AKG C747 Premium quality mini shotgun on GH2 (+ audio test)

gameb

Inspired by @balazers topic about the AT875 shotgun (thanks balazer) http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/3197/at875r-mic-phantom-powered-directly-by-the-gh2, I tested an AKG C747 electret mini shotgun and it works perfectly on the GH2 with its 2.5V plug-in power "phantom power"). The signal is strong, I am running it on level 1 or 2, using the Per Lichtmanns Pasadena audio hack (thanks @thepalalias) http://perlichtman.com/pasdenapulse/wordpress/2012/03/14/panasonic-gh2-audio-settings-file-pasadena-pulse-audio-v2-beta-2/.

The sound of this little jewel, built in the well renowned german/austrian AKG house, is superb - very natural and clean, voices sound warm. It has a particular strong directional characteristic/off-axis rejection and wide frequency range. It supports very strong signals as much as it picks up clearly sounds and voices coming from the distance. Reading the reviews you can see how versatil this microphone is http://www.proaudio.com/product_info.php?products_id=3480.

It is very small, 137mm x 9mm, size of a pencil, is very light, perfect for using on any small hybrid or DSLR cameras.

Talking to the AKG tecnicians in Austria, they had their doubts whether it would work with such a low (2.5V) "power supply" of the GH2. Normally it works with 9-52V. But: it did work (Thanks Mr. Amon for your advise).

Connection is: red to "tip" and "ring" and white and ground to "sleeve". Basically the same way as described in @balazers topic. You have to cut off the 48V phantom power plug previously.

The microphone shock mount on the photo, was custom built out of a stainless steel tube, with my local boat-welder in my Marina and a few rubber bands.

The lack of any existing 2.5mm stereo plug in an angled version (I only found crap), made me change the "interor" of an angled 3.5mm plug and substitute it with the interior part of a normal metal 2.5mm plug. Works fine. No need of annoying 3.5/2.5 adapters.

For my purposes this is a very satisfying setup. With the great picture quality of the GH2, using balazers stable cake settings (thanks @Vitaly and @balazer), now I finally found a very small high end on-camera microphone with a wonderful sound quality, no need of any further batteries or power supply, and the whole thing still keeps this small, flexible, moving character which I love to work with.

The AKG C747 is not cheap, the actual version MK II costs around 500€ or more, but the previous version, which is basically the same microphone (a part from a filter and a few other things), you can find it used for around approx 300€, add approx 30€ for the Windscreen.

Would love to hear your opinions about it.

EDIT: Cheap deal on AKG C747 on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150918575896?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649#ht_1249wt_1219

EeeCeeGee

@IvanUskokovic I'll make some samples and pics of the conversion etc, next week.

IvanUskokovic

@EeCeeGee - Do you have any samples to show? Any photos of your conversion and/or mounting solution?

EeeCeeGee

Well what can I say. Modified the cable and connection and did a small test. The sound in comparrison with the internal mic is excellent for such a small mic.

EeeCeeGee

@gameb

You said "Connection is: red to "tip" and "ring" and white and ground to "sleeve". Basically the same way as described in @balazers topic. You have to cut off the 48V phantom power plug previously."

Do you have some pics how to connect these wires to the 2.5 plug (there are 2 short and 1 long tabs)

-never mind found the leads... GIYF :-) long is sleeve

EeeCeeGee

@gameb I bought this microphone on ebay and expect to get it end of the week. Can't wait to modify it and use it with my GH2

gameb

@TraumManufaktur or anybody else - would like to share experiences with this microphone. Works really well for me so far. Cheers 2013!!!

gameb

@TraumManufaktur great.. let me know then about your experiences, btw I will do the same thing with the deadcat, just adapt one generic...

TraumManufaktur

@gameb Thanks, I got a response from them, stating that they only make dead cats 18mm and up. Yes, the C747 comes with a foam supplied, and I'll probably attach a generic dead cat ontop of that when needed. The mic should arive in a week, and I'm looking forward to put it through its paces.

gameb

@TraumManufaktur normally it comes with a windshield, but deadcat must be diy, there is a german company they are specialized in dead cats, try to ask them: http://myworld.ebay.de/mikrofon-windschutz/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

TraumManufaktur

@GameB Got one of these on ebay for a good price. May I ask what dead cat/softie you are using for it? 9mm pencil is a little unusual.

gameb

@Meierhans thanks, I know these ones, they are the same as recommended also by balazer on his thread about the AT875. But you always have to deal with the whole cable, its not a single plug. In my case with the AKG C747, the cable comes straight out of the microphone, so it doesn't work for me. To combine these two plugs as I described is super simple. Just choose whats easier for you. Cheers

Meierhans

Check this out: http://m.conrad.de/ce/de/product/734262/AudioNF-Kabel-Klinkenstecker-25-mm-Nickel-Pole3-Stereo-BKL-Electronic/0223611&ref=list Comes with cable attached, well built, no need to combine multiple plugs.

RRRR

Thanks a bunch!

gameb

@tonalt Both plugs are from my local dealer. Nothing special. The 2.5 is a "golden" (not really gold!) one, from which I took the "inner part". I chose one that would really fit strongly into the GH2. Someones (cheap chinese crap) don't fit strongly, so could cause bad contacts. Once you took out the inner part, you bend it with your hands at 90 degrees. Then you take apart the 3.5 angled one, which is a normal silver one, but well metal built. You will see then, that the inner part 2.5 will fit into the capsule of the 3.5 (if you "help" a bit) may be even cut some very small metal bit off. Sounds more complicate than it is, basic diy stuff. Will post some photos, so you can see how it looks like. Important is that the "minidisc" of the inner 2.5 piece must be outside of the plug, if not it doesn't make any contact! The result is a very stable 2.5mm angled (!) stereo plug. I was very happy about it! Cheers

EDIT: @tonalt Here is a thread about it http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/4846/2.5mm-angled-stereo-plug-diy-for-the-gh2#Item_1

tonalt

Sounds very nice! Do you have more information about this custom built 2.5mm stereo plug ? Which 3.5mm and 2.5mm models did you use actually? Any link?

gameb

@RRRR Here is an exterior audio test. Once again, I had to push up the volume of the built-in-microphone (was much lower) in post to have both mics at the same output level.

Sangye

I may snag one of these up if I find a good deal. Thanks for testing it out for the rest of us!

RRRR

@gameb

cool stuff! If you have the time, could you make a couple of tests how they do with ambient noise around? (from low, to high?) Actually, only the AKG would do as I guess we´re all familiar with how the gh2 sound in a noisy environment...? (maybe a clip for reference would be nice)

gameb

@ipcmlr @affykaye Here is a little audio test for the AKG-C747 which I did on a my holiday trip at a friends house. The house has rooms with high ceilings, creating some echo effects and there is also some external noise. But I hope it demonstrates a bit of the quality of this great microphone. The microphone level of the GH2 with the Pasadena Audio Hack was on level 2. I had to push up in post the volume of the built-in-microphone (it was much lower), so both would be at the same output level.

affykaye

I would love to hear some samples..im in the market for a new mic

gameb

@ipcmir I will post an audio test asap, my gh2 right now is in for service (1week?)

ipcmlr

@gameb any audio samples? test?

gameb

Cheap deal on AKG C747 on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150911183999?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649#ht_1201wt_1219

gameb

@oscillian Everything is very straight forward, any doubts don't hesitate to ask me

oscillian

Lovely piece of engineering! So it runs without a battery, fantastic! Is it a difficult build for a novice?

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