Azden SGM-1X Shotgun on GL-2 - INFO

[Kevin King]

A contribution if you will – clearing up some questions about using the Azden SGM-1X shotgun microphone on the GL-2.

I have learned a great many things over the past six months here on the forum. I think I’ve finally got a half way useful bit of info that I’d like to share – always happy to contribute to a good thing.

I purchased my GL-2 about 5 months ago, and quickly agreed with the reviews that the onboard microphone, quit frankly, isn’t usable. Sounds like the sound is recorded inside a beer can, and that’s unfortunate given the extreme high quality of the images recorded with this camera.

I set off to figure out what shotgun mic to purchase. It was way more complicated that it needed to be. I saw my same questions asked various times on the forum, but never got a clear answer. I wanted to address and answer these questions directly as I now have a couple months of hands-on experience.

Q: HOW DOES IT SOUND?

A: I’m no sound expert, but I do know pleasing sound when I hear it. It is leaps and bounds above the onboard mic of the GL-2 - Both in directionality (rejection off axis sounds), and in overall sound quality. The sound is quite deep and warm sounding. I’ve not heard the ME66 or other higher end mics, but this mic is very pleasing to my taste. For the price, it’s well worth the upgrade. I can’t shoot without now.

Q: WILL THE MIC, MOUNTED ON THE HOT SHOE WITH THE SUPPLIED SOUND MOUNT, CLEAR THE FRAME WHEN ZOOMED TO THE MOST WIDE ANGLE SETTING?

A: It most certainly will. The mic can be slid forward and backward somewhat inside its sound mount. When at the most comfortable and obviously balanced position, I went full wide angle to see if the mic would hang into the frame. Even with the supplied foam windscreen, I had to extend a pencil about 1 inch beyond the furthest edge of the mic before it entered the top of the frame. Rest easy. The supplied mount works fine with this mic.

Q: HOW DO I HOOK IT UP TO THE GL-2 WITHOUT A MIXER OR ADDITIONAL XLR ADAPTOR?

A: Thanks to a post here on the forum, I found the perfect accessory to plug in the mic. The Shure A96F transformer – a $35 item, XLR on one end and stereo mini on the other, plugs right into the mic port on the GL-2. If you stick with a short length, I have been told that a straight XLR to mini adaptor will still work fine with no degradation of sound quality. Though many could probably show stats otherwise, it is my understanding that having a true balanced input is only require for longer cable lengths, and the short 1 ft. adaptor you will use for this purpose won’t have much effect if unbalanced.

Q: WHERE DO I GET THIS STUFF?

A: Check out DVI sponsor B&H. Don’t business w/ them many times and have always been happy. Here are the links:

Azden SGM-1X:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=238826&is=REG

Adaptor:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=154878&is=REG

Hope someone finds this info useful. Thanks for everyone for helping me get situated w/ my own questions over the past few months!

-Kevin

[Cliff Elliott]

Thank you Kevin, like you I have been pulling my hair out lately trying to find an inexpesive reasonable quality shotgun mic that could be connected to the XM2 in my case, without having to buy the MA-300 XLR adaptor just yet.

I will now have a good look at this mic and plug and let you know what I think.

Regards, Cliff Elliott

[Nick Bowles]

Kevin, thanks for the post, I have been looking into getting a mic for some time and you have hit the nail on the head for me, and helped me make up my mind.

[Ming Dong]

Kevin,

Why did you decide on the Shure instead of the cheaper Hosa adaptor? Is an impedance transformer required when hooking the SGM-1X to the GL2?

BTW - Videomaker Magazine also liked SGM-1x. (Note: If you need a password to view the article you can find one in the current issue of Videomaker Magazine. My March '04 issue lists SOUNDTRACK as the password.)

[Kyle Kauss]

if I'm making semi professional shorts would this be a good shotgun mic??

[Bill Ball]

If someone gets the Hosa adaptor I'd like to hear how it works out. With non-XLR setups using inexpensive mics, the only way I have been able to get hot (strong) audio levels into the GL2 (and my older Optura Pi) is to match the output impedance of the mic to the input impedance of the cameras (600 ohms). I noticed that the shure steps up the output imedance from the mic to 2,500 ohms. This is the same as a sony mic I have that delivers audio levels lower than the onboard mic. On the other hand the SGM-1X outputs 600 ohms so if the Hosa just passes that on, would one get a hotter audio to the camera than with the Shure?

