I recently picked up a new lavalier microphone, and it works great! The audio in this video was recorded using it – give it a listen (ok, and while you’re at it, check out my daughter’s GoFundMe campaign – that’s why I made this video).
So what’s the microphone setup? Pretty simple. It consists of two things:
- AZDEN EX503 Omni-Directional Lavaliere Microphone (a whopping $23 at Amazon)
- Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder (a little more – $100 at Amazon)
I found out about the Azden microphone from this guy. I’d agree – it works great! Here’s what I did in this video:
- Video – recorded with a DSLR camera
- Audio – recorded separately. The Azden mic plugs directly into the Zoom H1 recorder. I turned off the Auto Level setting for more control. I also turned on the Low Cut setting (to keep rumble down), and recorded in MP3 format (the Zoom also records in WAV format)
- To sync up the separate audio and video files, I used the PluralEyes app, which automatically syncs up the audio and video. Nice.
- Then I edited the video in Final Cut Pro.
The beauty of this audio recording setup is that for about $123 or so, I have the “budget version” of a wireless lavalier microphone setup that can cost much more. The Cable on the Azden mic is about 3′ long – long enough to plug into the Zoom, then put the Zoom in a back pocket, on a chair, etc. (if you need a longer cable, get the Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier Microphone. It has a 20′ long cable, and is still under $30. Here’s a video of me testing it out).
And for $23, it sounds great! What’s not to like about that?
Do you have any “budget-minded” ideas for making videos better? I’d love to hear them!
[…] Cheap and Easy Audio for Videos is a post by David Lee King discussing equipment and techniques he uses that are cheap and provide good quality audio for any videos you produce. […]