In this video I walk you through the Insta360 X5 Mic Adapter, and why it still matters in 2025. Yes, the X5 already has a powerful native USB‑C port, so you can plug in a lot of USB‑C (UAC) wireless mics directly and even charge them on the go. But the mic adapter gives you a very specific setup: external mic input plus a USB‑C pass‑through so you can power/charge the camera at the same time, and you also get a mic level/audio meter on top. For me, the real reason to buy this adapter is SMPTE timecode. Right now, the only way to jam timecode into the X5 is through the 3.5mm TRS socket on this mic adapter. I show my step-by-step workflow: turn on timecode (I recommend enabling preview timecode so you can see it live), match the frame rate, and jam from a pro timecode box (like Deity TC‑1 / Tentacle Sync style devices) using line-level output. There’s also a tricky order-of-operations and sometimes you need to reinsert when you change frame rates—this is the part I hope Insta360 improves in the future.