adjustable in line pad solution needed.

[Nathan Taylor]

Hi guys,

I own an at4073a and a sony dsr250 camera.
I do alot of weddings and will eventually buy a sound devices mixpre when funds become available to solve problems with peaking audio at loud passages.

In the meantime i thought i would buy an inline pad.
Ive seen a few but i wanted one that was adjustable and could be set to "off" ie 0db if needed.
I can set it to 0db for the vows and set it to 10db / 20db or watever for when the dj or band starts up in the reception.

It also needs to run phantom power through it to my mic.

Anyone know of one like this?

All the ones ive seen have an attenuator functioning the whole time.....

Thanks guys :)

[David Ennis]

I don't know of any switchable inline attenuators with a 0dB setting, but one of the in line attenuators you've probably already looked at and passed by is the AT8202. You may want to reconsder that one.

It has -10, -20 and -30 dB settings. The point is that the -10 dB can be easily compensated for on a cam with manual audio controls such as yours. The net result would be much like a 0, -10 and -20 dB functionality. Meanwhile, the "hidden" -10 dB will help protect the cam's audio input from overload by that very hot AT4073. Remember, signal level at the input is not what's monitored by the cam's meters.

[Ty Ford]

Or better yet, get a mixer with a good limiter, like the Sound Devices MixPre.

If you turn down your reocrd level or pad down the mic, the rest of your audio will be recorded down in the noise floor of the camera.

This must be my day to talk about the importance of a good mixer with a good limiter. :)

A good mixer provides;

1. Better preamps than in your camera.
2. Transformer inputs that scrape rf off.
3. Input limiters that keep occasional peaks from clipping the input.
4. EQ that lets you roll off excess lows before they get to your camera.
5. Gain controls you can adjust easily during a take while not touching the camera.
6. Output transformers to continue the integrity of your feed to camera.
7. Output limiters to prevent the sound from clipping the camera input.

All of these combine to allow you to increase the level at which you record
without fear of clipping. THAT brings your audio level further up from the residual noise floor of your camcorder. It all adds up.


Regards,

Ty Ford

[Nathan Taylor]

Thanks Ty,

I must say ive learnt so much from this forum....

I am intending to purchase a sound devices mixpre (see my other post) but money is tight at the moment and im shooting 2 or 3 weddings a week at the moment so i need a quick short term solution.

So do i understand correctly from your answer that the sound quality on my footage will improve because the preamps in the mix pre are better than those on the dsr250 camera?
If so, thats great :)

If you know of any going second hand let me know :)

Im guessing bhphotovideo is the best place to buy one new?

Then i just gotta figure how to attatch it to my camera......

Many thanks again, Nathan

[Nathan Taylor]

Another question - do you know what settings i should have in the menu for the dsr250 under "A REV LVL"?
I can select -12db and -18db audio reference level

Let me know what you think.........

Nathan

[Ty Ford]

O dB reference for many networks os -20 dB with peaks no higher than either -12 or -14, I forget at the moment.

Having said that, I find on a PD150, that puts some of the sound a bit far down on the noise floor for me. Because I use a mixer with a good limiter, I can safely run much higher.

I set tone levels at maybe -15 dB or even higher depending on what I'm recording. I engage my input and output limiter and then get really close to the mic and talk very loud.

I look at the camera audio input to make sure I'm stlll around -3dB below clipping. If I'm yelling into the mic, and the limiters are nicely catching the audio, and the camera meters are still at -10 dB, I might raise the camera input trims to -3 dB or -5dB, just to get a hotter level.

Lot's of different ways to do it. This is one of my ways.

Regards,

Ty