Sound for Video Session: Set Audio Levels From Recorder to Camera with Tone 

Learned a ton from this video tutorial !

You're the best. This helped my new mixpre 3 purchase a lot with my g7.

A much needed bit of info. I once approached the camera guy on set with a cable from my recorder and told him I wanted to run tone to his camera. He replied that he didn't need it because his camera had a tone thing built in. So...

Thanks Curtis, that's exactly what I've been looking for!

Perfect as always Curtis, thank you!

thanks, nice advice! Looking for a suitable 4K vid cam for mixpre, so this came in time

the answer I needed

Curtis Judd is absolutely amazing!! I've recently gotten into video production and Curtis is my new hero!! Everything he puts out is top notch...even down to the amazing description layout where a lot of videos fall short. Thanks Curtis for your amazing channel!! I do have two questions about running audio from the MixPre into my DSLR. In general, how much of a quality difference is there between the audio recorded on the MixPre and the audio routed via 3.5mm into the camera? Also, would the 3.5mm cable introduce a greater risk for rf interference? Thank you

Thanks, Curtis!

Great video Curt thanks👍🏾

Thanks so much for this!!!

Great video and very helpful. Also helps to see that you‘re using a very low output level as well, I was wondering if I was doing something wrong. I have my MixPre set to -40db on the X1/X2 outputs and the mic level on my GH3 to the lowest setting (1). Thanks for doing these videos, thumbs up!

Great stuff! Can you do a video on how to use the Mix Pre's with the camera's (XT3) timecode, record button sync and other cool things that MixPre can do? You're the champ of Mix Pre videos, man!

Thanks, very helpfull! The Mixpre has good amps and also I guess good digital analog converter. If we put the audio into digital in the mixpre, then again back to analog for the cable to the gh5 then again into digital in the camera with the worse converter, do we loose sound quality? Is the sound on the sd card in the mixpre better than the one in the camera?

Hi Curtis (I don't own a mixpre but) if your camera led meter don't have a -20 mark but -12, you can change the tone level out in mixpre to -12 and calibrate your camera to that level (sorry for my English if I'm not very clear)

Is this basically the best way to record high quality audio directly to the video file, rather than having a separate audio track that you have to sync in post? I've been searching for a way to do this for a while now, in order to cut down on post-production time, and this seems like the solution, but I just want to make sure.

Thanks for the video! Great job :) - Would be great to find out if the meter on the Panasonic does adjust in -2db increments from top to bottom. Sometimes the increments of audio meters jump in larger values the lower down the meter you go.

Thank you so much for this very informativ video! Currently i have a problem to do the same audio level check with my smartphone like you dit it with camera. I connected a RODE wireless Go to AUX Input of my MixPre-6 and set Channel5 to 30dB Gain. on the stereo output i have -20dB. Stereo out is connected to smartphone. But recorded sound in smartphone is noiser then recorded sound directly from wireless Go set. wondering if there is any app for android phone to do same procedure like in your video for camera.

Thanks for the video! I get the idea of calibration to a known level. What I’m not understanding is which controls are best for getting the camera set: increasing camera gain or reducing the mix-pre’s output gain (or vice versa). Or does it matter?

man nice review

I have a GH5 too and I was surprised that the mic/external audio input had almost no info in the manual (paper version). I would have hoped for a mic/line switch in the menu as well.

Great tutorial Curtis. Appreciated! I have a newbie question for you. I just went through all the steps shown in the video to match the levels between my new MixPre3II and my Canon Rebel T7i. I had no issues with the process, and my test videos sound great. That said, I noticed something odd when I connected my camera to my smart tv via a HDMI cord. My videos still sound great, but I noticed that they were significantly quieter than your RU-vid videos. I haven't uploaded my test videos to RU-vid to a side-by-side comparison between the volume levels of your videos and mine, but the difference seemed significant. Is this normal? Will my videos somehow be magically louder once their uploaded to RU-vid? Thanks for any thoughts or commentary you can offer on this.

Great video as always, I have the GH5 and the Zoom H6, will you be doing a video on your settings for the GH5 for video, I would be interested in knowing your settings compared with mine?

While you're at it... how about a run through on connecting the camera headphone out back to the MixPre Camera Return and show how you switch monitoring between MixPre mix and Camera. If you do that then I will not need to read the manual when I get my MP3.

