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AT875R mic phantom powered directly by the GH2
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  • zcream, with my shock mount config the mic is out of the camera's view with the Lumix 20-mm lens. I don't have any wider pancakes to test, but you'll note in my video that I show a few different ways of mounting the shock mount. The taller ways of mounting it should keep the mic out of the view of almost any lens.

  • BeachTek RC35 cable seems perfect for the setup.

    http://www.beachtek.com/products/accessories/rc35/

    But nowhere selling it.

  • Never mind about it. The RC35 isn't designed for the task.

  • @stonebat Why do you say its not designed for it, it looks good! Just change the 3.5 to a 2.5mm plug. It sells here: http://shop.vuetec.de/BeachTek-RC35-Adapter-3-5-mm-Klinke-zu-XLR_detail_1456.html

  • Anybody found a decent 2.5mm stereo angled plug? I tried several ones, some don't even fit due to their strange form, others don't make a 100% reliable contact when sometimes they are spinning due to cable movement - the only good one I found is "golden" but not angled. Anybody tried out this one? http://www.theaudioguru.com/products/2.5MM-MALE-RIGHT-ANGLE-STEREO-PLUG.html

  • I asked the company, and they replied me that it wouldn't work.

  • The company doesn't know if that cable is going to work or not. What you need to know is how it's wired. But really, it's not that hard to rewire the cable yourself. It's just a bit of soldering.

    gameb, the 2.5-mm angled cable I linked to previously works fine. Is that not what you're looking for? It's easier to put an XLR connector on a 2.5-mm cable than the other way around.

  • Is this worth it if you have to set the GH2 mic level to 4? Are you getting a lot of AGC?

  • I've never noticed AGC on the GH2.

  • As far as I understand there is no AGC (maybe in iA?) but there is manual settings and quiet a good limiter that does not really that slow pumping effect of bad limiters, but prevents from distortion cause of saturation in a more intelligent way

  • I have the Sony ECM-NV1 microphone from my pd170 which needs 48vphantom power. I also have the Shure SM58. Can I use any of these on my Gh2 ? I ordered this cable (xlr female with 2.5mm male stereo plug.) http://www.kvconnection.com/product-p/km-x172-2310.htm. I thought of using my Sony mic or the Sm58.Both seem to be unsuitable. Any suggestions in using any of these on my Gh2 ?

  • My MKE 400 is a very quiet mic--maybe there is an impedance mismatch or some other reason for the hiss.

  • @ Stonebat

    Could you explain a bit more about "it works"? What kind of sensitivity/audio quality are you receiving from this combo? I am not surprised that you would get some audio trickling thru but I would be surprised if that sensitivity wouldn't drop off significantly since this is a phantom powered mic w/o phantom power.

    Really curious - thanks!

  • bunuelll, I can't find specs for the Sony ECM-NV1. The Shure SM58 is a dynamic mic, which means you will need a transformer or a DC blocking capacitor to connect it directly to the GH2.

  • @balazer Thanks for the response. I am not able to get any details about the Ecm Nv1.It came with the pd170 camera. It is a uni directional condenser mic and needs 48v phantom power. Is there any diy tutorial somewhere to enable my shure sm 58 on gh2 ? I do have a Behringer Eurorack UB 802 mixer. But that will be a separate unit requiring a power source. It is not a portable solution for a one man shoot. Can you suggest some alternative ? I am not very keen on investing more at present.

  • @balazer Forgot to ask. I impulsively bought this female xlr with male 2.5 pin. http://www.kvconnection.com/product-p/km-x172-2310.htm. I thought I would use it on my ecmnv1.Later I realised that it asks for phantom power. Is this cable of any use anywhere in the above scheme of things ? Or is it a waste.? Sorry for the repetition.

  • The Sony ECM-NV1 is not likely to work with 2.5 V if it calls for 48 V. But there's no harm in trying it with the cable you bought.

    The cheapest way to get a dynamic mic like your Shure SM58 connected to the GH2 is with this transformer: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/589872-REG/Pearstone_8111240_LMT100_Low_to.html I haven't used transformers myself, so I'm not sure how well they perform. My guess is that a DC blocking capacitor would do better, but as far as I know you can't buy a pre-made cable with one. If you want to try building your own cable or modifying the one you bought, there's info here: http://www.rcrowley.com/CamAdapt.htm Don't try the Shure mic with the direct cable you bought. Dynamic mics can be damaged by external voltage.

