Sennheiser Evolution Wireless 100 G2 Settings: Sensitivity, AF Level at DVinfo.net

Douglas Robbins · February 4th, 2005, 01:55 AM

I recently purchased the G2. I love it. I run it with the MKE-2 lav on my XL2. THe sound is fantastic, even when the subject is relatively far from the mic. But the liturature sucks. I don't know how to properly set the various levels, the sensitivity level on the transmitter, and the AF level on the reciver. THis is what I have discovered so far.

It seems that sensitivity is often too high. The 0 db to -10 db sensitivity setting on the transmitter works only when the subject is either whispering or the subject is a soft spoken woman. It also sometimes works when the lav itself is two or more feet from the subject. Beyond that, the sound will distort. Normal male speaking voices, with the lav within 25 cm of the mouth, need to be set at -20 db or even lower.

Second, I have the AF level set at -12 db. To set the proper levels I often have the XL2 channel levels set to 11 o'clock on the little dial.

My question has to do with the interplay between these three settings, the transmitter's sensitivity level, the reciever's af out level and the XL2's channel level. I assume you set the sensitivity first and work backward. Is that correct? Is there any advantage to setting the reciver's af out level even lower and cranking up the XL2 channel level higher? How about vice versa?

Any help?

Douglas

Ben Lynn · February 4th, 2005, 08:50 AM

I'm going to take a shot at this and anyone please correct me if I give out bad info.

First off, I agree that the Evo. systems are awesome, but the literature is terrible. I have a G1 system and had this exact same problem with trying to set the levels. It really got me frustrated for a month until I stumbled on a combination that works.

You want to first set the sensitivity to the loudest voice that you will encounter. So set it for the male voice. You don't want that clipping on any level so you need to set it for the highest levels you'll encounter.

Next, I set the camera audio levels to about 60%. This was a recommendation by others on this forum a long time ago and I've found that it works well and I have room to work with the levels on camera in a pinch.

I then use either the receiver audio level control, the mixer, or the Beachtek controls to adjust the volume to the proper recording levels. In an ideal setting I have the wireless receiver level set at about 40% output and the mixer or beachtek is the main control for setting levels. If I need to fine tune from that point I may work with the on camera levels just a touch or the mixer. Once the beachtek is set I leave it alone.

For the actual wireless settings I spent an afternoon with a co-worker and we adjusted and tweaked the setting to try and see what would work. Once we fine tuned the system it stayed solid and I haven't adjusted it since that day about a year and a half ago. I really wish that Senn. had put a short tutorial on how to adjust the settings to work properly because the default settings were not doing much of anything.

Hope this helps a little and if others can advise better I'd sure be grateful.

Ben Lynn

Greg Jacobson · February 4th, 2005, 02:24 PM

I recently bought the G2 system with lav and handheld transmitter. I bought a Sure SM58 for the mic.

I shot some footage at a convention that lots of music and other noises so people were talking very loudly to each other. I set the pad to -20 the first day and that was good for most people but some people still talked so lound it would distort. The second day I set it to -30 and seemed to work pretty well but you could not hear people talk who were not directly in front of the mic.

I would say in most normal situations where people are not screaming that -20 pad is ideal.

What mics you guys using as handheld? What would be a better choice than a SM58?

February 4th, 2005, 01:55 AM	#1
Douglas Robbins Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: san bruno, ca Posts: 60	Sennheiser Evolution Wireless 100 G2 Settings: Sensitivity, AF Level I recently purchased the G2. I love it. I run it with the MKE-2 lav on my XL2. THe sound is fantastic, even when the subject is relatively far from the mic. But the liturature sucks. I don't know how to properly set the various levels, the sensitivity level on the transmitter, and the AF level on the reciver. THis is what I have discovered so far. It seems that sensitivity is often too high. The 0 db to -10 db sensitivity setting on the transmitter works only when the subject is either whispering or the subject is a soft spoken woman. It also sometimes works when the lav itself is two or more feet from the subject. Beyond that, the sound will distort. Normal male speaking voices, with the lav within 25 cm of the mouth, need to be set at -20 db or even lower. Second, I have the AF level set at -12 db. To set the proper levels I often have the XL2 channel levels set to 11 o'clock on the little dial. My question has to do with the interplay between these three settings, the transmitter's sensitivity level, the reciever's af out level and the XL2's channel level. I assume you set the sensitivity first and work backward. Is that correct? Is there any advantage to setting the reciver's af out level even lower and cranking up the XL2 channel level higher? How about vice versa? Any help? Douglas

February 4th, 2005, 08:50 AM	#2
Ben Lynn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bloomington, IL Posts: 636	I'm going to take a shot at this and anyone please correct me if I give out bad info. First off, I agree that the Evo. systems are awesome, but the literature is terrible. I have a G1 system and had this exact same problem with trying to set the levels. It really got me frustrated for a month until I stumbled on a combination that works. You want to first set the sensitivity to the loudest voice that you will encounter. So set it for the male voice. You don't want that clipping on any level so you need to set it for the highest levels you'll encounter. Next, I set the camera audio levels to about 60%. This was a recommendation by others on this forum a long time ago and I've found that it works well and I have room to work with the levels on camera in a pinch. I then use either the receiver audio level control, the mixer, or the Beachtek controls to adjust the volume to the proper recording levels. In an ideal setting I have the wireless receiver level set at about 40% output and the mixer or beachtek is the main control for setting levels. If I need to fine tune from that point I may work with the on camera levels just a touch or the mixer. Once the beachtek is set I leave it alone. For the actual wireless settings I spent an afternoon with a co-worker and we adjusted and tweaked the setting to try and see what would work. Once we fine tuned the system it stayed solid and I haven't adjusted it since that day about a year and a half ago. I really wish that Senn. had put a short tutorial on how to adjust the settings to work properly because the default settings were not doing much of anything. Hope this helps a little and if others can advise better I'd sure be grateful. Ben Lynn

February 4th, 2005, 02:24 PM	#3
Greg Jacobson Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: New York Posts: 141	I recently bought the G2 system with lav and handheld transmitter. I bought a Sure SM58 for the mic. I shot some footage at a convention that lots of music and other noises so people were talking very loudly to each other. I set the pad to -20 the first day and that was good for most people but some people still talked so lound it would distort. The second day I set it to -30 and seemed to work pretty well but you could not hear people talk who were not directly in front of the mic. I would say in most normal situations where people are not screaming that -20 pad is ideal. What mics you guys using as handheld? What would be a better choice than a SM58?