Hi
I'm a neewbie with an XM2. Whilst very satisfied with the general performance of the camcorder, I wanted to improve on the audio quality obtained with the built in mic. I have recently bought a used Sennheiser 300D directional mic. The previous owner assures me that it worked fine with his XM1. However my reciordings are affected by considerable sound noise that I assume to be the motor. Has anyone else experienced this and if so, how can I overcome the problem?

You need to mount the microphone in a shock mount, eg Beyer EA86 to isolate it from the camera. This will reduce mechanical noise transfer to the microphone.

I use a 8cm length of black plastic electrical conduit which I have sanded internally to increase the bore so it is a force fit on the battery cap of the mic to mount it in my shock mount. The 300 is mono, so if you want sound on both channels you will need a mono to stereo adaptor. The alternative is to duplicate the L sound channel during editing

The standard 300 is also prone to electromagnetically induced noise with the XM1 and 2. Are you sure it is the D version? Sennheiser UK scratch a D on the body to indicate the modification. Alternatively if you remove the shoe mount, you can see some copper screening in the hole which is exposed - this is not present in the standard model.

Hi Alan
The mic is a D version. It is marked on the body. I will take up your suggestion and go for the shock mount.
Thanks
Chris