MixPre with canon AH-A1

sharky

sharky

Active member
I'm having some issues regarding using the mixpre with the canon xh-A1, namely when going line in into the camera. (Have to really pump up the mixpre) Audio sounds acceptable, but I think I could do better. I wanted to see if there's someone in the Los Angeles area that I could meet with for say maybe 1/2 an hour to go over the mixpre and various settings. Thanks for your help...:thumbup:
 
Have you considered using a mixer with phantom power or using the phantom capabilities of camera to do a straight hookup into the xlr's?
 
smithy said:
Have you considered using a mixer with phantom power or using the phantom capabilities of camera to do a straight hookup into the xlr's?
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The mixpre does have phantom power and that is how I'm using it. The problem is that the line level voltages of the camera and the mixpre don't match. I could go directly to the cameras xlr's but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a mixer...that's why i was trying to come up with a practical solution where I could still go through the pre-amp (mixer.)
 
usually the other way around....where the SD's output needs to be attenuated for the prosumer camera. Makes me think your master pots are too low. I dont know the A-1.
 
Well just to give you and idea what I do ..i go boom mike to Mackie DXF-6 then output at stagnet to my A1 with left channel louder than right to avoid clipping. Of course in mono since it is only dialog recorded. I don't use a Mixpre because i use phantom from the mixer to my Oktava. No problems using this method. I say forget the mixpre and get a mixer instead. The mixpre is great if your going into directly into a soundcard like a M-audio 1010 or an RME unit. But it is not a mixer...if it is what I think it is...it is just to boost you mike to audible sound and nothing more. Unless it is a sounddevices 442 then I am barking up a wrong tree. if so then give more specifics of your mixpre. Type..model. etc. And if so then boost you xlr mike inputs a bit since that is more likely the culprit.
 
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Odd, I found the A1 needed a 15db pad in order to not distort a line level signal. I assume they are still doing consumer line level. Great picture but they continue to ignore their audio.

You can either build some -15db cables or buy some attenuaters to pad your Mixpre. Use the tone to match the levels with your camera and you should be good to go.

Cheers
 
smithy said:
I say forget the mixpre and get a mixer instead. The mixpre is great if your going into directly into a soundcard like a M-audio 1010 or an RME unit. But it is not a mixer...if it is what I think it is...it is just to boost you mike to audible sound and nothing more..
Click to expand...

It is a mixer, a small studio-quality two-channel, portable, stereo microphone mixer. Including pan switches, built-in slate microphone, 1 kHz tone oscillator, and headphone monitoring, ideal for the front end of any studio or field production system. Made by Sound Devices.

Problem is that the line in on the canon is 'cold ', you need to pad down the mixer signal to go into the mic channel on the canon, or you need to boost the line out from the mixer to have a strong signal for the canon line in.
 
wabbit said:
Odd, I found the A1 needed a 15db pad in order to not distort a line level signal. I assume they are still doing consumer line level. Great picture but they continue to ignore their audio.

You can either build some -15db cables or buy some attenuaters to pad your Mixpre. Use the tone to match the levels with your camera and you should be good to go.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Wabbit,
Could you be thinking of the Sony A1U? The specs on the Canon XH-A1 state an oddly high line input level of over +8dBu. Tests with my SD302 seem to agree. As xray suggests, you either have to pad down for mic level input or crank it up for line level input.
-Dan
 
Strange: MixPre line out should be +4 dbU, A1 seems to follow a +6 dbU spec (page 159 of the manual, Teledan, where do you read +8?). The A1 samples I heard, fed from a mixer at +4, were crystal clear and not at all low gain. The A1 has actually by far the best line-in I heard in this category of cams.
Are you shure everything is set up correctly?
 
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xaxa said:
Strange: MixPre line out should be +4 dbU, A1 seems to follow a +6 dbU spec (page 159 of the manual, Teledan, where do you read +8?). The A1 samples I heard, fed from a mixer at +4, were crystal clear and not at all low gain. The A1 has actually by far the best line-in I heard in this category of cams.
Are you shure everything is set up correctly?
Click to expand...

Check again. The spec is stated in dBV. +6 dBV = +8.2 dBu

Also, my results are with the audio in manual mode. If the camera audio is set to auto, it will add a fair bit of additional gain. In manual mode, I had to increase the reference signal level on my SD302 a fair bit to get to -12db on the camera's audio meters. I can't recall where I had the gain pots on the camera but it was close to if not at the max. On manual, it needs a much hotter signal than my DVX on line in. The DVX is spec'd at 0dBu.

-Dan
 
Thanks for all the suggestions/advice - I'm taking my mixpre to a pro today, so I should be able to get it all worked out.
 
Hey guys.... I'm using a different field mixer going into the A1, and having similar problems. The line signal it wants is just sooooo hot that I have to run the gain wide open on the camera and give a lot out of the mixer still.

So in fact instead I've been runing mic-level from the mixer to the camera... which doesn't really make sens... as soon as you hit the mixer you shouldn't have to go back to mic level... but otherwise the gain structure just hasn't quite made sense.

Anyone know if the trim is just a pad in line mode on the A1? i.e. there would be no detrement to running it wide open all the time? No gain stage in there?

-Kevin
 
Okay, everyone, sound guy helped me figure it out. Set the mixpre to peak at +4db, hitting +8db every now and then. Then cranked the pots all the way up to highest setting on XH-A1. That seemed to do the trick - no noise, clean audio signal. (I was getting distortion because I cranked the mixpre a little too high, I was under the impression that if I cranked the canon pots all the way up, it would be noisy. I was mistaken.) Could now tweak the mixpre a little up or down with no dire consequences...
sounded pretty good. (And we were in a properly sound-proofed mixing bay.)
 
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