External Microphone For Video Camera

[ahclem]

I've had tons of trouble with the sound quality of the built-in mic while using the stock video camera app, and though it's just a little muffled, loud noises (like airports or oceans) get horribly garbled. But I haven't found much info about external microphones. So I bought one, just to try things out. It's a vast improvement. I'm finally able to make some YouTube videos with sound that isn't too bad.

But someone must have already researched some mics, and there's probably a decent all-around mic that would be even better. I don't want an expensive recording system, nor a whole lot of extra cords and equipment to carry, just a nice mic for general use, for voice as well as ambient sounds.

I also bought a Bluetooth earpiece, hoping its mic might work with the video camera, but it doesn't. I'm having some trouble finding info on what hardware works and what does not.

 

[pduffer]

What microphone did you get that works?

 

[ahclem]

What microphone did you get that works?

It's Brando Workshop's Flexible Mini Capsule Microphone, and also called "Mini iPhone Microphone". It allows me to record videos without the weird sound artifacts that the internal mic has, plus it's a little clearer. I've posted a video below.

From everything I've read, an external mic doesn't work for videos. So I'm not 100% certain what's going on. I still don't know what kind of mic I "should" be using, but this one's specifically for iPhone. It seems very well-suited for the A500, and I've been leaving it attached (though it prevents sound from the speakers when plugged in). I've only seen two other mics that weren't smart phone headset style. One's an even smaller button mic, and one's a handheld karaoke style mic with a special headphone adapter cable. I bought a Bluetooth earpiece, and that does not work with the video app. "Smartphone" corded headsets work, the one's advertised for "Blackberry and iPhone", but get this: Although you hear an EXTREMELY loud "ding" as the video camera starts or stops, you don't hear your own voice while recording. So you might as well not use the headphones while recording, but they're fine for playback. Every microphone I've tried (internal included) has an input signal much too low.

I had to get an external mic since the internal one is almost useless -- it just plain has bad sound. It's probably OK for voice chat, and also voice recognition is fine. But the audio in videos is often garbled, and it's tough to know when that might happen (mostly from loud noises?). Maybe my A500 is bad from the factory, or it's some kind of noise-cancelling issue, or maybe there's a better mic driver in the works. Whatever, I'm open to ideas.

The first half of this video is recorded with the internal mic (and I have the tablet out of its case, so the mic's not obstructed). The second half is with the external "iPhone" mic:

 

[ahclem]

Here's a short video of an outdoor scene. The sound is rather low, so you need to turn up your speakers. I still have some work to do with the external mic (maybe boosting the audio in an editing program, which means losing the convenience of direct uploads to youtube), but it's quite an improvement over the built-in mic. I recorded the same scene with the internal mic, and can't hear any sound at all in the video.

This one was recorded with the external mic:

 

[StoneKy]

Enjoyed some of your other YouTube videos!

 

[ahclem]

Thanks! A couple of those are from my nice DV tape video camera. Unless I discover a satisfactory way to have good audio in videos, I'll probably stop using the A500's video camera (in which case I can do that Netflix hack). The A500 isn't ideal for making videos anyway, it just happens to come with the app. The only feature I might miss is wifi upload to youtube.

 

[elsuirad]

Nicely done!

Is that available anywhere on internet? and how much the price?

Thanks for the info.