Pardon my ignorance (again), but audio is new territory for me. Is there anything I should know to maximize the use of a Sennheiser ME66 (XLR) connection with a DVX100? Is it just a simple cable connection or would other adapters/accessories be necessary?

As long as you've got the K6 module, it's just a standard XLR connection to the camera, no need for adapters.

Thanks! Sometimes I complicate things too much. :)

Barry... unfortunately that information is incorrect. You will need my trv900 and Beachtek adapter to make your me66 work properly... fortunately we can just do a simple swap and you'll be in business.

Ok, so I really want a dvx100... the truth is that the beauty of that cam IS the direct in xlrs with level adjust AND level display on the LCD... damn I'm jealous.

heheh...I'm in definite awe of the DVX100; I've steadily worked up the video camera chain since 1983 and this one really tops it, needless to say.

1983, huh?

Just a year before I started shooting video, in '84, with single-tube Panasonic cameras tethered to portable VHS decks slung on my shoulder. Egad, it was like the Stone Age compared to even today's low-end stuff. The camera's imager ghosted so badly if you pointed at anything for longer than ten seconds, the image would burn in for at least the next five-ten seconds. Not to mention the pscyhedelic streaming of anything remotely bright in frame.

Here it is, almost 20 years later, and I'm still using Panasonic. Except now, $3500 gets you variable frame rates, clean, stable images, and great color, instead of noisy, ghosts, and smearing galore.

It may not be the best trade-off, but at least as we get older, the technology gets better. Gotta love it. : )

In 1983 I had a Quasar Newvicon(?!) setup, with not only a VHS deck weighing me down but also a battery belt. Ironically the inexpensive Bogen tripod I got back then proved to be a durable thing--I only just replaced it earlier this year with a Miller. The tricky era was the mid-80s, when some one-shot camcorder formats were being introduced (one by Kodak used some sort of cradle); I luckily opted for 8mm video, which was my main format until digital tape in 2002. A big step forward was in 1989 or so when I got my first flying eraser head VCR for clean edits. Now of course I'm immersed in computer editing software. :)

Ah, the memories...

My first foray into actual editing of all the horrible VHS footage I'd shot was the tried-and-true "hooking up two VCR'S with RCA cables and hoping for the best while pushing play on one machine and unpausing the record mode on the other" method, complete with the rainbow moire patterns at every glitchy edit point.

I'll never forget how exciting it was to graduate to a semi-pro JVC cuts-only VHS edit system, complete with a controller and machines accurate to +/- 1 to 5 frame accuracy, depending on how many times you previewed the edit before committing it to tape. Heck, I was just happy to be able to have edits occur almost exactly where I wanted them to, and not glitch up thanks to the fancy flying erase heads and frame servos on the JVC editor deck.

Don't even get me started on the low-end Chyron we used at my high school video class, which, as cool as it seemed back then, could do nothing more complex than produce titles and drop shadows over colored backgrounds; we couldn't even insert titles over video footage 'cause we had no sync generators/genlock capacity for any of the gear.

And now, I'm entirely overwhelmed by the seemingly endless capability of Final Cut Pro to manipulate images in every way possible... isn't it great to finally have your own creativity be the limit, rather than the equipment? (Sure, a good imagination and cheap equipment might be a better combo than no imagination and expensive gear, but who wouldn't rather have the best gear they can afford? I know I would.)

Given the crudeness of the gear I learned on, I'm now even amazed by simple things like being able to adjust an image's color, hue, and brightness, with a few clicks, which was a pipedream back in the day, using two VCR's.

Good times, nonetheless...

Sorry for the long reminiscence. Fun, though, to think about how far things have come. I occasionally even dig out 80's issues of Videography just to amuse myself with the ads touting the latest and greatest Plumbicon and Newvicom 3-tube cameras, one-inch "portable" reel-to-reel decks, and 3/4 decks, just as I'm sure I will, in a few years, look back in fondness at today's cutting-edge gear, while I'm busy filming stuff with the three-d cameras implanted behind my eyes and recording directly into my brain (how's that for a dumb prediction?).

One final anecdote... Recently, I took some old 3/4 tapes to a dubbing place to copy to digibeta and they stared at them like some unearthed relics from the dawn of man.

I find all this video lore fascinating stuff myself.

I must give a nod to something called a Hybrid-8 which I bought in 1984--my first "switcher," which enhanced VCR-to-VCR edits with simple video/audio fades and a few zig-zag patterns. Very basic, but it was incredibly sophisticated by my standards, since with some clever planning I could put together discreetly stylish montages instead of just ragtag assembly of images. When the Hybrid -8 finally caved in after five years (I think I wore it out), I got an unassuming Archer-brand switcher from Radio Shack, which really did a whizzbang job for several years doing similiar fades. It was succeded by a Sima gizmo that has now given way to my computer and a Panasonic AG-DV2000 digital deck!

By the way, I still have most of this old equipment as a quasi-museum. Yes, I'm sentimental. :)

Sadly,

most of the old equipment I used belonged to my high school, so no equipment archives for me, though I kept some of the A/V catalogs of the time, complete with listings for fancy one-tube prosumer cameras, 086 IBM computers, dot matrix printers, and the like.

Still have my old Mac Classic II, though, which I just can't bear to part with, along with an 8-year old Powerbook. Then there's the sleek 8-track player my parents still own. And a working Beta VCR. I keep telling myself that someday, museums will pay top dollar for all this. But they won't. I just use that as an excuse whenever my girlfriend bugs me to get rid of all "this old junk." Never! : )

As for the Hybrid 8, I vaguely remember seeing ads for either it, or some similar low-end effects generator and enviously thinking, "boy, it sure would be cool to have one of those."

Ironically, now that I've got Final Cut Pro, I find myself mostly using straight cuts and an occasional dissolve or fade. But it's nice to know I have umpteen wipe patterns available if I need 'em. In fact, I'll often do test cuts of projects and just for fun, use a bunch of split-screen and other effects. Even if I use them rarely, it's fun to play.

Yes, I still find that even with a zillion options now I often pare any visual editing effects down to simple fades or cuts--unless I have a very good reason I don't go in for too much flash, but when I do--WHAM!!!! :)

Just to hijack this thread sorry.

What are the exact settings for a me66/k6 on a dvx100. I notice all these options such as, -50 and -60 and att and so on.

What should these be setup. I have a bog stock k6/me66.

Thanks
Zac

I'd like to know myself....anyone?

I've been using my ME66 with the DVX's factory audio setting, which I believe is -50db (but check the manual to be sure), and have had no problems.

Still, I'd suggest making test recordings at both settings, and determine which you like best/which sounds best.

I am not shure what the setting should be on this camera. On the Sony PD-150, to set it at the "ATT" (attinuation) mode is a most otherwise the audio level is too hot.

Besides looking at the levels, it is really importent to monitor it through a good pair of headphones. Sony MDR-7506 would be my pick.