Wireless Mic Mishap-Help at DVinfo.net

Rich Hopkins · July 20th, 2006, 08:28 PM

Ok- so after reading these message boards for awhile, I decided to do my first wedding for a friend. I have a GL2 and a GL1. From reading these boards I went out and purchased the Sennheiser ew 100 G2 wireless. I tested it out at home, read the manual-no problem sounded great. Before the ceremony I clipped the lav onto the groom, signal came thru loud and clear thru my headphones-and it all sounded great during the ceremony. I didnt hear anything from the onboard mic,just the wireless, ( this is the way it's supposed to work, correct?) Well...I am now logging the tape in FCP, and guess what- the only sound I recorded was from the GL2 onboard microphone! The wireless signal is not there-although I was hearing it, and monitoring it when I was filming! Can anybody tell me what I did wrong? Luckily the Rabbi was using a handheld mic, and I got everything-but it sure would have been nice to have it recorded by the lav. Sigh....welcome to the world of wedding videography I guess. Thanks

Rob Wilson · July 20th, 2006, 10:46 PM

Only way I can imagine you accomplished this is if you plugged your headphones into the wireless receiver, not the camera headphones jack and you didn't connect the receiver to the cam. If you plug a wireless receivers output into the "mic in" on the GL2, it will disable the onboard mic. It would be helpful to know how you had your system configured, ie. what was connected to what and where.

Chris Barcellos · July 20th, 2006, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Wilson

Only way I can imagine you accomplished this is if you plugged your headphones into the wireless receiver, not the camera headphones jack and you didn't connect the receiver to the cam. If you plug a wireless receivers output into the "mic in" on the GL2, it will disable the onboard mic. It would be helpful to know how you had your system configured, ie. what was connected to what and where.

My guess too. You must not have had the wireless receiver plugged into camera. But don't feel bad. Try taping a kids musical, forgetting your headphones, and plugging a mic into the camera, without it the mic being turned on. Makes you appreciate "talkies".

Graham Bernard · July 20th, 2006, 11:25 PM

My nightmares have been:

1/- While testing on a job I couldn't get Signal - Panic! - I was using the Tx as the Rx!

2/- Signal was dropping as per bad batteries. Replaced batteries. Same! Reason? No Aerial on Rx! I noticed signal would fade when back was turned to me.

3/- No Signal but can see lights on and working - Cans and Rx plugs reversed at camera sockets!

If I can get it wrong - I will!

Don Palomaki · July 21st, 2006, 04:09 AM

Was the wireless connected to the GL2 or GL1? Was the built-in mic sound on the tape from the camera that shold have had the wireless sound?

Rich Hopkins · July 21st, 2006, 03:21 PM

i'm sure I had everything connected right- I was listening to the groom's conversation while he was upstairs ready to come down, so I know the mic was transmitting to my camera ( I was using the GL2) all thruout the ceremony I was monitoring the sound thru my headphones, and it was only picking up his mic. I heard every whisper of the Bride and Groom and the audio sounded great, all the audio meters on my camera were moving..but now that Im at the editing point, the sound was recorded thru the onboard mic. Perhaps I didnt push the plug in tightly enough, so that the Gl2's onboard mic took over? Im sure he didnt mute his transmitter, if he did would I still hear it in my headphones? I actually heard the grooms conversation when he was upstairs waiting to come down ( I was hoping to use some of that interesting conversation in the outakes reel-he obviously didnt realize I was picking up his mic, lol)

Don Palomaki · July 21st, 2006, 04:11 PM

What you describe is not how the GL series was intended to function.

Can you reproduce the problem?

Were the headphones plugged into the camcorder or the wireless receiver?

Was the wireless receiver plugged into the mic jack at the front of the camcorder?

Rob Wilson · July 21st, 2006, 04:12 PM

I would suggest you set up the gear exactly as you did before and see if you can replicate the problem. Make sure you are monitoring audio from the camera headphone jack. Might be helpful to have a different audio source (set it by a radio/tv speaker) for the wireless so you can differentate between what the onboard is picking up vs. the wireless. If the wireless receivers output was not fully plugged into the cam, it would not cut out the cam mic BUT if you were monitoring the cam audio, you should have noticed that.

Rich Hopkins · July 21st, 2006, 07:27 PM

Ill try to replicate setup. I had the headphones in the GL2 headphone jack, and the wireless plug was in the mic "in" jack on GL2. I was monitoring audio during the whole ceremony, everything sounded great. As I said i was listening to everything Groom was saying, and Im sure I was hearing the Lavalier audio thru my headphones, not the onboard microphone. Ill try to check my cam setup, as I havenot touched the camera since the wedding, and Ill report back.Thanks for all the help.

