Yeah, that would be the only way. No included hookup. We are all acustomed to the gain of even the cheap cctv mics, which I have always used and loved. I can pick up conversations outside my front door from an upstairs back bedroom, it's that sensitive. Not even sure a gain control would help the mics in these cameras. It's simply not a powered mic. I could do a major audio boost on the footage in a video editor though, if need be.