Que Audio Shotgun Mic Problem

[DerekMcIntire]

I recently bought a canon t3i to shoot some documentary stuff with, and for audio i went with a que audio 210 video shotgun mic kit and plugged it into a Beachtek DXA-SLR Active Audio Adapter. Considering I spent well over $500 on these two items alone I was expecting crisp, clean audio, but so far it's been nothing but trouble, and I'm hoping I just don't know how to set it up correctly. The mic is phantom powered, so I put a 9v battery in the Beachtek adapter and hooked it up. I have shot two interviews so far and had to get as close as possible to the subject and crank the gain and levels on the mic to get anything audible, and now playing it back I can hear a really loud hiss coming through. It pretty much sounds terrible. Since everything is new and I've never shot doc's with a DSLR before I'm not sure where the problem is, is it the mic? the Adapter? something to do with the camera? Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!
-Derek

 

[8salacious9]

Hiss because the gain is too high you could always gate the noise but still not the solution

Oh I don't record into the dslr because its crap...

Maybe that's why I don't have that problem?

 

[DerekMcIntire]

Hiss because the gain is too high you could always gate the noise but still not the solution

Oh I don't record into the dslr because its crap...

Maybe that's why I don't have that problem?

yes, i understand why the hiss is there, my question is why is the mic so not sensitive? it's been a few years, but i recall using shotgun mics with much greater success. If i was straining it to get sound from far away, I can see getting some hiss, but from two feet away it should be able to get clear audio, right?

 

[ItDonnedOnMe]

Sounds to me like it could be an issue with the phantom power (i.e. not getting any/enough to the mic), or possibly with the output signal from the beachtek - can you control how hot the signal is going into the camera? In general you'll want a high output from the beachtek with the levels set very low on the camera itself in order to minimise noise from the camera's cheap preamps. Also - have you tested the mic with another recorder or mixer? That would help narrow down the source of the issue.

Considering I spent well over $500 on these two items alone I was expecting crisp, clean audio, (...)I have shot two interviews so far and had to get as close as possible to the subject

Regardless of what you spent on the audio equipment you'll always need to get the mic as close as possible to the subject in order to really get 'crisp, clean audio'.

 

[Alcove Audio]

Okay...

First, DSLR audio implementation is very substandard (to put it politely).

Second, the Que Audio mic is very substandard (to put it politely).

Third, as much as I like Beachtek gear the DXA-SLR is a mediocre piece of equipment trying to solve a problem that is not really solvable.

Question #1 - did you have the phantom power ON?

Question #2 - did you have each channel switched to MIC?

Question #3 - did you have the camera properly set up to work with the DXA-SLR?

Question #4 - was anybody actually monitoring the audio while you were shooting?

Question #5 - did you test everything before you went out into the field?


IMHO you should never ever use the audio of a DSLR camera; you are asking for trouble. Treat a DSLR camera as if it were a film camera incapable of recording audio. You would have been better off with a Rode VideoMic and a Tascam DR-07mkII.

 

[Alcove Audio]

Oh, and one more question... Were you using the AGC Disable function?

 

[DerekMcIntire]

Okay...

First, DSLR audio implementation is very substandard (to put it politely).

Second, the Que Audio mic is very substandard (to put it politely).

Third, as much as I like Beachtek gear the DXA-SLR is a mediocre piece of equipment trying to solve a problem that is not really solvable.

Question #1 - did you have the phantom power ON?

Question #2 - did you have each channel switched to MIC?

Question #3 - did you have the camera properly set up to work with the DXA-SLR?

Question #4 - was anybody actually monitoring the audio while you were shooting?

Question #5 - did you test everything before you went out into the field?


IMHO you should never ever use the audio of a DSLR camera; you are asking for trouble. Treat a DSLR camera as if it were a film camera incapable of recording audio. You would have been better off with a Rode VideoMic and a Tascam DR-07mkII.

I'm going to try setting the camera volume lower and just cranking the beachtek adapter and see how that works. The interviews I did are usable they will just need a fair amount of post production EQ. My project isn't very serious, but I'd like to get it as best as possible. The reason I went with this set up is because in a few weeks I'll be traveling overseas by bicycle and documenting my trip so I didn't want to deal with separate audio. I did all of those things you mentioned above and tested it with and without the AGC disabled, the only difference was slightly less hissing. I'll try the settings first and if that doesn't help just test each piece on it's own until i figure it out.

That said, if separate audio is not an option at all, is that rodes mic worth plugging straight into the camera and just ditching the adapter and dealing with the automatic leveling of the camera?

 

[Alcove Audio]

... is that rodes mic worth plugging straight into the camera and just ditching the adapter and dealing with the automatic leveling of the camera?

No. The AGC is your worst creator of noise.

What I don't understand is that first you said:

playing it back I can hear a really loud hiss coming through. It pretty much sounds terrible.

Then it's not really that bad:

... they will just need a fair amount of post production EQ...

Either it has really loud hiss and sounds terrible or it's not a huge problem that some EQ/NR can resolve.

 

[DerekMcIntire]

I have kind of figured it out, i had the volume on my camera set too high, so i turned it way down and cranked the gain and volume on the adapter and it sounds a lot better. there is still a little hiss, but it's much more useable. thanks for the advice though