Rudimentary Mixer help needed

[Bob Kerner]

I need some help with calibrating my Senn wireless to an SD 302 mixer. I understand the mechanics of making the adjustments but am not sure I'm doing this correctly, partly because I'm consulting two books and an owner's manual that give conflicting instructions.

One book says to calibrate the receiver to the mixer by adjusting the receiver's output. But to what? What should I be seeing on the meter? 0 db? Much past -12 on the receiver starts to sound crappy with hiss/noise. Or should I set the receiver at a certain setting, leave it and manipulate the mixer's controls?

Yes, I have the 302 set to mic in and mic out to go to my camera, which I've used to Tone to get to as close to -20db as possible.

I also need a refersher on the Gain knob. This is the course control..I get it. But where should I be shooting for with this (meter reading) before locking it down and working with the fine adjustment knob? The instruction manual is silent on this issue. Again, I've seen suggestions to shoot for "1 red light lit" to "all but the last."

Thank you in advance for helping. I took some time off from video and lost a lot of what I'd learned from demonstrations.

Bob

[Abe Dolinger]

For the wireless, I have been able to leave the Sennheisers on Tx:sensitivity=-20 and Rx:AF Out=+6 most of the time.

As for setting gain, here's what I do. Put the fader knob at 12 o'clock, which is unity. Now set the gain to the minimum and raise it until sound is in the 0-8dB range (for dialogue). You can then use the fader to keep it in that range when it goes up or down.

[Ty Ford]

Hi Bob,

You said: Yes, I have the 302 set to mic in and mic out to go to my camera, which I've used to Tone to get to as close to -20db as possible.

>>Are you having problems hitting -20 on you camera with tone from the mixer? That would be weird. The camera inputs are set to mic rather than line, right?


I also need a refersher on the Gain knob. This is the course control..I get it. But where should I be shooting for with this (meter reading) before locking it down and working with the fine adjustment knob? The instruction manual is silent on this issue. Again, I've seen suggestions to shoot for "1 red light lit" to "all but the last."


>>The coarse (not course) gain control for each input should be adjusted high enough to light the channel peak light and then backed off so it doesn't. The fine control knob should start in the 12 o clock position.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Bob Kerner]

Originally Posted by Ty Ford

Hi Bob,

You said: Yes, I have the 302 set to mic in and mic out to go to my camera, which I've used to Tone to get to as close to -20db as possible.

>>Are you having problems hitting -20 on you camera with tone from the mixer? That would be weird. The camera inputs are set to mic rather than line, right?


I also need a refersher on the Gain knob. This is the course control..I get it. But where should I be shooting for with this (meter reading) before locking it down and working with the fine adjustment knob? The instruction manual is silent on this issue. Again, I've seen suggestions to shoot for "1 red light lit" to "all but the last."


>>The coarse (not course) gain control for each input should be adjusted high enough to light the channel peak light and then backed off so it doesn't. The fine control knob should start in the 12 o clock position.

Regards,

Ty Ford

The camera (Canon HV 20) accepts only mic in. The camera's meter is not labeled for -20, only -40, -12 and 0....so it's not an exact setting but I'm in the ballpark.

Thanks