Sony PD150 Audio

Mike Rehmus · January 24th, 2005, 11:15 AM

How many head hours on the camera?

John McManimie · January 24th, 2005, 11:39 AM

I may be way off base here, and I've never used the PD150, but is there a chance that this is happening near the ends of the tapes? Have you considered using DVCAM for the PD150?

Also, I have seen mention of some strange PD150 audio problems here: http://www.alanbarker.com/ (see the section PD150/170 SOUND - Audio Quirk).

Adam Sturman · February 16th, 2005, 02:17 PM

Hi,

I have had similar problems on a vx2100. The only thing I could reduce the problem to is extreme environmental changes.

Do you take the camera and tapes into extreme temperature/humidity changes?

-Adam

<<<-- Originally posted by Arne Johnson : We're having little micro drop outs in audio on our PD150. It's only occasional, not on every tape, and sometimes it seems if we change tapes it won't come back. This happens in all recording situations and with different mics.

Any idea what's going on?

Thanks,

Arne -->>>

Pat Sherman · February 28th, 2005, 09:14 AM

Greetings,

I have a couple PD-150's and we shoot alot of corporate videos with lapel mics.. Now our PD-150's have the problem when using manual audio gain it produces the hiss/noise. Using AGC it's not there and seems to provide an overall better quality.

The problem is I can't control the mic level with AGC when directly connected to the XLR on the PD-150.. So I have this idea..

I have a Mackie DFX-12 mixer with 6 XLR mic inputs and XLR out R + L. I'm thinking I plug the lapel in MIC 1 on the Mixer and plug the PD-150 into the output of the mixer. Then I could control the signal level from the mic on the mixer as it's outputted to the PD-150. Then infact I could have up to four people mic'd through the mixer and all go to the camera in the case if I have 4 people on screen in a discussion or what have you..

Any ideas or concerns that I am totally missing, or will this not work at all?

Mike Rehmus · February 28th, 2005, 12:02 PM

Welcome to the forums, Pat.

You don't mention if the onset of hiss is a function of the camera or the introduction of the lavalieres. Since you say this happens with multiple 150's, I'd guess this has something to do with the lavs. Or somehow you've had simultaneous failures of some sort in your cameras.

The use of an outboard mixer is always better than the onboard if for no other reason than the level control is so much more convenient and the meters are handy if not absolutely accurate in a digital recording environment (unless the meters are LED).

Seems to me you'd have a six-input maximum system, not four.

If I were going to hook everything up, a line-level monaural output from the mixer would be fed into camera channel 1 which would then split via the switch to both camera channels. Then I'd leave one of the camera channels in Auto and the other in manual and the level set at about 1/4-1/3. Then use tone to set up the mixer output using the camera's meter on the manual channel.

This will leave you with the best of the manual and auto worlds and you shouldn't miss much even if the sound levels vary quite a bit.

Pat Sherman · February 28th, 2005, 12:50 PM

First thanks for your post..

Let me clarify the hiss is part of the problem with the internal components of the PD-150. We have two camera from the batch of bad cameras, sony didn't recall but offers a $150 upgrade to fix the problem and even then Sony can't say if it will be gone for sure..

However this problem doesn't exist with AGC on. This is confirmed through Sony..

Anywho, back to the mixer.. I have never used one and well quite frankly and very new to this whole arena..

So basically I have a lav input into MIC 1 via XLR. Then I have two MAIN OUT XLR JACKS, a LEFT and a RIGHT.

On the pd-150 I have input 1 with a selector for channel 1 or channel 1/2 and input 2 without that selector option.

So I am guessing, and believe me only assuming..

I would move that selector for input 1 to channel 1 and input the left XLR MAIN OUT into INPUT 1 and right XLR MAIN OUT into INPUT 2.

I guess I don't know much about XLR and MIC's but are they stereo or mono? If there were mono then would I feed just the LEFT XLR into the PD-150 Input 1 with channel selector set at 1/2 instead of just 1?

Mike Rehmus · February 28th, 2005, 01:54 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Pat Sherman : First thanks for your post..

Let me clarify the hiss is part of the problem with the internal components of the PD-150. We have two camera from the batch of bad cameras, sony didn't recall but offers a $150 upgrade to fix the problem and even then Sony can't say if it will be gone for sure..

However this problem doesn't exist with AGC on. This is confirmed through Sony..

