I’ve got a DSLR camera with no headphone jack.
This old YT video indicates I could use a HDMI to VGA adapter. His links are old.
Ha anyone used such an adapter so they can detect audio when recording with lavaliere mics through their DSLR?
Thank you.
There was no link supplied to the YouTube video, so I’m not sure what setup that person had. What I can say is that HDMI to VGA won’t do anything for audio because VGA doesn’t carry audio. Maybe the adapter had RCA for audio too, but that doesn’t help for headphone monitoring.
A direct replacement for that adapter might be an HDMI audio extractor like this:
A-Neuvideo 4K HDMI 18Gb/s Audio Extractor ANI-7.1CH4K B&H Photo
But there are three caveats with HDMI extractors (not counting their unwieldy bulk and cable mess).
The first is that some DSLRs can’t record internally and send video out of the HDMI port at the same time. It’s one or the other. If your camera falls into this category, then HDMI audio monitoring will wipe out your internal recording. An external recorder like a Ninja V would need to be daisy chained with the HDMI audio extractor. Or just monitor direct from the external recorder if you’re using one.
Atomos Ninja V 5" 4K HDMI Recording Monitor ATOMNJAV01 B&H Photo
That leads to potential problem #2. A lot of HDMI audio extractors actually “extract” the audio from the stream, meaning they remove it and don’t pass the audio on to the next device. Only video goes to the next device. The extractor I listed above actually does pass audio, but many do not, so verify before buying.
Problem #3 with extractors is portable power. They’re all designed for wall-wart power supplies rather than USB power banks. If you’re in a studio, that’s fine. If you want to be mobile, it’s a big issue.
Since you’re looking at an equipment purchase one way or the other, I might recommend monitoring audio in front of the camera instead of after it in the signal chain.
For instance, this is a sweet 2-channel preamp that gives you clean gain for many types of mics and lets you monitor audio before handing it off to your camera. All you have to do is watch the level meters on the camera to make sure they don’t clip:
Beachtek DXA-MICRO-PRO Active XLR Compact Adapter DXA-MICRO PRO
The next items work the same way too, but also have internal recording to SD cards which makes an excellent backup solution in case audio clips in the camera:
Zoom H4n Pro 4-Input / 4-Track Portable Handy H4N PRO BLACK B&H
Really, any of the Zoom recorders work well, or stuff from Sound Devices if you really want to spend big bucks. It just depends on how many channels you want, or how much portability you need, whether redundant writing to dual SD cards with hot-swappable batteries is necessary for reliability, or how much you’re willing to spend. There’s a recorder for every use case.
My DSLR doesn’t have a mic port in it, but the audio quality of my DSLR is extremely nice when you are in a quiet place. And the same applies to most DSLR’s, You could also connect your smartphone, desktop, or laptop with the lavalier mic by Bluetooth with your mic plugged into the adapter and adapter connected to your smartphone, desktop, or laptop via Bluetooth, and this will give you the audio already separated from your video and then it will help you in any further adjustments for your audio in any audio editing software. And you will be still recording with a good quality mic.
I have to disagree. On-board omni mics never sound anywhere near as good as dedicated up-close mics, no matter how quiet the room. Omni mics pick up too much echo and have poor bass response even at arms-length vlogging distance. Using an external mic is radically better but usually still short of amazing because most DSLRs have terrible sounding preamps. DSLRs specialize in photography, not audio, so manufacturers have a long history of going cheap on preamp parts (meaning low gain and lots of hiss). They expect customers to buy an external preamp if they care that much about audio, hence the abundance of products I listed above. The only cameras with great preamps are recent Canon cameras and pretty much all Panasonic cameras because Panasonic actually makes it a point to specialize in video. Some super-recent Nikon and Olympus cameras sound pretty good too. But these are all mirrorless, not DSLR. Check the preamp shootouts on DPReview for demonstrations. The preamp situation is one of the big reasons I use Panasonic.
Does anyone even sell such an adapter? The Bluetooth protocol itself has too much latency for real-time audio capture synced with video, and does not recover gracefully enough from lost packets or dropped connections. These are a few of many reasons that the Rode Wireless Go and other such radio lavaliers use proprietary protocols. This is why newer cameras don’t offer connections to Bluetooth mics. The protocol is not designed for professional use and customers would inevitably complain about reliability.
