DPRTV did a Microphone pre-amp Shootout with a Fujifilm X-T3 (X-T4 has the same preamp), Sony a7III, Panasonic S1H, Olympus E-M1 Mark III, Nikon Z6, and Canon ES-1D Mark III. Below you can see a summary and the results or you can watch the video above.
- Pre-amps amplify things before they are recorded
- Just about everything needs to be brought up to a level that it can be heard in your software or camera
- Good preamps have a high signal with a low amount of noise
- Bad preamps have noise that gets mixed into the signal
- Your preamp is the celling of quality you’re going to hear so a bad preamp with a good mic will be limited and you might hear a lot, but there will be noise mixed in.
- A good preamp with a bad mic will let you hear everything the mic can capture, but it won’t fully utilize the preamp
- mediocre preamps and below also add hiss
Proper audio levels
- Canon ES-1D Mark III was fantastic
- Fujifilm X-T3/X-T4 was really good
- Nikon Z6 was solid
- Olympus E-M1 Mark III was middling
- Panasonic S1H favorite
- Sony a7III sounded bad with lots of hiss and noise
Low audio levels out of the mic -20db below ideal
- Each camera had more noise
- Canon ES-1D Mark III had a digital not consistent noise
- Fujifilm X-T3/X-T4 running water sound with a high-level whine
- Nikon Z6 running water sound
- Olympus E-M1 Mark III running water sound
- Panasonic S1H running water sound
- Sony a7III was really really really bad it boosted the bad sound
High audio levels out of the mic +10db above ideal
- One thing that helps hot signals is a limiter, attenuator, or compressor to take a hot signal and dampen it down
- Canon ES-1D Mark III did a great job and it sounded natural with the limiter
- Fujifilm X-T3/X-T4 was a little crunchy and the limiter affected the audio
- Nikon Z6 was a lot like the Canon
- Olympus E-M1 Mark III was not as bad as the Fujifilm, but not as good as the Canon and Nikon
- Panasonic S1H limiter didn’t sound right
- Sony a7III still sounds like hot garbage
Rankings
- Canon ES-1D Mark III – Didn’t expect it to sound this good
- Nikon Z6 and Panasonic S1H (tie) – Both have issues, but not bad
- Fujifilm X-T3/X-T4 – good sounding camera
- Olympus E-M1 Mark III – not as good as the rest of the cameras
- Sony a7III – unbelievable amount of noise
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Fujifilm X-T3: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Fujifilm X-T4 Preorder: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
VG-XT4 Vertical Battery Grip: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
NP-W235 Battery: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Sony a7III: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Canon EOS-1D X Mark III: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Nikon Z6: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
