Audio Mixers for DSLR Production--UPDATED 5/20/13
External audio mixers make it easy to adapt XLR mic and line-level sources to the audio inputs on DSLRs. The juicedLink Riggy Assist series of audio mixers are intended to adapt various microphones to be used with DSLRs. They can also provide additional features like phantom power and metering. The Riggy Assist does all this and more.
The Results
I know my GH2 is okay with the internal preamps turned all the way down. But I have had issues, at times, on certain shoots where other electrical noise has entered the system from the unbalanced audio input. Then, when I cranked up the gain in post--sometimes as much as 35dB--all that noise got amplified with it.
When I try to use the higher audio settings of my GH2, I get the same results as juicedLink posts in their numerous tests on their blog. My audio has a higher noise floor because the in-camera mic preamps are just not that good.
Taking the same microphone and cranking it up with the juicedLink mixer and setting the camera to minimum amplification has consistently yielded the cleanest audio.
In the short audio test I did here (see the last minute of the clip below), there's very little extraneous electrical noise to make the difference as dramatic as I have heard. But let me just say that after having worked considerable hours in post to clean audio from another project that could have been recorded a lot better, I plan on making sure the audio that goes in to the camera is a loud and clean as possible from here on in.
Related Articles
This article and accompanying (hear it for yourself) video will compare the results of capturing audio with a $20 Audio-Technica wired lavaliere mic and a $200 professional mic from Sony directly into a DSLR. Is the $200 Sony really worth the 10x cost?