the best compact, travel-worthy interview audio kit

[@dqstudios]

2024 UPDATE: This past summer I noticed more and more noise in my recordings. After testing, I can no longer recommend the Xvive P1 and have updated my blog post here wp.me/p7aeg3-11K with new links to my most trusted interview audio kit.

[@erikneek]

Great video and setup. But the 8050 is super cardioid, not hyper cardioid. Keep up the good work

[@cameraheadstudios]

That Xvive P1 Portable Phantom Power looks interesting. Will look into it. Thanks

[@dqstudios]

it’s a great addition but be sure to get the right cable 👍

[@teolopez]

I really love the Track E. Watching this video helped me place a mic as a backup for an event I was covering. Fortunately for me I have a Deity D3 Pro mic which has internal battery. I used my pistol grip on a table top tripod for the mic and a gaff tape to mount the Track E to it. Worked really well. I did by the Zoom F3 but now I am thinking about selling it. I wish I could jam timecode to it with the Tentacle Sync. Great video!

[@dqstudios]

great setup! Yes: almost bought the F3 but lack of timecode support was a deal killer.

[@KyleSVT]

Fantastic idea brother! Thanks for making this video. Also thanks for the message at the end!

[@dqstudios]

thank you for watching! Be blessed and happy shooting.

[@PrendosNewZealandLimited]

Awesome idea, came online to see if somebody else had already solved shotgun into track e issue in a more elegant fashion than I had planned. Great scripture at the end too.

[@dqstudios]

Thanks for watching and the kind words! Hope it helps and happy recording!

[@boutthere3374]

Thanks for this. Was exactly the set up I was looking to create with my Track E. Awesome.

[@dqstudios]

Glad I could help!

[@alzibaba]

Great idea! I've been toying with adding a Zoom F3 to an R5C, but the lack of timecode's been holding me back. Seeing your video made me wonder if I can get audio out of a Tentacle Track E (Euro version) into camera so I get a back up recording just in case, and sure enough, it works great via a 3.5mm jack, a nice solution for an on camera set up with an XLR mic. Thanks for the inspiration!

[@dqstudios]

Glad to be of help! Thanks for watching and happy shooting!

[@ploufbadaboum2221]

hey, i was searching for this kind of solution too. i was searching the best way to plus a XLR mic to my camera, and i know the cameras pre amps are pretty bad, so i considered the F3 and then i found this great video. does this setup still works for you?

[@alzibaba]

@@ploufbadaboum2221 I've only used it with a Sanken lav mic that doesn't need phantom power as I don't have the Xvive box, but it works great. Note you can only get audio out from the EU version of the Track E. The downside is extra bits to rig somewhere.

[@GusAlZabri]

thank you for sharing.. Valuable info in the video. I love the mic comparison. I have a question and a couple of remarks. Question: What's the battery life on the Xvive P1? Remark 1: I would recommend using a 3.5 locking connector on the cable to have that extra security on the cable Remark 2: to me it looks just a bit too bulky. since you are using such high end mics, why not use Zaxcom ZMT4? It can can transmit and record simultaneously in the USA. Now deity are offering such devices such as DXTX & DLTX

[@dqstudios]

Battery life is nuts - I’ve run 4 hour interviews and been down only 1 light. I do tape up the power switch because I worry it might get switched on in transport. Thanks for the tip on the Zaxcom, will check it out but I’m still very happy with this setup.

[@cwTheDrummist]

What!?! A Dave Cheung review!?! Just like the old days... but better! Good to see you, buddy!

[@dqstudios]

Chris!! Lol! It’s been a minute! Happy New Year buddy!!

[@OrcadiaFilm]

Hi amazing video. I ate clicked all the links but can not find the cable? Tentacle themselves could not help

[@dqstudios]

Head to my blog post and scroll down to the XLR to 3.5mm cable section to confirm the wiring of the cable; wp.me/p7aeg3-11K

[@adrianschmidt2]

Best video on a compact high end setup out there! Would you recommend this as a high end video conferencing setup as well? Thanks!

[@dqstudios]

Thanks for the kind words! This works, but also I like my Zoom F6 which would allow up to 6 inputs

[@tommyfilms2765]

I had the exact same idea about 18 months ago and tried sooooo many different cables with my Rode NTG3. I couldn't ultimately get it to work. From memory, I think the wiring on Sennheiser shotgun mics was more friendly for this setup?

[@Mac1Sound]

I don't know what's going on with that phantom power unit....but it is wrecking the sound quality of the 8050. If my 8050 sounded that bad I would have sent it to be checked. Have you tried & compared the difference with the zoom recorder. I would recommend the UMP III by Ambient. its a built for adding 48/12v to mics and is sonically transparent. Great video mate. As it stands the 416 wipes the floor with the 8050, But I know thats not the case as I have both those mics and they are both awesome in their on way. I would seriously take a look at that phantom unit.

