# Tweaking Canon 80D audio



## dsfinnegan (Sep 18, 2019)

Hello,
I record concert band concerts with the 80D with a Tascam recorder attached on a hotshoe. I want to ensure the Tascam records better audio than the 80D, but the 80D does have pretty good audio. Therefore, I am interested in tweaking the audio settings on the 80D to ensure the audio from the recorder is more of the “reference quality” and is far better than the 80D’s audio. If anyone has any setting or tweaking tips that would be appreciated. Thanks!
Dan


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## ohm (Jan 13, 2020)

The 80D’s audio is poor. It loses a lot of sound pressure in the bass and the highs. I’d only keep it to sync with the recorder as it is next to rubbish for any sort of reference use.


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## mistaspeedy (Jan 18, 2020)

The preamplifiers on all Canon DSLR and mirrorless cameras are garbage (and the microphones too).
In your situation, you need to adjust the output from the Tascam to have a strong signal, so that you can turn down the volume in the 80D's settings all the way to minimum. This way, you are using the Tascam's microphone and the Tascam's preamplifier to amplify the signal as much as possible (so that you are using the 80D's preamplifier as little as possible.
However, even if you do that... the audio will still be better when recorded on the Tascam.

I have tried something similar with the Zoom H5 connected to the Canon EOS R.
The most noticeable missing component in the signal recorded to the Canon camera (even when sending the strong signal from the external recorder) is bass.
There will be more bass on the external recorder.

For some people the results with the external recorder connected to the camera will be 'good enough'... however, ideally you will record on the external recorder and then synchronize in post.

However, you are in luck with one aspect... concerts are usually loud... the poor preamps are most apparent when you record quiet things... then you get a whole lot of hiss/hum... etc.


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