XL2 Mic

[Michael Lopresti]

thats cool i was just wondering

thank again kevin

cheers

[Michael Lopresti]

hey kevin sorry to bother you again.

but i just got my Azden x2 Mic in and i was wondering the seting are on the camera to use it? ive never used a xlr mic befor.

so i dont wanna blow anything up lol

if you could help on the set up that would be awesome

thanks again

Mike

[Kevin Kocak]

Hey mike. I see you have been doin some posting over on the Apple site. I go by analias over there so my boss can't see me posting all the time. Did you get that real time issue cleared up? You've got quit e the set-up. So I don't have my camera right in front of me but I remember it was kind of confusing. If you have the manual handy it will probably help more than I can right now. I am pretty sure you won't blow anything up, however I have seen a few scary posts in here lately. I just can't remember every switch in the process right now. I knkow it is a bit trickier if you want to get both the on cam mic and your boom working at the same time. Also FYI, I always shoot with the mic switch in the second on switch position. It filters out noisy background frequencies like AC hum and so forth. If the manual isn't helpful post back and I'll go grab my camera.

[Michael Lopresti]

Kevin

hehe no that isnt me on the apple site. you must have me mixed up with someone else. hehe

well i have been looking at the manual

like it says i dont have phantom power mic so i should have the +48V set to off( and im guessing if the mic uses a batt thats not phantom) and should i plug in to 1/3 or 2/4 chan?


thanks

mike

[Brian Austin Whitney]

Hi Gang,

Couldn't you just plug in a regular microphone and use a long XLR mic cable and plug it directly into the camera? Mic Cables and Cheap Mics can be bought at any guitar center or music store for 20-30 bucks. Or is that still too much money for this user?

Brian

[Greg Boston]

Michael,

In order to use the Azden mic you'll have to do one of two things.

Switch Audio 1 to rear, then set the Rec Channel Select which will make the XLR jacks record on channel 1 and 2 separately, or 1 XLR will record to both channels (left and right mono). Note that setting Audio 1 to rear will disable the on-camera mic.

The other option is to use the Audio 1 set to Front Mic and use Audio 2 set to Rear which will make one XLR channel 3 and the other one channel 4. The downside to this is that the mini-dv format only has capacity for 4 channel audio by reducing the sampling frequency to 32khz and the resolution to 12 bits. This is fine for dialog but not really acceptable for music which needs the full audio spectrum for accurate reproduction.

There is actually a 3rd option used by some folks which is to record the extra audio onto a second camera. This will allow you to get everything recorded using16bit 44.1khz audio. Then, you simply capture the extra camera audio track(s) into your NLE and do the mix on your timeline. This is where a slate or clapboard comes in handy as it will allow you to sync the audio from the two cameras by looking at the waveform of the clap sound.

Good luck,

=gb=

[Michael Lopresti]

hey thanks alot Greg for the help much appreciated

Mike

[Lauri Kettunen]

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : Anyone? -->>>

Mike, Rob,

I discussed years ago about this issue with the local Canon maintenance, and the proper technical answer is, no, you can't put a long cable between the Xl1 (and nowXL2) mic and the camcorder.

The reason is that, the mic is a compromise between price and quality. Basically, if you do not have that good microphone, you can somewhat compensate that by having a (very) short cable, for the input signal (more precisely, the input) impedance depends on both the mic and the cable. And this is what Canon has done: They've selected less expensive mic, for they were also able to equip it with such a short cable. My guess is that this is also the reason for the bit unstandard connector. Extending the cable is deliberately made uneasy.

Now, if you insist for a long cable, what will happen is that the higher frequencies will be damped (and signal to noise ratio will be worse). How much, depends on the length of the cable. The connector itself may also be a potential source of degraded signal.

(All this is not that difficult so called circuit and transmission line theory in electrical engineering, but if one is without a background, then it's not that easy to explain. Perhaps Don Palomaki has an idea how to explain the point in commonly understandable words.)

[Michael Lopresti]

thanks lauri


cheers
mike

[Eugene Weaver]

this is funny...I was actually looking at the Azden SMG - X and this one as well as a NRG-SA 568.

Any comments on the other ones? I know the NGR is $114 for a small package kit but I wonder if I'll just get what I pay for and end up with junk.

help. I really want to get a good shotgun mic that won't break my budget.

[Michael Lopresti]

Eugene

im sorry i cant really help

when i got my Azden SGM 2X i went on the word of a few ppl and and user comments on the net.

im sorry i havent done any tests with it yet cuz im busy packing and getting ready for my move.

however im shooting a short this weekend and i can let ytou know on sunday how i think it sounds in comparison to the stock XL2 mic LOL.

and if i have some time ill try and post a clip for yuou to listen to

cheers

Mike

[Eugene Weaver]

thanks a lot! I would appreciate that.

[Michael Lopresti]

Np.

i'm glad to help


cheers
Mike

[Lauri Kettunen]

<<<-- Azden SGM 2X ->>>

I have a pair of Azden SGM 2x shotgun mics. It's otherwise ok, but it's not that sensitive as the Sennheiser. Of course, the Sennheiser is far more expensive.

I use the Azden mics together with Sound devices Mixpre preamp to record birds and other wildlife sources. It works well, the sound is very good, backgound noise is very low, and rather weak sounds get captured. Sound Devices Mixpre compensates the advantage of Sennheiser shotgun mic, and the result with Azden SGM 2X is just ok (although not the ultimate top quality).

I'm pretty sure, telling which tape is recorded with Azden and which one with Sennheiser mics would be very very difficult.

[Michael Lopresti]

ya i just filmed a new short with the azden 2x and well sounded byfar better the stock mic(duh) i should be posting a lil clip for Eugene to check out hopefully sometime soon.

and i would love a Sennheiser but the money thing .. so i'll settle with ok :)


cheers
Mike