One of the biggest mysteries in modern content creation and storytelling online is why people would spend a hundred to two hundred to even three hundred dollars or pounds on a wireless microphone system that works flawlessly with their camera or their phone or whatever it might be that clips onto your clothing that has magnets all sorts of things and then stand there like this. and speak into it like it's a tiny little miniature interview mic that's too small for your hands. Isn't it weird? So this one I'm not actually using for my audio right now. The actual one I'm wearing is magnetized to my inside of my shirt, right under here, right under my clothing. There you go. It's hidden nicely and what it allows me to do is make something that isn't focused on the fact that I bought something expensive and look to be fair I think a lot of the economy online is about showing the gear that you're using so you can get sponsors and so you can make money from that but I think personally it's a far better ad for the people who manufacture this stuff whether it's Rode whether it's DJI whatever it might be that you're using I think it's a far better ad for the audio equipment that you're using when you use it properly. When you can make a microphone disappear underneath your clothing. And so that's what this video is all about. How to get the audio right for your videos if you've not used audio equipment before. We're going to talk about using mics like this because they are absolutely everywhere and I think it's so important. But what I want to do is show you how to do it with minimal equipment as well. Okay, let's jump into it. And, uh, maybe make the light just a little bit less moody. Okay, so first off, elephant in the room, what I wanted to show you, I've got my Sony a7IV right here. I've got my DJI Osmo Pocket 3 right here. Um, and both of these, I have microphones connected to them. I'm recording off a wireless mic under my shirt right now. As I said, um, I just wanted to make that known as well. Look, this has a microphone in it. This has a microphone and I would never use those even this one up here. Um, this fluffy mic on the top of the a 74 that you can see right here. I'm using that for reference audio to sync with the wireless mic so that my mouth matches up with the audio. But I would probably never use the built in mics and even this one. It's a really cheap ones. I probably wouldn't use that audio when I've got better stuff, but I absolutely can. And I've used this one outdoors before when I'm on the go when I don't want to have the hassle off. Much. Don't know which camera to look at. Oh, look at this one because the exposure is better. Bring it over here. Now the exposure is better everywhere. I always prefer to have a microphone mounted on my body somewhere as opposed to on the camera, and that's just a personal preference. I find it's a little bit more freeing. Um, I can get as far away from the camera as I want. without having to worry about my audio dropping off. Um, but that's just a personal preference and there's nothing wrong with that. Uh, let's just cut to the sound from this little microphone on top of the A7IV right now. I'm about my arm's distance from the camera right now. And, um, this is what the audio is like. And then back to the wireless mic I was wearing. I think you'll find that when I've got a wireless mic like this one. Sorry for the sound there. Attached to my chest. The bass, the resonance in my voice is a lot better than if I go with this thing. It's going to be a lot higher, a lot tinier. And look, it's not the greatest microphone in the world. It's a completely unbranded thing. Um, my Rode broke. So I had to replace it with something cheap off Amazon very quickly. Um, not these ones. These are great. These are my Rode Wireless Go 2s. Um, and this is fantastic as well. Right now, just for convenience. Because it's got the magnet. I'm using the uh, DJI mic two. Um, but there is nothing wrong with either the road or the DJI. Mic two IDJI mic two. I like both of them. That is all well and good. If you have stuff like this, if you really do have to do these ones, interview style, um, social media style. I get it. It's a trend. You need to show off that you've got this so you can get a sponsorship from someone. Absolutely fantastic. Do that. Try not to put it too close to your mouth 'cause then your audio's gonna peak. About centimetres. You can still whoop, almost drop that there. Hold it about centimetres from your mouth and show off the logo if you need to. Um, for most people who are starting out with creating content though, um, or not trying to get sponsorships, they're not going to have to worry about that. And what they're going to be more worried about is getting the best possible quality audio. And so that's what I want to show you right now. So as I mentioned, I've just, I'm just using the Magna. to it, attach this microphone to my chest. I've done the same with this one before. Now it doesn't have a magnet, the road while let's go to. So what I've ever done is strapped it on there, stuck a lav mic to my chest with like a, a bandaid or a plaster or something like that, or even just clip this to a second t shirt underneath my clothing. I tend to put them on my chest right here. So it gets the full resonance of my voice. If you use microphones, you want to. To maintain the base, the depth in your voice, you either need one of these on top of the camera, pointing right at your chest, not your mouth, which can be difficult because normally if it's on top of the camera, it is not pointing at your chest, it's pointing at your mouth. So gets the, like the higher tones, um, or the best possible option is to attach one of these or a lav to your chest right here. A lot of people won't like having