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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 :)

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Sylvain Lesperance

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Hi there,

Will the scarlett camera be equipped with 2 xlr entries like prosumers camera? Will I be able to mount a mike on the camera? How much sound track will be available on the camera.

I a am documentary filmaker and I often shoot by myself. I need a camera that will give me this felxibility.

Thank's

Sylvain
 
There are two balanced 3.5mm mic input with phantom power on the brain. On the base i/o module there are two mini-xlrs, and on the pro i/o there are two full size. If you don't get one of the i/o module you'll likely need adapters for mics.

Hope that helps.
 
Audio Inputs

Audio Inputs

That one looks like it's for a stereo mic, so a 5-pin XLR...

instead, you'd need a 3-pin XLR to "stereo" jack, then you can then accept balanced audio.
 
I couldn't see the image very well... but I got it! thanks,
 
Hey Russ that looks like the right one but you will need 2 of those.
 
Stuart English said:
That one looks like it's for a stereo mic, so a 5-pin XLR...

instead, you'd need a 3-pin XLR to "stereo" jack, then you can then accept balanced audio.
Click to expand...

This one looks like it fits the bill - but I'm a little worried about most of these cables how they describe it as a 'stereo mini to XLR cable'. That sounds like it wires the two stereo channels to the hot pin on the XLR and then combines the negative and ground into the ground on the mini connector. This is perfect if I want to connect my iPod to a mixer (apart from the wrong gender on the XLR end) but it's not going to be what we want for Scarlet...

This Sure cable says exactly that too:
The Shure RP325 3-Pin XLR Female to Stereo Mini Male Cable can be used to connect the stereo output of portable CD Player, Walkman, Camcorder, etc., to a single XLR. Sums Left and Right Stereo signals to a single mono feed.
Click to expand...

Obviously RED is going to be making balanced ones, but do you know of any third party ones available?
 
To clear up this misconception about the "stereo" 1/8" or 3.5mm to xlr adapter when you see that in a prodeuct description that simply is the most common name for the plug. It is a trs conection, T=Tip, R=Ring. and S=Sleve.

On the picture provided at the bottom of the pic there is the 1/8" stereo connector. it has 3 separate metal conductors. This is a balanced connection when paired with an xlr connector as well. The sleeve of the stereo jack and thexlr pin #1 are the ground; the ring of the stereo connection and the xlr pin #2 are the hot signal, and the tip of the stereo connection and xlr pin #3 are the cold signal.

You can find these same connections on many lavaliere mics, sennhieser, audio-technica, sony, etc. But the main difference is that those are locking connections.

I am hoping that Red conciders those locking connections for the Scarlet. That would make the connections that much more solid and secure.
 

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Cedric Akins said:
To clear up this misconception about the "stereo" 1/8" or 3.5mm to xlr adapter when you see that in a prodeuct description that simply is the most common name for the plug. It is a trs conection, T=Tip, R=Ring. and S=Sleve.
Click to expand...

I understand this (in fact, I've made a lot of cables similar to this). It's just that that Shure cable explicitly says that it's wired to treat the TRS connector as a stereo input/output and downmixes the two channels into one unbalanced one, which is definitely not what we want. Many other cables I've seen don't exactly say this, but do kind of imply it... So you'd have to be careful or you could end up with the wrong cable...
 
If the audio module is out of your price range, you can go with a Zoom H4N cheap semi-pro quality audio. Seems to working quite well with DSLR's guys, I plan to use one to keep my scarlet as compact as possible.
 
Andrew Rieger said:
If the audio module is out of your price range, you can go with a Zoom H4N cheap semi-pro quality audio. Seems to working quite well with DSLR's guys, I plan to use one to keep my scarlet as compact as possible.
Click to expand...

Given that the inputs on the brain are balanced and can carry phantom power, why would you use the Zoom? If it had more channels, maybe, but matching up the is a big hassle when you have a lot of shots and the Zoom's higher sampling frequency really doesn't make much of a difference...
 
Cause the zoom has XLR inputs, the DSMC brain does not. You need and expensive module for XLR and some may find it out of their price range. Thus, the Zoom (very cheap) would be a great option to get XLR quality audio while keeping the camera very compact.
 
Also, matching audio in post is not that hard. There is software that can do it for you. Philip Bloom has great info on his blog about getting great audio with the Zoom. The lack of XLR on the brain kills onboard audio for me. I have had too many issues with minijack. recording audio on a Zoom also has some unique benefits. Say you want to mount a camera on the hood of a car facing towards the interior and catch a conversation. Instead of routing audio cables into the car. You can set up the zoom with some hidden shotgun mics or a lav system in the car with the camera by itself on the hood (just one example of zoom flexibility). Granted, some want the ease of use of built in audio but I would prefer the flexibility of a standalone system.
 
Andrew Rieger said:
Cause the zoom has XLR inputs, the DSMC brain does not. You need and expensive module for XLR and some may find it out of their price range. Thus, the Zoom (very cheap) would be a great option to get XLR quality audio while keeping the camera very compact.
Click to expand...

I don't understand what you mean by 'XLR quality'. Although mini-jacks usually carry unbalanced audio, the TRS inputs on the brain are balanced, which means that electrically they are exactly the same as an XLR connector, just in a different package. If I have the right kind of cable (and it's already been discussed in this thread how that would be wired) it's the same as if I had plugged it into an XLR socket on an IO module.

My only concern is durability since the connectors don't have locking mechanisms like XLR sockets, but there are threaded versions that RED will hopefully use.
 
well Stephen I think the concerns are also because of the contacts in the trs connectors which are (I believe) significantly weaker then the contacts in a xlr connector ..... also the connections in a trs are only on a small portion of the plug, where the contact surface in xlr's is much higher ....
 
how many channels is the onboard brain audio. 2 probably. Zoom is a 4 channel recorder and yes, minijack is much less durable and prone to wear. It may be balanced but I cant imagine it being equal to or better than xlr. Pros will go for XLR over minijack anyday. the Zoom recorder is the cheapest way to get that.
 
Andrew Rieger said:
how many channels is the onboard brain audio. 2 probably. Zoom is a 4 channel recorder and yes, minijack is much less durable and prone to wear. It may be balanced but I cant imagine it being equal to or better than xlr. Pros will go for XLR over minijack anyday. the Zoom recorder is the cheapest way to get that.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that the Zoom uses 2 of those channels for its onboard mics. You can only plug in 2 XLR mics.
 
Yes, I am aware that two channels go to the onboard mics but they are remarkably good and are great for picking up ambient noise. For the money, the Zoom beats Scarlet brain audio any day. Most cameras like the XHA1 and HVX can only do two XLR mics.
 
Andrew Rieger said:
Yes, I am aware that two channels go to the onboard mics but they are remarkably good and are great for picking up ambient noise. For the money, the Zoom beats Scarlet brain audio any day. Most cameras like the XHA1 and HVX can only do two XLR mics.
Click to expand...

I agree - they are very good for ambient noise. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't any confusion. I know a couple of people who ordered one H4n when they needed two.
 
The Scarlet does have 4 channels of audio available, 2 of which are onboard and 2 via the I/O module.
 
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