There’s been a lot of interest in a recent post I made on Sescom cables, and how they help you get good audio inside a camera when working with a portable digital recorder. Well, it turns out that Sescom makes another variation of this cable which makes it possible to also monitor your audio on headphones as you record. A company called Markertek was kind enough to send me one of these cables to test out. As usual, I figured I’d share my findings with you.
The problem with using a regular Sescom cable is that it consumes the headphone output on your portable digital recorder, leaving you with no way to listen to the sound. That’s why they make special Sescom cables with a headphone tap. Instead of it just being a straight cable with a -25dB pad, it’s a Y-Cable with a female 3.5mm headphone jack. This enables you to feed the sound from your portable digital recorder directly into your camera’s mic input, while listening on headphones at the same time.
People often worry that if they split an audio signal, it will degrade the quality of the sound. This is a legitimate thing to worry about. If you’re going to split a signal, you’re much better off using a cable or a device that was custom designed for the task at hand, rather than Frankensteining together cheap Radio Shack adapter cables. These Sescom DSLR cables are perfect examples of high-quality, purpose built problem solving cables.
All in all, I found that I got a very good sound using this cable. However, I would have gotten an even better sound if I had the option to turn off the AGC (automatic gain control) in the camera I was using. Being able to listen to your audio is a very important thing. I really think if you’re considering buying a Sescom cable, getting one that has the headphone output is a must.
If you want to go ahead an outfit yourself with this cable, this is the one I used:
1) The Sescom LN2MIC-ZMH4-MON
If you’re using a Panasonic GH1 or GH2, then you want the special cable that Sescom makes with a 2.5mm male plug for the camera’s sub-mini mic input:
2) The Sescom LN2MIC-ZMGH-MON
These cables were designed with DLSR cameras in mind, but they work with other kinds of video cameras. I’m still saving up to buy a DSLR of my own (the DSLR’s I’ve used in my other videos were all borrowed), so I didn’t have one to use on this test. Instead I used my Panasonic PV-GS200 mini DV camera. I figured the HV20 crowd might be into using Sescom cables too, so I may as well go ahead and try it out.
If you liked the sound that I got in the video when using the XLR inputs on my Zoom H4n, the mics that I used were a wired Tram TR50, and an Audio Technica 4053b. And of course if you have any questions about any of this stuff, I encourage you to leave it in a Comment below. Thanks again to Markertek for making this test possible! You guys should check out their website. They’ve got tons of heavy duty video gear over there.
Nice informative video. It’s cool that you have used the cable with a mini DV camera because those cameras get overlooked but a lot of these products have applications for the millions of consumer camcorders out there. Glad you liked the cable.
Very VERY informative video. Thank you for taking the time to a follow up. I do believe you helped me out with my up and coming class video project. With this cable I believe it will help me get the A+++ that I will need. My only question will be on how it will work with my Zoom H2. Do you think it will serve it similar as the H4?
Thank you again!!
Nicholas
Thanks Nicholas! Glad to help. The Zoom H2 should behave very similarly to the Zoom H4n, so it should work fine. There is a 1/4 20 mount on the base of the H2 as well, so you’ll be able to mount it to a camera shoe with one of those Pearstone shoe adapters . There are cheaper versions of the Pearstone shoe adapter out there too.
I recommend doing a thorough test with your recorder and camera before you start any actual work. It may take a little trial and error with the settings on the H2 (trying different volume levels on the H2′s headphone output, etc.), but you should be fine.
Here’s a link to a less expensive 1/4 20 shoe adapter:
http://6deal.com/en/14-tripod-screw-to-flash-hot-shoe-mount-adapter.html
Sam-
Can you put a link to your original post.
Using a Zoom H4n as an On-Camera DSLR Mic Part 1
Thanks.
Found it. Nevermind. You have a great site, devoted to a niche that needs all the information it can get. I just got a 7D today and your site has been a big help in making things clearer for me. I plan on using my Sony PCM-M10 audio recorder paired with the 7D. Who needs to buy another mic? Well eventually, but this thing will work great for now. Keep up the good, informational, sourced work.
