Get better audio on the DJI Mic 2 with EQ and Compression (a How-To of sorts) 

Hi :) And thanks for watching :) Using the Mic 2 internal recording in 24bit is actually quite easy, just push the record button and transfer the file(s) afterwards by connecting it to your computer with the supplied cable or a cable you already have. The you can increase the volume in the video editor you are using. For best results look into the compressor plugin to lower the loudest sounds and increasing volume on the quietest parts, all video editing software has built in compressors that will do quite a good job :) Also look into EQ to boost volume for the higher frequencies like i do in the video - these settings arr very dependent on how your voice sounds, so you need to experiment a little - if you search youtube for compressor an eq and the name of the software you edit with there should be many videos explaining things a bit more detailed than I did here :)

thanks :) yeah, not many talk about this, I’m probably not gonna get any sponsorship requests from Dji based on this down the line ;) I have done some additional testing and experimented a *lot* with mic placement after filming this video so there will be a big followup, hopefully with some tricks on how to avoid having to EQ too much, and also focusing on finding a repeatable placement of the mic for predictable results so EQ’ing will be pretty much a basic preset I can apply for my voice at least. I think the «problem» with the Dji Mic 2 is that the mic membrane is «better» than the mic 1, as in it picks up more bass frequencies then the mic 1, which with some voices and placements means it gets kind of bass heavy/muffled, which again might explain why the high pass filter is on by default. Working on a followup covering *everything* I can think of, so stay tuned for that one and thanks for watching :)

A low cut filter that is *on* cuts away the low bass frequencies, so turning it off doesn’t help with the muffled sound, it then just records more bass frequencies, I’ve tried both on and off and it sounds different, but still muffled - the problem is the mic membrane doesn’t pick up enough off the higher frequencies when used with a slightly bassy voice when mic is mounted to the chest as DJI is doing in their example images, so the higher frequencies need to be boosted in post using EQ. I’m working on the follow up to this video now, so audio examples will be included of all of these scenarios, with and without the low cut/high pass-filter used in the mic, as well as without and with EQ adjustments :)

Thanks for watching and sharing :) Your idea was my idea as well when I heard about the mic 2, a perfect minimalist setup using phone and bluetooth - but yeah, no go, and trying to sync loads of separate internal recordings to loads of clips in post … a nightmare with 20-30 clips of video and separate audio tracks. happy you found the video helpfull :)

Thanks :) Yeah, I'm working on a bigger Dji Mic 2 video, based on several questions I've gotten on this and the other video, that will also include something about EQ and Compression, from a "self taught noobs" perspective ;) I'm no audio specialist but have been tinkering with it from time to time so slightly more knowledgeable than the average Joe maybe, but haven't always had the time to actually do the proper audio stuff on some of my earlier videos due to time constraints ;) If you check out Jason Yadlovski and Jason Roberts and search for their names and Fairlight Davinci Resolve they have some tutorials on compression and eq, and the settings are the same for any compressor regardless of editor you use, so take a look at their stuff - Jason Roberts did a video about 5 months ago about compression for Davinci, and Yadlovski did something 6 months ago I think :)

Hahahahaha, thanks :) Both for watching and taking the time to comment :) The space I'm in has *lots* of things in it, furniture, roller skates, gear, arcade machine/pinball, some furniture as well +++ and the mic works pretty well in there - haven't had time to try it outdoors properly yet, but will try to include some proper samples of outdoor recordings both from a trafficed area as well as in the woods nearby, also to see how well background noise can be removed in post :) If the Hohem you are using gives you better audio then by definition it's a better mic for you ;) To be fair, it's not that the DJI Mic 2 is a bad mic, *but* it does require a little work to make it sound it's best :) I'm guessing from what I've seen about the Hohem it doesn't have internal recording right? and also not Bluetooth Connectivity to smartphones? My guess is that part of it being cheaper is due to those features not being there. As for sounding better, it *could* be it sounds better if it doesn't capture as much bass as the DJI Mic 2 does, and that would make voices sound clearer - but that also depends on what audio gear/speakers you are listening too. But the most important part is that it sounds good to you with your voice, as long as that's the fact then it's a great mic for your use :)

Thanks for watching :) Yeah, it took a bit of work and googling to refresh my memory on the basics of eq’ing voices as a starting point since this is a bit of an extreme scenario, as well as not only figuring out the compressor settings to *not* sound like it’s brickwalling. At the same time I started looking into maximising the audio output to hit close the RU-vid-max settings of around -14db lufs and the -1 peak, so that took some trial and error, or «vigorous polishing and cleaning» as is the definition of elbow grease ;) The cap audio surprised me as well, putting it at my neckline/close to my throat gave it a lot more proximity effect/guttural sound, which needed even more eq’ing. I might just rent a Røde Wireless Pro for a day to record and compare, just to see how it handles my voice, since the examples I’ve heard gives the røde the edge, but at the same time the dji mic examples untreated hasn’t been as bad as my raw audio, so I’m guessing the røde might struggle with my voice as well - will probably be a video about it in a months time if I do :)

