Rode just recently released the Wireless GO II, a very compact wireless audio system I wrote about in my last article. One of its cool features is that you can feed two transmitters into one receiver so you don’t need two audio inputs on your camera or smartphone to work with two external mic sources simultaneously. What’s even cooler is that you can record the two mics into separate channels of a video file with split track dual mono audio so you are able to access and mix them individually later on which can be very helpful if you need to make some volume adjustments or eliminate unwanted noise from one mic that would otherwise just be “baked in” with a merged track. There’s also the option to record a -12dB safety track into the second channel when you are using the GO II’s “merged mode” instead of the “split mode” – this can be a lifesaver when the audio of the original track clips because of loud input.

If you use a regular camera like a DSLM, it’s basically a given that you can record in split track dual mono and it also isn’t rocket science to access the two individual channels on a lot of desktop editing software. If you are using the GO II with a smartphone and even want to finish the edit on mobile afterwards, it’s a bit more complicated.

First off, if you want to make use of split channels or the safety channel, you need to be able to record a video file with dual track audio, because only then do you have two channels at your disposal, two channels that are either used for mic 1 and mic 2 or mic 1+2 combined and the safety channel in the case of the Wireless Go II. Most smartphones and camera apps nowadays do support this though (if they support external mics in general). The next hurdle is that you need to use the digital input port of your phone, USB-C on an Android device or the Lightning port on an iPhone/iPad. If you use the 3.5mm headphone jack (or an adapter like the 3.5mm to Lightning with iOS devices), the input will either create single channel mono audio or send the same pre-mixed signal to both stereo channels. So you will need a USB-C to USB-C cable for Android devices (Rode is selling the SC-16 but I also made it work with another cable) and a USB-C to Lightning cable for iOS devices (here the Rode SC-15 seems to be the only compatible option) to connect the RX unit of the GO II to the mobile device. Unfortunately, such cables are not included with the GO II but have to be purchased separately. A quick note: Depending on what app you are using, you either need to explicitly choose an external mic as the audio input in the app’s settings or it just automatically detects the external mic.

Once you have recorded a dual mono video file including separate channels and want to access them individually for adjustments, you also need the right editing software that allows you to do that. On desktop, it’s relatively easy with the common prosumer or pro video editing software (I personally use Final Cut Pro) but on mobile devices there’s currently only a single option: LumaFusion, so far only available for iPhone/iPad. I briefly thought that KineMaster (which is available for both Android and iOS) can do it as well because it has a panning feature for audio but it’s not implemented in a way that it can actually do what we need it to do in this scenario.

So how do you access the different channels in LumaFusion? It’s actually quite simple: You either double-tap your video clip in the timeline or tap the pen icon in the bottom toolbar while having the clip selected. Select the “Audio” tab (speaker icon) and find the “Configuration” option on the right. In the “Channels” section select either “Fill From Left” or “Fill From Right” to switch between the channels. If you need to use both channels at the same time and adjust/balance the mix you will have to detach the audio from the video clip (either triple-tap the clip or tap on the rectangular icon with an audio waveform), then duplicate the audio (rectangular icon with a +) and then set the channel configuration of one to “Fill From Left” and for the other to “Fill From Right”.

Here’s hoping that more video editing apps implement the ability to access individual audio tracks of a video file and that LumaFusion eventually makes it to Android.

As always, if you have questions or comments, drop them here or hit me up on the Twitter @smartfilming. If you like this article, also consider subscribing to my free Telegram channel (t.me/smartfilming) to get notified about new blog posts and receive the monthly Ten Telegram Takeaways newsletter featuring a personal selection of interesting things that happened in the world of mobile video in the last four weeks.

For an overview of all my blog posts click here.

I am investing a lot of time and work in this blog and I’m even paying to keep it ad-free for an undistracted reading experience. If you find any of the content useful, please consider making a small donation via PayPal (click on the PayPal button below). It’s very much appreciated. Thank you! 🙂