Re: Does 5D + Magic lantern + Juicedlink pre-amp = audio capture success?

Bill, thanks for the stories. I agree there is much more involved in creating a great audio track than "it's clean, so it must be OK". I agree with everything you wrote. However, ENG sound mixers don't have the luxury of large format consoles with 4 band sweepable EQ with adjustable Q and a variety of preamps and a locker full of microphones with which to shape the sound we wish to capture. We have to "make due" with portable mixers, a variety of shotgun mics (and hypercardioids, at times) and lavalier mics boasting a variety of frequency response curves. There is very little "art" in creating ENG audio. That doesn't mean there is no skill or intelligence needed to work in the field, but we employ a different set of requirements for the audio elements that we capture.

True story. Many years ago I worked on an ESPN Classics story. Our interviews were recorded in a small room adjacent to a noisy hallway with large metal doors that banged shut on one side and a security office on the other side with 2 way radios going off frequently. No controls for the A/C were present. I was mortified. I padded the sills of the metal doorways as much as possible with gaff tape. But many of the other elements were beyond my control, given our time constraints. The producer signed off on the condition of the shoot and we soldiered on. Many months later I saw the piece air on TV. The interviews that we shot (and that I fretted so much about) sounded fine. I could barely perceive any background noise bleeding into the primary audio track. It was an eye opening experience in my professional career. I know several sound mixers who would have totally freaked out in the situation that we found ourselves in and would have gone berzerk trying to control the extraneous noises. Those mixers don't get many calls for our work because they don't know how to let things go, when the situation demands. Discretion is essential to better judgment.

Again, I'm not advocating sloppy work, or lowering the standards of sound mixers out there. What I am trying to say is that we approach every job with the attitude that we will capture the best audio possible given the location AND the final distribution format. In a perfect world, there would never be a difference, but who said TV production was a perfect world! :)

For ENG audio, the Canon 5D can capture "acceptable" (and that's the key word here) audio. Not superb audio, not great audio, but acceptable audio. Sometimes that's all that's necessary, especially considering the budgets of many "productions" today.

I agree with you in the assessment that if folks want their audio to sound as good as the video from the 5D and 7D looks, then recording to a separate, quality recorder is necessary. I'm not sure anyone here would argue that point.

I appreciate your input here Bill.

Rodney Morris
Freelance Sound Technician/Mixer