How do I plug into a sound system?

[Stylianos Moschapidakis]

This coming weekend I will be shooting an event and for the first time I will try to plug into the sound system there --will be using my pd150.

I did SEARCH but did not find anything. Could anyone tell me how this should be done? I would appreciate it if someone directed me to a thread or article, or gave me some pointers/advice? (I do not know what their sound system will be.)

Thank you.

[Brian Wood]

Being that you don’t know what their sound system will be I suggest bringing every audio connector you have (xlr cables, mini to quarter inch, quarter inch to xlr, etc. That way you will be prepared for anything. Also when you ask the sound person to provide the hook up do it with a smile on your face, remember they don’t have to provide an output (and being asked to provide an output in the past, a smiling face made me happy to) Also monitor the output because they prob. wont adjust the level of it, in fact I might have the output and another mic hooked into a small mixer so u can get the best sound (and if the good output craps out you have a backup mic so your not screwed)

Brian

[Patrick Grealy]

Good Luck Stelious.

Remember that as far as the sound engineer ("SE") is concerned, you are a low priorrity !!.

Chances are that you will get a feed of what the SE is putting into the PA system. This may not be what you need beacuse and performers who are naturally loud may not be miked up (e.g a trumpeter or drummer)

Hence good of you can use your 2 tracks on the PD150

1 for the SE feed
2 an ambient mic (or set of mics + a mixing desk) to the room noise.

If you get a decent 2 tracks, you can mix in post and blend the 2 able to suit.

If the SE is very helpful, the might be able to give you an Aux feed (if there is a spare Aux send) and set up a recording mix for you.

You will have to decide whether to use the compression (auto gain) on the PD150 for both, one or neither of your 2 tracks. This will depend on the variable volume in the material you will record. Probably best to leave it on unless you are experienced in using outboard compressors. Monitor via headphones and use the audio level meter display to ensure that the audio levels are acceptable and not clipping into the red.

Chances are that you will need 2 balanced-jack-to-male-XLR cable to connect the Desk to the PD150 audio inputs.

If you are going to get serious about sound, you will need a small mixer and a few other mics.

For more info on my recent location recording see

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11056



Regards P

[Dan Grimes]

Good advice to keep an ambient mic on one track and the Front-of-House mix on the other.

Keep in mind that the output of a professional mixer is +4dBu BALANCED (a positive and negative signal with a ground reference) on either an XLR or 1/4" TRS. The output of a consumer mixer is -10dBu UNBALANCED (positive and ground) on either an RCA or 1/4" mono.

The input of a PD-150 is internally electronically variable but is approx. -50dBu and is unbalanced if using the 1/8" mini-stereo, and balanced if using the external adapter.

To match balanced out to unbalanced in, use a bridging transformer (Shure A15BT or CALRAD 10-87). Do not put balanced signals into unbalanced inputs unless you know the cable is wired for it (negative open)!

To match the +4dBu and -10dBu outputs to your camera, use a pad or attenuator (Shure A15AS or A15LA).

And don't forget the ground lift, connector adapters, and Y cables!

[Mike Rehmus]

Figure about $150 or so for all the goodies. Me, I like just plugging a wireless transmitter on and forgetting the cable complications. Unfortunately, not all venues will support the use of wireless.