Recommendations for Yi 4k External Mic to Record Live Rock Band

Jim R

New Member
Joined
May 12, 2017
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Country
United States
I shot video last weekend of a rock band I work with sometimes. Had the camera mounted back up behind the stage. The picture was fine but the sound was awful. I kind of knew it would be but it was really bad. So I'm looking for an external mic solution. I believe with updated firmware I can run an external mic into the USB type-C port via a 1/8" jack cable. Don't think there is any real level control in that but maybe there's something..?

One solution suggested elsewhere was to use an external audio recorder and join the audio to video in post. Not done that before but that might be the best way

Suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
 
Well, I found something like this on YiTechnology site:

"YI 4K Action Camera records stereo sound in 48kHz, with dual microphones. It optimizes the sound collection and can provide good audio quality even at large outdoor sport events. With AAC Dolby encoder, it records every detail of the sound."

And i'm not sure what to think about that. It's reference to built in mic i guess, which is better than some action cams out there, but it seems to be useless for your usecase.
There is no mentioning of any possibility to use external mic. Moreover I've seen some videos where lack of external mic is pointed out as disadvantage of Yi 4k or a difference in comparison with 4k +.
So i don't think it is possible to plug external mic unless you want to go crazy like this guy :
and solder crap out of it.

Here is specification of Yi 4k : https://www.yitechnology.com/yi-4k-action-camera-specs

We may only hope that some day there will be firmware update enabling that function.

So my advice would be to go with standalone sound recorder and sync video with audio by for example clapping 2-3 times so your hands would be visible in the frame.
 
Well, I found something like this on YiTechnology site:

"YI 4K Action Camera records stereo sound in 48kHz, with dual microphones. It optimizes the sound collection and can provide good audio quality even at large outdoor sport events. With AAC Dolby encoder, it records every detail of the sound."

And i'm not sure what to think about that. It's reference to built in mic i guess, which is better than some action cams out there, but it seems to be useless for your usecase.
There is no mentioning of any possibility to use external mic. Moreover I've seen some videos where lack of external mic is pointed out as disadvantage of Yi 4k or a difference in comparison with 4k +.
So i don't think it is possible to plug external mic unless you want to go crazy like this guy :
and solder crap out of it.

Here is specification of Yi 4k : https://www.yitechnology.com/yi-4k-action-camera-specs

We may only hope that some day there will be firmware update enabling that function.

So my advice would be to go with standalone sound recorder and sync video with audio by for example clapping 2-3 times so your hands would be visible in the frame.
Thanks. Yeah, I'm not really interested in taking the camera apart, soldering and finding out the NEW mic distorts too. That could happen. I just don't know for sure. I'm usually putting the camera close to us on stage so I can keep an eye on it. So I can't get it far enough away that the internal mic doesn't distort like crazy. I'm attempting to capture audio with a standalone to also get a little better level control. However, my first attempt was kind of a fail because the recorder was too far away from the camera. And by the way, 2-3 times clapping is a must! Once was not enough to really getting it synced well. Will try again next time.
 
I did some more research since my own XiaoYi 4k unit just got delivered to my and i found out that firmware update v1.4.14 are including Mic option and audio sound effect options. Which doesn't mean they providing you an option to plug external Mic via micro USB type-b (It's not type C apparently) i believe it just mean you can adjust mic sensitivity or "gain" (i don't know which term would be better to describe it) None the less it is worth trying to update your firmware and set MIC option in menu to LOW while you recording loud sound. I don't think it would make am much of a difference as plugging external MIC, but maybe it's worth a shot.

Source: https://yitechnology.com/support/firmware_action/id/5.html

If you don't know how to proceed an update here is some handy video:
 
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
G Yi 4K Action Camera 1
Fred from Paris Yi 4K Action Camera 0
Back
Top