Sony A7iii external microphone test using a Clippy EM 172 omni electret condenser lavalier
23In this video I'm testing an external microphone with the Sony A7iii specifically a lavalier microphone. The microphone in question is the Clippy EM172 omni-directional electret condenser by MicBooster.com
This video was actually taken from a day out with my mate Threlly, where we recorded some preliminary tests using the Clippy EM172. As I was so impressed with the pairing of the Sony A7 III and the Clippy EM172, I decided to just do a simple cut sequence with me and Threlly doing our dialogue tests.
As the Clippy EM172 is so sensitive and with a healthy output, the microphone input on the A7 III wasn't having to be over worked to get a good solid input level. The input gain was only set to 2.
The first two cuts have been post processed with limiting and re-summing of the audio signal with a ceiling of -0.1 being set to avoid digital audio clipping for the final output renders.
This use of dynamics processing is to simply give the audio a more 'finished' sound that's going to stand out well for streaming on the likes of YouTube.
The second pass is a repeat of the first two cuts but with their original record levels and no limiting or any other dynamics post processing.
Between me and Threlly their should be a fair difference in our voice/dialogue tonal characteristics to gauge just how good the Primo EM172 is.
The end result of this test is that the Primo EM172 is a fantastic match for the Sony A7iii. With this quality of microphone you can easily use it for many types of dialogue recording including anything from interviews to vlogging.
The Clippy EM172 has an extremely low self noise floor and has a great frequency response that's well capable of recording any type of dialogue.
The real surprise was just how good the Sony A7iii external microphone input is. It has a very quiet pre-amp/gain stage, especially when driven by a high quality low noise mic like the Clippy EM172. Its analogue to digital conversion is also very good with no noticeable colouring across the frequency range.
Although this was primarily a microphone and audio quality test, here's some notes on the Sony A7iii settings.
Everything was set manually aside from white balance. White balance was set to auto to see how well it reacted to the sunlight. At the point in the day that these parts of our tests where done, we were just into golden hour, so it was a great test for the Sony's auto white balance to see how it reacted to such warm light.
This footage was also recorded in standard rec709 and wasn't touched at all in post.
Check back as I will be posting more videos about the use of the Sony A7 III with more microphone setups and with a FeiyuTech A1000 Gimbal.
Special thanks to Threlly for letting me use his camera again and for helping me with the test and setup.
Check out Threlly's web site for some of his photography work: http://www.Threlly.com
You can also hear some of Threlly's music production work with his music partner John and their group, The Long Rays, at this web site:
http://www.TheLongRays.com
Special thanks to MicBooster.com for supporting my YouTube channel by giving me microphones and ECM capsules. Although I am given these for free, I do not receive any commission or any other financial remuneration from any sales that derive from my links to their web site.
You can buy the Clippy EM 172 by following this link: https://micbooster.com/clippy-microphones/65-clippy-em172-microphone.html
As well as selling microphones, MicBooster.com are also a major distributor of Primo ECM capsules. In fact, the Clippy range by MicBooster.com all use Primo capsules, with the Clippy EM 172 using the excellent Primo EM172 capsule. MicBooster.com also design, manufacture and sell high quality professional low noise gain staging and peripherals for those building their own microphones.
http://www.MicBooster.com
If you are interested in buying a Sony A7III here's some links to where you can buy it from Amazon.
PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM AN AMAZON AFFILIATE AND WILL RECEIVE A COMMISSION FROM AMAZON FOR ANYTHING PURCHASED FROM AMAZON WHEN USING MY LINKS.
Canada & USA: http://geni.us/SonyA7IIIUSA
Europe & UK: http://geni.us/SonyA7IIIUK
Thank you very much for watching this video, take care and goodbye now.
Cheers,
Dave.
http://www.DavidHarry.com
YouTube@DavidHarry.com
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