Help... Rode VideoMic went unbelievaly quiet on a 60D with ML

[fahreza]

Hello, good people. Hoping if anyone can help shed a light for a newbie.

Yesterday I did a simple sitdown interview shoot with subject sitting less than 6 feet away, facing camera & mic.
The set was a meeting room which was relatively quiet, low ambient noise and I use a Magic Lantern'd 60D and a hotshoe mounted Rode VideoMic which usually should work just fine.
My 60D's ML audio settings was:
Analog gain: 23 (the turned up later on, minimum difference)
Digital gain: none.
AGC: off
Input: ext. stereo
Mic Power: on
My VideoMic is on 0, and fresh battery.

However, it seems as if the ML doesn't accept the VideoMic's signal as the audiometer barely ever moves even with analog gain cranked up. Played back the video on the Mac then proved that it was indeed unbelievably quiet. Have to turn up the volume all the way just to be able to hear anything.

On the other hand, on the 60D's factory firmware's manual audio setting, the meter moved normally picking up even ambient noises. Seems the problem is on the ML so I uninstalled the ML and tried recording with the VideoMic on the 60D's stock firmware. Results are normal sounding, no need to crank volume on playback just to hear something. It picked up ambience normally as expected.

I've been uninstalling and reinstalling the ML now going crazy trying to find out and hoping it's just an amateur err on my side.
Have anyone experienced similar case or have any advice? Please help. Thank you so much.

[a1ex]

If you increase digital gain too, does it get the same levels as with Canon firmware?

[fahreza]

I thought it supposed to get sound in normal volume without so much gain-tweaking but yes I did try increasing the digital gain up to 12, yes it did get the bars moving.
With subject sitting about the same distance, speaking in normal volume at 6ft away, it's still in the blue range and again playback on a pc have to crank up volume.
Still unacceptably quiet I think.

[a1ex]

With analog and digital gain at maximum, it's still quieter than with Canon firmware?

[fahreza]

With both gains in max, I can't see any difference with the Canon Firmware.

On a strange note, after a week I decided to try with another Rode VM belonging to a friend.
I was gonna show how quiet it was, and we plugged in his Rode VM into my 60D, with ML, and strangely then audiometer gets good normal reading levels. It even picked up ambience on the meter. It worked perfect. So the culprit must be my own Rode VM, or so I thought.

So then I took off my friend's VM and replace it with my VM, plugged in to show how quiet it was and strangely it somehow also works perfectly, rendering me as a silly fool. So it seems basically after plugging in my buddy's Rode VideoMic, everything worked normally again.

I don't know what happened but that day the problem is somehow cured but no clue as to what caused it in the first place. It bugs me because not knowing the cause means it could just happen again. The following days I checked everyday to see if it still works normally it did. It worked. Then after about a week, I checked again. And again the levels are quiet again. This is such a torture.

[Rainer]

I have the exact same setup and never had a problem. I'm thinking it has to be your mini plug or socket (loose or corroded). Check the plug is clean and try jiggling the Videomic plug in and out a few times?

[Allan Black]

+1 Try wiping the VM 3.5mm minijack with a tiny spot of Brasso then twist a clean rag around it a couple of times to clean it.
Make sure there are no small nicks in the VM cable.

Not sure whether you can do this on the 60D .. listen for audio crackles on headphones while you twist the VM cable around.
If you can't try doing that on another recorder at a sound shop.

If it's still playing up, send the VM in for repair on your free 10yr warranty. HTH.

Cheers.

[Snafoo]

I have the exact same setup and never had a problem. I'm thinking it has to be your mini plug or socket (loose or corroded). Check the plug is clean and try jiggling the Videomic plug in and out a few times?

This would be my guess also.

[fahreza]

Thank you so much, guys. I have cleaned the plug and everything.
In fact in the last week I have:

Had the Canon 60D checked at the Canon Care,
They checked thoroughly, with help from a friend who worked there and found nothing wrong.
They even replaced the interface assembly pcb (mic input port) just to please me.
So the 3 months old camera is still in tip top condition.

Have compared my VM with a brand-new-out-of-the-box unit.
And they performed the same.
On stock firmware, plugging in the VM shows significant level increase in audio meter.
The 2 months old VM is also in very good condition.

But, as soon as I go ML, things went quiet again.
Even with analog gain up to 29 I only get very small, if ever, reading.
And playback proved further that the footages recorded with ML is unbelievably quiet.

I realize I can go just with stock firmware, but I have quite a unique gig. I record simulated interviews for media training sessions, which will be playbacked immediately.
So the ML's audiometer and headphone out is very crucial. With stock firmware, it's kinda like flying blind. I can't record on separate device and sync them later in edit, cause the footaqe is reviewed immediately.

Now I'm just kicking myself here. It kills me because it used to work perfectly okay with the Magic Lantern. Have tried formatting, reinstalling and all. Version is the latest. I must miss something. But I can't find it.

[Allan Black]

Take the whole rig down to a local sound/video shop to verify it.

Cheers.