Audio Attenuation.. rule of thumb?

[GL2guy]

Hey guys... GL2guy here. I recently purchased a BeachTek DXA-4P Dual XLR adapter for my GL2 and am using a Rode NTG-2 shotgun and a Sennheiser G2 ENG Wireless Lavalier System in each input.

Never having really used this kind of audio equipment before, and being a completely green technician... I am a little unsure about how to set my levels (attenuation) on the back of the BeachTek for both left and right channels (shotgun, lav respectively).

Is there a general rule of thumb for how much (on a scale from 0-10, since that is what my dial is) attenuation to set for external audio equipment. Before I bought all this I was just using the onboard mic and never set my own audio levels... so I am clueless. Unfortunately my manuals that came with the equipment aren't helping either.

So thanks for any help or words of wisdom on this matter. I just want to make sure I am not over or underdoing anything with my levels. Thanks!

 

[oleg]

buy good headphones and adjust the levels by the ear

 

[SMuir]

I haven't worked with the GL-2, but I recall that the GL-1 lacked any manual audio control. If the GL-2 shares the same design oversight, then you'll wind up fighting against the automatic gain control when you're adjusting levels.

I would second Oleg's advice, although you'll probably want to set your headphone levels while listenning to a test tape (ie. -20dB 1kHz reference tone).