Gavin
Hey Sam
I just bought this cable and its on its way….I’m planning on using
the cable with my canon 7d and h4n…now im not expecting great
results just want audio that is good to sync in post to use with
plural eyes…Now I wanted to know if i plug my Audio-Technica ATR3350
powered Lav mic to the h4n will the cables still work…I’m plugging
the lav mic directly to the h4n external mic input.
thanks
Manny
Hi Manny,
This should work fine, especially if you’re just syncing with PluralEyes.
The 7D doesn’t have AGC disable, and one thing I noticed was that Sescom cables can sort of bring out AGC noise (on cameras that can’t disable it).
Having a better quality lav mic would yield much better results, but your setup should work fine.
Sam,
Yes I’m sure its going to bring out the noise…I just don’t want to mess up anything on my canon 7d by plugging that lav mic to the h4n mic input…
thanks again
Sam, How does the H2 or H4n mount to the hot shoe adapter? We shoot event
work which requires long run times and run and gun handheld or non-tripod work.
Also, mounting a quality shotgun through the H4 xlr’s is a good idea for better audio
but it all gets bulky and harder to shoot. Strapping the audio recorder to your belt
like an old battery pack could work also and then you either have to deal with the
cable length or use a wireless system. There would still be a mounting issue. You also need to be aware of turning on/off the audio recorder as well as the camera recorder. I suppose you could leave it on the whole time so as not to worry about that while shooting and just deal with the audio gaps in post.
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Hi Sam,
thanks for your helpful vids!
I have a doubt. If i want to attach a Tascam DR-07mkII to a Canon 60D, What’s the proper cable, the -25db or the -35db?
LN2MIC-ZOOMH4N or LN2MIC-TASDR100
Thanks again!
Hi Sam,
On the Canon T2i or really any DSLR do you need to go into the options and turn off the Internal Mic? Or does pluggin in the Zoom with the Sescom automatically override the camera internal mic?
Thanks for your help.
Adam
Hi Adam. You don’t need to go into the menu to turn off the internal mic. It shuts off when you plug something into the mic input. You have to be careful though. I’ve heard of people having trouble because the mic plug gets bumped and loses its connection with the camera, and they end up with the internal mic shut off – and the external mic cut off as well. That’s one reason why it’s handy to have on-screen audio meters.
Pingback: Using a Zoom H4n as an On-Camera DSLR Mic | Sam Mallery
So if I’m understanding correctly, the whole point of this cable is to record your audio in-camera, synchronously, and via the higher quality Zoom H4N mic and avoid having to sync your audio later using PluralEyes or sync manually relying on a clapperboard?
I’m shooting with a Canon 60D and Zoom H4N. I’m on Final Cut Pro 7 and/or Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5, both of which don’t yet have the built-in auto syncing of externally-recorded audio with video (as in Premiere Pro CS 5.5′s “merge clips” feature or Final Cut X’s equivalent feature).
But is the audio run through the Zoom mic and into the camera of equal quality as recording it externally? And by using your method, don’t you essentially get two copies of the audio? (one on your camera’s memory card and another on your Zoom’s SD card?). Thanks!
Sam,
After watching your great video I purchase an H4N and Sescom cable with the headphone port. I attached the H4N to my Nikon D7000 mic port and the other end to the H4N as you directed. I can hear the audio through my headphones but when I playback on the D7000 there is no sound. There is also no sound when I download the video clip to Final Cut Pro X. I am obviously not setting something properly on the camera or the H4N. Any help you can give me may keep me from pulling out what little hair I have left. Many thanks! Jim
Thank you for this information.
But I have to ask, why not just tone down the recording level on the zoom and tone down the mic sensitivity on the dslr? I have the Nikon d7000 which allows me to control mic sens but I’m in the midst of travelling right now and don’t really have any way to run tests unfortunately.
You need to use a cable with an attenuator. Even with the input level on the camera level all the way down, and the headphone output of the recorder all the way down, the recording will still be overdriven and distorted in the camera. I tested this once with a regular stereo 3.5 male to stereo 3.5mm male cable, and the result was a distorted recording. Those mini-to-mini cables are easy to come by. I suggest trying it out yourself. If you’re able to get a clean recording without a Sescom cable, let us know what camera and recorder you used, and what settings worked.