A1 with an MA200 audio adaptor
 

Im about to retire my XL1. I have a new MA200 audio adaptor I recently purchased after breaking the old MA100.

I like the look of the A1, but sometimes require to set one channel of audio to line in (eg when recording a concert get a line in from mixing desk) and one channel to mic (eg to record live audience) It seems the A1 wont allow me to do this, from what I have read in a review.

Would I be able to connect the MA200 to the A1? Would doing so make any difference to setting one ch to line and one to mic?

Hi Mark, if you look closely at your MA-200, there aren't any switches on it for choosing line level vs. mic level (all four inputs are mic level), and there isn't any practical way to plug it into the XH A1 since it has RCA outputs and there are no RCA inputs on the XH series camcorders. In short, the MA-200 is pretty much useless for the XH series camcorders.

I'd be shopping for an inexpensive mini-mixer if I were doing live recordings. Although the MA-200 has four external mics, it doesn't have level indicators, and requires a adapting the RCA connectors into the 3.5mm input on the A1 which is questionable from a reliability standpoint.

The setting of the Line/Mic switch will affect BOTH channels on the A1 so no input splits are allowed. You can select to record audio from the built-in microphone OR from an external microphone(s) connected either to the MIC terminal or to the XLR terminal.

So any external inputs will disconnect the onboard microphone.

Not the most intuitive layout, but it is what it is.