5 pin stereo XLR to 2 3pin XLR or 1 3pin XLR

B

bluong

Active member
Hi

I got a question regarding to the stereo XLR cable. I have been searching on the web and found that there are 2 type XLR cable for stereo Mic.
- 5 pin female XLR to 2 3pin male XLR connector cable ( this can be connected between the stereo microphone to input 1 and input 2 of the DVX100B )
- 5 pin female XLR to 1 3pin male XLR connector cable ( this can be connected between the stereo microphone to either input 1 or input 2 ).
Now the price is different between this 2 type of cable the first one cost about $60, and the second cost about $10 - $20 . Which cable should I use to record the true stereo sound. If I use the second one , it will be 2 mono channel mixed together. The first one is true stereo but you can not control the suddenly change of loudness.
I am confused, if I set the input 1 level lower than the input 2 level then should not be stereo any more.
So what cable should I buy/use ?


Thank you
 
1st off, most all cinematic sound recording should be mono recordings. These mono recordings are later placed into a stereo or surround sound spatial position during the mixing process. Normally stereo recordings are not used all that much for production recording.

Stereo is always made up of two mono channels. To record stereo it takes two microphones. You can either use two mono mics or use a stereo mic to record in stereo. Stereo microphones have two mics inside one mic body and use a stereo cable which should then turn into two seperate mono lines for input to a mixer or camera. In your case you need a 5 pin XLR coming out of your stereo mic that splits into two mono 3 pin XLR mic connectors.

Loudness has nothing to do with Stereo/mono. If you want to control loud spikes turn on the ALC in the DVX/HVX menu, it's a limiter and will stop levels that get too loud. Also set your record levels so they are hitting on average around 60% to 80% on the audio meter on your LCD screen.

Setting one level lower than the other acts as a guard against overly loud input and a higher setting guards against too quiet of an audio source. In post you can boost the low channel or if the volume on one track is too loud and clipping then you can eliminate that bad track and use the other good track. Simply copy and paste to the other side & set levels. Now you have Big Mono; duplicate L&R tracks.

Good luck
 
Thanks 10S for quick response

If I use 2 inputs on my DVX100B. one is the L channel goes to input 1 , the R channel goes to input 2.
Now let say I am recording a school concert that organized as the left side of the band is Viola, and the right side is Violin. And I set the input 1 level lower than the input 2 . Somehow on the right side has the big drum put behind that I do not see then suddenly it had played with a big sound make my right channel clipping.
Because I set Input 2 for the right channel louder than the Input 1. How can I fix this type of situation.
OK , I can do it post as you say deleting the right channel than use the left channel right ? I can do that but if I copy and paste the left channel then my violin instrument can not be heard any more, only the viola is heard. Do you see the problem here ?
 
In your case set both volumes the same so they read about 60-70%. Just turn on the ALC in the audio menu and everything should be fine. Practice recording something ahead of time so you make sure what you're doing will work. Good luck!
 
If you're recording X-Y stereo (or a similar non-matrixed format), lowering one channel relative to the other will result in a lop-sided stereo image. In the situation you described, Bluong, try using the same gain setting on both levels, and setting it so that the loudest sound (ie. the drum) does not clip. In post-production you can use a bit of compression and level-riding to even out the dynamics of the recording.

With respect to 10s, I would reccomend against the use of ALC. While automatic gain controls will usually keep the sound from overloading, the sound levels will pump and swing all over the place. This is very distracting to the viewer, and frustrating to the post-production mixer. What you really need in your recording signal-chain is a limiter, such as can be found on most ENG/EFP mixers. When used appropriately, a good limiter will subtly keep those momentary peaks from overloading without drawing any attention to itself.

A mixer would also give you the ability to bring in additional mics. Inevitably, certain instruments will tend to be overwhelmed by others, which is why its a common practice to mic subtler intruments from a closer perspective. The closer mics are then mixed into the stereo pair so that the spatial accuracy of the stereo pair takes on the precision and intimacy of the close-mics.

True phase-accurate stereo recording can be very challenging, and you would do well to read up on the theoretical side of it beforehand. Here's a wiki that'll run you through the basics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereophonic_sound
 
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