Anywho, back to the mixer.. I have never used one and well quite frankly and very new to this whole arena..

So basically I have a lav input into MIC 1 via XLR. Then I have two MAIN OUT XLR JACKS, a LEFT and a RIGHT.

On the pd-150 I have input 1 with a selector for channel 1 or channel 1/2 and input 2 without that selector option.

So I am guessing, and believe me only assuming..

I would move that selector for input 1 to channel 1 and input the left XLR MAIN OUT into INPUT 1 and right XLR MAIN OUT into INPUT 2.

I wouldn't do that. Since everything is really mono, I'd do as I suggested in my first post so you can run one channel on manual and one channel on auto level control.

I guess I don't know much about XLR and MIC's but are they stereo or mono? 3-pin XLR connectors are almost always mono. The lavs are almost certainly mono.

If there were mono then would I feed just the LEFT XLR into the PD-150 Input 1 with channel selector set at 1/2 instead of just 1?

Pan the output on the mixer all to the single channel that you connect to the camera.

-->>>

Yohann Kouam · July 2nd, 2005, 01:05 AM

only the first one seems to function and i couldn t figure out how to activate the sound. when i watched the footy on my tv there was no sound at all while there was some while recording(i had earphones).

thanks

Tom Shinan · December 11th, 2005, 12:42 PM

I have a PD150, and I'm trying to make my mind wether to buy the relatively cheap AT897 gun mike, or invest some more to afford the praised AT4073a.

Is there any PD150 specific PreAmp issue that I should consider before deciding between the two? I heard some bitter complaints about the sound quality of the PD. Is it really that bad? Could it make the price difference between the two microphones unworthy?

(Sorry for my English friends, I'm everything but a genuine English speaker...)

Thanks a lot,
I truly need your advice

Tom

Mike Rehmus · December 11th, 2005, 09:10 PM

The PD150 isn't as good as I'd like but it is ok wherever there is some amount of background noise. A voice-over recorder it isn't. But I've used mine for this on occasion. The PD150 isn't nearly as good as the DSR-300 or most any pro camcorder. In fact, my Sony MD recorder can do a better job than the PD150.

A microphone can be a life-time purchase. I'd make a selection based on my long-term expectations for a microphone and make the recording setup a minor part of the decision process.

That said, either microphone will do the PD150 (and more expensive cameras) very well. And you can go a long way with the sound from a PD150. You just cannot get the absolutely silent background that (fortunately very few) situations call for in our general work.

For microphone decision help, you'd do much better over in the 'Now Hear This' forum where they talk about the issues of microphone selection and where they have a very good moderator to assist you.

Myron Iwankewich · June 12th, 2006, 01:07 PM

It seems like I really have to crank up the volume of the t.v. or stereo when playing back audio recorded on my PD150. My recording levels are way up there, I don't have the mic attn. on, and this is straight out of the camera before editing. Is this typical?

Regards, Myron

Mike Rehmus · June 12th, 2006, 01:22 PM

Myron,

It is hard to say since we don't know your playback setup.

What do you mean by your 'recording levels are way up there.' Do you mean the Level controls? Where are the indicated audio levels when you record?

The PD, IIRC, puts out audio at the pro line level.

I never play footage back from my camera into the type of setup you describe so I have no experience at what you are attempting but I certainly have no problems with my properly recorded audio levels in the editor.

Myron Iwankewich · June 12th, 2006, 03:52 PM

Thanks for replying Mike. I record with the levels peaking just over the 0dB point on the meter. Have you never just connected your PD150 to your t.v. via RCA cables to quickly check a new project on the big screen?
I'm going to run a portion of this project through the editor and see how the audio comes out.

Thanks, Myron

Mike Rehmus · June 12th, 2006, 05:21 PM

No, I never do. I move the tape to my DV deck and watch it on my broadcast monitor. The deck will last longer than the camera (transport-wise) so I don't use the camera for playback. And the deck and the mixer have audio meters so I can see what is happening on the way in (and out)

The only time I hook up to a TV is if I need a focus aid and I didn't bring the portable monitor along (keeps the Director off my camera).

