Sony FX1E Microphone

Obviously the cameras microphone is stereo, but when it's in the housing i'm only getting sound on the left channel (i.e. monophonic). This is also proved when i'm editing in Prem Pro, as only the left channel shows it's output. Is this normal? Is the L & M bluefin microphone just monophonic on the left channel? The housing handles and performs great in the water by the way!

Yes, my Z1 in my Bluefin is the same. I don't even bother switching to the housing's microphone anymore because the audio is pretty much unusable and I occasionally screwed up some topside audio by forgetting to set things back in the menu when I took the camera out between dives. I still plug the the mic in though, just to "store" the plug.

When I did use the mic I followed the trimming recommendation in the L&M instructions, which I think was +12dB, and the audio was clipping like crazy. So I went for +6dB instead.

The only audio I've ever wanted to keep in my entire underwater video career has been 2 clips of smashing mantis shrimps, and even that's pretty easy to simulate with foley.

Can anyone comment on the sound quality from the microphones on Gates or Amphibico housings?

Phenom picks up every crackle and pop sound under there even Whales miles away.

Great hydrophone.

Thanx for the confirmation guys.

Just finished editing a 'short' in prem pro and rendered out to DV .avi and also 720p as a comparison. What a difference in sharpness!

Wagsy, i've tried edius 4, but my laptop is as slow as teacle with it! Prep pro is more useable, but i do like edius 'feel'.

cheers all

I have not used the external microphone since my Bluefin V900. Below about 40-50' they are pretty much useless. Instead I leave the cable unplugged, and record with the camera microphone. It picks up sounds very well through the aluminum housing. You can easily remove camera noises with an audio editor. Stereo microphones would not be effective underwater unless they were at least 5 times wider apart than your ears. Sound travels 5 times faster through water than it does in air. That is why you cannot tell the direction of sound in the water. Your brain needs to hear a sound in one ear before the other in order to determine the direction of the sound. As far as only getting audio on your left channel, make sure the microphone jack (which is a 3-way stereo jack) is inserted all the way in. I believe you should get mono audio on both channels. If not, you can always fix it in your video/audio editor.

From the Bluefin Owners Manual

Activate the camcorder’s external microphone.

Set the Autolock/ Auto/Man / Hold†switch, located at the left rear of the camera,

to the Auto/Man position.

For the FX1: enter the camcorder’s menu, scroll to Audio Set menu, then select

MIC/LINE, and then select EXT MIC.

For the Z1: Position the slide switch at the front of the camcorder, labeled MIC

PHANTOM for INPUT 1 into the ON position. Then enter the camcorder’s menu,

enter the AUDIO SET sub-menu, select AUDIO MONI and select CH1. Then go to

MIC SELECT and select XLR. Then go to XLR SET and select XLR CH SEL and

select CH1. Then select INPUT1 TRIM and select +12dB.

Attach the XLR adapter to the Input 1 microphone of the camcorder.

Dan

Good point Dan about the stereo separation and also about combining the channels in post.

I guess if those "dual hydrophones" I see advertised on other housings were fairly directional, and pointed in very different directions, then the audio might be different enough on each channel to make them worthwhile.

I was occasionally using audio recorded through the housing like you are but recently my tape carriage seems to have got really noisy

Yup. One channel only. I was at first annoyed by this. Since then however, i listened to some of my prior videos and was quite annoyed by the popping and bubbling. As a result, i have changed my ways.

I go down and record an audio track in shallow water. I breath normally and consitently. Even bubbles, stable ambient, mild reg wisper. I then take that track, clean it and loop it. Wala...perfect underwater ambient noise for all your videos.

I still record with all dives but mostly throw it out...I guess when that whale mating scene happens i'll still be ready:)