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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

How to make the RODE VIDEO MIC PRO working with Scarlet/Epic

Peter Majtan

Peter Majtan

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I know many here have the excellent RODE VIDEO MIC PRO which comes with the plug that neatly fits into the front ports on the Scarlet / Epic - yet no sounds can be recorded due to incompatible wiring...
While there are solutions via conversion cables - they add to the bulk and cable-clutter. Since I only want to use this mic to record scratch audio (even thou if you set your fans bellow 20% while recording you can get more then "useable" sound), I did a simple, dirty, but functional and reversible modification to the mic to make it work with the Scarlet / Epic directly without any other cable adapters, etc...

Simply unscrew the single screw on the back of the mic and pull out the back cover (the two sliding buttons will just pop up - so don't loose them!). Then cut (yes, you are reading this correctly - CUT) the white wire as close to the ECB (Electronic Circuit Board) as possible. Then insulate the (now) loose wire by tiny sliver of an electric (or even duct) tape. If you at later stage decide you want to fix this mod for what ever reason - you can always re-sloder the loose end of the white wire to the ECB. Close the back cover, tighten the single screw and clip back in the two sliding buttons...

Voilà! You can now plug the mic directly into the Scarlet / Epic front port and enjoy your new scratch sound... :thumbsup:

The mic will still work with other cameras (like the Canon DSLR's) - but it will only provide signal in one channel of the stereo pair. Since the mic is MONO to start with - you can just duplicate the signal to the other channel for "MONO-IN-STEREO" signal if You really want to, but this is not necessary, especially not on the Scarlet / Epic - as the ports are (balanced) mono to start with...

Hope this helps...

Peter

PS: The audio clip I have provided in the other thread was recorded with this modified mic directly attached to the Scarlet...
 
Great solution Peter, will try this one out.

Thanks for posting
 
Peter this is awesome, but can you also tell us which "solutions via conversion cables" are available?

I absolutely live on this mic with my 60D. have you seen the new version that records audio internally via SD?
Looks like a winner!
 
Matthew Richard Harris said:
Peter this is awesome, but can you also tell us which "solutions via conversion cables" are available?
Click to expand...

You can get almost any stereo-to-mono adapters, but these could cause later problem when the phantom is re-enabed...

Matthew Richard Harris said:
I absolutely live on this mic with my 60D. have you seen the new version that records audio internally via SD?
Looks like a winner!
Click to expand...

Yup. But I will stick with the VMP for a while. For a scratch sound it is already an overkill and I love to have the sound in the R3D files...
For all serious audio we record to en external audio recorder. When not available - I would run a shotgun on a boompole via MM1 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...evices_MM_1_MM_1_Single_Channel_Portable.html) into the camera using the RED MIC CABLE (http://www.red.com/store/new-releases/product/xlr-microphone-cable-20)...

Peter
 
Paramon Ivanovich said:
thanks Peter, will absolutely try, but 20% during record , is it safe?
Click to expand...

It depends on your location temperature. We are now mostly in the 0˚C ~ 10˚C range here in winter Tokyo, so no problems. Otherwise just set 100% for when not recording and don't shoot too long takes (keep an eye on the temperature)...
 
Audio is definitely not my world, can anyone speak on why my rode NTG-1 and Red xlr to mini adapter cable yields no signal. I have turned the channel on, and adjusted the db...but I still can't get sound. Please, someone tell me I am an idiot and let me know what I am doing wrong.
 
Hey Peter, great thread!

Another question this time on the mic, can you give a blow by blow description for cutting that blasted shotgun mic down to about a quarter its present size ? ;)
 
Thomas Akira Nakasone said:
Audio is definitely not my world, can anyone speak on why my rode NTG-1 and Red xlr to mini adapter cable yields no signal. I have turned the channel on, and adjusted the db...but I still can't get sound. Please, someone tell me I am an idiot and let me know what I am doing wrong.
Click to expand...

Hi Thomas, the main suspect would be the phantom power - that is currently dissabled from the camera. I have never used the NTG-1, only the 3. Does it power with AA battery and is so do you have one in it? Other then that check the input settings for the signal options...
 
Ryan Chapman said:
Does anyone know a way to make this work with the regular Rode Videomic?
Click to expand...

I don't see any reason why similar mod will not work with the non-pro version as well. Just not sure about the internals...
 
Mike Garrick said:
Hey Peter, great thread!

Another question this time on the mic, can you give a blow by blow description for cutting that blasted shotgun mic down to about a quarter its present size ? ;)
Click to expand...

One option would be to buy the new STEREO version of this mic - it's a lot shorter... ;o)
But you would have to turn it into a MONO mic in the process...

With the MONO version the tube is hollow, so you could just saw off as much of the front as you need and cut the foam cover accordingly from the back. You will affect the imaging profile of the shotgun, but since this is for scratch audio only, it should not matter. This is however irreversible mod that will affect the mic for use on other cameras...

Do you really need to shorten it?
 
Yep I don't have any budget for Audio on my feature so I'm going to record as much ambient noise as possible. LOL.

The idea of shortening the mic is to make for easy handling & discreet fixing to Scarlet . Audio quality can be craptactular ...as long as I have a guide track. The other alternate is to hang out for phantom power being enabled & use one of those tiny Sony mics. When I want real audio, I always use a shotgun at the end of a boom pole or wireless with audio operator attached. I stress I see this as temp. solution until enabling of phantom power, fingers crossed.

P.S. Thanx, I didn't know mono version has a hollow tube....... mmmmm so it could be possible. I really don't care what happens with this mic, it may be binned or Ebayed once phantom power is enabled.
 
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