Does the sound devices mixer you have here also have a dedicated RTN input for confidence monitoring back from the camera in the way as the older Sound Devices 302 does? Many thanks. Great video!

Hi Curtis, thank you for this fantastic resource. I have a question, do you know that there is anyway to connect the MixPre 6 to a camera so that when you rec the camera you also rec on the audio? I have a Canon C70, and I am considering adding my MixPre to my camera rig for days when I need more than two lavs out. At the moment on days with a lot of audio sources I carry my MixPre with me in a side bag, but this can be distracting as I need to remember to rec in two places at once, and also because I need to frequently jam TC to prevent drift which seems significant between the two devices. I would love to be able to integrate the two systems, ive been looking for answers in the user guide, but I cant seem to figure anything out! All my best!

Basic Question: If the goal is always the best audio possible, why would we send/route the MixPre Kasmir-quality signal back through the camera's inferior preamps? What am I missing? PS. I'm just getting started on the audio side. I have the new Sony a7III and will most likely purchase the MixPre-6 and your LL&S course.

Thanks for the video Curtis. I’m connecting my MixPre 10 II to my Panasonic G85 and I’m getting a small bit of noise. It’s not near as clean as the recorded audio on the MixPre. I’m using the X1/X2 output set as L/R and have tried different settings from -40 to -10db on the MkxPre while having the G85 set to -12db. I’ve also tried using a combination of a Movo attenuator to reduce it more. Any thoughts on how to have completely silent output to the camera? Or is there a special 3.5mm TRS cable I should look at using?

will appreciate some guidance how to set the one on my Mix Pre 6 and my Sony A6400

Thanks. At the risk of bugging a bit 😀; have you done a similar video for setting up a Zoom H4n with Canon 5d cameras?

He Curtis just want to send you some love and big thanks for your help. Through your recommendation I got the MixPre-3 and love it! Do you prefer recording from your MixPre-6 to your camera? Was thinking there might be quality loss going through the 3.5mm stereo cable? Perhaps negligible? Are there any times you prefer NOT to record from sound recorder to in camera?

Hi Curtis - great video as always! On Wednesday this week we're recording a tutorial where someone is demonstrating a Braille embosser. The embossers are not the quietest of machines - actually they're generally quite loud. The person demonstrating will be wearing a wav mic and I'm going to run the audio into a MixPre 6 then output to a Canon XA20. am I right in thinking that the analogue limiters will still protect me if the audio clips? So it'd go mic into MixPre, output of MixPre to Canon. Cheers, Glen

Sound god

I have a question concerning limiters and compression... i see that this unit will limit the sound fed to the camera because of an analog limiter correct? So in the case of a digital limiter in the tascam dr60, which i own, does it limit also the out-puted signal into the camera? I couldnt find this info anywhere online and tascam didnt answer back... would you know? Thanks for all the awesome content

I typically record with the levels a little higher and rely on the limiters to save me, while my camera levels were set to peaking at around -6db. So after watching this, I decided to try this method while also switching the Limters Off when there are no peaks in dialogue. I'm curious to hear if the overall sound quality will be 'better'. (I have my MKH 50 going into the MixPre-3 into the Canon 80D). Curtis, I know each situation is different. But generally speaking, if you're setting your recording levels to -20db, do you find that you don't need the Limiters ON because your levels aren't even close to peaking?

Thanks for the video Curtis, in combination with the Panasonic XLR adapter, would you recommend me leaving the Mic Level Limiter on or off on the GH5?

Thanks for this Curtis. I've been playing with this since I edit on an ipad when I'm out of town and can't import audio.

How did you mount the camera on top?

Thanks for the video. Just ordered a Mix Pre 3 II to use for audio with my Nikon Z6 II. Pardon my ignorance as a relative audio newbie but why would we want to send audio to our camera from the recorder if we plan on just using the recorder audio and syncing later? Also, any general tips or videos on how to best sync the audio and video later?

Just a quick compliment. All your videos are excellent. Now a question regarding the above. I have (inherited - lucky me) a SD 302 Field mixer and am doing exactly as you describe above - although I have to have an XLR -> TRS cable as the 302 doesn't have a simple TRS out. I had to attenuate the default output (line level) from the 302 to Mic level to get a usable result. Does the mixpre TRS out spit a Mic-Level signal as default?

