Quiet Audio

Thanato

Thanato

Hello

I have a Canon XL1s camera with a new MA-100 Shoulder mount with XLR inputs. For a microphone I have a Rode NTG-2 Mic.

The Mic Records however it is very quiet. I can just barely hear it when I play the tape back as compared to the on board mic which is loud.

Does anyone know how to change this?

Just and FYI the XL1s is used but purchased from Henry's in Canada.

~Thanato
 
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Did you put a fresh battery into the NTG-2 so that it has phantom power?

Are you using the proper impedance matcher?

Are you sure that the cable is good?

Is everything plugged in firmly?
 
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The MA100 doesn't provide any phantom, so you'll have to send your own down the line somehow... there are external phantom boxes you can get, I'm using a Shure Mixer to send the power to our Mic.
 
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I've been unable to find reliable impedance specs on the MA-100 (it was discontinued quite a while ago), so an impedance mismatch may be the problem. However, I think that the lack of phantom power is probably the issue.
 
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So you guys think it might be a power issue? I've been using a AA battery in the Mic, not a brand name one. So I am going to go get an energizer AA. If that doesn't work I'll look into getting an external power source.

~Thanato
 
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You have all 3 cables from the MA100 connected to the back of the Camera, the mic input switched to Line 2 and the attenuation off? I also set the levels to manual, then dial the input volume up til the meters atop the camera show a decent signal.
 
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White is in White, Red is in Red and the smaller plug is in its port. In the Audio control port I have 'Input Select' set to Audio 1. 'Rec Level' to manual.

When I have it use the on board mic I can see a scale for the sound. However when I switch it to the external Mic, the NTG-2 I can't see a level for the audio ontop of the camera.

EDIT:: After doing some reading I found that someone else who had a similar problem used a Mic Preamp to solve it. Is this a Viable solution?

~Thanato
 
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Yes. That will solve the level problem, but if the signal is noisy, it'll increase the noise as well. I use this solution with the Shure M267 Mixer acting as a preamp as well: ( http://www.xprt.net/~rcrowley/AVclass/images/Aud-Sm8.gif ) Having a smaller box that just has an input or two with phantom power and a preamp would do the same thing.

Can't recall off the top of my head, the inputs are labelled "Audio 1" on the back right? with "Audio 2" being on the side of the handle.
 
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Knightly I would like to thank you alot. The preamp solved the issue. Now I can start shooting my short after a few more edits of the script.

Thanks alot.

~Thanato
 
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I got the NADY DMP-2. I havnt had to much time to play around with it just a basic test. However just from that test it boosted the volume of the sound from the Mic into the MA-100 shoulder mount on the XL1s camera.

It has two inputs and two outputs as well as two gain knobs for each. You can also have it run shadow power to the mic but since it runs of a single 9v battery I would suspect that would eat the power up quiet fast.

The construction is an all metal outter shell and seems quiet sturdy. The battery compartment is the only downside (so far) that I can see. It takes a simple 9v battery and is difficult to remove if you put it connectors in first but if you put the connectors facing out it you can't close the compartment door however it is much easier to remove.

The price was right. I bought it off ebay for $55 CDN so for lower budgetted people it might do good in a pinch however there is no house power option so you will be going through 9V batteries to operate.

Hope this helps.

~Thanato
 
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