Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Tips & Tricks Ep. 38: Note 3 As Portable Audio Recorder w/Rode SmartLav

*Note 3 Tips & Tricks Table of Contents: http://tinyurl.com/mqftosk
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 can record perfect audio, but a few things get in the way of you recording really great audio with it. One, the mic input is proprietary. It is a custom configured TRRS connector. Second, most apps don't know how to disable automatic gain control. But here's one that I found that records wav, 48khz, 16bit called RecForge Lite. I know that some people have mentioned that the gain is too high, but not with the Note 3 and RecForge Lite. You can shout as loudly as you want to at a lower gain, and it won't clip. It does a good job capturing the full range of voice, and it does a good job not rubbing against clothing.

My apologies for the audio samples. While filming this video, I was speaking loudly, but when trying to record audio samples, it was 2AM, and I had to speak softly. If you want me to redo the samples, please let me know in the comments. I just want to reassure people that the Rode SmartLav and the Note 3 is a viable combination for capturing voice for video and other things. The static when recording with any gain can be removed cleanly with the right software like Adobe Audition CC. You will have to remove a captured noiseprint.

Audio Samples
Gain +10: https://db.tt/1laAQ8PT
Gain 0: https://db.tt/yTkw8Yir
Gain -10: https://db.tt/BADzVOSA

Full Article: http://www.TheDailyNote.Net/2013/12/s...

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Closed Caption:

Hello everyone. Michael here with The Daily
Note II/3 YouTube channel.
You may have noticed that I have changed the
format of how I do videos on this channel.
Well, one of the things that is making it
possible is the portable mic that I'm using
right now
called the Rode SmatLav.
It is a mic, especially built for portable
audio recording. And one of the best devices
to do it with is the Galaxy Note 3.
As a matter of fact, I'm recording the audio
separately right now and then while editing
the video, I will replace the audio with what
I recorded on the Galaxy Note 3.
So here's the review of the Rode SmartLav
for the Galaxy Note 3 and how to get the cleanest
recording from it.
So the Rode SmartLav. Here is what you get for $60. You get the mic with a TRRS connector.
It is specially wired with compatibility for
iPhones and most Android devices including
the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and probably most
Samsung Galaxy phones. That is important because
Samsung Galaxy phones have proprietary wiring
which makes it not compatible with any standard
microphone without an adapter.
So it comes in this box. You get this leather pouch, and this clip.
It's a high quality clip that's mostly metal,
and it feels very durable. It also comes with
a quick start guide that shows you how to
put wires through this clip so that the wires
are the least visible and the mic is the most
comfortable.
On the Galaxy Note 3, it will not sound good
with the standard voice recorder that comes
with the device. Instead, I recommend a free
app called RecForge Lite. The most important
thing about this app is that it lets you turn
off automatic gain control or AGC. So let's
do that. And let's also set this to record
in wav, 48khz, 16 bit, and mono should be
fine. Keep in mind I'm recommending this app
and these settings for the Galaxy Note 3 only.
On other devices, try with different apps,
settings, and with auto gain control off or
even on when recording with the rode smartlav.
When deciding
to purchase this for my Android, or more specifically
Galaxy Note 2 and Note 3, I couldn't find
any samples online even though there seems
to a limitless supply of samples for the iPhone.
So let's try an audio sample. This is a sample audio recording of the rode smartlav with the samsung galaxy note 3. Using the
rec forge lite app with the agc turned off with the gain set to plus 10
so for the sample of how it sounds, i'll include a link for the raw audio file in the description in this video.
As a matter of fact, all the audio in this video has been recorded on a Galaxy Note 3 with a rode smartlav
So audio engineers believe that in a video,
such as the one you're watchinhg right now,
audio quality is much more important than
video quality. I did not believe it at
first but let's look at the example. For example, if you have good audio but not
good video, you can still sit throught the
video, but if you have high quality video,
and not good audio, it is unwatchable.
So if you're into making videos, and you talk
in it, you might want to make a small investment
in the Rode Smartlav. And use it with your
favorite smartphone.
So that's it for today. As it turns out, you
can get professional grade audio from the
Rode SmartLav if you use the right app and
with the right device.
For more videos on the Galaxy Note 2 and 3
make sure you check out my youtube channel.
And subscribe for upcoming videos. Once again,
thank you for watching.