Sure, no problem :) It differs from software to software, which editing software are you using :)

Hi and thanks for watching :) Unfortunately I haven’t been able to test several mics, small channel and all that, can’t buy them all :/ But: there really are only two contenders as far as I can see in the «mid tier» market if you want/need internal backup recording: Røde and Dji. Røde is the pricier option, and have no package with just one transmitter/receiver, but the pro wireless comes with lavaliers to connect to the transmitters. Dji has a 1 transmitter/1 receiver option, and does not come with lavs, so it’s less money. If you *don’t need/want internal backup recording I have heard good things and ok quality regarding the Hollyland Lark M2, but if possible try before you buy :)

thanks for watching and commenting :) The latest Lavalier from DJI has finally come to Norway now in the shops, so I’ll be getting one of them to test how much quality I can squeeeeze out of a completely DJI-package setup, should be interesting, video is in the works, so just getting the lav in a couple of days and *hopefully* video done sometime next week :)

First thing I checked - as I remember the low cut filter is off by default, but the noise cancellation is on by default :) Also, it’s a low-cut filter, not low-pass :) Or High-Pass filter if you prefer :) You don’t necessarily get *better* audio by turning the low cut filter off, but you get more bass frequencies, which, if the audio across the whole spectrum was more evenly balanced, could be a good thing. Actually turning the low cut filter «on», so it cuts out the lower frequencies, has made my recordings sound slightly better/less muffled out of the box without having to use as much EQ - in general you don’t need much bass on voices, especially if doing music underneath the talking, or want to sound like an american radio host ;) Planning a follow-up video with all the settings tested and audio examples using my voice as a reference so stay tuned for that in the coming weeks :)

Hah, thanks :) Took a bit of work and trial and error to get it usable ;) but yeah, it’s a difficult decision - when the DJI Mic 2 released I watched all the big tubers do their «not sponsored (sponsored)»-reviews, with comparisons, and in every one of those videos the dji mic 2 sounded «duller»/more «muffled» than the røde wireless pro out of the box (with none of them commenting on it, just doing the «you decide what sounds best» … but I got the dji mic 2 since they had the cheaper option of 1 receiver + 1 transmitter, and I really needed a wireless option for some of my videos. The Røde Wireless Pro also need a bit of work from my understanding, have been thinking about renting a set for a day and record a bucketload of examples with different placements and all that. Since the Røde option includes the lavs as well that whole 2 + 1 package is a better deal dollar for dollar, *but* it is *way* more expensive in terms of how much you need to spend to get started with a wireless mic setup. And the Røde’s are a bit square and lumpy, but if using the lavs the shape/size doesn’t really matter that much. I’m probably getting a lav for it, either the dji if it comes in stock pretty soon, or the røde go lav (*not* spending over 100 usd on the røde pro lav), to see if it improves the initial recording :)

Heeey Roger, kul att se dig här också 🙂

That is very true, and the way to do it when using the exact same setup every time, like mounted on the chest and with my voice soecifically :) Challenge comes when using the mic on somebody else with different characteristics on their voice, maybe a different mounting point for the mic, or using a clipon lav. That’s when you need to know what you’re doing in terms of adjusting the preset, or make a new one based off of the old one. Even the type of clothing you are wearing could alter the characteristics of the recording with the same placement on your body, causing the preset to no longer «just work», but usually it’s close enough so minor adjustments will be enough. I will be going through all these scenarios in the followup video to this detailing as much as possible about what can be done making presets and things one should learn properly to solve issues when they appear :)

Sweet :) and thanks for taking the time to comment :) The Dji Lav-mic has finally arrived here in Norway, so I’ll be getting one of them to test properly all the options for getting the best audio from it in a video soon - My guess is the Røde is a bit higher quality based on the price and what I’ve heard of examples, will be interesting to see if the lav lessens the amount of post work or not :)

That is correct, this video is about connecting to a smartphone :) The fact that it uses bluetooth to connect to action 4 and pocket 3 and has internal recording enables, and then turns it off if connected to a smartphone makes this an even more annoying :/

My first couple of videos where recorded on an old iPhone X using Filmic Pro (the old pre-subscription version of the app). The last 5 or so videos have been filmed on an iPhone 15 Pro Max using the Blackmagic Camera App in Apple Pro Res 422 LT :)

Hi there :) Thanks for watching and commenting :) Yes, you can connect the microphone directly to the osmo action 4 without the receiver, with pretty good quality. You can also connect directly via bluetooth to an iphone 14 pro, however the quality of the audio will be worse than when connected to the osmo action 4, and it can’t be used with the native iphone camera app, you have to use a third party app like blackmagic camera app or beastcam :)