Hi Curtis, I'm curious about your thoughts as far as sending audio from the 10T to a camera via xlr. I’ve read that the Mixpre doesn’t provide a “pro” output level but consumer version and that you should therefore set the camera input to Mic. But in your Light & Sound course on the 10T you set the pocket cinema camera to line level. Also you suggest tone level of -20db here but -10 in the course example. I'm going to be working with a Canon C300 and just looking for some clarification around this stuff. Thanks in advance for any thoughts!!!

Hi Curtis, thanks for this video ! is there a difference between the sound quality recorded on the SD card in the MixPre and the sound recorded on GH5 via the MixPre (see your set up in this video ?). Using this GH5 set up is more easy because you don't have to sync in post (timecode or wave). thanks, Marc

Is there a way to trigger "record" directly from the camera via the aux-in? I use a C70 via the timecode port, but it only records when I first turn on the camera or record. When I stop the recording via the camera, I can't trigger the recorder once again.

Looking into the Mix Pre-3 for my dual GH5 setup and had a question. We shoot a ton of interviews. Typically I run two mics into an H5 and use the mic that sounds better. Had an issue with power failure on the H5 using a powerbank that caused me to lose an interview recently. Looking into a redundant setup where each mic is going into an isolated recorder or one straight into the camera using a Rode newshooter for one of the booms. QUESTION(s): Does recording into a Mix Pre or an H5 and then sending that line out signal ultimately to the GH5 degrade the audio quality? If the GH5 is set to -12db is it still coloring the recording or are you getting just the quality from the external recorder? What would be your go to setup for truly redundant audio?

Hello again Curtis This time a have a question for you How could you set a 1 kHz tone for send to a camera from an analog mixer without an oscilator?

Curtis, a field recording question if you don't mind. I am pretty new to this but get the concept of a good recording but I am on a bit of a budget for this next shoot I have been asked to do. I am considering purchasing a used Sennheiser G3 wireless transmitter/receiver without a lav mic. What type of lav mic would you recommend for this? I have been told the lav mic that came with it, the ME 2, is a really good mic but it is $150. The shot will take place outside if that matters. This is out in the country so I am not really concerned about city noise. Second, when setting sound levels for this setup, what should the output of the Sennheiser G3 be set to in order to get a good input to my Panasonic G4? Watch all you stuff on both channels. I have learned tons. Thank for all that you do. Houston

I have some issue when connecting gh5 to juicedlink preamps via 3.5mm jack, there is a constant ticking sound on gh5 when the cable is connected even the juicedlink is turned off. The ticking sound will appear quieter when camera is set to -12db, but it still there, do you have an issue like that? And what do i need to do to remove that ticking sound? Thank you

Sound Devices mixpre-3 records in One SD card is scary in a one man band production. Is there an option to secondary back up recording? If so do you have a tutorial for it.

My count says that where it is marked as -12db on the camera should be -10db according to your 2db per square or am I missing something?

is there any issues with losing quality using 3.5mm TRS for direct audio feeding to GH5? You have convinced me to buy both GH5 and mix-pre 3 but still looking for the best audio feed.

Hey Curtis, I have a Tascsm DR60D MK II. I wanna upgrade to the Sound Devices Mix Pre 3. The Tascam is freaking awesome if the levels are set perfectly and I'm smart enough to use a dual track recording at about a -12db level. But if my subject sings so loud I still can get distortion. Here's my thinking (correct me if I'm wrong). I'm getting distortion because my subject is exceeding my levels regardless. Then once the digital limiters kick in on the Tascam they simply keep the distorted audio at a lower level instead of preventing it. The Mix Pre 3's analogue limiters can rescue me from this distortion in a subtler/ more effective way by reducing the input levels and preventing distortion. This would allow me to focus on my subject intestead of my audio. How's my thinking?

Hey Curtis! I'm running the same combo as you, MixPre-3 and GH5. Curious how you mount the GH5 to the MixPre-3 during real work days. If one screws it on top, changing the battery becomes very cumbersome. How do you do it on real shoot days?

