sound device 302 needs to be turned up ALL THE WAY to barely reach -20db

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davidnssbm

Active member
Hi, so we were filming with a sound device 302 mixer to capture audio and we had to turn it ALL the way up AND GAIN ALL THE WAY UP just to barely get in the sweet spot between -18 and -12. None of us are pros with audio and we are a bit confused. We had a senheiiser mkh416 and surely we are doing something wrong? We do not know the proper settings. The audio turned out find and can be boosted in pro but surely it shouldn't have to be cranked up all the way with gain all the way when just 3 feet from the actor?

oh, and yes we did a 1k tone to match the audio recording devices sweet spot!
 
3 feet is pretty far and depending on how loud the actor speaks, may well produce the results you're experiencing. 18" is the distance most of us shoot for, and at 18", you'll be getting 4 times the signal strength (inverse square law).
 
As gpforet said, contrary to popular myth shotgun's are not "telephotos for sound" (such critters don't exist) and need to be between 18 and 24 inches from the speaker's mouth for optimum pickup, aimed accurately enough so it points within a circle about 8 inches in diameter centred on the speaker's larynx.

You need to setup the mixer properly. Assuming mixer is plugged into a line level input on the recording device and the output attenuation is zero, the factory default. Start with the mic channel's fader and trim all the way down to zero. Turn on mixer tone. This sends a 0VU/0dBu signal to the recorder. Adjust the recorder or camcorder's input level controls so tone reads -20dBFS (SMPTE standard) or -18dBFS (EBU standard) on the recording device's meters and lock off the controls with tape if possible so they can't be moved. Turn off tone. For the MKH416 check phantom power on, input level to mic on the channel, phantom voltage to 48v. Set the mic channel fader to the centre detent, 0 on the dial, unity gain. With the talent speaking in the voice they'll use in the scene, increase the channel's trim control until the mixer's meters are bouncing around 0-4 VU, the orange zone. At this point the recorder should be registering about -12 dBFS on its meters (speech meters higher than tone on a peak reading meter - which 99% of contemporary recorders have - at the same VU level, do not back off the recorder level controls to compensate.) Ride gain during the scene with the channel fader.
 
It's interested. I purchased the 302 today and after running a few tests I was not as pleased as I had hoped to be.

Before I had the 302 I would have a road case with my studio pre's. I decided that I definitely needed something more portable so that's where I am at with the 302 now. I have the same problem using a 416 (not the mics fault) where I need to turn the pre's up fairly loud to get my levels up. I expected silent pre's! If I turn the trim all the way up I want to hear the sound of my tongue touching the roof of my mouth not noise. I expected studio quality sound.

Am I expected way to much from this?
 
How can this 18" thing be the staple? I see news journalists audio holding booms feet above politicians, and especially wide shots in film.

I understand camera audio inputs may vary but even when cranked up all the way I still need to increase the audio to 12db in post and sometimes even layer double audio!
 
There's no replacement for placement.

I wouldn't hold news journalists as an example of high standards of audio either.
 
True. True. I'm gonna try Steve's tips and see what I can muster, because now that I think about it i had no issues with the 302 in filmschool. That's why i bought it. Surely it's user error.
 
My case was just user error. I posted about 30 min after testing it out of the box and was raging. An hour later I realized that I had my pk/vu setting attenuated so It looked like it was reading lower than it was. When I turned up the trim to adjust to -12 it was clipping and creating the poor quality I was talking about. Now I've got control and this thing kicks ass!
 
Definitely check phantom power settings. I had my CS3e pluggesd into a 302 and was freaking about how quiet it was until I found the phantom was not to 48.
 
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