. You can buy replacement parts. (try that with budget options and I think this is one of the big differentiators of pro vs. consumer gear - products that can be serviced).
Zoom F8 Noise Performance: One Simple Test
Jim Braly asked a good question about the Zoom F8 field recorder:
A question about how quiet the preamps are -- I'm impressed that the Zoom has 75db of gain (compared to 66 on the Sound Devices 7-series recorders). I found that the last 6db on a 722 SD recorder was not very usable, as it got pretty noisy above +60db of gain. And that last bit of db helps for quiet dialogue, or on wider shots when the boom mic cannot get as close to the actors.
How about the F8? What is the noise floor like if you crank it to +75 with the mic in a quiet room? (No recording of dialogue, just the room tone and the self-noise.) Do you hear a lot of hiss? At what level would this hiss be? Louder than, say, -50db if you are measuring the audio file in iZotope RX? If the F8 does get noisy at high gain settings, at what point does it become unusable? Maybe above 70db of gain? But would, say, 66db of gain sound good?
Of course, I'm wondering how the F8 specifically compares to Sound Devices in the noise floor department, as I think of their recorders as the gold standard.
I ran a Shure SM58 into the Zoom F8 via a 25' ProCo XLR cable with Neutrik connectors, set the gain at +75dB and recorded my basement studio. This room is not perfectly silent and not perfectly treated in an acoustical sense. But I do have a sound blanket hanging to one side, exposed batt insulation in the ceiling and an old duvet on the floor.
Looking at the silent section, I measured the noise floor (this is the sound of the room + the self noise of the mic and the F8 recorder) at -63dB RMS. In my final produced audio, I usually aim for the "silent passages" to sit at -60dB or lower. This seems acceptable and is a rather impressive result for the Zoom F8.
Looking at the spectral chart, it appears that of the noise that is present, the majority of it is in the 100Hz and lower range which should be reasonably straightforward to reduce with a simple high-pass filter. There is some spread throughout the entire spectrum, but very little. (in the screenshot above, I measured the section from 35 to 39 seconds. Just prior to that, the mic was able to pick up a few notes from my wife's violin upstairs.)
RODE VideoMic Me: Better Sound for Smartphone Video
If you need better sound for your smartphone videos, RODE has an interesting “mini shotgun” mic that might be a good choice. At $59 USD, the VideoMic Me plugs directly into the headphone jack on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device and is held in place with a very simple adjustable clip so that it works with nearly any device. If you’re shooting outdoors, it also comes with a furry cover to prevent wind from messing with your audio recording. Great little microphone if smartphone video recording is your thing!
Quick Sound: Noise Reduction with Audacity
If the sound for your video is a little on the noisy side, you can clean it up using the free audio editing app Audacity. Audacity comes with a noise reduction plugin that makes it quick and easy to cut back the noise so that your audience can focus on your story or message. Here’s a very quick look at how to use the noise reduction effect in Audacity.
This is the start of a new series of tutorials I'd like to try called Quick Sound. The idea is to keep each piece short and focus on teaching a very focused element of audio recording or post processing. Does this sound interesting to you?
Aputure A.lav Quick Review: Best Cheap Lavalier 2015
I’ve reviewed quite a few inexpensive lavalier microphones (~$50 or less) over the last several years. And to be honest, I haven’t found one that sounded better than the Giant Squid or JK MicJ 044 in over a year. Until the Aputure A.lav was released, that is. I’m quite impressed with this little mic and what’s more, it runs about $35 USD so it won’t break the bank.
I suspect the reason this one sounds better than many of the others is that it has its own power module. So yes, this is potentially a little more cumbersome, but it also allows you to monitor your audio while recording and to ensure you can use this with just about any device with a 3.5mm microphone input.
If you want to improve the sound of your videos but the budget's tight, the A.lav may be worth a look and a listen.
Production Sound Recording Course Discount
If you're interested in saving a little on my Production Sound Recording Course, I'm happy to let you know that we have a discount code for $20 off for the holidays. Simply use coupon code SOUNDHOLIDAY2015 at checkout. https://youtu.be/047jFy1RCwA
Come have a look over at school.learnlightandsound.com.
Louder Sound with Audition CC
Many people, when they first begin recording and producing sound assume that if you get a nice microphone and camera, you can produce great dialogue sound straight out of the camera, no need for post production.
I haven't generally found that to be the case.
Without getting into arguments over what kind of gear you need, there's the reality that when you record, you need to leave headroom when setting your levels. But then when you're done recording, your dialogue isn't all that loud.
I typically use clip gain and compression to even out my dialogue audio clips. Once I've got it all leveled out, then I loudness normalize the dialogue. Then my audience isn't straining to hear the quieter parts or riding their volume control to hear everything.
Psychologically, louder sound also sounds better (a complicated topic that I hope to understand better some day). I don't mean audio that's so loud that its all crushed and distorted, of course, just, clear, present sound.
