Zoom H4 and H4n help!

[MyFilmPro]

Hello,

I'm shooting with a canon t2i and running separate sound. I have a H4 and a H4n and two audio-technica 8035 shotgun mics, but I'm getting quite quiet pickup... meaning when I play back the audio file in Premiere CS4 its very quiet.

The H4 and H4n are both set on mono mix, no phantom power, and the mics have batteries in them.

any suggestions or is there something I'm missing?

I'm running the xlr directly from the mic to the h4 and h4n. Do I need a something else inline to boost the signal?

thanks.

 

[Pascal Scheffers]

What are the levels you are recording at? You should see peaks riding around -6dB while recording.

The spec sheet for the AT says it is more sensitive if you run it with phantom power, not sure that will make too big a difference.

 

[MyFilmPro]

yeah with phantom power I seem to pick up a lot of noise, almost like feedback so I've stayed away from it... I did a test yesterday and the h4n seems a lot better than the h4...

H4n with me talking at a normal but louder level is in the -12 to -6 range with the mic about a foot away.

H4 same test is down around -18...

From what I can see, I've got the settings the same on both...

And is it fine to be running directly into the recorders? I don't need one of those transducer things?

thanks.