How To Take Care Of Audio

The latest Olympus LS Pocket audio recorders have been designed with filmmakers in mind, and they’re super compact, fit neatly on the top of selected cameras and deliver awesome audio quality. Here are some tips on taking care of audio.

Audio is one of those areas where filmmakers can easily fall down, especially if they’re coming from a stills background and are entering into sound recording for the first time. It can be a little daunting for the uninitiated and yet it’s crucial to get things right since nothing can spoil a production as quickly as a second-rate soundtrack.

Most filmmakers are aware that you can’t rely on a camera’s on-board audio for anything more than a basic guide track, and so an accessory of some kind is very important. Olympus pondered this issue and came up with a solution in the form of the LS Pocket Series of audio recorders, at present a family of two that is remarkably light and compact and capable of delivering a high-quality audio track even under testing circumstances.

The metal-bodied LS-P1 and LS-P2 are amongst the smallest hi-res audio recorders on the market, at just under 15cm/5.9in tall and less than 1.8cm/0.7in thick. Premium directional microphone systems aim to achieve the best quality recordings in broadcast linear PCM 96kHz/24-bit format, while the top-of-the-range LS-P2 goes further and incorporates a TRESMIC three-microphone system for expanded frequency response with better bass capture (20-20,000Hz).

You need to see the LS Series in the flesh to appreciate how small they are. They sit comfortably in the palm of a hand and can even fit, via an adapter and cable, into the hotshoe of an Olympus OM-D camera. Set up like this it’s a neat solution that will produce scintillating sound that is easily up to a professional standard.

Handling big sound

Along with a diminutive size, one of the other killer features of the LS Series is their ability to handle levels of sound that would overpower most on-board microphone systems. Both recorders are capable of handling sound pressure levels (SPL) of up to 120dB without clipping. If a recording was made with levels that were too low, the LS-P2’s Normalization function allows the recording volume to be boosted to the maximum level without distortion or resort to a PC or additional software. Recordings are saved in either MP3 or linear PCM 96kHz/24-bit format.

Besides the microSD storage option and the direct USB connector that’s included on both models, the LS-P2 is equipped with Bluetooth for wireless connectivity to numerous compatible peripherals. Users can, for example, enjoy the versatility and convenience of listening to or sharing audio on Bluetooth-enabled headphones or speakers. By installing the free Olympus Audio Controller BT app (available on Google Play), users can also control their LS-P2 with their smartphone.

Original content created by pro moviemaker – Spring 2017 issue