Sennheiser G2 100 with ME66

Bill Ball · December 16th, 2005, 12:05 PM

Certainly one can get better equipment than what I listed. The Rolls unit in particular was not designed for field use. It was just the cheapest way I could find for a headphone amp that would not screw up the signal.

The point of having an external attenuator is that the mic is overloading the inputs at the camera jack _before_ the camera gain controls can do anything about it. Setting the gain levels down only creates lower level, but still distorted, audio. The gain levels or anything else in the camera cannot fix the problem. I usually have the -15 pad outside the camera and have one level control around 50% and the other at 35%.

Tony Jones · December 16th, 2005, 01:19 PM

I think I understand - so with the MM-1, there would also be the facility to drop the level from the mic?

If I was to go for something like an AT897, would I still have the same issue? - In fact will I still have this issue with many mics, or is that something specific to the ME66?

I am grateful for everyones patience and help here - I appreciate that these things must be obvious to a lot of people.

Marco Leavitt · December 25th, 2005, 08:58 PM

The MM1 isn't designed to be used as a mixer. You can't mix on the fly or anything, but it does have adjustable gain settings that click into place. If your camera can take a line level signal it will probably have XLR inputs and you would just connect it to the MM1. A wireless rig will probably need some kind of adapter cable and possibly attenuation. I think the G2 can take a line level signal, but you'll need a special cable.

When connecting to a camera you set the incamera gain to about halfway and set your levels from there using the MM1. You might need an inline attenuator to get it just right because the limiter is more active at higher gain levels and you'll need to experiment to find the setting that works best. To connect to a camera with mic level inputs I would start by attenuating the signal 54 dBs and making adjustments from there. There is usually a line level switch on many XLR adapter boxes.

This is basically the same process you would go through with the AT897, ME66 or any other mic. I think the people who report overloading with the ME66 are trying to make all of their adjustments with the incamera gain, which as has been widely documented in here doesn't work that great with that mic. If you're using an XLR adapter with faders, which are basically just variable attenuators, the ME66 will work just fine with or without the MM1. If you aren't using an external preamp like the MM1, you would just choose the mic level setting on the XLR adapter obviously. The AT897 isn't as hot, but you'll still have to take care that you are getting good levels.

December 16th, 2005, 12:05 PM	#16
Bill Ball Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NEW JERSEY Posts: 216	Certainly one can get better equipment than what I listed. The Rolls unit in particular was not designed for field use. It was just the cheapest way I could find for a headphone amp that would not screw up the signal. The point of having an external attenuator is that the mic is overloading the inputs at the camera jack _before_ the camera gain controls can do anything about it. Setting the gain levels down only creates lower level, but still distorted, audio. The gain levels or anything else in the camera cannot fix the problem. I usually have the -15 pad outside the camera and have one level control around 50% and the other at 35%.

December 16th, 2005, 01:19 PM	#17
Tony Jones Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 28	I think I understand - so with the MM-1, there would also be the facility to drop the level from the mic? If I was to go for something like an AT897, would I still have the same issue? - In fact will I still have this issue with many mics, or is that something specific to the ME66? I am grateful for everyones patience and help here - I appreciate that these things must be obvious to a lot of people.

December 25th, 2005, 08:58 PM	#18
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	The MM1 isn't designed to be used as a mixer. You can't mix on the fly or anything, but it does have adjustable gain settings that click into place. If your camera can take a line level signal it will probably have XLR inputs and you would just connect it to the MM1. A wireless rig will probably need some kind of adapter cable and possibly attenuation. I think the G2 can take a line level signal, but you'll need a special cable. When connecting to a camera you set the incamera gain to about halfway and set your levels from there using the MM1. You might need an inline attenuator to get it just right because the limiter is more active at higher gain levels and you'll need to experiment to find the setting that works best. To connect to a camera with mic level inputs I would start by attenuating the signal 54 dBs and making adjustments from there. There is usually a line level switch on many XLR adapter boxes. This is basically the same process you would go through with the AT897, ME66 or any other mic. I think the people who report overloading with the ME66 are trying to make all of their adjustments with the incamera gain, which as has been widely documented in here doesn't work that great with that mic. If you're using an XLR adapter with faders, which are basically just variable attenuators, the ME66 will work just fine with or without the MM1. If you aren't using an external preamp like the MM1, you would just choose the mic level setting on the XLR adapter obviously. The AT897 isn't as hot, but you'll still have to take care that you are getting good levels.