HMC40 with XLR Adaptor Experiences?

H

Heartfelt

Well-known member
Gang,
my question leans specifically towards running audio from a board at a teaching or lecturing type of event.

I have been afraid of risking the capturing of audio on board the camera and have been using a separate interface/PC to capture audio. Obviously, the biggest issue here is Syncing and I have to usually stretch the video or audio a smidgen in Sony Vegas 9.

In hopes of simplifying and/or redundancy, I wondered if any of you are using your camera this way and would mind sharing your experience, concern, trouble shooting and most importantly, your procedure to make sure you are capturing good audio.

Thanks in advance,
Rob
 
The HMC with adapter will record audio just fine for events like you describe. As with any other audio, you must select the correct mic, place is appropriately, and monitor the input.

In the case of a lecture, a few questions need to be answered to make good suggestions:
Are you locked on a tripod or moving about?
Is there more than one speaker?
How are you getting the audio now; with your own mics or from a house audio feed?
Are you satisfied with the present audio quality other than the method of capture?
Do you have any help, such as a production assistant?

Suggestion: You might want to move this to the audio board.

Best Regards,
Grant
 
Hi and thanks for the reply, :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

I am looking for device specific advice, not audio advice, per se. I don't need help mic-
ing, cable runs, placement or any of these things which I have a great handle on. I
am an audio geek first.

I am specifically hoping to find someone who has taken a board feed to their camera
and to see how it went? With my limited experience, I have consistently faced issues
with low level, hum-laden feeds handed to me from onsite audio engineers.

Surely someone has faced this while filming and I hope to hear from someone who
has faced it with this camera and this adapter.

Sound is so inconsistent that I am considering packing my own mixer to create a
camera feed, independently.

Thanks in advance for any shared experiences.
Rob
 
Heartfelt,

What I said.
"The HMC with adapter will record audio just fine for events like you describe."

The cam is a simple-stupid recorder, what matters is what happens in front of it. If you are satisfied with what you are getting now, the HMC will faithfully record it to the limit of its ability. Are the preamps, limiters and controls as good as a top quality mixer; no. Will it record at high bit rates; no.

Would I record this type of event to a HMC-40, yes. Would I worry about what someone else is feeding my camera; yes, because I would have no control over the feed unless the house audio guy loves me. That part has nothing to do with an HMC40.


Grant
 
The audio adapter does fine. Since it has a dedicated audio port for high quality audio capture, you don't need to worry about quality loss, I've used the shotgun designed for the camera and sennheiser wireless packs. Both did just fine and sounded great. The only audio advice i can give(I know you don't want it) is, capture from a sound board is mixed for the room and house speakers. So if you want a true mix, custom for you, you'd need to split the signal between the source and board so you can use a second board and create your own mix, separate from what the people in the room hear, as the acoustics will control how it's mixed. That's what they do on tv, with live broadcasts, and that's what you'd need if you're wanting true sound. But, all that will need to be weighed against how much you're making off the gig...
 
Thank you guys for the kind replies.

These events, I guess like most, are one offs. If I miss or capture skewed or
distorted audio, I am screwed. This goes to web video and DVD production and the
viability of the final products is crucial to fundraising for this organization.

Therein lies the stress you may detect in my posting. I am indeed a bit nervous.

ggrantly,
thanks for reiterating your first point. I did tend to gravitate towards the latter. I
currently use a separate PC and interface to capture and wasn't sure about the
audio quality of the adapter.

shaggywhite,
I agree on the splitter snake issue and I do understand the house mix vs the stream
or deck mix. I see all kinds of meetings streamed and can always tell when the mix is
not dedicated. I guess the snake will need to be a goal for future production.

Those are good things to point out.

Text and forums and be a bit difficult to communicate through.... compared to
conversation over a cup of coffee. I accept responsibility for this.

I had hoped to find another user who with the same experiences, might say
something like:

"Ya, I did this. If you make sure the level in the camera is 'so and so' the sound is
decent enough for spoken word. I made my situation work by doing x, y, and z".




My expectation may be too high but experience with the same device, over principles,
would be a game changer for me.

Thanks for your patience. I would love to be a contributing member but as of yet, my
experience precludes my ability to be very helpful.

Many thanks,
Rob
 
Heartfelt,

The best advice for your situation is to get control of the situation by doing your own audio. Taking the board feed will always leave you vulnerable and stressed as you stated. I would be too.

Grant
 
Rob,
I've used the XLR adapter you mentioned for several years, first on my Pana SD cams, and now on the HMC 40. We shoot several conference sessions simultaneously, and don't have the luxury of multiple boards to create a different mix for the room and camera. I use Mackies primarily, and have fed the camera using either the aux sends, buffered by a direct box, or through the main outs, set at mic level out. Can use 'Line' level, but tend to gravitate toward the 'Mic' level out. Settings on the XLR adapter are - using Input 2 - Channel Select = Ch 1-2... Mic Input... phantom switch on... Attenuator off. The input dials on the adapter are helpful, but clumsy to try to change during a shoot. I usually set 'em and forget em. I also use several Sony PCM-M10s to backup the audio for each presenter. I haven't had many problems, except when an aux channel went out ... just kept both recorders going, got a replacement board on the table, and we swapped cables as judiciously as possible to prevent loss. But overall I've used this system for the last 3 years (3 conferences each year + many other seminar type gigs). Hope this helps a bit more pointedly.
 
Also Rob...

I use lavs with ear-worn Countryman E6 mics. With them I can set the sensitivity lower, grabbing less of the ambient sound. So, there's far less bounce, and less need for adjusting the EQ.... even in the big ballroom-type spaces we record in.
 
My 2c on the adaptor: The little wheels that adjust the levels are way too small but for you're application probably not an issue but run and gun ...... :(
 
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