Four-channel audio in the Lumix GH6

The Lumix GH6 using a pair of XLR microphones connected to the DMW-XLR1 XLR adapter, while also taking two channels of audio to the 3.5mm mic socket via a wireless lav mic system

It certainly isn’t unusual for a modern camera to be able to record stereo audio directly to the video sound track in-camera. Almost all cameras designed to shoot video will have a 3.5mm audio port that allows a microphone, or a wireless microphone system receiver, to be plugged in for audio pick-up from an external mono/stereo microphone or a pair of wireless mics. Some specialist cameras, including quite a number of Lumix models, offer compatibility with an adapter that allows higher-end XLR microphones to be used for in-camera recording – and for recordings at higher quality settings than are usually available. Videographers can also use the 3.5mm port to attach a separate audio device such as a Zoom or Tascam handheld or bolt-on audio recorder to improve sound quality and/or to increase the number of audio feeds to the camera’s system. However even with these devices and accessories are attached most cameras can only record the information to two audio channels – left and right.

All-in-one

The audio monitor display allows users to control recording levels for pairs of channels as they come into the camera

The Lumix GH6 stands out in this field for its ability to record four channels of audio internally, taking feeds from the regular 3.5mm port as well as from the DMW-XLR1 XLR adapter that fits in the camera’s hotshoe. It is also remarkable that it does so with enhanced audio resolution for all channels – even when the XLR adapter isn’t in use. This gives film makers the opportunity to record exceptional quality audio, and to have full control of their sound directly in-camera, without the need of all the extra equipment and the processes that come with using external recorders.

Here’s what you can expect from the GH6:

• 4-channel audio recording
• High Resolution in all channels
• New audio control interface
• Detailed audio monitoring features

High Resolution Audio

For some time many Lumix GH- and S-series models have offered enhanced audio recording with best High Resolution settings of up to 96 KHz in 24-bit when the Lumix DMW-XLR1 is in use. Regular in-camera audio is usually 48KHz in 16-bit, so there is a great advantage in using the XLR adapter.
The new Lumix GH6 however can record 96KHz in 24-bit directly in-camera when an external microphone is connected either via the 3.5mm port or the XLR adapter, or even 48KHz in 24-bit using its own built-in microphones – so that’s a significant step up.

Four ears are better than two

Here the camera is being fed by a camera-mounted stereo microphone via the XLR adapter, and two wireless lav mics via the 3.5mm port. This makes a pretty compact and portable set-up

The Lumix GH6 can record four channels of audio when the Lumix DMW-XLR1 XLR is attached to the hotshoe and a stereo XLR microphone is plugged in or a pair of mono mics are connected. The camera assigns two channels to the XLR adapter and the other two are occupied by the microphone connected via the 3.5mm port. Users can maximise the diversity of sound collected by using up to four individual microphones, but any combination of a total of four, three or two mics can be used. Giving each microphone its own channel allows a lot more control over the way the audio is mixed in the final film, as the level of each microphone can be controlled not only in post-production but also as the audio is recorded. The camera allows a general recording level to be set for each pair of channels, but the XLR adapter provides additional individual level controls for each of its two channels. If you are using a wireless microphone system to feed the 3.5mm port, the receiver unit will very likely offer controls for each of its channels too.
Recording with all four channels might be ideal in situations in which, for example, two people are talking in a noisy environment, such as on a pebble beach. You can use channels 1 and 2 to record the input from a pair of lav mics connected to a wireless system, and then use channels 3 and 4 to record a stereo background sound of the sea or of people walking by on the stones. Controlling the level of channels 1 and 2 will allow you to balance the volumes of the speakers’ voices and controlling 3 and 4 will allow you to balance the sound of the environment with the dialogue taking place between the subjects.

Direct control

A new button on the camera’s top plate provides direct one-touch access to the new menu screen for audio settings

So you can keep on top of all the new audio features the Lumix GH6 has to offer there’s a new dedicated audio button on the top plate of the camera. Pressing this takes us directly to a new audio menu screen that shows us not only a 4-track levels monitor but a grid of six principle controls that offer touch-access to each audio setting.

The new audio menu screen that appears when the top plate access button is pressed. This serves to keep us up-to-date with the settings in use as well as a quick way to alter them

This new interface makes setting-up your sound a whole lot quicker and gives us the chance to see all relevant settings in a single glance. Touching on one of the sections will take you to the options available for that feature, so you can alter them and then quickly return to the audio screen – so it really is a massive short-cut and time-saver.

These are the six settings option screens that appear when the user selects one of the options in the main audio menu

You can of course still use the traditional menu route via the main menu button. As the Lumix GH6 has the newer user interface in line with the S-series cameras you’ll find all the audio settings under the video icon and in the audio pages marked with a microphone symbol.

Audio monitoring

The camera’s audio settings are still available to access in the audio sections of the main camera menu

A really useful feature in all of this is the audio monitoring system of the Lumix GH6. When we have four channels coming in to the camera we can use the Sound Monitor Channel function to decide how many of those audio sources we hear at a time via the headphone port. The camera allows us to listen to each microphone individually and then to hear how they mix in a range of different combinations. If you select CH1/CH2 for example you’ll hear CH1 in your left ear and CH2 in your right, but if you select CH1+CH2 you’ll hear both channels in both ears. Selecting CH1+CH2/CH3+CH4 will allow you to hear a mix of the first two channels in your left ear and a mix channels 3 and 4 in your right, while CH1+CH2+CH3+CH4 sends the sound from all four microphones into both ears at the same time.

The options on offer for listening to individual channels and combinations of channels in the new audio menu. Here we can check each channel on its own, as well as listen to all of them at the same time

These options not only allow us to check the quality and levels of each audio source but to also then check how they blend together and what sort of stereo effects we will get. In all this offers an extraordinary level of control – and assurance that your audio will sound exactly as you want it to, right at the recording stage.

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