AG-DVC30 Audio, XLR, Mic questions

Jeff Jameson · November 7th, 2005, 10:30 AM

I have not used the AG-MC15P. I do have the Rode VideoMic, and it sounds great. I also have the XLR input module that allows me to use the Rode (with an XLR converter) and a second Mic (i.e. lavaliere) at the same time. If you ever think you'll need to use two mics, these are great to have.

Jeff Jameson · November 7th, 2005, 10:41 AM

I have no idea if any single mic would be able to capture a concert well... if you want ambient sound along with quality stage sound, see if you can get a feed from the board and run that directly into your camera. Then buy a Rode VideoMic and use that to capture the ambient sound.

I have little experience with this type of setup, but I've been involved with some stage production recordings and we use this technique to capture audience reaction.

The Rode VideoMic runs about $150 USD.

Kevin Spahr · November 10th, 2005, 04:26 PM

I think I get pretty good results by using two omni dynamic mics connected to a sennheiser wireless system and fed into the camera. It's real easy to set up, I can put the mics where I want them since there's no wires and it works for a wide range of events. I have three examples all of which used the same mics

http://spahrproductions.com/musicproduction/music.html

Yea it's not 5.1 tripple THX superduper remastered megamix but people are happy with it and it doesn't cost me tons of labor in setup or post.

I talked to a guy today about doing a dvd of his band and he wants to record 16 channels from the board at a live show and remix it in his recording studio for 5.1 surround. GREAT! I'm ready to go for it but not everyone can afford that and he's got the equipment and the staff to do it!

Leo Xiong · December 7th, 2005, 06:22 PM

Hi all.
I just got my DVC30 yesterday from B&H. This is my first DV. It is awesome and it is the only one i can afford in this category (i am a grad student).
I havent yet got on too much testing on the footage, but i just noticed that when I switched on the SNS, there is a quite loud click sound. And when the camera is turned off, there is also a kind of click sound around the lens when I tilt or flip it. I doubt it is also about the SNS switch there. It sounds like a plastic object flippled or sliding open and shut at something.
Is it normal?
Many thanks.

Michael Fossenkemper · December 7th, 2005, 09:13 PM

yes it's normal. both noises. freaks everyone out at first.

Leo Xiong · December 7th, 2005, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Fossenkemper

yes it's normal. both noises. freaks everyone out at first.

Thanks a lot! I hope panny shoulda mentioned it in the manual in the first place (or cos I havent read it through..:)

Stephen Finton · December 8th, 2005, 04:25 PM

The clicking sound near the lens ought to be the Optical Image Stabilizer. When you power up the camera, gyroscopes keep it centered. When you power it down, it flops around. Just the nature of OIS.

What does SNS stand for, anyway?

Leo Xiong · December 8th, 2005, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen Finton

The clicking sound near the lens ought to be the Optical Image Stabilizer. When you power up the camera, gyroscopes keep it centered. When you power it down, it flops around. Just the nature of OIS.

What does SNS stand for, anyway?

SNS is that super nightlight shooting or whatever, that button on the left panel, for I noticed the noise is quite similar when you switch on the IR shooting mode with that button.
thanks for another piece of reassuring information.

Zac Williams · December 21st, 2005, 10:21 AM

I just purchased a new DVC30. I'm extremely impressed with the build quality and feature set. I am having problems with the XLR mic adapter. Regardless of being set to line or mic or even with the levels all the way down, I'm picking up a low level audio hiss on tape. (I verified that it wasn't the headphone monitor out on the camera.) I suspect that the XLR adapter is bad because I don't get any noise using the internal on-camera mic at various levels.

Please tell me that this isn't normal, as I was planning to use the DVC30 in two weeks with my AT897 to shoot a corporate training video. Audio will be important. I'm going to return the XLR adapter to B&H and try to get a new adapter sent to me.

Thanks for any comments.

Michael Fossenkemper · December 21st, 2005, 08:30 PM

no, this isn't normal. some things you want to check: make sure the atten switch is off. If you are using 1 mic, put it in input 2 and select channel 1-2 on the input 2 selector on the xlr adapter. Clamp the clam shell on the mic cable going into the xlr adapter. work the level controls to make sure they are working. I find that I have to turn down the monitor level a bit when I'm using an external mic. Also try a different mic if you have one, it could be an impedance issue.

Roger Averdahl · December 22nd, 2005, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zac Williams

I am having problems with the XLR mic adapter. Regardless of being set to line or mic or even with the levels all the way down, I'm picking up a low level audio hiss on tape. (I verified that it wasn't the headphone monitor out on the camera.) I suspect that the XLR adapter is bad because I don't get any noise using the internal on-camera mic at various levels.