[@dqstudios]

Thanks for writing in. I’ll test again and see if I get better results with the zoom recorder.

[@mickymack1230]

Excellent Video David, I have been thinking about an MKH 8050 for some time now it's a big investment but should last a lifetime. Thanks.

[@dqstudios]

Hope this helps! It's my fav for indoor booming for good reason!

[@paulgero]

REALLY great info Dave!!! Thanks so much!!!

[@dqstudios]

Glad it was helpful! Happy shooting Paul!

[@ChrisFlores22]

i use the rode lav mics that come with the rode wireless pro. any suggestion on what to get to upgrade the lav mic that maybe isnt as much as the dpa 6060? thanks!

[@dqstudios]

I’ve heard good things about the cos11D’s, but honestly the stock lavs are pretty decent. I also have sennheiser and countryman b6 and b3 lavs but prefer the dpa’s by far.

[@ChrisFlores22]

@@dqstudios I ended up going with the voice technologies vt500. I’m happy with it. This wireless boom mic is killer man. Thanks for this video!!

[@dqstudios]

@ChrisFlores22 Glad you found something you like! And thanks for watching!

[@clementchu6459]

Love your video and really informative. I have a question to ask, I have an old Buddhist guru who will have a teaching, but his voice is really soft and low due to his health, i have tried some clip mic on his clothes, not good. I try get a headset mic but he do not like it. I am thining to get a nice boom mic from a distance like around 50cm, can i get more suggestions.? thx

[@dqstudios]

a good shotgun mic can definitely work. Also a good lav mic like a dpa 6060 placed well can also work. Regardless of the method of capture, you’ll almost always need to do some post work cleanup. I bought DX revive to clean up audio and love it. Highly recommended.

[@kevinedwards2658]

Very helpful, but given I use a different small shotgun microphone can you run a list of the accessories you used to mount your 416 into this kit. Great review and thank you for taking the time. Great job

[@dqstudios]

I would likely run an xlr cable from a shockmounted 416 (rode shockmount works well) into the Xvive and ditch the xvive shockmount hack. Hope this helps!

[@JADURCA]

Do we have to turn off the MIC Plugin Power on the Tentacle Track E settings before connecting XLR Female to 3.5mm cable?

[@dqstudios]

I do not. I do leave everything unplugged, then turn everything on, then plug everything in now.

[@ShortStoryInspiration]

Very nice! Are you still using this setup? Want to make something similiar with a mkh50 and a rode wireless pro. I had a look at the Radius Winshiels RAD-1, the xlr clamp seems great to be able to secure the Xvive P1. Just can't find a super short xlr to 3.5mm unbalanced

[@dqstudios]

Yes! Use this on all my doc interviews. It works great with the Rode Wireless Pro (I have a set) with the added bonus of being able to wirelessly monitor audio via the receiver.

[@JADURCA]

@@dqstudios Great! And for TV/film what setup you usually use?

[@dqstudios]

@@JADURCA I'm still using this same setup! I tried using the Rode Wireless Pro instead of the Tentacle Sync Track E, but found it to be noisier.

[@houbena]

great review ! Do you think that these kits can work perfectly form filmmaking ?

[@dqstudios]

absolutely. I’m using this setup on my commercial and documentary projects

[@rdstudios-production]

okay so you've had time to test and perfect so how does it perform a year later? Any issues with feedback or handling noise?

[@dqstudios]

Glad to report: none! Still my preferred setup even though I have a F6

[@rdstudios-production]

@@dqstudios great to know. thanks man!

[@jeffreythemeditator]

Nice setup. But is seems to me that a Zoom F3 would be just as compact, while providing phantom power. Not sure what the tentacle has that the zoom f3 doesn't apart from timecode, but you didn't mention that, did you? Also, the zoom f3 setup would be quite a bit cheaper. Anyway, nice video.

[@dqstudios]

it’s definitely the timecode and size. Remember you will still require a shockmount of some sort. I also have come to love the built-in battery which makes it a breeze to charge everything up.

[@TheVisualVanguard]

@@dqstudiossame question but with the rode wireless pro and a quality shotgun mic that doesn’t require phantom power. Is the difference in mic quality worth the size and complexity trade off?

[@dqstudios]

@@TheVisualVanguardI’ve used it with the Rode Wireless Pro. While it worked, the recorded files were definitely noisier than with the Tentacle Sync Track E. Nothing new AI audio cleaning software can’t take care of, but for ultimate fidelity, the Rode Wireless Pro is not ideal. Strangely, the Wireless Pro’s sound great with my DPA 6060 mics, but not so greatly with my DPA 6061’s . Not sure why as they both have the same requirement for plug in power.

