XL1-S Mic

I am sure this has been attacked already, but here goes:

Is the Mic on the XL1-S good enough? Or should I go out and get a better Mic? I mean, it seems pretty good. But what if I want to shot in a large stadium, with the 16 or 12bit do? I plan on getting a wireless mic, but if I can't, will it come out okay. Also, how do you change the Mic levels, the three given?

Thanks

Air Head Director Nick

[B. Moore]

Hi,
I have found that the stereo mic that comes with the XL-1 is very sensitive. If you are in a room with a tile floor it will pick up the foot steps, A/C, Ceiling Fan, basically any ambient sound. ( you may not hear them till you play it back)
If you're in a stadium or where ther are extremely loud noises it's great. I shot a jazz fest (Iwas about 50 ft away and the sound was great).

That's my experience, keep testing, you'll find what's right for the situation.

Bruce

Great reply. Any suggestions on how to eliminate said problems?

[Chris Hurd]

Re: how to change mic/audio levels with XL1 or XL1S -- go to the XL1 Watchdog at www.dvinfo.net/xl1.htm > Articles Menu > Microphones & Audio > Step-by-Step Guide to XL1 Audio, Parts One through Four. Hope this helps,

[Dylan Couper]

I'm not sure what you want to shoot in a large stadium?
Concert?
Sports event?
Where will you be in relation to the main sound you want to record? ie. in the crowd? Sidelines? Foot of the stage?
How large is large?

Basically, if there are a lot of people there, you are going to need to get really close to what you want to hear, if you want to be able to hear it over everything else.
In terms of sound quality, it's very good. Just very sensitive, as Bruce said.

It will be at a baseball game. I was worried about the overhead speakers above the stadium that plays music, as well as the game announcer. But I will focus on the actor, using a wireless mic.

Thanks for the help.

[B. Moore]

MM,
may I suggest that the lav mic on the actor may pick up everything, with the actor naturally being lounder than the ambient sound, adds kind of a realistic touch. 16 bit will always be clearer but of course since using the lav only, will be mono. My thought is that because the music and announcers are so loud but not direct, may still be heard but not as loudly as the actor.
The alternative is an audioperson with a mixer and crew.

Try going to an open field with your car, a few friends, a stand-in actor and test it.

Have the stand-in with the lav on, 50 ft. from car, turn up car stereo, have others between car an actor urging on their team(at different levels of loudness) See how it works.
(you could also try this with a shotgun mic attached to the transmitter on a wireless system, pointing at the actor, hand held and see how much ambient sound it picks up. I use this a lot myself.)

These are thoughts just out of my head, if you can experiment, I suggest it highly.
Chris's article on Watchdog is excellant and will give you some knowledge in plain English.

Bruce

[Derrick Begin]

Yes, its very sensitive...

HERE is what I just did...

Buying some gender benders and connectors from Radio Shack, I fashioned a boom pole with our XL1S mike on the end... I've tested it and it sounds good. The smaller 3/32 pin is for power and the 1/8 is for stereo-audio for the mike.

To REDUCE its sensitivity, I opened the audio panel on the side of the camera and clicked into ATT mode on Audio 1. Its sounds alright to me...

I am very happy with this at the moment... As it is buying me some time for when I to purchase the Sennheiser mike that I want.

I'll be testing it in various situations this weekend.

Hope this gave you some improvisational ideas.

If anybody knows of this hurting the camera, please let me know. Chris?

I am operating on a very little budget.

Cheers!

Derrick

So, you just made some what of an extension for the pins?

[Derrick Begin]

Yes, exactly...

I plugged into the same input slots that the mike resides in on the camera.

Here are the parts I used:

2 - - 16 foot cables stereo cables, male 1/8 connector on one end and female 1/8 on the other.

1 - - 3/32 female mono connector to 1/8 male connector (FROM MIKE INTO 1 CABLE)

1 - - 1/8 female to 3/32 male connector (INPUT INTO CAMERA, FROM CABLE 1)

The other cable is a straight shot from the mike to the camera with no connector/ or gender changing.

I used a paint pole that extends for 8 feet to 14 feet. I intend on buying a holder for the end, at the moment I just taped it with gaffers tape.

I tested it out last night, my settings were:

Microphone - - MANUAL REC (switch)
- - MICROPHONE (switch)

I used the level adjustment to get the results I wanted. There is some noticible stretching of the voice as you move the mike away from the audio source, I kept it within 3-4 feet for acceptable results.

I held the mike to below the camera's visual range and that worked to. (No need to connect that monster paint pole) Very subtle if your sitting in bleachers... The background noise, however, may taint the recording a bit.

Cheers!

Derrick

Sounds like a plan, I'll try it out...thanks!

[Derrick Begin]

The smaller connectors work best, there are others, that Radio Shack has, that are too large (fat) for connecting without some stress put on the inputs. (Because of the housing of the connectors/adapters).

A down and functional way for those who aren't making a million bucks yet.

[Don Palomaki]

To help reduce mecanical stress from an adapter string, start with a 90 degree (right angle) adapter, available from Radio Shack and other fine outlets.

On recording in a stadium, or other similar gathering. Even with directional mics, you will hear anything in front of the mic, according to its relative loudness at the mic location. That means the fan sitting one row in front cheering thorugh his beer will probably be a lot louder on tape than the QB calling signals mid field.

If this is not what you want, a solution is to use a directional mic and get the stray sound sources (e.g.,the crowd) behind the mic. This often means a cardiod mic for best rear rejection. (Note that hyper cardoids have better side rejection but worse read rejection.) Check the pickup patterns on the mics you are considering to find the best fit for your application.

There are directional lav mics, but even omnidirection lavs can do OK mainly because the talent's mouth is usually a few inches from the mic while the crowd is much further. Just do not use AGC to avoid crowd noise level pumping.

[Derrick Begin]

Here you go, if you want an idea:

I found a light weight aluminum cheap-o mop handle that is about 5 feet tall. I hack sawed the end with the mop off. I used a small tin can, cut in half, (it was a BOOST energy drink tin can) and cut grooves in it to support rubber bands to hold the mike. I taped this to the mop handle using electrical tape and wrapped the stereo wires from Radio Shack the length. I counter weighted the end with a small steel rod, about 4".

It does the job very well and in tight quarters.

Cheers!

Derrick

[Dan Uneken]

Hi,

The problem with extending the cable on the standard XL-1 mike seems to me that it is a non-balanced cable and therefore susceptible to interference. If this is not a problem, why use XLR plugs anyway? Anyone with experience with this?