I'm running an a7siii with a mixpre 3 and Ninja V. It appears the Sony only does mic level and runs the Sound devices signal through the cameras pre-amp and sounds horrible. The camera can't go anywhere near as low as -20 DB tone. So would bypassing the camera and going straight into the Ninja be my best bet? I might have to deal with setting it up for any latency issues but it seems a cleaner solution. Am I on the right track? Right now everything is recorded separately and synced in post. For small jobs that takes more post time than I'd like.

What brand or where did you buy the 3.5 TRS cable from? Can the TRS cable connect to any camera?

I can make this steps with Tascam dr60dmkii ? and I don't have audio level in my camera because too old how I fix this problem with Tascam because I tried before and the sound not good

Hey Curtis sorry for troubling you again. I noticed when I record sound from the mix pre to gh5 that it get a clicking sound few times a second and it is very audible when the sounds coming in is quiet. Have you had this issue also? I tried listening to the audio from the mix pre direct and it sounds great

If you send the GH5 safe levels from the mixpre don't you run into noise when normalizing the camera audio levels? I would think you would want to have the mixpre add some gain to the output rather than digitally adding gain in post. I guess that is still digital gain on the mixpre out?

Do you always turn the camera to its lowest setting? I work with a lot of cinema cameras such as REDs and what not. Also the thing that confuses me with the F8 is that I know it only does -10db for the feed, but the slate tone let’s you select -20db for the tone, should I be setting it -10db for the slate tone as well? I’m looking to get the F8n because of this annoyance. What are your thoughts? What would you do?

My pcmd100 signal is very low but when I make a sound mh gh5 meter shows distortion, while d100 is nowhere near distortion. On the gh5, mic level adj. is set to -12db, so i cant go lower. What to do to match the signals?

I'm new to this entire subject, so I will probably sound stupi (cause I am when it comes to this). I am considering a mixpre purchase to record my video to a Canon XA30 video camera. I also want to sync that sound to a panasonic video camera at the same time. Is that even possible?

I also have a gh5 and mix pre 6, and my output levels equalize around -35db on the mix pre, with the ones on the gh5 set to -12. Also do you leave the limiter on

I’m thinking of getting the mixpre-3. the only thing that concerns me about this set up is changing the camera battery is much slower. Does any body know any solutions to get access to the battery compartment faster?

Hey Curtis, trying to send individual channels of audio from the new MixPre 3 II to an S1H. For some reason I cant seem to get channel 1 to go to L and channel 2 to go to R? Am i doing something wrong or is it not possible to do anything other than a stereo mix of the two tracks?

i am not employing the mixpre but rather the zoom f4. there seems to be some complicating issue about whether the tone sent from the zoom is line level of mic. are you aware of this controversy? it is my understanding that if the tone was sent out as line level, the setup between camera and the zoom f4 would be similar to your vid. but what would happen if the tone sent from the zoom f4 would be at mic level? from another website: "A bigger problem is its slate tone. According to page 118 of the user manual: The MAIN OUT 1/2 and SUB OUT 1/2 faders do not affect the level of the slate tone. This is not good. One of the main purposes of slate tone is to use it to adjust the audio levels of other equipment you connect. For example, if the main XLR outputs of the Zoom F4 are connected to a breakaway cable, and that cable is connected to the audio inputs of the main camera of a shoot, you cannot use the slate tone on the F4 to adjust the audio input levels on the camera. Simply put, the volume level of the slate tone on the F4 should match the volume level of the Main Outputs. The way the Zoom F4 is now, you would need to plug a tone generator, like the Shure A15TG, into one of its inputs and use it as a slate tone to set the levels of cameras and other equipment you attach." I apologize for the way too long post but i wanted to properly explain the problem. can you see a better work around to set levels other than a tone generator? can i take the audio from the interviewee and set levels or even a crew member and by pass using the slate? as always, thank you for the effort and the sharing. i am a very appreciative subscriber. thumbs up.

im using the GH5 with the mix pre 3, and for some reason when I plug in my headphones to the camera, the audio is very laggy. Every thing is a second behind. Any thing you can think of that would make this happen?