[@TheVisualVanguard]

@@dqstudios ahh I see, thanks for the insight. I assume you still used the xvive for phantom power in this set up right? Are there any shotgun Mic’s that don’t require Phantom power that are comparable?

[@dqstudios]

@@TheVisualVanguardI haven’t found any that sound as good as these mics … but there are definitely good mics available like the MKE 600 that takes battery power amzn.to/3vpLcUd But the 8050 is better sounding. I say buy once, cry once - and you’ll have a setup you can use for years

[@GeryRevandra]

awesome.. for connecting 416 to P1 do you use XLR cable to P1 or just plugged it to P1 ??

[@dqstudios]

the 416 is significantly heavier so I use an XLR cable

[@GeryRevandra]

@@dqstudios but does it's possible or work if to connect / plug 416 directly to P1 ??

[@dqstudios]

for sure. 👍

[@ggengs]

this is really great idea! respact

[@dqstudios]

Appreciate it!

[@almynotes]

Wouldn't it be easier to get rid of all of that stuff in favor of Zoom F3? To me it looks way easier, versatile and smaller

[@dqstudios]

zoom f3 is great but doesn’t have Timecode

[@almynotes]

@@dqstudios got it, thank you

[@akmediaproductions]

@@dqstudios F3 got timecode only through ultra sync blue!! They don’t support any other brand.. but this is great piece of information appreciate your time on this !!

[@dqstudios]

@@akmediaproductions Didn't know that! Sad there is no timecode jam-sync standard.

[@johnh4243]

What windscreen are you using with the 8050 in the video?

[@dqstudios]

Links in description link

[@akmediaproductions]

Please share the link for the cable

[@dqstudios]

All links are found in the link in the description. thanks!

[@OrcadiaFilm]

This is amazing but I dont see your Link to cable anywhere ? I have spent 2 weeks looking , bought 5 cables and a week of back and forth with tentacle , still no solution @@dqstudios

[@RandomRichard2022]

hi, great video, but quick question about the Xvive P1. Does it have a preAmp or is it just (somehow) phantom power? Because I dont want to plug my expensive pro mic into a cheap $60 premamp before recording it into the Track E. thanks.

[@kevinedwards2658]

I sure the P1 is just a 12-48v power supply

[@RandomRichard2022]

@@kevinedwards2658 Yes, but the audio signal has do go through the device, so i'm just wondering if that can affect the sound quality.

[@dqstudios]

I had the same concern. I tested it against my Zoom F6 and could not tell the difference - excellent noise floor and transparency.

[@RandomRichard2022]

@@dqstudios Awesome! Did you only test it by ear or did you actually check the noise floor in a software? thanks :)

[@misterpogiako]

for that whole set-up, a zoom f3 and 8050 would already suffice i guess.

[@dqstudios]

lacks timecode

[@frankysnephew]

1:38 '... subtle differences' ??? Is this what you said???????????????????????????????????????

[@dqstudios]

I’m glad you can hear the difference 🤩 I think without headphones on it is less noticeable, and I don’t want to overstate the difference for sure. But yup: the 8050 is incredible indoors.

[@ChrisFlores22]

dude thank you for this and thank you for sharing the bible verse. It's hard to find people in our video production world who are believers and arent afraid to share that. God bless bro! Today, do you still recommend this setup or have some parts changed?

[@dqstudios]

Thank you for the watching and the encouraging words! Yes: this is the setup I continue to use. Love it!

[@selectweddingfilms_cny]

Love this but it concerns me pairing a $1400 mic with a $50 preamp.

[@dqstudios]

the results have been great and I continue to use this setup.

[@unpluggged]

Tentacle Sync is $250, not $50, if that is what really matters to you.

[@dqstudios]

I think he was referring to the Xvive P1. but yeah - great options for us filmmakers all round!

[@KarolWalkowski]

You're not recommending Xvive anymore, yet you're still endorsing it with this video 😄 I guess you just don't want to waste those 6k views on KZbin... Zoom F6 sounds better than the combo of Track E with battery powered P48 attached? Of course it does! F6 is still Zoom's flagship recorder, and Track E (although great in what it does) is not even in the same category.

[@dqstudios]

the track e sounds great / its the Xvive that has slowly gotten more noisy over the years.

[@jackcharles1333]

😕 "promosm"

[@bobo_sound]

too big

[@ОстапБендер-б9д]

Sennheiser 8050 (or Se8 for cheaper but still cool sounding setup) + Zoom F3 + 2 Litium AA batteries from AliExpress. That's it. The best sound quality, the best portability. The chained setup from this video is simply stupid

[@dqstudios]

Nice setup but lacking Timecode