The fancy tools are one of the few advantages of having been in the business a long time. :-)

January 24th, 2005, 11:15 AM	#76
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	How many head hours on the camera? __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

February 16th, 2005, 02:17 PM	#78
Adam Sturman Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Northern Virginia, USA Posts: 34	Re: PD150 Audio Dropouts Hi, I have had similar problems on a vx2100. The only thing I could reduce the problem to is extreme environmental changes. Do you take the camera and tapes into extreme temperature/humidity changes? -Adam <<<-- Originally posted by Arne Johnson : We're having little micro drop outs in audio on our PD150. It's only occasional, not on every tape, and sometimes it seems if we change tapes it won't come back. This happens in all recording situations and with different mics. Any idea what's going on? Thanks, Arne -->>>

February 28th, 2005, 09:14 AM	#79
Pat Sherman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: DuPont, Wa Posts: 325	PD150 - Audio Capture Suggestions Greetings, I have a couple PD-150's and we shoot alot of corporate videos with lapel mics.. Now our PD-150's have the problem when using manual audio gain it produces the hiss/noise. Using AGC it's not there and seems to provide an overall better quality. The problem is I can't control the mic level with AGC when directly connected to the XLR on the PD-150.. So I have this idea.. I have a Mackie DFX-12 mixer with 6 XLR mic inputs and XLR out R + L. I'm thinking I plug the lapel in MIC 1 on the Mixer and plug the PD-150 into the output of the mixer. Then I could control the signal level from the mic on the mixer as it's outputted to the PD-150. Then infact I could have up to four people mic'd through the mixer and all go to the camera in the case if I have 4 people on screen in a discussion or what have you.. Any ideas or concerns that I am totally missing, or will this not work at all?

February 28th, 2005, 12:02 PM	#80
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	Welcome to the forums, Pat. You don't mention if the onset of hiss is a function of the camera or the introduction of the lavalieres. Since you say this happens with multiple 150's, I'd guess this has something to do with the lavs. Or somehow you've had simultaneous failures of some sort in your cameras. The use of an outboard mixer is always better than the onboard if for no other reason than the level control is so much more convenient and the meters are handy if not absolutely accurate in a digital recording environment (unless the meters are LED). Seems to me you'd have a six-input maximum system, not four. If I were going to hook everything up, a line-level monaural output from the mixer would be fed into camera channel 1 which would then split via the switch to both camera channels. Then I'd leave one of the camera channels in Auto and the other in manual and the level set at about 1/4-1/3. Then use tone to set up the mixer output using the camera's meter on the manual channel. This will leave you with the best of the manual and auto worlds and you shouldn't miss much even if the sound levels vary quite a bit. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

February 28th, 2005, 01:54 PM	#82
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	<<<-- Originally posted by Pat Sherman : First thanks for your post.. Let me clarify the hiss is part of the problem with the internal components of the PD-150. We have two camera from the batch of bad cameras, sony didn't recall but offers a $150 upgrade to fix the problem and even then Sony can't say if it will be gone for sure.. However this problem doesn't exist with AGC on. This is confirmed through Sony.. Anywho, back to the mixer.. I have never used one and well quite frankly and very new to this whole arena.. So basically I have a lav input into MIC 1 via XLR. Then I have two MAIN OUT XLR JACKS, a LEFT and a RIGHT. On the pd-150 I have input 1 with a selector for channel 1 or channel 1/2 and input 2 without that selector option. So I am guessing, and believe me only assuming.. I would move that selector for input 1 to channel 1 and input the left XLR MAIN OUT into INPUT 1 and right XLR MAIN OUT into INPUT 2. I wouldn't do that. Since everything is really mono, I'd do as I suggested in my first post so you can run one channel on manual and one channel on auto level control. I guess I don't know much about XLR and MIC's but are they stereo or mono? 3-pin XLR connectors are almost always mono. The lavs are almost certainly mono. If there were mono then would I feed just the LEFT XLR into the PD-150 Input 1 with channel selector set at 1/2 instead of just 1? Pan the output on the mixer all to the single channel that you connect to the camera. -->>> __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

January 24th, 2005, 11:39 AM	#77
John McManimie Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 314	I may be way off base here, and I've never used the PD150, but is there a chance that this is happening near the ends of the tapes? Have you considered using DVCAM for the PD150? Also, I have seen mention of some strange PD150 audio problems here: http://www.alanbarker.com/ (see the section PD150/170 SOUND - Audio Quirk).

