It’s very important to understand how the audio flows through your camera. There is an audio amplifier that comes BEFORE the volume control. If you feed very loud audio into your camera (either from the internal mic or an external mixer) and adjust the meters so they’re not in the red, you can still have distorted sound because the dials are not affecting that first amplifier.
This is why the best way to check your sound quality is to record some audio during a rehearsal or sound check and then play it back. If it’s clean, you’re good to go. If not, with an internal mic you’re out of luck, but with a mixer you can turn down the output of your mixer and turn up your dials on the camera. A good rule of thumb is if you have the volume controls turned down low (under 1/2 way) you’re probably in trouble.
John
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