Let’s hear for (and from) buses!

[tacitus]

Hi, all,

Here’s a hive mind conundrum to ponder while you recover from your Sunday lunch.

My son is a bus enthusiast and makes videos of bus journeys and related stuff. While the number of bus enthusiasts is not large, it appears to be as varied as one would expect of any bunch of people following the same broad aim in their particular way. So a section of this lot appear to enjoy bus videos filmed from the back of the bus where the engine is most audible.

The boy has the choice of iPhone 12 or Akaso Brave 7 LE for filming. The iPhone is more immediate on the audio front, but I’m trying to find him a method and a mike that’ll get a good result with engine noise (lots of bass and mids, I assume). Neither the phone or the camera has an analogue audio input. There doesn’t seem to be much enthusiasm for a separate sound recording to be aligned in edit, so nothing I already have is directly usable.

I have no real idea how to tackle this but I’m hoping there’s a mike somewhere with USB output we can use, and that I can get tips on technique beyond just not doing whatever I do to cut background noise.

Any thoughts out there?

[Drew Stephenson]

You'll probably have more luck searching for a bluetooth mic than a USB one for phones.
Something like this might be worth a try: https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Li ... kpFVWFsTGc.

[tacitus]

Ta for that. I know he’s had Bluetooth mikes for the iPhone - I bought ’em - and that one looks better than anything he’s had already. Won’t connect to the Akaso camera, which may or may not be a problem. I’ll be in the car with my son for several hours in the mornings so we’ll have a bit of a discussion.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I know it was discounted, but a separate sound recording synced up in the edit is the best option for sound quality, and very fast and easy to do these days.

[James Perrett]

I'd agree with Hugh - aligning the audio and video is very easy with the right software. Or at least it is in Reaper.

Alternatively, if you have a portable recorder which also works in audio interface mode (like the Zoom ones do) then you could hook that up to the iPhone using the Camera Connection Kit.

[tacitus]

It was my first thought, bearing in mind I already have a Zoom F3 and any number of mikes to use with it. It went down like a lead balloon when I suggested it. However, the “chat” I mentioned above might open him up to the idea.

TBH, the Akaso camera appears to be the weak link here. We may do better upgrading that, but I’m ready to try recording on the F3 if I can sell the idea.

I was trying to cut down using the phone as it leaves my son nervous of losing power when he’s out. A phone with an F3 attached, a power bank and whatever else may be too much for my spectacularly clumsy child! And I’m not sure how well he’ll cope with operating a separate sound recorder, with the camera, say.

Lots to think about and possibly try out.

[James Perrett]

I'd suggest one of the Zooms with built-in mics or clip-on mics. The F1 looks good as it uses Zoom's range of interchangeable clip-on mics. The X-Y mic has a very good bass response in my experience (or at least it captures the boom of my djembe well).

[Sam Spoons]

Is he recording these on 'normal' scheduled bus routes or on vintage buses on special trips? If it's the former I'd easily understand that he doesn't want a second device or stuff hanging off the phone?

[tacitus]

It’s both, really, and he does choose how he films accordingly. I think the main problem is he likes the sound from the iPhone better, ht if he uses it all day on a solo trip, he can be running the battery pretty hard. Maybe we need to look at the phone’s battery, but whichever, we’d like to have the choice. I guess I didn’t look far enough ahead when we started all this, but 150 or so videos later it turns out to be more than a two-week wonder.

Totally agree that on a historic jaunt more equipment is OK, and of course as the bus firms go electric, diesel noises on service buses will become a thing of the past, eventually.

[James Perrett]

I think the main problem is he likes the sound from the iPhone better,

Phones can sound amazingly good these days and I often don't bother taking the Zoom out these days because my Pixel works almost as well.

[tacitus]

Very true, James. As I dig further down into this problem area I find the iPhone problem is largely that its battery is beginning to wear out. My son’s got through so many phones that I usually wait until it’s vital to act before I actually do. As this one’s lasted long enough to reach “iPhone Old Age”, I may have to get a new (or newer) one before he presents me with a pile of pieces that can’t be revived!

I must admit last time I replaced mine, I bought a brand new 13 for pretty much the same price as a used 14, largely to be sure it hadn’t got a dud battery or a badly reassembled case from a previous battery replacement.

Despite a full and frank discussion yesterday, he hasn’t yet come round to an alternative, and he can cope with an iPhone better than a load of stuff needing assembly.