attenuation switch

droliff

droliff

Active member
Hi all,

I am a newbie to audio. I am working with a Panasonic HMC40 camera and the Panasonic xlr adapter unit along with a Rode NTG-2 microphone.

I see by the manual that came with the xlr adapter unit that the attenuation ( ATT ) switch is used to adjust audio input levels, ON: -50 DbU OFF: -60 DbU. There are also separate audio levels input adjust dials for channels 1 and 2. This is a little confusing. Can anyone give me input on which position the attenuation switch should be set at given the microphone that I am using? Does it depend on the environment and situation?


xlr_001.jpg



xlr_002.jpg



Thanks in advance for any advice.

Dennis

Dennis Roliff Photgraphy
 
When the ATT is off, the input is more sensitive. If you plugged a low output dynamc mic into the XLR, 'off' would give you a better match. With your Rode, 'on' might be a better starting point. What you need to watch out for is overdriving the inputs - you need to avoid clipping at all cost. The hotter the mic output, the greater the danger of overdriving and clipping. You also want to have the input level dials normally about mid-scale. So plug in the mic, set the level to mid-scale, turn off the ATT, do a sound check and see what you get, then turn it on and see what you get there. You want peaks on speech to bounce aroud -12dBFS on the meters. The right setting of the ATT switch is the setting that lets you have the level dial closest to mid-scale when that happens.
 
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