Mic baffled
 

Hi all.

I hope someone might be able to help me trouble shoot a problem. My kit looks like this:

Canon XL1/MA200 adaptor/RodeNTG-2 condenser microphone

Ive just bought the mic brand new and the MA200 second hand but it was tested as working before purchased.

Ive set up the audio as 12 bit/ST1-ST2
Audio1 is set to mic (internal microphone working fine)
Audio2 is set to mic (RODE)

MA200 (audio2 out) connects to XL1 (audio 2 in)
RODE Mic is connected to MA200 into 1 of the Audio 2 sockets.

I get no sound from Audio 2 in the audio monitor. A hiss yes but no sound.
I have a fresh battery in the Mic.

I tested the same mike through the Audio 1 inputs and still no sound. My cables are brand new. Both XL1 audio inputs sockets cant be damaged. This camera has had very little use.Is this a power issue? Im seeing this phantom power mentioned on threads but i thought my AA battery powered the mic. Does the MA200 need power?

Sorry if ive missed some obvious answer but im a bit lost at this stage.

Dave

>> Does the MA200 need power?

YES! The MA-200 has a small (2.5mm) sub-mini phone plug (mono) that provides power to the MA-200, and it should be plugged into the 5 VDC jack on the back of the camcorder body, and the audio leads need to be connected as well to complete the power ground return to the camcorder.

The MA-200 should have three cables. Two have RCA connectors and the third a small sub-mini plug connector. On the XL1s the sub-mini-plug socket is located between the RCA audio conectors (red and white). I'm not sure where that socket is positioned on the XL1, but I do know the audio conections are positioned a bit differently from the XL1s.

In any case, the sub mini provides power to the MA-200 to operate.

Thanks
 

Will check this tonight when i get home from work but im confident this will work. I searched for a manual for the MA200 but the Canon site support was rather thin.I never even noticed that small hole between the audio sockets

Thanks for the help

some progress
 

This has worked and i am getting some sound but at a very low level. Eveything seems to be connected right. Any suggestions?

The first thing I would look to is the Attenuation setting. On my XL1s, this is a switch located within the audio control panel. I don't know where the switch is on the XL1 (as they are quite different cameras), but on the GL1 (similar in vintage to the XL1) the switch is in the camera's menu settings.

Attenuation essentially reduces the mic input sensitivity by something like -20 or -30 db, an essential difference between mic level and line level inputs. Since I exclusively use dynamic microphones which generate their own voltage levels and do not require either battery or phantom power to function, I am a bit in the dark. Still, a condenser mic should deliver extraordinary audio levels...unless you have a damaged mic cable. Try the same connection with a brand new cable. You may well be surprised in a very gratifying way.