Axel Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Since a few years, a little device called 'Ohrwurm' (earworm) had quite a good reputation among nature documentary filmers because it could capture ambient sound so well. It looks like a hearing apparatus. Unfortunately, for the BMPCC the very small design didn't work. But inventor Wolfgang Winne constructed a new mic, by adding highly sensitive capsules to very cheap headphones. He tested it with his own BMPCC: I bought one (no good name for it yet, said Winne) and went to the river yesterday to make some test shots myself: My quick review (as you can see and hear, I'm no expert, this is just about usability, others may comment on audio quality): + it's comfortable to wear + it isolates you perfectly + no extra batteries needed + the recorded sound is very dynamic with no noise + you very rarely capture your own breath or clicking sounds from camera operation or so + with ~200 bucks, it's about as expensive as any other solution that records directly to the video file - the fur looks a little silly ... - ... and doesn't stop wind noises completely - the headphones are noisy. During recording, you don't get the right impression. Winne says it's the Pocket's fault. This is how it looks: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lasers_pew_pew_pew Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 This is bloody incredible. How do I get one? Seriously considering this as a sound solution to the GH4 for docs and short films. Do you think it would handle a interview situation or a narrative situation well? Say if you were in a enclosed quiet space? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axel Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 This is bloody incredible. How do I get one? Seriously considering this as a sound solution to the GH4 for docs and short films. Do you think it would handle a interview situation or a narrative situation well? Say if you were in a enclosed quiet space? I will link the thread with your question to Winne. You could be lucky, and the original Earworm, which is much nicer and cheaper, works with the GH4: Here's the site. He says, orders from outside the EU need to contact him in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axel Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Winne wrote, if your GH4 has a mic in jack that provides 1-10 V power (as most do), the classic Earworm suffices (then the input level needs to be set to "0"). But hurry, he has only few items in stock and plans higher pricing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMIL Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Hello, I am really interested in this apparel but not very good in german language. Can you tell me if the same Ohrwurm for BMPCC will operate on a DSRL like Nikon D800? and it is a pity this ugly headphone is used, but great sound! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axel Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Now as I mentioned, the ugly headphones were designed specially for the BMPCC. This is what they write about the D800: The D800/D800E comes with a built-in microphone amplifier, but it's not of great quality and produces a lot of noise (hiss) at higher settings. If possible, use a manual setting for the mic sensitivity on the camera so the noise doesn't go up when the person stops talking. As I understood (but I may err), this is the situation when the microphone jack delivers power for the Earworm, but will distort the sound when not dialed down to "0". The characteristic of this device is to capture quiet sounds as quiet (the sculpture across the brook with the birds, with little noise, s/n 82dB @ 1kHz) and loud sounds as loud (the jazz band, without clipping up to 138dB maximum input). Please contact the inventor to learn if the traditional little blue headsets suffice for your camera, I would've prefered them too, but Winne needed place to build in an additional miniature preamp for the Pocket that's powered by the mic jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMIL Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Thank you Axel for your explanation. I think I need it for my BMPCC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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