EX1-R audio control

[David C jones]

Hi Andy,

You will want the limiter ON for sure! But this will probably not be enough: you will need to add a pad to the mic. What kind of mic are you using? Does it have a built-in pad? Any way to get a feed from the sound board?

Dave J

[Andy Morin]

Hey Dave, It’s a Sennheiser ME-66, possible sound board hookup. I’ve been reading a lot about trimming levels but not quite clear and what to do there. I’ve pretty much got a situation where I’m front and center of the stage and the amps are right there. Is it possible without a pad to capture this successfully?

[Bob Tompkins]

Are you shooting for the band? It would certainly benefit them for you to have a monitor feed from the board. Shooting ambient sound from the hall with a shotgun will probably be barely usable especially if you are in the crowd. I would use one channel for the shotgun audio and the other channel for the cameras external mic. One may sound better than the other.

The EX1r has a number of menu controlled “audio in” selections. I do not have mine with me so I can’t tell you exactly what they are. Use the setting that provides most pad, use manual audio and keep the volume low. It is easier to add volume in post than it is to remove digital distortion from overblown levels. Also…use headphones all the time.

[Andy Morin]

Awesome thanks for your help guys!

[David C jones]

You’re gonna need to add a pad! Shotgun mics are not made to handle the high sound pressure levels of an amplified band. You’ll get distorted, unusable audio. -10 or -20 will work.

Dave J

[Brent Dunn]

I just did a big concert shoot. The camera is not meant for quality audio.

I hired a sound recording engineer to record using pro-tools. We just did stereo for this project, but a multitrack recorder would be better. I know Zoom has a new recorder for recording up to 8 tracks at once. Only $400. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/600773-REG/Zoom_R16_R16_Multi_Track_Recorder.html

Another less expensive alternative is using the Zoom H4n for a recorder. You can record up to 4 tracks. 2 stereo from the board, two from external mics placed at locations for ambient noise like crowd cheering, etc.

That being said, I also recorded the opening band just using the on camera mic and the AUTO settings. I EQ’d the camera audio, brought up the bottom end and I was pleasantly supprised at how good I was able to capture the audio just using the built in camera mic. Not the way you should do it, but this was just an extra gift to the opening band and not critical.

Brent Dunn
Owner / Director / Editor
DunnRight Films
DunnRight Video.com
Video Marketing Toolbox.net

Sony EX-1,
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 7D
Mac Pro Tower, Quad Core,
with Final Cut Studio

HP i7 Quad laptop
Adobe CS-5 Production Suite

[Andy Morin]

Ok, So i’m new to anything with audio. What exactly is a pad. Like example model. Is it some physical or a technique you use with the settings?

[Don Greening]

[Andy Morin] “What exactly is a pad.”

Hi Andy,

A pad is a term used to describe anything that will act as a step-up or step-down transformer for an audio signal. If the audio is too loud you need to reduce the volume before it gets recorded. If the audio is too soft then do the reverse. EX cameras have a trim control (pad) for each audio channel that you can adjust separately. Go to: Menu > Gain Setup > Audio Input > Trim Ch 1, etc. Higher negative numbers increase the signal strength. The EX cameras default to -41dBU.

Make sure both audio channel switches are set to External and the Gain is set to Manual. These are the switches on the camera body.

– Don

Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com

[Andy Morin]

Hey Don just read your post. Thank you

[Dave Morrison]

[Don Greening] “A pad is a term used to describe anything that will act as a step-up or step-down transformer for an audio signal. If the audio is too loud you need to reduce the volume before it gets recorded. If the audio is too soft then do the reverse. EX cameras have a trim control (pad) for each audio channel that you can adjust separately.”

Don, I’m puzzled by your answer. I’ve NEVER seen a reference to a pad being used to “step-up” an audio signal. The only pads I’ve ever seen are voltage dividers that reduce signal by fixed steps (-10dB, -20dB, etc.). Do you have a link to this?