Graham Bernard · July 21st, 2006, 11:05 PM

OK, joking aside, you should now check to see if there is a very different issue going on here. I would. Could be serious.

July 20th, 2006, 08:28 PM	#1
Rich Hopkins New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Long Island New York Posts: 14	Wireless Mic Mishap-Help Ok- so after reading these message boards for awhile, I decided to do my first wedding for a friend. I have a GL2 and a GL1. From reading these boards I went out and purchased the Sennheiser ew 100 G2 wireless. I tested it out at home, read the manual-no problem sounded great. Before the ceremony I clipped the lav onto the groom, signal came thru loud and clear thru my headphones-and it all sounded great during the ceremony. I didnt hear anything from the onboard mic,just the wireless, ( this is the way it's supposed to work, correct?) Well...I am now logging the tape in FCP, and guess what- the only sound I recorded was from the GL2 onboard microphone! The wireless signal is not there-although I was hearing it, and monitoring it when I was filming! Can anybody tell me what I did wrong? Luckily the Rabbi was using a handheld mic, and I got everything-but it sure would have been nice to have it recorded by the lav. Sigh....welcome to the world of wedding videography I guess. Thanks

July 21st, 2006, 04:09 AM	#5
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,487	Was the wireless connected to the GL2 or GL1? Was the built-in mic sound on the tape from the camera that shold have had the wireless sound? __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

July 21st, 2006, 03:21 PM	#6
Rich Hopkins New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Long Island New York Posts: 14	setup i'm sure I had everything connected right- I was listening to the groom's conversation while he was upstairs ready to come down, so I know the mic was transmitting to my camera ( I was using the GL2) all thruout the ceremony I was monitoring the sound thru my headphones, and it was only picking up his mic. I heard every whisper of the Bride and Groom and the audio sounded great, all the audio meters on my camera were moving..but now that Im at the editing point, the sound was recorded thru the onboard mic. Perhaps I didnt push the plug in tightly enough, so that the Gl2's onboard mic took over? Im sure he didnt mute his transmitter, if he did would I still hear it in my headphones? I actually heard the grooms conversation when he was upstairs waiting to come down ( I was hoping to use some of that interesting conversation in the outakes reel-he obviously didnt realize I was picking up his mic, lol)

July 21st, 2006, 04:11 PM	#7
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,487	What you describe is not how the GL series was intended to function. Can you reproduce the problem? Were the headphones plugged into the camcorder or the wireless receiver? Was the wireless receiver plugged into the mic jack at the front of the camcorder? __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

July 21st, 2006, 07:27 PM	#9
Rich Hopkins New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Long Island New York Posts: 14	ok Ill try to replicate setup. I had the headphones in the GL2 headphone jack, and the wireless plug was in the mic "in" jack on GL2. I was monitoring audio during the whole ceremony, everything sounded great. As I said i was listening to everything Groom was saying, and Im sure I was hearing the Lavalier audio thru my headphones, not the onboard microphone. Ill try to check my cam setup, as I havenot touched the camera since the wedding, and Ill report back.Thanks for all the help.

July 20th, 2006, 10:46 PM	#2
Rob Wilson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Flagstaff, AZ Posts: 473	Only way I can imagine you accomplished this is if you plugged your headphones into the wireless receiver, not the camera headphones jack and you didn't connect the receiver to the cam. If you plug a wireless receivers output into the "mic in" on the GL2, it will disable the onboard mic. It would be helpful to know how you had your system configured, ie. what was connected to what and where.

July 20th, 2006, 11:25 PM	#4
Graham Bernard Old Boot Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London UK Posts: 3,633	My nightmares have been: 1/- While testing on a job I couldn't get Signal - Panic! - I was using the Tx as the Rx! 2/- Signal was dropping as per bad batteries. Replaced batteries. Same! Reason? No Aerial on Rx! I noticed signal would fade when back was turned to me. 3/- No Signal but can see lights on and working - Cans and Rx plugs reversed at camera sockets! If I can get it wrong - I will!

July 21st, 2006, 04:12 PM	#8
Rob Wilson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Flagstaff, AZ Posts: 473	I would suggest you set up the gear exactly as you did before and see if you can replicate the problem. Make sure you are monitoring audio from the camera headphone jack. Might be helpful to have a different audio source (set it by a radio/tv speaker) for the wireless so you can differentate between what the onboard is picking up vs. the wireless. If the wireless receivers output was not fully plugged into the cam, it would not cut out the cam mic BUT if you were monitoring the cam audio, you should have noticed that.

July 21st, 2006, 11:05 PM	#10
Graham Bernard Old Boot Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London UK Posts: 3,633	OK, joking aside, you should now check to see if there is a very different issue going on here. I would. Could be serious.