I have the same problem. It is a loud hiss peaking at 15.6Khz that goes away if i use the built in mic, but who wants to use the built in mic? (And even if you remove the 15.6Khz peak the hiss is still very noticable.)

Does the same hiss occur if you plug in a mic into the 3.5mm mic in? On my camera it is no difference if i use the AG-MYA30 or the 3.5mm plug.

Panasonic has my camera right now for repairing it and has confirmed the problem and are working on it. I hope they solve it because the hiss ruins the audio.

You will get less hiss if you use a BeachTek DXA-6 instead of Panasonics AG-MYA30, thats why i bought it.

So yes, the DVC30 seem to be a camera with a audio containing noticable hiss, with or without the AG-MYA30. I am dissapointed.

I have tried this, with the same results every time:
XLR adapter: AG-MYA30
XLR adapter: BeachTek DXA-6 + DXA-8
Mic: AT 835ST
Mic: AT 825
Mic: Sennheiser ME-66
Mic: Sony ECM-MS907

/Roger

Zac Williams · December 22nd, 2005, 10:38 AM

Thanks for the quick comments and suggestions. I did try the XLR adapter with and without attenuation as well as with levels all the way down without any success. Even at line level I still had the hiss. B&H said that there was definitely a problem and will be sending a new AG-MYA30 next week.

I will try using the mini-jack mic in and see what happens in the meantime. I assumed that since the hiss was gone when using the internal mic that I would be out of the woods once I recieved a new XLR adapter. My only problem is I don't have an XLR to 3.5mm adapter. I'd like to run the mic through a mixer and then into the camera, but I suppose then I would need to take the signal from line level to mic level to use the mini-jack. Too bad the camera isn't switchable from the menu. Maybe the internal camera mic has a different pre-amp or something? That seems weird, but who knows.

I will let you know what I find out. I guess worst case scenario I send it to Panasonic and let them take a look. Thanks again.

Zac Williams · January 4th, 2006, 12:17 AM

I just wanted to post a follow-up. I received a new AG-MYA30 XLR adapter from B&H today and I still have the same problem. A little disappointing for sure. Just as Roger said the problem is in the camera. Perhaps I should have sent back the entire unit. I'm beginning to think the DVX100a might have been a better route.

On the bright side, the hiss is certainly much more noticable through headphones listening to silence then when monitoring dialog off of a television or other consumer audio system. I think I can squeak by on the upcoming training video especially if I take a laptop for direct to disk recording of voice-over, etc.

Panasonic is usually very good about warranty service, so maybe I will try that route once this first project is finished. If the audio was even a little cleaner it would be a great camera. I still would buy it in second over a GL2 even with the bad audio.

Stephen Finton · January 4th, 2006, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zac Williams

I just wanted to post a follow-up. I received a new AG-MYA30 XLR adapter from B&H today and I still have the same problem. A little disappointing for sure. Just as Roger said the problem is in the camera. Perhaps I should have sent back the entire unit. I'm beginning to think the DVX100a might have been a better route.

On the bright side, the hiss is certainly much more noticable through headphones listening to silence then when monitoring dialog off of a television or other consumer audio system. I think I can squeak by on the upcoming training video especially if I take a laptop for direct to disk recording of voice-over, etc.

Panasonic is usually very good about warranty service, so maybe I will try that route once this first project is finished. If the audio was even a little cleaner it would be a great camera. I still would buy it in second over a GL2 even with the bad audio.

Your levels aren't set to AUTO, are they? :)

Roger Averdahl · January 5th, 2006, 04:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen Finton

Your levels aren't set to AUTO, are they? :)

When using the AG-MYA30 you can not set any input levels to auto.

/Roger

December 7th, 2005, 06:22 PM	#34
Leo Xiong Tourist Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 3	DVC30- NewB question: Is the SNS switch noise normal? Hi all. I just got my DVC30 yesterday from B&H. This is my first DV. It is awesome and it is the only one i can afford in this category (i am a grad student). I havent yet got on too much testing on the footage, but i just noticed that when I switched on the SNS, there is a quite loud click sound. And when the camera is turned off, there is also a kind of click sound around the lens when I tilt or flip it. I doubt it is also about the SNS switch there. It sounds like a plastic object flippled or sliding open and shut at something. Is it normal? Many thanks. Last edited by Leo Xiong; December 7th, 2005 at 07:29 PM.

December 7th, 2005, 09:13 PM	#35
Michael Fossenkemper Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NYC, weeee. Posts: 417	yes yes it's normal. both noises. freaks everyone out at first.

