- As a fan of smartphone
cameras and the portability
and accessibility to having
access to a decent video camera
anywhere, anytime, I'm always
looking to see how we can use
these everyday devices to get
more professional results.
On the audio front there's
some great plug-in microphones,
like the BOYA BY-M1, that
I've mentioned a few times,
and I'll put a link on the screen now.
But up until now I hadn't
found a decent way to get
professional-grade audio
into your smartphone.
After putting this thing through its paces
over the last few weeks
I can definitely say
this is worthy of your travel bag.
It's called a Smart Mixer
and it's by a company called Saramonic.
So what exactly is it?
Well, it's an audio mixer interface
for your smartphone device.
So straight out of the
box it comes with two
directional microphones
that you can plug into
the two inputs on the top of the device
and even just using these alone you'll get
infinitely better audio than recording
using your camera's built-in microphone.
But you can also take
these microphones out
and then it's two audio inputs
in for any other lapel mic
like the BOYA microphone.
And on the side of the
unit here you've got
your mini XLR plug, which
comes with the cable
to go from mini XLR to full-size XLR.
Now if you don't know what XLR is,
it's typically what's
used on professional-grade
audio equipment, so your
big shotgun microphones,
a lot of your wireless
audio gear uses XLR.
So this opens you up to
using your professional-grade
microphones directly into your smartphone,
so that's pretty awesome.
On the front of the unit
you've got volume control,
so you can manually adjust
the level of the audio
that you're bringing
in to your smartphone.
Now that alone is just invaluable.
The Smart Mixer also has a plus 48-volt
or phantom power, which
really opens you up
to using some great audio equipment.
And probably the most obvious
is the display on the front
which shows you your audio levels
and your battery indicator.
Now in my experience I was able
to get about two and a half
to three hours of use, consistent use,
out of the device which is just fantastic.
On the side you've got a
headphone jack so you can monitor
the audio you're recording, and
you've also got a phone plug
which is where you connect
this through to your phone.
So the people up at Saramonic
have really put some thought
into this device, because it's
not just about how awesome
the audio mixer section is,
but also about everything
that comes in the pack as a whole.
So when you actually set this up
it's a full video rig for your smartphone.
It's got the handle
that you can hang onto.
It's good build quality.
It's not too heavy that
your arm's gonna get sore
from holding it, but it's
weighty enough that it feels good
and it's gonna make your
shots really stable.
It's also got a really
secure clamp for your phone.
And I use a Galaxy Note 5, so
I'm not using a small phone
here, and it accommodates that
really well, even in a case.
The other key feature of this
is the mounting options you've got for it.
You can mount things like
lights or external microphones
or shotgun microphones on top of the unit,
or you've just got so
many options for mounting
different things to suit your setup.
The handle itself has a
tripod thread on the bottom
so that you can actually
mount it directly to a tripod.
So even if you're not
using your smartphone
to create videos, and you
might be using a DSLR,
the Saramonic Smart
Mixer will then allow you
to still get XLR audio into
your DSLR and monitor it,
and adjust the volume,
just from the one unit.
Considering that it's just
under the $150 US price point,
I think it's something
that's definitely worthy
of going in your travel bag.
So if you're looking for a
great way to take your audio
when you're filming on your
smartphone to the next level,
you should definitely check
out the Saramonic Smart Mixer.
I'll throw a link on screen
and in the description below.
There's no device that comes
close as far as I'm concerned.
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