Need help with XLR audio on HVR-A1E please!
 

Hi guys - this is my first post! Last summer I treated myself to this lovely piece of equipment - this is amateur use, you understand - but videoing is something I really enjoy. Having got it all out of the box, I proceeded to attach the XLR/mic unit. However, I have to confess that I do not have enough knowledge about audio to know what I am doing here. Having found that you can record sound without the XLR I have been using it like that - yes I chickened out! However, I should be using my A1 properly! The manual devotes two pages to the XLR audio but it does assume a little prior knowledge! As I know almost nothing, I need a bit more help.

1) Could a very kind person explain to me, very confused person, what all the switches mean and which I should be using for what purpose?

2) Could someone please point me in the direction of a web-site with articles on audio in general so that I could learn something about the basics?

Thanks a lot guys

Michele Feneley

Basics: Multimedia Audio Course - Index - Sound engineering - Audiosonica

Ok first you have INPUT1:
REC CH SELECT: CH1/CH2 or CH1 - Think of CH1 as the Left side of stereo, if you choose CH1 you only record on the Left side, choose CH1/CH2 and you’ll record on both the Left and Right. You’ll notice on INPUT2 you don’t have this choice. Keep this on CH1 if you want to record in mono. Sometimes mono is good:)

INPUT LEVEL: LINE; MIC; MIC ATT.
LINE - Line is used for connecting inputs from say a DVD player or MP3 player. For our purposes let’s just say Line devices use different signal strengths than microphones
MIC means microphone and you should use this with any microphone
MIC ATT – ATT stands for attenuate which is audio talk for “lower the volume”. Used when recording really loud sound sources with your MIC. It will lower volume by 20db which is quite a lot.

+48V: ON/OFF (also called “phantom power”)
Some mics need their own power, such as the mic that came with your camera. When or if you buy a new mic, that mics documentation will tell to use it or not. Set this OFF if you are connecting a LINE device.

INPUT2 is identical to INPUT1 except for what I mentioned before. It does not have CH1/CH2 select, so when you are plugged into this input you can only record to CH2 (as long as INPUT1 "CH1/CH2' is not selected. Input 2 will only work if Input1 is set to CH1 only)


Now on the side you have LOW CUT. This will lower the volume of low frequencies. Where MIC ATT lowers the volume on the whole, LOW CUT only lowers the volume on low frequencies…unfortunately there is no documentation on what frequencies it is lowering other than “low” frequencies. Works very well for windy weather.

Hope that helps!

mike

Wow - thanks!
 

Thank you Mike and Mike for this.
Mike D: that online guide has explained away a few mysteries of the audio settings on Prem Elements and is an excellent point of reference. Mike C: I have printed this off and stuck it into my cam manual!!

This is a great forum, I only wish I had found it before!

xx

hey, no problem:)

...and yep, damn good forum!