February 28th, 2005, 12:50 PM	#81
Pat Sherman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: DuPont, Wa Posts: 325	First thanks for your post.. Let me clarify the hiss is part of the problem with the internal components of the PD-150. We have two camera from the batch of bad cameras, sony didn't recall but offers a $150 upgrade to fix the problem and even then Sony can't say if it will be gone for sure.. However this problem doesn't exist with AGC on. This is confirmed through Sony.. Anywho, back to the mixer.. I have never used one and well quite frankly and very new to this whole arena.. So basically I have a lav input into MIC 1 via XLR. Then I have two MAIN OUT XLR JACKS, a LEFT and a RIGHT. On the pd-150 I have input 1 with a selector for channel 1 or channel 1/2 and input 2 without that selector option. So I am guessing, and believe me only assuming.. I would move that selector for input 1 to channel 1 and input the left XLR MAIN OUT into INPUT 1 and right XLR MAIN OUT into INPUT 2. I guess I don't know much about XLR and MIC's but are they stereo or mono? If there were mono then would I feed just the LEFT XLR into the PD-150 Input 1 with channel selector set at 1/2 instead of just 1?

July 2nd, 2005, 01:05 AM	#83
Yohann Kouam Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: sevilla Posts: 116	activate both sound channels on pd150 only the first one seems to function and i couldn t figure out how to activate the sound. when i watched the footy on my tv there was no sound at all while there was some while recording(i had earphones). thanks

December 11th, 2005, 12:42 PM	#84
Tom Shinan Tourist Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 3	PD150 Sound Quality with an AT4073a or an AT897 I have a PD150, and I'm trying to make my mind wether to buy the relatively cheap AT897 gun mike, or invest some more to afford the praised AT4073a. Is there any PD150 specific PreAmp issue that I should consider before deciding between the two? I heard some bitter complaints about the sound quality of the PD. Is it really that bad? Could it make the price difference between the two microphones unworthy? (Sorry for my English friends, I'm everything but a genuine English speaker...) Thanks a lot, I truly need your advice Tom

December 11th, 2005, 09:10 PM	#85
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	The PD150 isn't as good as I'd like but it is ok wherever there is some amount of background noise. A voice-over recorder it isn't. But I've used mine for this on occasion. The PD150 isn't nearly as good as the DSR-300 or most any pro camcorder. In fact, my Sony MD recorder can do a better job than the PD150. A microphone can be a life-time purchase. I'd make a selection based on my long-term expectations for a microphone and make the recording setup a minor part of the decision process. That said, either microphone will do the PD150 (and more expensive cameras) very well. And you can go a long way with the sound from a PD150. You just cannot get the absolutely silent background that (fortunately very few) situations call for in our general work. For microphone decision help, you'd do much better over in the 'Now Hear This' forum where they talk about the issues of microphone selection and where they have a very good moderator to assist you. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

June 12th, 2006, 01:07 PM	#86
Myron Iwankewich New Boot Join Date: May 2004 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 20	PD150 audio output seems low. It seems like I really have to crank up the volume of the t.v. or stereo when playing back audio recorded on my PD150. My recording levels are way up there, I don't have the mic attn. on, and this is straight out of the camera before editing. Is this typical? Regards, Myron

June 12th, 2006, 01:22 PM	#87
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	Myron, It is hard to say since we don't know your playback setup. What do you mean by your 'recording levels are way up there.' Do you mean the Level controls? Where are the indicated audio levels when you record? The PD, IIRC, puts out audio at the pro line level. I never play footage back from my camera into the type of setup you describe so I have no experience at what you are attempting but I certainly have no problems with my properly recorded audio levels in the editor. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

June 12th, 2006, 03:52 PM	#88
Myron Iwankewich New Boot Join Date: May 2004 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 20	Thanks for replying Mike. I record with the levels peaking just over the 0dB point on the meter. Have you never just connected your PD150 to your t.v. via RCA cables to quickly check a new project on the big screen? I'm going to run a portion of this project through the editor and see how the audio comes out. Thanks, Myron

June 12th, 2006, 05:21 PM	#89
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	No, I never do. I move the tape to my DV deck and watch it on my broadcast monitor. The deck will last longer than the camera (transport-wise) so I don't use the camera for playback. And the deck and the mixer have audio meters so I can see what is happening on the way in (and out) The only time I hook up to a TV is if I need a focus aid and I didn't bring the portable monitor along (keeps the Director off my camera). The fancy tools are one of the few advantages of having been in the business a long time. :-) __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!