Massive static in Seinheiser mic

N

notthere

Member
I really did try to look for a similar post for my issue. I am sure my issue is not unique. So sorry to those who post regularly and know exactly which thread holds my answer...

Here is the quick description:

camera with xlr input connected through a 10 ft xlr female to male to a seinnheiser shotgun mic.
I have the phantom power turned off from the the camera and am using the AA battery for power inside the mic. When I connect it all together I get massive, periodic pulse of static that render any audio captured useless. The cord is not compromised, bent, dinged, or anything like that. Room where the problem was worst was carpeted.

It was worst when I was using a boom pole that had internal male and female xlr connections

If it is static built up in the cord, how do I get rid of it? Do I have static built up and am I transfering it to the mic/camera? What is best practice when connecting the mic to the xlr cord to the camera?

Holy cow, was the audio useless, and I looked like a pretty big shmuck in front of the interviewee saying things like , "uh it wasn't doing this when I tested it this morning" which was true.

b
 
Hopefully you noticed the problem before the interview. With noise, we divide and conquer - fortunately with your simple setup it's easy to identify the noise source. So you disconnected the mic and the static went away. What happened when you replaced the cable with your backup - you did bring a backup, didn't you? Okay, same problem we can assume. No backup mic of some kind? Oops. If I hand the time, I'd be tearing into the wiring of the Sennheiser XLR and hopefully resolder the flakey connector. If worse came to worst, I'd resort to a close up using the internal camera mic and shoot lots of B roll for post production... and be sure to have extra backup equipment and have enough extra time next time. Gad, my heart is beating fast just imaging how it must have felt - that's a tough one.

XLRs use shielded cable so if it's properly grounded (no broken wires @ connector), you don't have to worry about induced static from the carpet. Otherwise, you could have nasty noise induced, ground loops, etc. BTW, I'd also double check the battery connection and try a fresh set just in case.

Regards, Michael
 
It could also be RF. I just did some pickups on a short that was done on a green stage where I was hardlined with an MKH50 right into a 744t, and I was getting nasty RF from all over the stage. Swapped out cables, changed inputs, only had one mic, so couldn't change that, but man, it was nasty and there was nothing I could do about. Luckily I was only recording reference audio anyway for ADR, so it wasn't a big deal, but a major annoyance.

-Dave
 
Are you using a good quality XLR cable, or is it a Guitar Center/Radio Shack Special? I was burned ONCE by a bargain buy cable. Never again.
 
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