Am I doing something wrong?
 

I just purchased a Rode NTG-2 and set it up on my XL2 I can hear it but I have to turn it way up and I can hear a hiss. input select is set to rear. record level is set to manual. rec/ch select set to ch1 ch2. mic att set to off. I used it in a wedding I was 10 to 15 feet away from bride and groom. I also used it in dressing room 5 ft away it was better but not what I expeted. when I try to bump it up in post it still sounds horriable. Is there somthing Im doing wrong ? And is there any way to get rid of the hiss in post? I use FCP Studio.
Im new to this hobby thats costs a ton of $$$ and didn't realize how much time and skill it takes before I jumped in, still learning hope you can help, thanks

Darrell

Hi Darrell - sounds like that puppy hasn't got any phantom power going to it.
Must be a switch there somewhere (sorry I've haven't used that camera) - but there should be a switch - look for +48v on/off or Phantom power. Or do you have the option to choose line or mic - you'll want mic.

Got any headphones ? or check the onboard meters - betcha the moment you give it some power it'll be away.

I will try that, thanks alot for the help. I'm thinking i have power, but I'm going recheck it again..

Thanks alot from a noobie of the boards!

-Darrell

Hi Darrel,
The NTG-2 runs on a AA 1.5v battery or on external phantom power. The XL-2 does provide phantom power on the rear xlr inputs.
Just check the +48V switch is "on" and the Mic Att switch is set to "Off"
If the audio distorts, set it to "Att"

People are under the misconception that a shotgun mic like the NTG-2 is a "telephoto mic" and lets you record good sound from a distance. It's not - shotgun mics just don't work that way. They're not much more sensitive than other mics but the fact they reject sounds to an extent coming from directions other than where they're aimed lets you turn up the volume a little. But in your case, 10-15 feet away from the subject, you're way, waaaay, too far away to record good results. Even a shotgun mic is intended to be used within 1 to 2 feet of the subject at most for best results. Unless the subject is shouting or is a band, at 10-15 feet the level hitting the mic is so low that you have to increase the gain to the point you get hiss and other electrical noise. A shotgun on the camera is okay for recording room sounds and general ambience but will not be any good for dialog, interviews, wedding vows, etc. Look for a "plan B"

I totally agree with what Steve said - i think a lot of people do tend to think of a shotgun as the audio equivalent of a telephoto lens and it's just not like that.
But having read about Darrell's problem, it does sound to me like there is another problem with Darrell's NTG2, or the settings he's using with it. Although 10-15ft is far from a good distance, it shouldn't sound "horrible".
- I get the feeling there's a mechanical or electrical malfunction or something is not on the correct setting.
- Darrell is it possible to swap in another mic for a minute to try to eliminate the problem? Perhaps go to a sound store and connect another NTG2 or really any other shotgun and try to isolate the problem a bit more.

Hmmmm - Darrell, can you be a little more specific as to what you mean exactly when you say it "sounds horrible?" Just what does it sound like?

A shotgun used indoors can have several problems. One is when you are at a distance from the source you have to turn up the recording gain to get acceptable levels (or the automatic audio level control turns it up for you). This can lead to high levels of hiss - circuit noise and microphone self noise - that would be too low to matter if the recording level was more normal. You also can get bassy colouration and tonal distortion - a shotgun's degree of directionality is highly dependent on frequency - some are really almost omni directional mics at lower frequencies - and as a result using them in a reflective or reverberant environment can lead to very signifigant effects as the reflections arriving from walls and ceilings and coming back at the mic from the sides and rear have their high and mid tones removed but the low tones come through without much suppression. The results is that the dialog sounds hollow, like it was coming up from the bottom of a well. Combine a reflective environment with distance from the source and you have a recipe of hissy. muddy, unacceptable sound.

Wow! you guys are great it was my bad I didn't have my settings correct made a huge diffrence when I adjusted the gain. The shotgun was used mainly for back up and close intervievs on the fly dressing room reception ect. I used a wireless mic on the groom for the ceremorny it worked great have another wedding this weekend. I'm sure it will be much better. Also looking into a Iriver if I can find one I see that alot of people use them. Thanks for all the replies.

Darrell