    Of course the most flexible way of hooking XLR mics up to the GH2 is with something like a Beachtek or JuicedLink, but those are for a different topic of discussion.

  • @balazer would the AT875R work on 1.5V? There are some pocket recorders that only provide 1.5V. Yes, ideally, you buy one with XLR and phantom power. But I'm looking to have a really small pocketable recorder first, like Yamaha W24.

  • @balazer Thanks once again. I am getting my camera next week. I have the i river h140 recorder which has 40gb hard disk space on it.(fits into the pocket) http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1623026,00.asp.

    I also have two excellent lapel microphones soldered together to a stereo pin with 10 ft of cable.Hope these mics might work on my gh2.Darren the audio professional who made these excellent mics talks about them on the dvinfo forum. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-42185.html

    I can always keep going back to the " i river" combo as before to get additional "safe" audio track along with the on board camera audio.

    Thanks once again for the help.

  • John, my guess is yes, but you'll just have to try.

  • got my em320e mic this week and dismounted it :D

    first info:

    • it has 2 capsules, one in the tip an another about 5cm (2inch) deeper

    • it has 2 amplifier stages both with C1740 transistor

    • pin 3 of the XLR is not connected (no balanced signal)

    • it seems the deeper capsule is not supplied (not active) in the normal mode, only the tip one and I think both are supplied in tele mode (don't remember exactly)

    I am thinking to supply it from GH2 - there seems to be 4.7V out of it (I didn't check myself that), and I think the 4.7V could give the signal more headroom - in tele position it sounds limited in both frequency and dynamic compared to normal. I need to add a wire from the audio signal pad to the supply pad, but I need to check it more before I do.

    Maybe also change the capsules later. I found on farnell a capsule that goes 50Hz-16kHz

  • Maybe it'd be better to post that in the EM320E topic instead of here. http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/3333/htdz-em320e-and-other-cheap-microphones#Item_30

  • Perhaps so. I oscillated. My intention to supply it from the gh2 won at that time.

    and there's no 4.7V there it's 2.5V, I re-read it now in the first post of this topic, and also measured it.

  • Hi,

    Bravo for your engineering creativity! I would like to have from you more information please. Actually I am buying the GH3 which has a 3.5 mini jack mic input. My question is, should I get a mini stereo male to 3-pin XLR female cable to simply connect the mic to the camera or would it be better to get a Line-Matching Transformer to prevent hiss and maximize signal fidelity? Here is an example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hosa-MIT-156-line-matching-transformer-Impedance-Transformer-XLR3F-3-5-mm-TRS-/330816263105?pt=US_Cables_Snakes_Interconnects&hash=item4d062f93c1

    Also, I am hesitating between the the AT875 and the NTG1 from Rode. The latter needs 48v... iN France where I live they cost the same. I you have any experience with the Rode, I would be interested to read your impressions.

    Thanks in advance for your time reading this!

    BALAZER ANSWERS:

    If your post is on topic, it's fine to reply to an old topic. The AT875R should work with the GH3 in the same way that I used it with the GH2. You need a cable wired as per my explanation, except of course with a 3.5 mm plug instead of 2.5 mm. I see no advantage to using an impedance matching transformer in this case. A transformer can serve two purposes: impedance conversion, and isolating power. The GH2 and GH3 are fine with the impedance of the AT875R, and the AT875R can be powered directly by the camera, so there is no need for a transformer.

    I don't have any experience with the Rode. If you are looking for something better than the AT875R that still can be used directly with the GH3, then consider the Sennheiser ME 66, or any of the other Sennheiser ME 6x series mics that can be used with the K6 power module. It uses a battery, eliminating phantom power issues, and the mics have very high sensitivity, which totally compensates for the less-than-excellent noise performance of the camera's pre-amp. This type of solution saves the cost and bulk of an external recorder or pre-amp, though reliance on a mic battery makes it not quite as simple as my solution with the AT875R. I'm not sure which type of cable will let you connect this mic to the GH3, but I'm pretty sure a direct cable connection of some kind will work - perhaps the same wiring as for the AT875R. (no need for a transformer)

    Of course having a very good external pre-amp is the most versatile solution, providing 48 V phantom power, and low noise suitable for use with virtually any microphone. But careful selection of a microphone that has high sensitivity and can be powered another way will afford you the convenience of recording straight into the camera. The GH2's in-camera audio recording is just fine, in my opinion, if your microphone has enough sensitivity.


    Follow the link below to check it out: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/messages/6789#33257

    Have a great day!