Hey guys,

I don't think we have a photo/video subsection so I am just posting this here and we'll see where it ends up.

I have owned a GoPro HD for a while, and while I liked it, I was always disappointed in the sub par sound quality and lack of an external microphone input. When the GoPro 2 came out I jumped on it, solely for this feature. The other upgrades over the original HD are nice as well.

The microphone I am using is a Audio Technica PRO24-CM stereo mic. It's probably low-mid range (around $68) but it really does a good job. Here's a test run video:


I'm very happy with the sound quality and will continue to do some more tests.

I am going to use my regular GoPro HD as a "daredevil" cam now. I am going to fab up some mounts to place it underneath the car, maybe for some suspension shots or tire shots. I'm going to "The Dragon" in May so I'll have a bunch of good footage.

 

That's pretty good! At 48 seconds you can hear someone talking outside on in the car that passed. I'm impressed at the quality of both audio and video.

 

The low light sensors have been greatly improved over the previous version. Very happy with that.

 

Yeah the night time picture clarity is much better than previous vids I've seen at night. I'd really like on of these for the track.

 

Man, I really wanted to buy a contour cam, but the HD Hero is soooo much better than the contour. I just don't like the HD Hero's shape, I want to use it for paintball and driving, and its shape is terrible for paintball, gets hit alot.

 

I've said all along that what all these videos, especially exhaust demo videos, needed was a decent external mic to improve the video experience and this just proves that.

Just something else I have to save up for...


OP, where was the mic mounted, just on the camera?

For exhaust demo videos the hot setup would be to remote mount the mic on the back of the decklid.

 

I mounted the mic on the rear bumper, just above the license plate

 

This gives you an idea of the size of the mic relative to the camera:



This was a little proof of concept project I was working on. I have a pretty pistol grip with tripod camera mount being delivered today. I'm going to make an aluminum bracket for the microphone. I'll be able to use the GP as a handheld with this setup.

One thing to note is that the GP ships with the waterproof case only. To use the external mic you either need to buy a skeleton case or drill the provided case. Since I don't do anything that would require a waterproof install, I just drilled mine.



I have the LCD backpack on the way, which will aide in setting up my angles when I mount the camera on the car, and it will make it useful as a handheld.

 

I did the same thing with one of my extra housings, though I made a full slot to be able to use all the ports (basically duplicated the skeleton housing). I used it in conjunction with a lapel mic inside the car for talking while driving and it worked fantastic.

 

I might do that to this housing, but with the way I have it now the input jack seals the hole so I could use it in the rain if I wanted. I'd just need to shield the mic some.

 

I bought last year the GOPRO Hero 960, it doesnt allow the LCD attachment, but Will this Microphone work with Mine? Can you provide pictures how yours was mounted in that video and where the mic was, Actually a picture of the whole setup? Thanks

 

The external mic is only compatible with the new GoPro 2.

 

The rest of my loot showed up. I'll post the handheld mount once I finish up the mic bracket.

 

That sounds tremendous! I've been thinking I'd go the external mic rout when I eventually get a GoPro, and you've convinced me it's a great idea! As others have said, it would be wonderful if all internet car videos had sound recording like this!

 

hero 2 has jack for the headphones/mic ? does Hero 1 has one?

nigh quality has improved a lot over the Hero 1

 

Finished up the hand grip mount.

 

Where/how did you mount the mic in your driving video?

 

Well there's the where.

 

Whoops, missed that! Thanks

 

man. I have 2 heroHD's I need to sell/consolidate into one HD2 and get that MIC, that's unbelievable how much better (and how little wind noise!)