Just outside my apartment door.

Just outside my apartment door.
 

I take it, that it's pretty open area, are you using any sort of wind screen? Are there any adapters on the cables? Are you using the MA-100 or MA-200 microphone adapter on your canon?

It's not all that open but fairly. Not enough to get any wind though. I have the cheap windscreen on it that came with it. and I have no adapters of any kind. I have a huge long 20ft extension cable that I attached the mic to. I was actually recording with the XL1 in my bedroom while they were outside talking into it.

Wow, Uh?!?
 

SO you don't have a mic adapter, you have 20ft cable, and it's in a fairly wind free area. Jeez, I am on the verge of being stumped! The only things that pop into my head, and somebody might want to confirm this hypothesis. The set up might not have enough juice to allow it the full range that microphone might be capable of, try shortening the cable and doing some test runs. If that works, they my assumptions are correct and you will need something in between the camera and the mic to boost the signal. I doubt that is it, but hey, it doesn't hurt to try. The other hypothesis, it could be a bad mic, or something not working correctly. I wish you the best and I hope that your issue gets resolved quickly!

Use the shortest posible cable. This is an unbalanced connection and prone to interference. If the mic sounds OK within 2 feet and crappy beyond then that has more to do with an inexpensive mic. If you want it to sound good keep it as close as possible

I don't want to hurt anyones feelings but this mic is being cleared out at less than $50 and I suspect for good reason. There is an old saying "you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear". We all have items on our closet shelves that weren't what we thought they'd be.

<<<-- Originally posted by Bryan Beasleigh : Use the shortest posible cable. This is an unbalanced connection and prone to interference. If the mic sounds OK within 2 feet and crappy beyond then that has more to do with an inexpensive mic. If you want it to sound good keep it as close as possible

I don't want to hurt anyones feelings but this mic is being cleared out at less than $50 and I suspect for good reason. There is an old saying "you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear". We all have items on our closet shelves that weren't what we thought they'd be. -->>>

You won't hurt my feelers. I know I have the cheapest possible mic. I am just looking to get the best performance out of the "crap" I have. I am only making a movie with my friends, it's nothing HIgh end I just want it to sound decent and look decent. Thanks for all the help guys :)

a long cable in your situation wouldn't lower audio levels, it would just create noise with this hi-impedence mic, but a 20ft cable is nothing to worry about. I used to use the same mic. Here's what's causing the bad audio:

1) It's a cheap mic. This is why you'll hear lots of handling noise, rattles, etc. and also the S/N ratio isn't that good so if you amplify output to good levels you'll have too much noise as well.

2) The mic has lower levels than high-end mics to begin with. You have to compensate by keeping the mic very close.

3) You weren't keeping the mic very close.

This is what I'd do in your situation:

1) Make sure everything on the boom pole is secured and sturdy, to reduce handling noise

2) Keep the mic as close as possible to the sound source. Also, make sure it's pointed correctly. A lot of inexperienced boom operators will point in the general vicinity and they'll be missing a lot of the possible output because the shotgun mic is more selective than they thought it would be. Keep a straight line from the mic to the sound source.

3) Shut windows, turn off AC's, unplug fridges, etc. to lower ambient sound. This'll let more off the speech and sound you want to be heard be hearable in the end.

That's the only suggestions I can give if you can't spend any more money.