F3 Audio

D10S

D10S

Well-known member
Is it just me, or are others disappointed in the audio on the F3? To me it seems hard to monitor it, the levels seems very low to the headsets for one, and it seems that I must turn the record volume up more than on other cameras to get good audio levels. I record using various mics, boom, lav, wireless. I also record with and without a mixer depending on the situation. Nothing seems to change the audio issues. Now the audio has always been ok once I get in and edit with it, but the levels seem to be lower than I would like when I bring it into the timeline.
 
I haven't noticed any issues with the F3's audio—even with automatic gain— either with the stock mic, Rodes or others, as it applies to the recorded product and playback through, for example, Avid's Media Composer 5.5. In fact, the recorded audio, using the same mic —Rode NTG3—and settings on my PMW350 are no different in volume. Perhaps it's a setting issue, or the impedance of your headset as it relates to monitoring. if none of those possibilities turn out to be the case, you might wish to consult with Sony in regards to potential issues with the gain circuitry.
 
The amplification for the headphones is low, I'll give you that, but there are trims in the audio input menu to solve the other issue you're having.
 
I played with the trim a bit, but ended up leaving it at the factory preset in the end.
 
A Dumb PMW-F3 Audio input question...

A Dumb PMW-F3 Audio input question...

I'm a DP, and normally I have a sound person set-up and connect to whatever camera I am using on a shoot. I'm "sound department impaired", hence this post and plea for some guidence.

I need to do a doc' shoot abroad soon and will be handling picture and sound as it's a crew of one, me. I will be using one or two wireless lav's and the receivers will plug directly into the L/R XLR ports on the F3, no phantom power required so are the input settings on the F3 set to "mic" or "line"?

If / when I use a shotgun, a Rode NTG-3 I will obviously use the "mic + 48v" setting.

When I use a mixer, ( at present an Azden FMX-32 but soon to be a Sound Devices 302 ), what input setting is best to use on the F3? The "mic" setting seems very hot, "line" setting needs the pots on the mixer and camera input to be turned up high to get a decent recorded volume.

I have set the input trim for "mic" at -29dBu because the factory setting of -41dBu was very 'hot", was this the right thing to do?

I'm guessing that "line" input on the F3 is really the better way to go with either a mixer input or with wireless receiver, ( Sennheiser G3's ), but how can I get a decent record level without producing noise?

Any help / advice would be appreciated, I really need "education" on working sound, or find jobs with a decent enough budget that would travel a sound person!
Thanks,Peter
​
 
I'm not talking about the trim on the dial...I'm talking about the GAIN in the menus. It's the "master" while the dials are the "fine tune".
 
Peter, I assure you the F3 audio is pretty darn good--I used to record externally, but now use the camera. If yours is not, something is wrong.
 
Douglas, many people set the volume controls to around 5, sometimes a bit higher and then adjust the gain until your levels are good. It really depends on the kind of mics you are driving. Some have -10 dB pad, others do not and a lav or a wireless lav is going to require a different level than a condenser boom or hypercardioid. To complicate things wireless setups have their own gain settings so you have to get that more or less sorted out first.

I also have a set of sealed headphones on when adjusting levels and gain settings and listen to the noise floor. Raising the gain is often a trade off between loudness and raising the noise floor.
 
Doug, (or anyone) do you know why with the stock F3 mic using 2 XLR's I might only be recording to the left channel and nothing on the right? I assumed it was 2 channel mic. Any ideas what I might have buggered up?
 
starcentral said:
Doug, (or anyone) do you know why with the stock F3 mic using 2 XLR's I might only be recording to the left channel and nothing on the right? I assumed it was 2 channel mic. Any ideas what I might have buggered up?
Click to expand...

Yes... there's a menu setting doing this to you. It's putting Channel 1 on both sides, but using the respective audio meters, meaning you can record one hot and one cold.

From the manual, page 115:

EXT CH Select

CH-1: To record channel 1 audio input on both channels 1
and 2.

CH-1/CH-2: To record channel 1 and channel 2 inputs on the
respective channels.
 
Peter,
You obviously don't know much about sound and while that's no crime, this is not the best way to get up to speed. Why don't you get one of the audio guys you usually use answer all these questions for you. There are obviously going to be many other issues you will need advice about as well. Hire someone if you must for a half day tutorial on basic sound. It will be well spent. Audio on the F3 is the same as an EX-1 or EX-3 so anyone used to those cameras would be great.

Re: Trim settings. I used to set up my trims by using the method of setting the outside gain pots to 5, but my recordist buddy told me that may not be ideal for some mics. Some perform better with a lower trim and pots up around 7 or so. You need to listen to how they actually sound. Ideal trim settings can be different for every microphone, so you need to test them preferably with someone who knows what he's listen ing to.

D10s - either you have things set up wrong or your camera is defective. I suspect the first and suggest hiring a sound man to set it up for you.
 
The Sony headphone output levels are low on almost every small, non-shoulder mounted camera they make. Z1U, EX series are all pretty low in my opinion. F3 is low too. OK when you are doing an interview where it is quiet, but if you need to hear what you are getting in a high noise environment from a close lav (for instance) it can be a bear. You have to use an output from a mixer to really hear.
 
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