Today we are going to convert a wired boom mic into a wireless boom mic with a few things you might already have in your kit!
So you may have already seen a really cool video by filmmaker KnopTop on how he converts a Video Mic Pro into a wireless mic by plugging it straight into a lavaliere microphone transmitter which sends the signal to the camera via a paired up receiver. If you haven’t, go check out it, links down below.
Well this idea got us thinking. Can you do this with a bigger microphone, like a one that uses XLR input, and get similar results? Let's do some digging!
Okay, so to begin with, we have the microphone. This is a Rode NTG2 shotgun mic. Unfortunately, it can’t plug straight into a lavaliere microphone transmitter because it doesn’t have the right connections.
The Rode Lavaliere transmitter I’m have here needs a 3.5mm jack. This is fine if you are plugging in something like a Video Mic Pro because it fits, but something like the NTG2 uses XLR and it also needs a bigger pre-amplification to boost the signal.
Basically, the NTG2 needs more juice than this VidMic, and this RodeLink can’t give it what it needs.
So this is where the Saramonic SmartRig comes in. This is going to be our bridge between the 2 foreign connections as well as the power boost the microphone needs. It has an XLR socket on one end, a 3.5mm jack on the other, and the 9v battery it uses is enough to power a bigger microphone.
Lets hook it up and get it all working!
So now it goes: Microphone, XLR, SmartRig, Transmitter, Receiver, sound.
He has the Lavaliere Transmitter hooked to his pocket with the smartrig attached. The XLR lead is plugged into this which goes up the boom and to the microphone which is currently being boomed onto me as we speak. It’s all held together with a few clips and carbines for fast assembly and disassembly.
It’s technically not “wireless”. There is still a cable running down the boom pole that goes into the smart rig and transmitter. But we aren’t tethered to the camera, so I can move back a lot further than the length of your average XLR cable.
There are some downsides to this setup. Because of the way it’s configured, it is the camera operator who will be monitoring the audio, and not the sound recording.
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