Hi Curtis. Am using the Marantz PDM 602A with GH5. No tone send on Marantz, but set voice level to -12 on Marantz (gain switch on hi, level 3.5). When I plug into the GH5 the bars on the camera immediately jump to -22 db on camera bars (quiet room/room tone). Speaking into mic at -12 level (on Marantz), camera bars go into the red. To get camera levels down to ca. -12, I must turn Marantz output level to 1. I'm not using an attenuating cable (culprit?). If I set gain on Marantz to low, same discrepancy (with different level setting). I've heard others (including J. Cook below?) finding GH5 audio to be hot, or not well matched with external pre-amps. Other (most users) seem to be doing fine. Will I resolve this with atten cable, or is there perhaps an issue with GH5 audio? (Using Senni ME66) Thanks in advance. We're all glad you're here! : )

hi there, is there any way to record in camera video but with no sound ? i am a new owner of a gh5 ..Thanks in advance!

I'm having a very strange experience when setting up levels using tone. If I get tone to -20db on mixpre3 and get it to the same on the GH5 using your method (which is the standard method anyway), then once I turn tone off and test it with just my voice speaking loudly, I'm getting into that same level zone on the mixpre, but nowhere near as high on the camera. To get the camera levels to be hitting -20db on average, I have to turn the output gain on the mixpre up very significantly. Like to -10 or so. Does that sound right?

Hi Curtis, I ran into a problem with setting up my GH5 and 7Dmk2 in just the same way. Using multiple cables and settings, I get a lot of ground loop/RF noise going into the camera - as soon as I connect the camera to the top of my MixPre-3 (with the 1/4" screw). If I disconnect the two, the noise immediately goes away. Just curious if anyone else has experienced this issue. Thanks for your informative reviews!

👍🏾🙏🏾

Hi Curtis, a bit late now but a couple of further questions about linking the MixPre3 to a Pansonic camera. I have a Panasonic Lumix FZ2000 Bridge Camera, set up as you suggest. The audio recorded to camera via the MixPre3 is fine UNTIL I plug in the HDMI cable to record TC synch to the MixPre - then the audio recorded by the camera has a rapid ticking noise in the background but the audio recorded on the MixPre3 is fine. This ticking on the camera recording does not go away if I detach the camera from the MixPre. It does not seem to be ground loop noise as such - it sounds like a regular rapid ticking (like Timecode pulse ?) But it is still there if I switch off Time Code in the camera. Do you get a low level ticking noise on your camera audio with your GH5 set up when you connect an HDMI cable to the MixPre? (if you always use the MixPre TC audio then you may not have noticed). Also, the record trigger will not work with the FZ2000 if TimeCode is set to Continuous Run (as recommended for the GH4/5 on the SoundDevices web site). But it does work if I set Time Code to Record Run. Which setting do you use ? Seems odd if Panasonic have implemented the TC Trigger differently - unless SoundDevices have made a mistake in the wording on their web site? Many thanks for your excellent videos. Chris North(UK)

Hi, can you really tell if there is any quality different between mixpre 3 and mixpre D, sound quality and

Hi Curtis, I always enjoy your videos - so clear and helpful. Just a question on this one - the mic socket on the camera delivers a low voltage (3v) to drive lapel mics. I usually use a cable with a 47uF capacitor when connecting a battery powered hand held mic directly to the camera mics 3.5mm input to prevent the voltage going back to the mic. Should we use a similar cable to stop the camera 3v going back down the cable to the MixPre ? Or does this 'short out' harmlessly ? Any thoughts or advice ? Chris N (UK)

This is confusing Curtis. What are you doing on the side of the MixPre? we can't see. Also you show how to get -20db on both camera and mixer but don't explain how that relationship works when we adjust the input gain and output volume knobs. For example If you set the output volume at a certain level does that affect the TONE going to the camera and does the input gain affect the TONE? Not quite sure how this all works. Maybe a better explanation of how the input gain and output volume is set up and then all the other stuff.

tk

first?

Filename SORRY-003 =)

You said to turn Tone ON to send the signal to the camera...right... after you did the settings you shut it off again. Is the Tone "on" only to set up but not have it on while recording?

Hello Curtis, thanks for your helpful work! I'm a GH5 and NTG3 owner searching for a good audio solution for solo shooting a documentary movie about a musical production. I'll work handheld without a cage. Could you recommend me the mixpre in a bag with spiral cables to- and from the Gh5? Secondly I'm a bit worried about wrecking my GH5 mic input with the line signal. Don't I need an attenuator cable? As well when I'm capturing audio from the headphones's out of a H4nPro? Cheers, Christoph