That is a really good question :) The internal recordings are 24bit out of the box, and can be set to 32bit float only if you have the receiver. The quality is about the same as you get from the audio that is being sent to the receiver that’s being recorded together with your video - but of course: the bitrate on the audio recorded in your camera/on your phone will be whatever you use on your camera/in your phone. Compared to what you get when you record from the dji mic 2 into a phone with bluetooth though the difference is huge, the internal quality is miles above what is being transmitter to the phone over bluetooth, which is why it’s such a bummer they disable the internal backup recording feature. Being able to sync by audio waveform using the phones internal mic for the video and sync’ing with the dji internal recording is of course possible, but kind of hard if you are far away from the camera recording and not able to record your voice with internal mic on the phone for syncing later. For my test I used the blackmagic camera app set to PCM audio 16bit - the internal recording on the DJI Mic 2 was set to 32bit Float. So in *theory* the internal recording should be «better», but for all practical purposes, for an average user it sounds pretty much the same, both on my headset and on my KRK 5 studio monitors going through a Volt 2 audio interface. The Internal backup recording on the DJI mic 2 *is* slightly lower in volume though, even with all gain settings (on the mic, on the receiver and in the blackmagic camera app) set to zero - I am guessing this audio level difference comes from the 32bit float on the internal recording and added headroom, but I don’t know for sure. If you are planning on doing some heavy manipulating of the audio the 32bit float might give you some more space to work with, but for most applications the difference is non-noticable.

@@AndreSjoberg Congrats for the funny intro-Pic ;-) // Well, to be able to start internal rec. on the Transmitter - you have to connect it to the dji Receiver first . Cheers ;-)

@@5MinutesHenry Hahaha, thanks ;) But, actually, I gotta correct you ;) You *don't* have connect the transmitter to the receiver to start internal recording on the DJI Mic. If you only turn on the Dji Mic 2 you can start the internal recording on the Mic with the red circle button, this works if only the mic is on *or* when it's connected to the receiver. But out of the box it "only" records in 24 bit, since 32bit float needs to be activated from the receiver (which is plenty good for most purposes). BUT: If you connect the Mic to a smartphone with *bluetooth* the internal recording function is disabled on the mic, which is a bummer.

@@AndreSjoberg Thank you for the detailed answer. Is there a desktop app like rode give us that adjusts the setting?

@@nightdonutstudio Nope, that’s the big problem - they have no phone app and no desktop app to adjust settings on the dji mic 2 transmitter, the only option is the receiver :/ This could of course change in the future, but so far nothing from dji on this :/

Increasing the gain only increases the volume on all frequencies on my voice, still muffled only louder (and by muffled I mean lack of higher frequencies, not low volume :) Proper EQ-ing boosting the volume of just the upper frequencies as well as a low cut below 120-ish removes the muffled sound I get with my voice :)

That is a very good question :) It is also a difficult question, microphones sound different for different type of voices, a bright voice might sound good on a Dji Mic 2 without EQ, my voice is a bit darker so I need to EQ it a bit. There is also the question of what is «good sounding», for some people the Dji mic 2 sounds good, for an audio person it might not sound too good, but good related to the price. From the examples I’ve heard on youtube the Røde Wireless Pro sounds a bit brighter (which for my voice is «better» without any EQ on it). But the Røde is more money, but it comes with 2 mics and two Lavs (a small microphone you attach to the transmitter that is less visible if you are in front of the camera talking and presenting). The Dji Mic 2 comes in a version with only one mic (a lot cheaper than røde) and no lav, which you have to buy separately. So the dji package is less money, but the røde is more value for money. I have also heard good audio examples from the Hollyland Lark M2 which is even cheaper than the dji package, and it comes with 2 mics - it does however not have internal recording if that is something you want/need (for recording backup audio on the mic itself if the main audio fails). All of these options give you relatively good audio, but you *have* to experiment a little bit with placement of the mic - it’s one of those harsh lessons all beginners learn: almost nothing is perfect out of the box, one *has* to learn things, like EQ, if one wants better results, or improve on things, over time. I can get pretty good results with the Dji Mic 2 now (transmitter/receiver combo), using a phone, no extra gain - but they are better after I’ve learned to do a little EQ on the recordings, which is why there are such things as audio professionals and engineers who can get great results ;) My guess is that any of the wireless mic’s I’ve mentioned should give you relatively good results, especially if you spend a little time watching a couple of youtube videos on EQ as well, and better than just using the phone microphone :)

Hey man, no need for the salty language :) working on a proper video for this showing in detail how everyone can find good settings for their voice :) This video was more to show that it *is* possible to get good audio (since the previous video I did on this subject was a pretty harsh cut down of the dji mic 2) - I’m just a simple guy who tries to make videos on my spare time, but we’ll get there in the end :) But this is important: there is no *setting* that will work for everyone, because everyones voices occupies different parts of the spectrum - using the EQ and compressor to brighten the voice and level out the volume is the method, each person needs to experiment to find what eq settings will work with their specific voice. So the video coming up will be pointing people in the right direction and showing how, by cutting and boosting frequencies, they can get clearer and less muffled audio out of the dji mic 2. Knowing that eq and compression is the answer is enough for most people to start experimenting themselves, open up the eq, try to boost some frequencies, lower others - by trying and testing yourself you will be much better suited for solving similar audio issues down the line :) But if you *don’t* want to test it out yourself there eill be a video coming, hopefully in a couple of weeks, explaining the basics of how eq and compression works using the dji mic 2 as an example :)