very very low audio level in earphone

[Cees Mutsaers]

I connected my MKH416 to the front audio input, turned on the phantom power in the menu and made some recordings in manual and auto level mode but the sound on the earphone is very very soft. On the LCD screen both ppm show that the microphone works. Which setting am I missing???

 

[maxemanuel]

You've thought about the master control. That little round thing where you can adjust the output volume

 

[Cees Mutsaers]

Thanks turning up the monitor level helped. However the recorded level is still not high (as I would expect when I see thelevel at the ppm) and if I turn up the monitor I get a lot of noise !! The settings are :

in audio menu :

front VR ch1 : front
front VR ch2 : front
limiter ch1 : on
limiter ch2 : on
F mic power on
monitor sel : stereo


buttons "monitor select":
st ch1/2

buttons "audio select" :

ch1 auto
ch2 auto

(if put to manual nothing is recorded).


any idea?

You've thought about the master control. That little round thing where you can adjust the output volume

 

[Jim Carswell]

Any chance this is a line/mic setting issue?

 

[GaryNattrass]

I find my 301 doesnt have huge amounts of heaphone level, the sony 7509 cans are just about OK but I have to have the volume right up. I find that smaller walkperson type cans are a bit better so it must be down to impedance matching.

I have also found that the auto level sounds very compressed and breathes on the headphone output but when I play back rushes through the edit suite the audio is OK.

 

[Cees Mutsaers]

This was my first thought as well but for the front audio input I could not find any mic/line switch (not in the menu and not as a physical button on the camera body like for two rear audio inputs). The only thing I found you can change for the front input in the menu is to switch off/on the phantom power (besides of coarse things like limiter etc.). If I look at the fs-ppm I can get the level even towards the 0 dB but when i listen via the headphone the sound volume is very low (tried 3 different headphones) even if I set the monitor level at max (and this results in a lot of noice on the headphone).

What about the -40/-50/-60 dB setting in the menu for the front audi input. When I put it on -40 dB the level in the earphone is even lower (very strange would have expected the opposite). If I put it on -60 dB the sound on the earphone is a little louder but the noise becomes much higher (dramatic drop in S/N ratio) even louder than the audio. I guess this setting is there to adapt the input of the camera towards the output level of the mic. Question is what setting should I use for the 416 ??

Any chance this is a line/mic setting issue?