hissing audio from mics with xlr input to FX1

[Allan McIntyre]

Good day....
I am using the FX1 with the beachtec & I hook up the wireless Senn G2 or use the Senn ME66. I set the cam audio to Mic External but get a small hissing sound coming in. I use headphones & can really hear it with either mic or both.
What am i doing wrong? I have searched but couldnt get any hits.

thanks...
Al

[Bob Hart]

I think you may find the hissing occurs in the channel to headphones amp stage and that recording to tape is fine. Check before taking my word for it though.

[Allan McIntyre]

thanks for the info.
I made a small clip but it sounds like a small echo or empty room. I still get a hiss or empty air sound. I have the cam on mic-in, auto levels off, dialed down to 3.5 or 4 to get the hiss out but input drops. Although i am testing in a livingroom, it might be too quiet.
I have tried different phones, and connected a mini plug mic directly into the mic input & same thing (bypassing the beachtec).
Hate to be a pest & being a newbie, any thoughts or guidence.

Al

[Bob Hart]

Try capturing a test clip from your recording, then listen to that through phones from the computer itself or export the clip to playback on another source like a DVD player?

Try the headphones on that source if they can be fitted. The new source may add other sounds of its own but the hissing may go away. If it has, then you may assume the hissing is not going down onto the tape.

Otherwise, it may be time to have a talk to the suppliers of your camera and your Beachtek for some product support.

If your camera or Beachtek are rogues, both vendors should have a self- interest in putting it right.

If they are recalcitrant, you might have some leverage in suggesting being able to publish a solution to the problems you have already enquired publicly about. Commercial self-interest should look after it from that point on.

Whichever way it goes, there are other visitors here who will have an interest in learning the outcome so they can take correcting or avoiding action for themselves if need be.

[Bob Grant]

Headphones tend to make noise sound way worse than it is. I've spent hours probably needlessly cleaning up audio because I was monitoring through cans. Not to say it wouldn't be nice if the hiss wasn't there but if it's more than 40dB below program I wouldn't fret over it too much. Not many cameras have particularly great preamps which is why there's quite a market for external preamps / mixers and field recorders.
One way to help is to use mics with a higher output and / or get the mics closer to the sound source. Unfortunately due to sloppy design on some cameras the noise level can be pretty constant regardless of gain or get worse when you turn AGC off.

[Carlos E. Martinez]

A noise source is not easy to identify, but you must.

To start with I don't know if the FX1 has a "wind cut" option, so switch it off if it does. Disengage any auto settings your setup may have or do check they are "off".

Now hook up your mics directly to the FX1, setting different manual levels. Peaks should be in the last two "white" dots.

Then just record that.

After that connect the Beachtek, using the same settings, adjusting the preamp pots to get the same level you had before.

Then record that.

Now connect your camera to an audio system, preferably a home type, with large speakers. And listen to the audio at normal levels.

If at normal listening levels you still get noticeable hiss, then you should talk to Sony to send the unit back.

Hiss is a problem when you can't "forget" about it. That is your brain will usually disregard it and pay attention to the higher level stuff. But hiss is always there, very low.

The next step should be measuring the hiss on a computer, but that may be too difficult to you. Perhaps your expectations for the FX1 audio noise were that it would not exist, but it does.


Carlos