I guess at $10 its cheap enough to find out, so at some point I'll borrow a good mic and try it if someone else doesnt post their results.

[Rick Gann]

I whole heartedly agree, I just got the sgm-1x for my gl1, along with the studio 1 xlr adapter and could not be more pleased.

Rick

[Jeff Klein]

Although the Canon GL series is designed for 600 ohm mics (considered low Z or low impedence), their input impedence is far higher, on the order of 3 - 5 times higher for most devices. The manuals don't list that, but it's probably around 2 - 3 Kohms; they do, however, reference their specs to using a 600 ohm mic.

If you have a 1000 ohm Shure mic, it's a high impedence mic so it would require a far higher input impedence than the GL series have. This is where an impedence matching transformer is used, which would convert the high impedence mic signal to a low impendence signal suitable for the camcorder. Otherwise you would notice a lower mic level and end up getting more hiss from having to push the recording levels up.

Mics with XLR connectors are balanced, whereas the camcorder inputs are usually unbalanced (a giveaway is to check for an XLR input, like the XL's have). It is true that if you are using a cable less than about 20 feet long and aren't in an interference prone area (computer monitors, flourescent lights, etc) than you can use any XLR type balanced low impedence mic for an unbalanced camcorder input by building (or buying) and XLR to 1/8" (usually stereo) adapter; no transformer is needed. Longer runs, you'd want the transformer.

Condenser vs dynamic is another consideration; if your mic requires a battery or a mixer's phantom power, it's a condenser and it will have a hotter output than an unpowered (dynamic) mic. Depending on your uses, dynamic mics work fine like in handheld interview type usage. If your shotgun micing or wired lapel micing, you'll probably be better off with the condenser.

I recently switched from using an MXL603s condenser mic with AC powered phantom power supply to the Azden SGM-1X and it's a lot easier to use the battery than find an AC plug somewhere <G>. I think the sound quality is quite good for the money, better than the onboard, and tighter than my old MXL (it was sub-cardioid, 170 deg pickup range vice the Azdens 120 degree pattern).

Hope this helps,
Jeff

[Nick Jushchyshyn]

Just adding my own 2 cents...
I also use a SMG-1X on my GL2 and it's been working great.
Even mounted directly to the accessory shoe on the camera, it never gets into frame.

For the connection, I just used a XLR cable I had left over from my band days, and used the second wiring diagram on this page to make my own adaptor with a $1 mini plug from RadioShack.

Whole assembly works great.

Have fun.

[Ming Dong]

Nick,

Thanks for the link, but the schematic does not specify the type or value of the capacitor? What did you use?

Ming

[Bill Ball]

Jeff thanks for the details re mic impedance. I never could figure out why the books warned against matching impedance yet 600 ohm mics seemed to work best into the 600 ohm input on Canons.

[Nick Jushchyshyn]

Actually, I didn't use a capacitor, knowing that the GL2 doesn't supply phantom power through the mic jack.

:)


Other camcorders might, so I can't use the wire without checking, but I've got no plans on getting another mini-jack camera. If I get something else in the future, it'll have built in XLR connectors.

Have fun.

[Ronnie Grahn]

The SGM-1X seems to be a perfect match for me too.
But, I was checking it out with the Shure SHA96F on the B&H site to see what it would cost to have it sent to Sweden (haven't found it here yet, but I will do some more checking later) and I got a International Manufacturers' Restrictions on it.
It seems B&H can't ship the Shure to an international destination.

Any ideas why? I'm new when it comes to audio so it may be because of something simple as incompability of some kind?

[Gabriel_Knight]

Living in the Netherlands makes it impossible to buy this shure adaptor. Does anybody have any idears about using just the this simple Hosa cable

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home;jsessionid=AYpxTfPDMI!-547533734?O=cart&A=details&Q=&sku=158476&is=REG

Also, who is able to post some sound samples of this Azden SGM 1X (or 2X) microphone, so we can hear this microphone.
In The Netherlands I have not found any store that sells this Azden microphone (so I have nu clue how it sounds)

Thanks

Gabriel

[Stacy Paul]

Will this adapter work with a Canon GL1? Also, I have an old Sony TRV340 will this adapter connect to it. I would be using it as a boom mic on a pole.

Please advise