If you just meant connect a Rode Go receiver to a laptop instead of the camera, then yes, there is potential in that. The computer will likely add latency to headphone monitoring, its fan may add noise to the room, it’s another piece of gear to haul around, and it might lose the recording because Windows Updates rebooted during the shoot. But on a good day, it could work, although now there is time added to post-production to synchronize audio to the video. It’s nice to record audio with the camera when possible just to eliminate sync issues.
The YouTube video I watched is called “5 Ways to Add a Headphone Jack to your Camera” here …
He seems to suggest you can get an HDMI to VGA adapter but his links are odl and link to swimming goggles.
I didn’t want to have to add a monitor as the sound from the lavalieres are clear. I just needed to track that sound was being recorded as sometimes subjects in a video accidentally turn of their mics which I could catch with headphones on.
Thanks.
Amazon seems to.
I get an Amazon link to this adapter, probably because I’m in the US, so Genius links route differently than outside the US:
It could work, but there’s still the caveat of whether your camera can record internally and send out the HDMI port at the same time.
I’m going to have to agree with @Austin here, you don’t want your cameras in body audio even some panasonic ones I have(which I use for my live streaming) aren’t something I actually want to use the sound out of.
I actively use seperate audio/video devices with my less capable cameras recording to a PC via OBS with a hdmi to usb capture device as well as a usb audio input device. It’s a bit clunky since you have potential to run into sync issues but it’s entirely possible. I wouldn’t do HDMI to vga though, if your setup is stationary enough something like this https://amzn.to/3gJzfPb will give you everything with the option to capture, and inject audio seperately as well.
Interesting, I had not heard of that capture device before. I like the pass-thru design with audio injection, moreso than the usual Magewell designs that everyone copies.
I was a little bummed by this disclaimer, though:
Please note that ClonerAlliance Flint 4KP Plus doesn’t support “color space” at “4:2:2”. Please make sure the “color space” of your source device can be set at “4:4:4” or “4:2:0”. For more details, check User Guide [pdf].
Many cameras offer 4:2:2 on HDMI output but not 4:4:4, so that’s a pretty big disadvantage if somebody wanted that extra color to do a cleaner green screen.
As for Panasonic cameras, there is also the DMW-XLR1 hot shoe preamp with XLR inputs that makes as good a signal as most people need, with very little cable clutter and perfect A/V sync. Great option for Panasonic shooters.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1304877-REG/panasonic_dmw_xlr1_xlr_microphone_adapter.html
My Panasonics are lower end than that adapter sadly(although I’ve used it or a similar model when I had my hands on a GH-4) I regularly use a updated model of that beachtek one you linked however DXA-Micro-Pro+ Mixer Review - Pocketables
As far as that hdmi capture device I agree that not offering 4:2:2 is a gap although it’s aimed at the pc market more than cameras and a few years old at this point, I’ve been playing with a GUV322 from IOgear https://amzn.to/3wGxis1 and would have mentioned it first but i’m a bit peeved right now that the XLR doesn’t offer phantom power considering it’s price point(I’ve got a call with them scheduled soon to ask why)
I don’t know if you’ve been able to view the YT video I posted here? I got an HDMI to VGA adapter that’s supposed to enable you to monitor audio with a headphone plugged into the headphone jack on the adapter. The problem is the viewfinder goes dark. I watched another YT video and/or read (it’s been dizzying( that you then have to make modifications in your camera settings to accommodate both the viewing and the audio with the adapter. I’m wondering re: your thoughts re: Saramonic Blink 500 Pro B2 2-Person Digital BLINK500PROB2 B&H (bhphotovideo.com)
Thank you!
I saw the YouTube video and replied with an updated link to the Amazon product he mentioned. It was an HDMI to VGA adapter.
I have not personally used the Saramonic mics, but having a headphone jack on the receiver sounds like a good solution. Here is another wireless system with headphone jack if you’re evaluating options, plus local MicroSD recording on the transmitters in case the signal drops:
My apologies. I’m just catching up! I got a similar HDMI to VGA adapter but when I press record (film camera) on the Canon the viewfinder goes dark. I re-watched that guy’'s YT video he notes you need to change the recording to Dual Record but I’m not finding that option on this M50. Thanks so much for all your kind help.
There are many cameras that cannot feed the HDMI port and the local screen at the same time. Component-wise, the camera would need twice as much display processing power, which would add to the price. It’s worth checking the owners manual to be sure, but it’s a common issue with DLSRs.
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