December 21st, 2005, 10:21 AM	#39
Zac Williams New Boot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Pleasant View, UT Posts: 15	DVC30 with Bad XLR Adapter? I just purchased a new DVC30. I'm extremely impressed with the build quality and feature set. I am having problems with the XLR mic adapter. Regardless of being set to line or mic or even with the levels all the way down, I'm picking up a low level audio hiss on tape. (I verified that it wasn't the headphone monitor out on the camera.) I suspect that the XLR adapter is bad because I don't get any noise using the internal on-camera mic at various levels. Please tell me that this isn't normal, as I was planning to use the DVC30 in two weeks with my AT897 to shoot a corporate training video. Audio will be important. I'm going to return the XLR adapter to B&H and try to get a new adapter sent to me. Thanks for any comments.

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November 7th, 2005, 10:30 AM	#31
Jeff Jameson New Boot Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Archbold, OH Posts: 5	I have not used the AG-MC15P. I do have the Rode VideoMic, and it sounds great. I also have the XLR input module that allows me to use the Rode (with an XLR converter) and a second Mic (i.e. lavaliere) at the same time. If you ever think you'll need to use two mics, these are great to have.

November 7th, 2005, 10:41 AM	#32
Jeff Jameson New Boot Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Archbold, OH Posts: 5	I have no idea if any single mic would be able to capture a concert well... if you want ambient sound along with quality stage sound, see if you can get a feed from the board and run that directly into your camera. Then buy a Rode VideoMic and use that to capture the ambient sound. I have little experience with this type of setup, but I've been involved with some stage production recordings and we use this technique to capture audience reaction. The Rode VideoMic runs about $150 USD.

November 10th, 2005, 04:26 PM	#33
Kevin Spahr Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Carlisle, PA Posts: 451	I think I get pretty good results by using two omni dynamic mics connected to a sennheiser wireless system and fed into the camera. It's real easy to set up, I can put the mics where I want them since there's no wires and it works for a wide range of events. I have three examples all of which used the same mics http://spahrproductions.com/musicproduction/music.html Yea it's not 5.1 tripple THX superduper remastered megamix but people are happy with it and it doesn't cost me tons of labor in setup or post. I talked to a guy today about doing a dvd of his band and he wants to record 16 channels from the board at a live show and remix it in his recording studio for 5.1 surround. GREAT! I'm ready to go for it but not everyone can afford that and he's got the equipment and the staff to do it!

December 8th, 2005, 04:25 PM	#37
Stephen Finton Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 344	The clicking sound near the lens ought to be the Optical Image Stabilizer. When you power up the camera, gyroscopes keep it centered. When you power it down, it flops around. Just the nature of OIS. What does SNS stand for, anyway?

December 21st, 2005, 08:30 PM	#40
Michael Fossenkemper Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NYC, weeee. Posts: 417	no, this isn't normal. some things you want to check: make sure the atten switch is off. If you are using 1 mic, put it in input 2 and select channel 1-2 on the input 2 selector on the xlr adapter. Clamp the clam shell on the mic cable going into the xlr adapter. work the level controls to make sure they are working. I find that I have to turn down the monitor level a bit when I'm using an external mic. Also try a different mic if you have one, it could be an impedance issue.

December 22nd, 2005, 10:38 AM	#42
Zac Williams New Boot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Pleasant View, UT Posts: 15	Thanks for the quick comments and suggestions. I did try the XLR adapter with and without attenuation as well as with levels all the way down without any success. Even at line level I still had the hiss. B&H said that there was definitely a problem and will be sending a new AG-MYA30 next week. I will try using the mini-jack mic in and see what happens in the meantime. I assumed that since the hiss was gone when using the internal mic that I would be out of the woods once I recieved a new XLR adapter. My only problem is I don't have an XLR to 3.5mm adapter. I'd like to run the mic through a mixer and then into the camera, but I suppose then I would need to take the signal from line level to mic level to use the mini-jack. Too bad the camera isn't switchable from the menu. Maybe the internal camera mic has a different pre-amp or something? That seems weird, but who knows. I will let you know what I find out. I guess worst case scenario I send it to Panasonic and let them take a look. Thanks again.

January 4th, 2006, 12:17 AM	#43
Zac Williams New Boot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Pleasant View, UT Posts: 15	I just wanted to post a follow-up. I received a new AG-MYA30 XLR adapter from B&H today and I still have the same problem. A little disappointing for sure. Just as Roger said the problem is in the camera. Perhaps I should have sent back the entire unit. I'm beginning to think the DVX100a might have been a better route. On the bright side, the hiss is certainly much more noticable through headphones listening to silence then when monitoring dialog off of a television or other consumer audio system. I think I can squeak by on the upcoming training video especially if I take a laptop for direct to disk recording of voice-over, etc. Panasonic is usually very good about warranty service, so maybe I will try that route once this first project is finished. If the audio was even a little cleaner it would be a great camera. I still would buy it in second over a GL2 even with the bad audio.