Noob Me66 Problems

[Bryan Mitchell]

Quick question, because I guess I'm still new :-(

I just got my Me66 and power module. I put a AA battery in it, flipped it on. The light turned on then dimmed. (i hear this is normal) I have a MA100, and I have an XLR cable going from the microphone to the Ma100.

I can't hear a thing on my headphones. I can see a very small pickup on a single channel on the XL1's display. Do I need a PREAMP?? I wish I had known this if I do. Am I doing something wrong. What do I have to do to switch it from the mic that came with my xl1 to my new $400 microphone.

Btw, I used B&H, and they're great. Thanks for the recomendation.

So I have my Me66 -> XLR Cable -> Left imput of Ma-100. I see a small amount of activity on left channel of the audio display (how do i get the xl1 to take in 1 channel and apply to both, or does it matter?). I can barilly hear anything in my headphones. My Ma100 is plugged into the Audio 1 inputs, and the DC cable is plugged into the DC connector.

Can anyone help?

[Bryan Mitchell]

Instead of using a headphones, I ran my computer speaker system (creative 4100 series) and I cranked it all the way up, and I cranked the volume on the camera all the way up, and I herd everything just fine. It has alot of noise (probably just on the speakers because they were so high.) Now that I know my microphone works, How can I monitor it with headphones when I'm shooting.

[Mike Rehmus]

Headphones plug into the camera. Make certain the headphone level control is up so you can hear it.

The 66 has a hot enough input that you shouldn't have any problems. I assume you have minimized the attenuator for the microphone input you are using.

You should be able to use the XL1's preamp. Have you switched the input level on the camera to microphone?

[Bryan Mitchell]

If I switch it to microphone, It won't work. The Ma-100 is going into the Audio 1, so I switched it to audio 1. That is when I can at least hear it a little. Yes I know that head phones go into the camera?? Yes the headphone controll is all the way up. Yes the microphone input is all the way up. I am still unable to hear my me66. If I switch it to 'microphone' so that it is using the standard mic with the mini jack connections on the front, I can hear the standard mic just fine. When my me66 is going through my ma100, I can barilly hear anything. I connected my computer speakers to the head phone jack just to test if I could raise it loud enough to hear it and I could.

I would still like to be able to monitor it with my headphones, and at this time that is not working. Everything is plugged in, and everything appears to be turned on. I have tried flipping the small red switch on the me66, and this doesn't help. (I assume this is the attenuator).

Any other suggestions?

[Mike Rehmus]

I'm asking all the obvious things because that's what I do. You know, forget to turn on the O N switch.

Bad battery or cable? I don't think the 66 will work at all if the battery is swapped. Is the MA-100 in working good order?

Got a friend who can test the 66 and cable or the Ma-100?

Hard to troubleshoot without substitute bits and pieces.

[Martin Garrison]

If you can only hear the microphone by running your signal back through amplified speakers, something is wrong. I'm not very familiar with the xl-1, but you may want to post a question on their forum.

I would test the mic through a board you know works. Odds are the mic works fine, but something is not copesetic with the camera/adapter set up.

[Bryan Mitchell]

The battery is in the correct way. It is turned on. The cables are secure. They are all brand new, I ordered them from B&H and got them in the last 3 days. (I don't know what the red switch on the K6 is, but flipping it either way doesn't make it work.) The on switch, is flipped forward to 'On')

Are there any switches or anything on the Ma100? I don't see anything. Just the RCA and DC cables from it. I plugged the ME66/K6 into the left XLR port, and I plugged the MA100 RCA cables into the back of my XL1.

I suspect the most likely reason it's not working is that I have the digital settings (in camera menus) set up wrong. I probably have to switch something there, but I don't know what. I have tried several sets of batteries in the k6, and they all light it up bright before it dims, so that can't be a problem.

I think I'm going to post a link to this post in the Xl1s forum. Thank you guys for your help though.

[Jay Massengill]

There's a setting for making the inputs your MA-100 is plugged into microphone level. This is separate from the switch that changes between the mic jack and the rear jacks.
You can't as far as I remember, get the camera to send a mono signal to both channels. You have to use a "Y" cable to do that. Then set your levels and adjust the balance control if you want one channel lower for a safety.

[Bryan Mitchell]

Alright, thanks. I'll probably buy a Y cable then. I have tried turning the record level to Manual, and tried adjusting the level, however, even if I turn it all the way up, I can still hear almost nothing in my headphones. I can hear the standard mic just fine with these same headphones, however with my Me66 and Ma100, I can barilly hear anything at all.

[Don Palomaki]

A common issue/question. The ME66 is a mono mic so the audio will be in the left or right channel only depending on how you connected it to the MA100. Some folks use "Y" cable to feed audio to both channels, others mix/pan the audio in post.

Out of the box the XL1 Audio 1 input defaults to consumer line level (-11 dBV). From the menu, set the Audio 1 input level to MIC or MIC ATT, MIC ATT may work OK for the ME66 under typical circumstances due to its high output level. Those settings have a sensitivity of -55 and -35 dBV for MIC level sources.

[Bryan Mitchell]

If I duplicate the audio over to both channels in post, is it the same as using a Y cable? (Assuming you don't change the input balance from L to R on the camera)

[Jay Massengill]

The advantage of duplicating a single track in post is that it's a full strength track recorded with a minimum of connectors and unbalanced cable. If you use a "Y" connector, there is a slight reduction in signal strength and slightly more unbalanced cable to pick up hum. The advantage to using a "Y" is the ability to set one channel lower for safety. You also get 2 recorded channels, which can be of some safety benefit, although with DV you usually lose both channels if there is a tape problem.
I remember now that my friend's XL-1 also exhibited that headphone behavior you describe. There seemed to be consiberably less headphone volume available when switching from the built-in mic to the rear mic connectors set to regular mic level. You could at least hear it with sensitive low-impedence headphones once the rear input levels were set properly, but it was irritatingly low.

[John C Heid]

Where can I buy an XLR Y adaptor cable? I want to feed the output of an AT897 into 2 channels of an MA-200 on the XL-1S.

Also, AT makes a 1.5 ft XLR rt angle M to straight F cable. Is this a good choice between the AT897 and the Y adaptor, or a shorter cable available?

(I ordered an AT835ST stereo shotgun before realizing it needs dual channel phantom power, so I will return it once it arrives).

[Bryan Mitchell]

I believe this is the correct one.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=134134&is=REG

If not, then it will be in the same category. I always forget which way the females and males connect, but I'm pretty sure the MA100 and MA200 have female connectors, so the 2 males on this item should do it.

[Bryan Beasleigh]

By convention the signal goes from male into female. ie the mic is male and the mixer/xlr input is female. All interconnecting cables will have the same orientation.