the Bluetooth. that close to their chest. I'm probably an idiot for having the Bluetooth signal that close to my chest. So a lot of people will run a little lab mic plugged into there and then tape that to their chest and then have the Bluetooth, I don't know, in their pocket and giving them butt cancer or something. I might cut that out. That's a really weird thing to say. Um, but anyway, these are the things to consider. Now, what if you don't have any of this stuff? So, you're out filming, you've got a camera, you want to record something, but you've left your mic at home, or you just don't own one. And what most people have in their pockets is one of these. A telephone. And what you can do is Open up the built in voice recorder app. Uh, so I, there's voice memos on the iPhone. I can't remember what the Android equivalent's called, but if there's not one pre installed on your phone, you can normally get one. Or just open the camera and run that. I prefer just to use a voice memo app, so I'm not taking up tons of storage on it. I'll literally just do that. And look, one thing you could do is stand there like this. You might look a bit silly. Or hold it further down. and maybe come close to the camera so you can't see it. I will cut between the feed from my wireless mic and the feed from this so you can hear the difference. Um, but look, that is a good way to get audio, particularly if you're further away from the camera because as I'm back further away from the camera, my voice is still close enough to the phone right here. If you're wearing a jacket and you're outdoors, you could pop it in the pocket right there. You could even plug a wired mic into this and use this effectively as a field audio recorder too. That's a fancy way of saying a pocket audio recorder that you've got a microphone plugged into. So there's a bunch of different ways of doing things. One of the things I would not suggest is using airpods or earpods. Or any wireless headphones, unless it's an absolute pinch and there is absolutely nothing else. But presumably, if you're using those, you've got one of these already, so why not just use that? Bluetooth isn't great for audio quality, so I don't suggest using Bluetooth. I also think it looks crap on videos as well. That's my personal preference. Makes you look less like you know what you're doing. That's just my personal preference though. Okay, so, use a phone. Wait, what? That is it? Yeah, it's that simple. Um, microphone close to your chest, get closer to the microphone if you can, um, or have your phone recording for you. It really is that simple. What if you're recording on your phone as a camera? Look, most phones have microphones on them that are optimized for noise reduction. So if you're about this distance, an arm's distance from your phone, it's not the best audio in the world, but it's pretty decent. Um, iPhone, Samsung, whoever it might be, whoever's phone you have. They do a really good job of noise reduction. It's because the microphones on these were originally optimized for calls. Um, but now they all have fantastic algorithms for recording video because they know that that's a huge reason that people buy the phones. I don't think there is any substitute for a good quality mic and a lot. of the manufacturers who make higher end microphones like the Rhodes I was showing you, like the DJI Mic 2s now, are realizing there's a massive market for people who are starting out in content creation, um, who need a microphone. So they're doing cheaper ones. There's the Rode Minis, there's the DJI Mic Minis, there are the Hollyland Larks, there's all sorts of different microphones, really almost for absolutely any budget. Um, so I definitely recommend wearing a wireless mic attached to yourself. If you don't like having Bluetooth or radio signals that close to your body, I don't care, as I mentioned, then, um, use something like a phone as an audio recorder, and plug a lavalier mic into it. There we go. This is a lab mic right here. It normally plugs into a headphone socket. So if you have a phone that's like a modern iPhone does not have a headphone socket, you're gonna need the adapter for that. Um, but otherwise you're good to go. You can get a little adapter for these, plug it into your phone. Bing bang bong. You've got an audio recorder. I don't know where I got bing bang bong from. Those are some basic tips for getting good quality audio. Again, it's quite simple. It, uh, doesn't require too much effort, but really a lot of these microphones nowadays. are designed to be as simple as possible. So look, let's just summarize, because I've said a lot there. Keep the microphone as close to your body as you possibly can. Around your chest, it will ideally pick up your voice in the most flattering tone. Um, I would tend to avoid holding wireless microphones or anything like that right up like this, unless for some reason you are trying to show the branding on them, or trying to show you are using that microphone particularly. Um, but otherwise I think it looks better, and I think a lot of people would agree with me. If you hide your microphone, um, that's why these lab mics can be great as well. Cause you can clip them to the clothing, run the wires down underneath your clothing as well. And it looks really good. It looks really seamless and sounds really seamless too. And that after all is the most important thing, the sound, although. Before I go, please don't do these ones. Cable dangling down in front of your clothing. It never looks good. It just looks messy. I know I'm a messy person. I never iron clothes. I've often got clutter behind me in videos, but yeah, hanging cables is too far even for a mess, an ADHD mess like me. Alright, take care. Hope that helps you get better audio. See you next time.