Set up for Shure fp31

Neal Buconjic

Neal Buconjic

Well-known member
Hi guys,

I'm preparing to shoot my first short this weekend and just received some audio equipment from an out of town rental house. They were nice enough to loan it to me at no cost, but I also had no say in what (brands/devices) I was provided.

I was told this is a basic ENG package and I received a Shure FP31 mixer, AT835(? model# scratched) shotgun mic, headphones, 8ft boom, shockmount, blimp, windscreens and a generous amount of balanced XLR cables.

I know how important "transparent sound" is to the project and how it can make or break my film. That being said, when I recieved the equipment (with no manuals/instructions) I realized I was in over my head for setting up the mixer levels.

DVXuser has been a fantastic source of information and inspiration to me for many months. Unfortunately, I don't own nor have access to a DVX. My short will be shot with a friend's Canon XL2. Having read that the Canon's audio capabilities can't touch the DVX's, it makes the mixer set up that much more critical.

If anyone has used the FP31, or at the very least could give me some simplified instructions to correctly set levels, I'd GREATLY appreciate it.
 
this is the worst package you can get - the mixer is a tractor and the mic is not even good to hit the nails - but that what you get :-)

keep the mixer inputs as high as possible and the outs as low as possible for less self noise
set the input with phantom to power the mic ( internal switch in the battery compartment -phantom - not a-b !!!),
dont remember if the the 835 need 48 ph or it can live with the maximum 12 v the mixer supply
remeber ,when you hook the return plug from the camera you hear the return ,immediately , ti hear the mixer disconnect the cable - the stupidest thing shure made
switch the mixer to mic level output - the xl2 dont have line inputs on xlt ,
place the tone on 0 uv , place the camera on -20 dbfs , open the limiters ( if they still working - 20 yers mixer in a a rent house :-)
keep the the meters at 0+1 maximum
after you adjust the level push the input as high as possible and decrease the out on the mixer .
 
Wabbit and Oleg, thank you for the replies.

I appreciate the manual (I couldn't find it online) and the general outline to achieve a setup for the levels.

I'll tweak until I get the best performance possible from this equipment.
In the meantime, I'll keep reading and learning!
 
I also think that mixer is pain in the ass . You really need a manual if you don't know beasic stuff about it. The pre-amps are also not considered very good. I would not use that mixer at all. They should give you wend x5 as a basic setup or 302 sd. That mic is also crap probably me66 is even better.
 
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