/ Gear / Audio Recording
Audio Recording
They say good audio is more important than video quality and I agree. These are all of the tools I use to record audio for my videos.
Sound Camel Gear
Sound Camel manufactures professional acoustic panels in Vernon, British Columbia with industry standard acoustic fabric and insulation to reduce the reverb in your space. Acoustic treatments make any audio-related endeavor better from listening to music or watching a movie to recording a podcast or music production. Once you hear the difference you can’t go back to empty flat walls or ceilings.
Item: Acoustic Panels
Price: $119.99
We have 42 of the 48″ by 24″ by 4.25″ panels throughout our studio, office and gym. I’m a big fan of monitors vs headphones and love playing music through the tower speakers and center channel in the gym, plus have the drum set in there so the more coverage the better. We edit our videos in the office, which is where accuracy matters and record videos all over so it’s nice to be able to bounce around the locations without having to worry about echoey audio. These sound panels come in a few dozen colors and the front magnet adds a nice touch of branding.
Sound Devices Gear
You’ll find Sound Devices equipment on film and television sets around the world, and for good reason − their powerful professional audio equipment works without falter. I’ve been really impressed with Sound Devices firmware updates and support and use their products daily, often all day.
Item: MixPre-6 II
Price: $1299.99
There are very few times you can say a product is perfect and this portable audio recorder and audio interface with internal timecode is the closest to deserving the title. When the 8 track Sound Devices MixPre-6 II was announced with 32-bit, 192 kHz audio recording, an 8-in, 4-out 32-bit float audio interface and an insane 142 dB of dynamic range it was obvious this versatile portable device needed to be added to my setup. I use the MixPre-6 II daily as a USB-C powered audio interface in the office and bring it with me to power and capture boom or lav audio in the field. It has a powerful 300 mW+300 mW headphone amp and internal ISO mixing, gain, pan, low-cut, phase inversion and phantom power.
Item: MX-LMount Battery Sled
Price: $80.00
The MX-LMount battery sled is my go-to portable power solution. I like to use 2 hot-swappable low-profile NP-F550 Lithium-Ion batteries because they are about the same thickness as the MixPre-6 II, fit great in my audio bag and last for a week or more of runtime.
Item: MX-4AA Battery Sled
Price: $56.00
It’s always useful to have every option available, especially when you’re in the field. This battery sled uses 4AA batteries and is a great backup solution for the MixPre-3 and MixPre-6 series audio recorders to squeeze out an extra few hours to save the day.
Item: MX-PSU
Price: $49.00
Previously called the MX-Charge, this USB-C power supply outputs 7.5W at 1.5A to allow the MixPre series recorders to operate in full power mode (low power mode offers a maximum of two phantom mics with no HDMI in.
Sony Gear
Remember the Sony Walkman? With audio innovation since the 1950’s Sony has released incredible products that have changed the way we interact with audio. We use Sony headphones to get an accurate take on what we’re listening to and thoroughly enjoy the Sony sound system in our now retired Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium.
Item: Sony MDR-7506 Headphones
Price: $84.99
First released in 1991 these professional Sony headphones are a standard in the audio industry and a fantastic value for the money with a 40mm driver to deliver deep base down 10 Hz, which isn’t common in headphones. The frequency response extends to 20 kHz so you can hear everything you need to and they have a low impedance of 63 Ohms which means they can be run by nearly any device without distortion. Super long coiled cable and a screw-on 1/8″ to 1/4″ stereo adapter plug for flexibility between devices. Have a couple pairs for guests or monitoring when you need to identify an issue.
Rode Gear
RØDE is an Australian-owned leader in audio technology for over 50 years. Their on-camera dominance is how they came on my radar after their enormous success with the VideoMic series in the early 2000s. Now with their popular podcasting equipment they are a company that never stops innovating.
Item: Rode NTG3
Price: $690.60
The Rode NTG3 was my first shotgun microphone and foray into location sound. It’s features RF-bias and moisture resistance making it suitable for outdoor conditions and is a great value broadcast-grade mic for high-resolution audio that is more forgiving off-axis than industry standards like the Sennheiser MKH416.
Item: Rode VideoMic Pro
Price: $229.00
An on-camera microphone is essential for capturing useable scratch audio and is a lightweight and versatile solution for run and gun audio. There are now better options like the VideoMic NTG but this mini shotgun mic lives on my camera and lasts over 70 hours on a 9V battery.
Item: RODE DeadCat VMPR Artificial Fur Wind Shield
Price: $229.00
This furry windshield is permanently attached to the Rode VideoMic Pro to attenuate wind noise. It’s acoustically transparent and doesn’t take up much more room than the foam windshield included on the VideoMic Pro. Perfect for light wind that would have been a huge distraction.
Adam Audio Gear
Adam Audio is a Berlin company that manufactures professional loudspeakers. Their X-ART (eXtended Accelerating Ribbon Technology) tweeter utilizes a folded membrane, high-frequency driver and is the technology responsible for their inception and precise sound. To power it they developed A/B amplifier with a bandwidth of 300 kHz making highly accurate, transparent sounding and excellent looking studio monitors.
Item: TV8 Active Studio Monitor
Price: $599.98
These are the first nearfield studio monitors I’ve owned and they’ve changed the game for me. The active 8″ woofer and U-ART ribbon tweeter have a frequency response of 33 Hz to 25 kHz which is low enough for me not to require a dedicated subwoofer that generally only offers around another 5 Hz of bass extension and high enough to surpass the upper limit of my hearing capabilities. With a max SPL of 118 dB per pair they get plenty loud without distortion for any nearfield listening scenario. These are one of the best bang for your buck professional audio monitors − plus they look great! Of course I picked up a pair and then shortly after began daydreaming about a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos setup with 7 floor standing speakers, 1 subwoofer and 4 overhead speakers comprised of these affordable T-Series Adam Audio monitors. It’ll happen eventually.
