An audio test between the GoPro Hero 5 vs Hero

The nerd in me has become curious about testing out some gimbal / gopro combinations to document my average (at best) riding skills. As a result I figured I would share my findings to those who may find this information useful. Thus far the video below has yielded some interesting results. This POV footage was filmed with the Hero 5, the audio it produced while attached to the Karma Grip for the first half of the clip. The other half of the clip's audio produced was via a Hero 4 black with an external mic attached to my helmet. What's interesting is the GP 5 produced horrible audio yet the video quality was a step up from the GP 4. The conclusion was is it would be awesome to have the best of both worlds combined. Let me know your thoughts or input if you have any. CC: @herzalot

Shred On,
Taylor

 

I'm picky about sound, but I didn't notice a huge difference...just that I could hear your breathing more in the second half. But I do want to tell the story of our conversation with those two hikers at the beginning of the video.

As we came out of the Fenceline singletrack and over to this huge intersection of two fireroads, I looked up and saw this e-bike dude with a basket and gear on the front and the rear of his bike riding down the left side of the fireroad at a reasonable rate of speed. The two hikers were heading for the sign that is posted there. So D-Bag on e-bike, rather than go around the hikers to the right where he has over 40 feet of space yells out "Bike...on your left, on your left..." He threads the needle between the two hikers with over 100 feet of space available around them, and nobody else around. It was bizarre.

After he went on by, I told the hikers - "Wow - that was interesting. On behalf of anyone on a mt. bike, I apologize for that idiot's rude behavior. Please don't judge us all by the actions of that d-bag..." We laughed and chatted a little more, than Taylor chimes in with his - "Not me, I would just yell out for you to get out of the way - damn hikers!" They laughed at his obvious sarcasm and we wished them a good day.

Oh and at 00:24 "Grandpa's fast..." Ummmm, Thank you?

 

I can tell a huge difference especially when listening on a home theater system. The audio from the GP5 sounds hollow and tinny compared to the external mic with the GP4. It may be splitting hairs to some but I want good audio if I'm going to spend time making these videos.

As for the ""gramps is fast" comment it's meant as self deprecating due to what I said just before that.

It was a good test between camera's regardless. Most of the MTB youtubers are still using the GP4 for the reasons I shared. I'll probably do the same once I acquire a gimbal in the near future.

 

Thoughts... I agree, best of all worlds combined would be awesome The first one sounds like overall lower frequency – like muffled with the bass too high. Makes the sound seem somehow detached from the visual. Second audio markedly better.

 

Hey Mike! Yeah totally. That's because when they designed the Gopro 5 and 6 they added multiple mics around the body and had to somehow waterproof those openings. That's why you hear as you described as a muffled low frequency audio. The Gopro 4 only has one mic and there's no waterproofing needed since it has a separate water housing. When I was using my hero 4 on the other gimbal all I did was put some double sided tape around the mic hole and stick a mini deadcat on it. The sound came out great. That solution won't work on the 5 and 6 unfortunately. Upon doing some research most of the MTB youtubers are either just using the GP 4 or using a GP 5 or 6 for video and recording the audio seperately. Hopefully gopro will resolve the audio issue in the next iteration of their camera. Until then I think I'll just stick to using the GP 4 with deadcat solution once I acquire a gimbal.

 

I liked the Gramps comment... I was flattered.

And I only played the video through my wimpy computer at moderate volume, so it wasn't as obvious to me as it was to you. But that's why you're a good videographer - you pay attention to details!

 

Thanks for your input Herz. That's why I posted this test video because it's great to get input from people who might not care or notice the audio quality for one reason or another. Definitely something I will be considering in my journey more into video work from a fun perspective.