Can't get Sennheiser G2 wireless settings to work

[Dave Allen]

Ok, I followed Guy Cochran's awesome Vimeo tutorial to the letter with a sensitivity of -10.

Within the Sony menu, I go to Men>audio mix>push sel/push exec.scroll down to mix/line in sel/push exec.yellow "ext mic is highlighted yellow, then I push sel/push exec one last time, then switch right side power switch to camera.

I plug in my Sony MDR 7506 headphones to the Mic/line port on the FX1 lower right.

Just prior to plugging in the Sennheiser EW100 G2 jack into the Mic/Line input, I sure hear the onboard Sony mics coming through loud and clear. As soon as the wireless transmitter jack is plugging into the mic/line jack, the headphones go silent.

Now when I take the Sennhesier lavalier mic and put it right up to my mouth and talk loud, the levels on the lower right of the fold outviewfinder show the L channel as going up about 1/4th of the total. I can barely hear anything in the headphones. If I turn the audio level knurled wheel on the camera back to 10 on manual setting I can hear it a little better, but there is hissing static in the headphones, and now the L channel sound meter will go halfway halfway on the scale.

I do have the volume all the way up on the FX1 button under the fold out monitor.

Ok, considering the mic will not be right at ones mouth, what do I need to do to get some volume out of all this?

I later tried Level -24 on AF out on the transmitter with -20 db on the receiver with no luck.

[Ben Moore]

" I plug in my Sony MDR 7506 headphones to the Mic/line port on the FX1 lower right"

The Headphones should not be plugged into a mic/line port, this is where the receiver should be plugged it. I don't have an FX1 here, but you need to find the headphone jack and plug the phones in there.

Ben

[Dave Allen]

Sorry, my mistake, I meant to type I plug in the Sennheiser wireless receiver output jack into the mic/line in on the front lower right, and the headphones plug into the rear side headphone jack.

[John Willett]

If you are plugging into the camera's line input, you need to turn up the output level of the receiver.

[Dave Allen]

Level -24 out on the transmitter is the highest it will go, unless I set it the wrong direction and it needs to go in the + side

[Brooks Harrington]

Output from G2 receiver is mic level.. plug into cam mic in, not line in.

[Jeffery Magat]

You need to use proper names for everything so we can understand what the problem is exactly.

Transmitter - Where you plug your mic into.. It doesn't have an AF Out menu item, only Sensitivity. These are in 10 db increments. (it has the mute switch at the top of it)

Receiver - This is what you plug into your camera.. This contains the AF Out menu item, and is in 12 db increments. (it says AF out on the top of it)

Next, keep the transmitter volume up. As long as you have it near 00, that should be enough for you to troubleshoot your receiver and camera. You want it towards the + side of things. When you turn the volume up on your stereo, you will go up to increase the volume, you don't go down to increase volume.

Like Brooks said, try mic level.. The G2 is capable of line level, but I find it difficult to get correct levels at that range.

[Ben Moore]

I wonder if you simply have the transmitter and the receiver mixed up. This would be an honest mistake as they look almost identical.

[Dave Allen]

The transmitter is the pack on the body with the mic/line labeled jack to the lav, the receiver is the one with the AF Out jack and that is what I have attached to the videocam shoe.

[Paul R Johnson]

I think Dave may have misunderstood what these -20, -10 settings do. They are reductions in sensitivity, for inputs to the radio mic transmitter that are too ..... 'hot'. So if the speaker is talking at normal speaking volume, with the mic a foot away from their mouth, then that's not very loud, so you do not want any sensitivity reduction. Dialing in -10 or more dB will cut the audio output level from the transmitter to the reciever quite a bit, and would certainly mean meter levels will be low, and any exra gain you use at the receiver end to bring them back up produces plenty of background hiss.

If you have the mic very close to their mouth and they are shouting, then this is when the attenuation is useful - or the transmitter distorts badly.

Do your test again, with no transmitter attenuation, then you should have a solid signal to start with - then you can experiment with matching the receiver output to camera input. In my case, I usually keep the camera input set to mic, not line, and then use the receiver output control to match the levels. At least these experiments will be at decent headphones levels, so getting it right can be done by ear.

[Martin Mayer]

Originally Posted by Dave Allen

Level -24 out on the transmitter is the highest it will go, unless I set it the wrong direction and it needs to go in the + side

With respect, Dave, if you're referring to the AF OUT Level here, it is on the RECEIVER, not the transmitter.

I also think you've interpreted this figure the wrong way.

-24 is the LOWEST it will go; try a high number like +18?

-24 to -6 produce low/quiet/mic levels into camera; 0 to +18 produce high/loud/line levels into camera.

[Dave Allen]

I used the Vimeo tutorial and the setting listed as the base starting point, I will give it all a retry with different settings. I am not a tech guy so the learning curve is slow so the hand holding here is very much appreciated.

[Anthony Lovell]

Originally Posted by John Willett

If you are plugging into the camera's line input, you need to turn up the output level of the receiver.

If you are in a line input, I think you may have problems indeed -- I could not get my G2 to create usable audio at that level (on an EX1 camera). Try to set the input's sensitivity to Mic (as opposed to Line), if this is supported. While others have expressed cautious optimism about the G2 being able to generate a line-in level, I am not sure mine would ever do it.

tone

[Dave Allen]

I adjusted the Sennheiser levels so that when the lav mic is in the upper chest region as recommended in Cochran's Vimeo video.

When speaking in a normal voice, the "AF" LCD display graph on both the transmitter and receivers are close to peaking when I speak with the lav mic.

Still no audio in the headphones even though turned all the way up on the volume control under the fold out display. Now keep on mind this is with the audio on the rear of the videocam set to manual, and the audio level set to 5. if I turn it all the way up to 10, it introduces major hiss, although I can start to hear the lav mic now, albeit still unacceptably.

In view of the AF meters showing both levels near the highest, I am at a loss for why this is still not working. I do have two really cool new electronic paperweights though!

I tried switching the onboard menu function between mic/lin and ext mic to no avail.

[Martin Mayer]

Dave: Again: Is AF OUT on the Receiver set to something like +18????????????????