Is the mic input stereo? line level? EOS M50

[Mr_Scary]

Hello. I just upgraded my 10 year old Camcorder Vixia HF M30 to an EOS M50.

I was wondering if the Mic input on the EOS M50 was a stereo line level input. 

Searching google and forums gives no information on the (1/8") (3.5mm) jack information.

I want to output my audio, such as guitar and backing tracks directly into the camera for perfect syc. 

there is nothing worse then guitar shreding that does not sync perfectly with the video. 

I understand I can record my audio and add it in the video editor, which I do. 

However, I want to input my (Focusrite Saffire Pro 14) output into the EOS M50 mic input, if it is able. 

I also use a mixer sometimes for live video.

Thanks for any input, it's appreciated.

[nark]

Canon is marketing that the M50 has a build-int stereo microphone, but there is no stereo input via the 3.5mm jack.

I am e-mailing Cannon at this very point. 
I will post their reply here.

[bhusselbaugh]

I can confirm the M50 does indeed record in stereo - as two separate stereo tracks.  I'm an audio engineer.  Obviously the source must be sourcing two independent audio tracks.  I took the MP4 right off camera's memory chip, extracted audio as an M4a, converted that to a wav which I imported into protools.  There were two distinctly different left/right channels present - so the camera does record in stereo (if it is fed a stereo signal).  And, when listening to the MP4 using headphones, it was obvious that the recording was stereo.

[MikeBael]

Hey Nark.  Honestly, I think you could be kinder in your comments.  BUT....what a drag with the audio channels.  This isn't exactly an exotic feature.  At least, unlike the original m50, they have a mic jack.  But the lack of a headphone jack is a serious shortcoming.

But there is a silver lining.  Apparently, the internal mic is stereo!  For chrissakes.

And thanks for your comment.  It saved me time-- I was hunting around trying to figure out why my splitter wasn't splitting the audio channels from the lav and the shotgun I was using.  (Any advice on which I should choose-- I have a lav from a Movo WMX1 lav kit, and what I think is the mic that came with the m50.                                              ,

[Mr_Scary]

Thank you all for the replies, I have decided not to go this route. as it will more then likely damage the camerea. 

I do use Vegas Movie Studio Platinum, but wanted to sync the audio perfectly all in one direct shot. 

Another way to get a peferfect synced music video is go ahead and recored the audio with mic, and a setperate direct method. then you can sync it with the cameras audio, then delete the unused audio. 

Ultimately using a PC and an HDMI capture, and a direct audio source. 

I was hpoing for a simple small solution. 

Will probably need a much more expensive camerea for this.

[RJD]

This is incorrect. I have just been testing my new M50 and Rode Videomic NTG using the safety channel feature and can confirm that both audio tracks were recorded correctly with normal volume on the left track and the 20db reduction on the right track.

[nark]

Hi RDJ

I have tested with the right cable from the lavalier reciver.
I have 2 TX and 1 RX from Saramonic.



I have tested the exact setup on a Canon 5D Mark II and I get independend audio on L+R (TX1 to L / TX2 to R)
I have tested the exact setup on my laptop and I get independend audio on L + R (just as the 5D)
I have tested the exact setup on my M50 and i get a mix-down of the both. If I speak on TX1, it gets recorded on L+R, the same when I speak in TX2.

Thank you

[RJD]

Ok, so if I understand correctly what you are trying to do is mic two people and record each person as a separate track using the dual-receiver? I'm afraid I don't have experience with that equipment.

But what my experiment did show is that the M50 has the capability to record input from an external mic on separate tracks. My suggestion would be to contact Saramonic for advice. Good luck! Let us know how you get on! 

[splbound]

I can confirm with Nark about the mic input of the M50.

Had to join ths forum and raise it because it wasted hours of my life figuring WTF.

Having recently purchased the Video Mic Wireless GO 2 which records one channel to the Left and one Channel to the Right. The Canon Eos M50 mixes them both down in the video's audio tracks.

Thinking that I was going crazy or that there was some issue with the setup,I tested it by recording to my Gopro Hero 7, Zoom H4n and 5DmkIII. All of them behaved as expected with the Left and Right channels record in the video file being independent and not mixed together.

The problem is not with the recorder, cables etc. The issue is with the mic input of the Canon on the M50.

A strong warning to all with the M50 and its mic input.

It ain't stereo. Treat is as a mono input, yes it downmixes.

Are you using the safety channel feature on the Rode Mics and relying on that to prevent clipping... well due to the M50 mic input feature, you may end up with both channels being clipped out.

Video mic wireless go 2 users... well you are in for a treat assuming that the Left and Right tracks will be recorded seperately ha! no way lets do this the canon way.

@RJD it is not enough to test using the safety channel feature of the Rode video mics.

Havig tested how the Eos M50 (I put audio through only one channel other the other was muted).

The downmixed audio produced by the camera in the video file had one channel was lower in volume than the other.

You may had been mistaken that it was working with the safelty channel feature because of this.

Try feeding the M50 mic input with Left or Right muted.

Canon can you fix this in firmware, or is the M50 special?

[arlinsandbulte]

I might be experiencing the same issue with an M50 and Rode Wireless Go II microphone system.

I already posted here in the topic Nark started.

To me, it sounds like there is a lot of cross-talk between the Left and Right audio inputs of the M50.

Using a TRS cable from the Rode mic system to the Canon M50.

Rode Transmitter 1 / Ch1(L): Transmitter is on and transmitting audio.

Rode Transmitter 2 / Ch2(R): Transmitter is OFF or Muted and not transmitting audio.

Even though the right channel should not have any audio (the transmitter is OFF or Muted), the M50 *DOES* record signal on that channel. The right channel is about 10dB lower in volume and sounds muffled, like the high frequencies are rolled off (a text-book symptom of cross-talk).

Here are a couple of example audio files from the M50. Left and Right have been split into two audio files.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xq29xfrixg5br21/AABlRgc8gCiXdKgg-IT0_Cuca?dl=0

I connected the same Rode microphone into a sound mixer instead of the M50, and the sound mixer does not have the same cross-talk issue.

So, from my tests, it seems the M50 has very poor cross-talk performance on its stereo microphone input.

This may not be noticable on 'typical' stereo microphones in which each side or channel is always on and both channels recieve almost the same audio signal.

But, it can become appareent when using the stereo input independantly, where each side can get a truly independent audio signal.

[arlinsandbulte]

UPDATE:  Canon Tech support has confirmed that it cannot record the left and right signals from the 3,5mm TRS stereo mic input in 'true' stereo.  It will mix both tracks together.

Here is what tech support told me:

"Regarding the way the camera records audio, it is true that it will combine the audio together and it will not allow for separate channels to be recorded independently to their own left and right channel tracks per the external microphone that is used. [...] When recording video on the EOS M50, a stereo mic can be used, but per design of the camera, it will merge the audio together to where the left and right channel will have the same track."