Barely making audio level with the HPX 300 and Sennheiser mics

ccastro

ccastro

Well-known member
I use the SK 500 G2 wireless receiver / transmitter set and I can barely make level.

Is there a setting on the Transmitter or Receiver that I'm missing ?

I've putzed around with the settings in the camera { Manual and automatic mode } and no noticeable change was noticed. I'm going to check with a hard wire mic to confirm the camera settings are not the problem.

I know its not the monitor level being to low cause I have that jacked up, but I've recorded the little bit of sound I'm getting and imported the clips and only after jacking the level up in FCP can I get a descent level.

Anyone else having this problem?

One more thing, in the view finder I see what seems like a thin white bar at the bottom of the screen, Is that the audio meter level ?

If it is, its barely moving. I don't see any other obvious meters for audio recording, I'm assuming that's what that line is.

Thanks.
 
on the back of camera right above the XLR inputs check and see if you're in line or mic
 
Ok thanks

Ok thanks

I'll have to check it when I get home from work. I'm pretty sure its set to Mic level though.
 
ccastro said:
One more thing, in the view finder I see what seems like a thin white bar at the bottom of the screen, Is that the audio meter level ?

If it is, its barely moving. I don't see any other obvious meters for audio recording, I'm assuming that's what that line is.
Click to expand...

Go into the "SW Mode" menu and set one of the user buttons (mine is User2) to "MAG A. LVL" and then by pushing the user button you can see an expanded VU meter in the viewfinder or side LCD monitor... Much easier to check levels than the tiny little meters in the lower left corner.

Do you have the Sennheiser transmitter output set too low? (-30db or -20?)
 
I have got the same probem with my MKH416 at the front XLR, almost no volume only when I put it on -60 dB and put in manual the trims at max but the noise is horrible loud.
 
I get the feeling it is more a HPX problem than a mic problem since more people have the same problem. Maybe the audio circuits of the HPX are not that pro ?
 
No Problem with HPX 300, operator error is the cause

No Problem with HPX 300, operator error is the cause

I went over the settings several times and last night double checked the rear camera settings as you guys suggested and sure enough I had it set to line instead of mic. I would have sworn I had it set to mic.

As soon as I switched it, it was perfect. The thing that really threw me was that I wasn't getting distortion in the audio. You normally get distortion when you have a line to mic or mic to line crossed problem.
No matter how much you lower the level its distorted. I would have never guessed that was the problem on this camera.

Thanks David for pointing out where I can find the settings to monitor visually the levels, I'm embarrassed to say it was operator error all along. I'm used to the levels and adjustments to input, output, etc... all being on the side.

I just need to be more careful, 15 years of TV broadcasting and i was stumped, lol.

15 years ago I had an old camera man tell me after 25 years he still learned something new everyday, no truer words have been spoken.

Thank all who took the time to respond.
 
The sennheisers have a menu for setting out put level of the receiver. I generally run mine around -18 or -24 when feeding an HVX and that works really well.
 
Thanks, I will check mine, I like the wireless system very much, great mic for the price.
 
The thing to remember which make finding easier is too little signal = noise, too much signal = distortion. In fact, sound people spend hours discussing the finer points of gain setting in the signal chain - with so much equipment nowadays being designed to cope with really wide ranges of input and out put levels, getting the best signal to noise is quite tricky. We've touched on it here. Radio transmitter has input gain to match mic levels to the optimum for the radio system. The radio receiver has an output level control, so does the camera input. Even with digital connection to the editor, your computer may well have an input adjustment to set the level into the sound card/converter. There may also be an output level control. Maybe you are then outputting to an analogue recorder with yet another input level. If you work on the principal that whenever you have a high level signal, and attenuate it to a lower level, feed it into an input designed for that lower level, and then bosst it up internally, then do it again - it's no wonder audio quality degrades. Optimum gain structure, takes a fair amount of time to set up and get right. If you work with lots of ins and outs tracking down noise and distortion is pretty difficult and very time consuming!
 
Hi Paul hope you are well and you are so right, I must have spent several hours setting up the shotgun and radio mics so that when I just plug and go with the 301 I know that what I am hearing in my cans are true.

Off on a drama shoot in harrogate next week and as we dont have a recordist its just me a camera asst and a boom op but I am confident that the 301 will do the business.

I have mapped out the audio for all the scenes and it will be:

Ch1- Main boom (audio tech 875)
Ch2- Radio Boom 2 (audio tech 875 + G2 & SKP500)
Ch3- Radio mic 1 (G2 + Lav) if req
Ch4- Radio mic 2 (G2 + Lav) if req

Here's hoping my 3o years in audio and dubbing will be second nature as my main job on this gig is lighting cameraman.

Its a hammer house of horror / tales of the unexpected trad drama so is right up my street, nice to work with young people who appreciate the heritage of good script and acting.
 
I used to use Sennheisers up until the frequency block got snagged ....
but ...

Set the AF-OUT on the receiver (in the menu) to 0 or higher. Set the
input level on the camera to "Line". Then adjust the volumes on
the camera as required.

If you choose MIC, you'll have to turn the output of the Sennheiser
way down. Even then, it's a fairly hot signal going into the MIC level
inputs and you'll likely get some clipping.

Even though it's a MIC, the receiver emits a LINE level.

jeff
 
I never had to use the line level on my old Sennheiser wireless... (also group C - the 740 MHz range that was made illegal.) I always used mic level with no problem and no clipping. I believe that's also the setting that Sennheiser recommended.
 
davideo.net said:
I never had to use the line level on my old Sennheiser wireless... (also group C - the 740 MHz range that was made illegal.) I always used mic level with no problem and no clipping. I believe that's also the setting that Sennheiser recommended.
Click to expand...

I had the exact opposite experience. The mic level settings on my 200 and 300
made wireless clip very easily. Level with an AF-OUT of 0 gave the best overall
tone and seemed to have to highest dynamic range.

jeff
 
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