Videos of Acoustically-Coupled Audio Recordings

[Ron Resnick]

the question is, if you make a change that is audible over the video, do both suffice?

I have not experimented with this.

I am hearing the MV88 as noticeably more resolving and more transparent, but I think also thinner sounding and more "hi-fi" sounding(?)

 

[Scott Naylor]

One of these videos is recorded with the iPhone mic and the other video is recorded with the MV88.

I wouldn’t have believed the improvement with the MV88 - much more natural presentation with the Shure imho. Thanks for the comparison!

 

[Ron Resnick]

The idea of standardizing video recording has a strong appeal.

+1

I have been advocating this.

 

[tima]

The playback volume from the stereo itself did not change



The main iPhone microphone is at the bottom of the device so recording in landscape will emphasize one channel over the other.

On my desktop speakers the volume is quite different between the two. Speculate that could be the mic/ no mic causing that?

Do not use an iphone so I did not know that.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I wouldn’t have believed the improvement with the MV88 - much more natural presentation with the Shure imho. Thanks for the comparison!

Exactly what "improvement" are you hearing? I am hearing the MV88 as more resolving and more transparent, but the iPhone mic seems to have a warmer (fuzzier?) tonal balance. I think the MV88 has a "thinner" tonal presentation.

 

[bonzo75]

I have not experimented with this.

I am hearing the MV88 as noticeably more resolving and more transparent, but I think also thinner sounding and more "hi-fi" sounding(?)

one of them is more resolving, but it is also closer feel while the other has distance ambience. Assuming you are on your seat how is the closer feel of the first video representative? I think first video mic will show compares more easily, though with the second one you end up with the same conclusion in compares, it does not really matter. It means both are sufficiently resolving

 

[Ron Resnick]

On my desktop speakers the volume is quite different between the two. Speculate that could be the mic/ no mic causing that?

Do not use an iphone so I did not know that.

I am puzzled why I had to set the MV88 microphone app all the way to maximum mic gain -- and even then the MV88 recording still was not as loud on playback on the iPhone as was the internal mic recording. (I wonder if I have a defective MV88?)

 

[Ron Resnick]

one of them is more resolving, but it is also closer feel while the other has distance ambience. Assuming you are on your seat how is the closer feel of the first video representative? I think first video mic will show compares more easily, though with the second one you end up with the same conclusion in compares, it does not really matter. It means both are sufficiently resolving

I am not sure about the closer feel/distant ambience question. I find a significant difference in resolution and transparency.

In the beginning of the track listen to the cymbal on both recordings.

 

[Scott Naylor]

Isn't there a fair bit of compression built in to the iPhone mic? They are prioritized toward speech intelligibility

 

[bonzo75]

I am not sure about the closer feel/distant ambience question. I find a significant difference in resolution and transparency.

In the beginning of the track listen to the cymbal on both recordings.

The first video feels closely miked compared to second, where I get the listener is not next to the speaker. I am not disputing the level of detail

 

[hopkins]

I think I'm not hearing a channel imbalance.

I listened quickly and only to the beginning. The second one is the Shure recording, I assume, which has stereo mics. It could be the stereo effect. Perhaps record a mono track first ?

I see how you could find the Shure recording "thin" sounding. Play around with different recording positions/settings and see if that changes anything. Don't know about the volume settings. One would expect the Shure to be more sensitive.

 

[morricab]

I have not experimented with this.

I am hearing the MV88 as noticeably more resolving and more transparent, but I think also thinner sounding and more "hi-fi" sounding(?)

Your Shure recordings sound thinner than what I got with this new Zoom IQ7 microphone.

 

[tima]

I am puzzled why I had to set the MV88 microphone app all the way to maximum mic gain -- and even then the MV88 recording still was not as loud on playback on the iPhone as was the internal mic recording. (I wonder if I have a defective MV88?)

Yes, that is odd. I don't know much about using the MV88 but vaguely recall it uses the Shure MOTIV software on the recording device. It could be a software issue. Probably sites or forums that talk about phone recording, maybe check there. Perhaps check that you have the latest software version -- these can change monthly. ... another variable.

Using an external microphone may yield a recording better representative of what you hear in-room. For cross system video compares, thus far, I find a phone recording works fine.

 

[Rexp]

I am puzzled why I had to set the MV88 microphone app all the way to maximum mic gain -- and even then the MV88 recording still was not as loud on playback on the iPhone as was the internal mic recording. (I wonder if I have a defective MV88?)

Some more tips:

 

[tima]

Isn't there a fair bit of compression built in to the iPhone mic? They are prioritized toward speech intelligibility

I don't know about the iphone but this is a good point. When I was looking at Web coverage on which phone to buy, specifically for making videos, there was differentiation on emphasis of use. Phones (and microphones) oriented toward interviews and meetings vs concerts, etc.

 

[abeidrov]

I have not experimented with this.

I am hearing the MV88 as noticeably more resolving and more transparent, but I think also thinner sounding and more "hi-fi" sounding(?)

I’ve had similar experience with MV88. It definitely shifts the overall tone balance up. I then bought Tascam DR-100 MK-3 and it had the same issue. I have no idea why this happens, in the end I‘ve just used IPhone, which is less resolving, but at least has the same overall tonal balance as I hear from my system.

 

[hopkins]

I’ve had similar experience with MV88. It definitely shifts the overall tone balance up. I then bought Tascam DR-100 MK-3 and it had the same issue. I have no idea why this happens, in the end I‘ve just used IPhone, which is less resolving, but at least has the same overall tonal balance as I hear from my system.

I think you can get very good results with the Shure and the Tascam (which I own) but the mic placement is important, as illustrated in the nice video that Rexp linked to above. There seem to be numerous settings on the Shure app and you also need to experiment with those.

 

[PeterA]

The playback volume from the stereo itself did not change



The main iPhone microphone is at the bottom of the device so recording in landscape will emphasize one channel over the other.

There is more than one mic on an iPhone. I thought the one for video is next to the camera lenses. Rotating it to landscape puts it on one side regardless of where the mic is located. I position the lense/mic to be in the center between the speakers. Landscape videos do not seem to be an issue for other people’s videos.

 

[PeterA]

One of these videos is recorded with the iPhone mic and the other video is recorded with the MV88.

Ron, I slightly prefer the second video. It sounds more natural to me, more like what I imagine an actual performance would be like. Which one sounds closer to what you actually hear at the listening seat?

 

[Ron Resnick]

I wouldn’t have believed the improvement with the MV88 - much more natural presentation with the Shure imho. Thanks for the comparison!

Thank you for that vote!