wireless
 

i purchased a wireless (Sennheiser G2 EW 112p Wirelless Lapel Mic ) and do not have the MA100/200, so someone online told me i did'nt need one and wrote below.....


"You can either use it instead of on board microphone, it clips to the top of the camera via the shoe mount and plugs in to the mini jack port.

Alternatively you could plug it into a Canon MA100 or MA200 mic adapter using the XLR inputs.

If you don't have an MA100 or MA200 (they are a bit pricie (100-250 pounds), then the cheaper option is to buy a Stereo mini jack lead which splits into 2 phono sockets, and plug the it into audio input 2 on the XL1s. I have tried it and it works perfectly and costs less than 10 euro. This I suggest is the best way as it means you can use the on board mic for background sound on Audio 1 LR and the wireless mic on Audio 2 LR. "

i would like to try out recording sound from the on-board mic and the wirless mic, can the both record at the same time, and can i switch between the two, or turn one off say and just record with the on-board mic, or vice/versa.
thanks
john.

The easiest way is to use 4-channel mode, and connect the wireless system to Audio 2 input.

There is no easy way to use both in 2-channel recording mode, but it can be done with some highly custom adapters. I do not know of anyone who offers one for sale.

You can do what you want with the MA-100. When you use the MA-100, you plug it into the Audio 1 line input jacks on the handle. It also draws some power through a small power port. With your Wireless plugged into the MA-100 XLR, you can switch between the built-in and wireless simply by flipping the audio select switch for Audio 1 from Mic to Audio 1.

To record using both, you go into the menu system and change from 16 bit 2 channel audio to 12 bit 4 channel.

With all respect to the online poster, I don't think you can bypass the MA-100 and plug the wireless into the Audio 1 RCA (phono) jacks with just an adapter cable. Those jacks are for line level audio and the wireless is putting out microphone level.

Get the MA-100 and save yourself allot of grief. The Sennheiser comes with a nice mounting adapter that you can take apart and attach onto the MA-100 accessory shelf. This lets you slide your receivers on and off as they were designed to be mounted. So the MA-100 solves the mounting problem as well.

Lastly, everything you need to know about audio on the XL series can be found here:
http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/articles.php#audio

The rear RCA jacks can be set to Mic, MicAtt, or Line level (-10db). The Sennheiser G2 receiver can also be set to a wide range of output, so you can use it directly into the RCA jacks if both are set appropriately.
The MA-100 offers only one surefire benefit in my opinion and that's the mounting plate for wireless mics that you mentioned. Many of them suffer from audible interference from the camera's power jack, it doesn't provide phantom power and they can't handle line level signals if you're taking a feed from a house sound system.
If you're going to invest money in an XLR adapter, especially if you ever need house sound, I would get a BeachTek DXA-6 with phantom power even though it doesn't mount as cleanly as the MA-100.

To use the standard XL1 mic in combination with an external wireless mic in 2-channel mode would require an adapter cable that does the following.

1. Continues to provides power to the XL1 mic

2. Combines the XL1 mic's left and right channels to a mono signal

3. Feeds the combined (now mono) signal from the XL1 mic to the left (or right) channel input, either at the Audio 1 jack or the MIC jack.

4. Connects the wireless mic output to the other channel.

5. As necesary, reduces the wireless output to approximately match the XL1 mic output.

Not difficult to build, just a specialty item with a very limited market.