What kind of Audio Recording Device do I need for my Video Production?

By Erick Giovanni

Audio is such an integral part of video production. It is the tool that gives context to different situations, and having a professional hand working on your audio for your video production can take your project to another level. Here are a few ways and use cases for different types of audio recording devices.

Lavalier Microphones are perfect for most small productions. They clip on via a magnet or a small clamp, and generally speaking they have good signal range! This type of audio is also so lightweight that it can be hidden with tape. While they don’t have the best audio quality of them all, it does give you a very manageable raw audio file that you can use for just about everything!

Shotgun microphones are one of the most common types of microphones you see when you think of a camera microphone. It’s a directional microphone that is physically connected to the camera, and provides ambience audio for your production. Sometimes it can serve as a good backup option, but it suffers in utility when it is a noisy environment. You also lose audio when your subject is turned away. Generally speaking, these types of microphones are used for sync audio in video production.

Boom microphones are a type of shotgun microphone, but on a boom pole. When you think of audio recording for movies, this is the type of microphone you see. This is the perfect combination of the two options above, giving you the higher quality of the shotgun microphone, with the versatility of a mobile audio recorder. While you do have to manage the boom microphone’s presence in the video itself, you don’t have to worry about clipping anything to the subject!

Digital Audio Recorders are used in specific environments when there is an external audio feed going to a live audience. To avoid signal interference and to have clean audio feed, you would use this device for that purpose. They will generally have an XLR or 3.5mm input so that you can physically connect the audio cable to the audio recorder. Just make sure you are providing power to your system!

So which one is right for your production? GIve us a call, and we here at Richie Media are more than capable of making sure you pick the right audio option for your video production!