Sennheiser Evolution 100 Series
 

I don't know whether this is the right place for this but any way feel free to move it.

I'm almost at the point of purchasing this system for my XL1, but I am only able to get it via special order.

My question:

What is the connection on the receiver (3.5mm mini jack or XLR??)?
I can't seem to find this anywhere, unless I have over looked it.

Would I need to get MA-200 XLR adapter to attach the receiver to the camera or is there another way?

Would I need mutiple receivers if I want to have more than one mic running at the same time?


A question for people from the UK:

Does any one know whether I will be able to use these on the free bandwidth, or do I need to get a licence???

All the best,

Ed Smith

P.S any other useful information would be handy, plus personal experiences.

Ed,

Have you checked out the PDF documents for the Evolution 100 series on the Sennheiser website?

The connector is 3.5mm jack on the 100 series (it's XLR on the 500 series).

I'm not sure about any of your other questions, but the PDF documents on the website may have the answers (if you can't find the PDFs let me know).

In general, you will need a separate receiver for each wireless mic, and eachmic must be ona different frequency, and have sufficient separation from adjacent in-use frequencies. (There are a very few wireless mics (e.g., the an Azden VHF model that contains two receivers that are on differnt frequencies) that can work with two mics.)

If the wireless mic receiver output is balanced and at mic level, for best results you will want to use the MA-100 (or MA-200) but it may not be necessary if you are using short cable runs. You may need appropriate adapters/cables to make the connection.

Cheers Dan and Don.

Dan, I had downloaded the PDF, but because of the quality on the 3rd page I could not find it on their. Thanks dan that cleared that problem up.

Don, I guess then that if I needed two or more mics I would need to buy a mixer and then output from the mixer into the XL1.

Cheers again,

Ed Smith

Note that you can feed up to 4 mics to the XL1 (in 12-bit audio mode) and mix in post. The MA-200 provides 4 XLR adaptes, the MA-100 two adapters.

Is it possible to buy a 3.5mm to XLR convertor?

Considering that the XL1s only has one 3.5mm jack but four XLR adapters (with MA200), this would be rather useful if you had more than one 3.5mm jack mic.

Apparently so, Dan, there is a 3.5mm jack to XLR adapter they retail at around £20.

Thought I would let you guys know that I have ordered the MA200 XLR adapter, and Sennheiser Evolution 101p (the mic attachment bit). I went for this option because I thought that a boom mic would come in a bit handier at the moment than a tie clip. I hope its what I need, and I'll post my opinions on the products when I get the things in my hand.

All the best,

Ed Smith

If you don't want to get a MA200...
 

You can still run the audio in on the RCA adapters too. I use some Radio Shack right angle RCA adapters and 3.5 to 1/4" reducers.

Nathan Gifford
Tickfaw, LA

Thanks Nathan, nice idea but I feel the MA 200 adapter will give me more flexibility (enable me to have 4 XLR inputs, and BNC output).

Is the MA 200 compatible with the XL1, please tell me yes!!!


The products should be arriving in a week or so.

All the best,

Ed Smith

The MA-200 is compatible with the XL1

You don't need a mixer if you are only using 2 mics, you can use an XLR Y-adapter cable (2x connectors on one end, and 1x connector at the other end).

A mixer will give you more control over the levels going into the camera.

If you do not use the mixer or a Y cable, you can feed 1x mic into the left channel and the other mic into the right channel and mix the audio together in post (assuming you are using a non-linear editor)

Keith

Cheers Keith, I was having nightmares for a while, you put my mind at rest.

Cheers for your advice on connecting 2 mics to the camera, I might try it one day.

All the best,

Ed Smith

The basic function of the MA100/200, besides providing a balanced XLR style connector, is to convert via op amp, the balanced XLR signal from a mic to unbalanced RCA plug input on the XL1. Without the op amp to match the impedance of the two circuits, a connection can be made with a simple xlr to rca plug adapter, at the cost of about 6 dB of signal attenuation due to the impedance mismatch. There are transformer type impedance matchers available from Radio Shack or from audio recording houses like markertek.com. The minijack input works as an either/or with the rca jacks on channel 1 and requires the same impedance matching component as the rca jack.

Well I finally got my Sennheiser wireless microphone, SKP100 plug on transmitter with the EK100 receiver. I tested it at a dance competition in London; I was very impressed by the clear crisp quality of the system. I had it connected to a Sanyo MP303 cheap handheld microphone, on a boom pole picking up sounds from the speakers, and it sounded very well.

The MA200 adapter has arrived from where I will be picking it up, are there any features which I would not be able to use on the XL1.

All the best,

Ed Smith

" are there any features which I would not be able to use on the XL1."

It is fully compatible

Keith

Thanks Keith, I'll purchase it then in about a weeks time, when the money has arrived in my bank.

Cheers,

Ed Smith