Hi I'm wondering what the better setting would be for my G3 Transmitter and Receiver as far as the decibel settings. I shoot mainly weddings.

Right now I have the Transmitter at -12 and Receiver at -12.

1. Will I get less background noise if I set the transmitter -6 then if I set it to -12.

2. How does the AF Out on the Receiver at -12 or any other setting effect the quality of audio or levels when recording to a Zoom H4N? Should the Decibels match on the Trans and Receiver?

3. Not related to the Wireless setup. But when I use my H4N with my Microphone and a XLR to 1/2" I have to have the volume on the H4N up to 100 volume level. I do have my Limiter set to COMP2(vocal). Is this the reason why?

Sorry I don't have my Mic with me or I would test myself.

4. Lastly, I getting what I think is cable noise when I hold the mic and h4n in my hand and move the mic to whoever is speaking. Is this because the cable is not well shielded? If so what brand can I get that is about 3-5' long XLR male to XLR female?

Thanks so much!

Kelly

Have you read the setup guide in the Sennheiser radio mic manual?
Its often better to work through a manual with the unit in hand than get fragmented info from a forum.

Have you read the setup guide in the Sennheiser radio mic manual?
Its often better to work through a manual with the unit in hand than get fragmented info from a forum.

Agreed.

Read the manual.

The transmitter settings should be based on the level of the voice and should be adjusted on site accordingly.

The receiver output level depends on what you are feeding it into - high, line-level output is best fed into a line input. Low level output into a microphone input is not as good as you are reducing the level and then boosting it again adding noise.

I was just leafing through the g3 manual, and it sadly doesn't really explain the AF settings at all. Personally I use AF out +12 on receiver when connecting to input devices(requires some makeup gain but that's the max the g3 can output) and 0 for mic level inputs (requires negative gain usually, which is good for cheap preamps in cameras).

On the transmitter, I find sensitivity -21 or -24 is good for average speakers... increase the gain (lower negative numbers) for quiet speakers, or reduce it for loud talent by 6-12 db.

Having a look back through the Sennheiser G2 manuals I have, they also have minimal usage information BUT is it a case of if you have purchased equipment of this level there is an assumption that you are actually familiar with the operation of a system.
For example; If you bought a pro video camera would you expect in the manual "How to use a video camera" or if you bought a car would you expect a "How to drive manual"?

Much also depends on what mic you have plugged into it. My transmitter tends to be at -30db for lavalier mics. It has a terrible sounding limiter when your levels get hot. I avoid that at all costs.

"It has a terrible sounding limiter when your levels get hot. I avoid that at all costs".
The thing is, it doesn't have a limiter, it just clips.. So yeah, avoid setting the transmitter's sensitivity too hot... nor to low, at best, it's a compromise with the cheap systems
That said, I used to set the G2 receiver's AF output at -18 or -12, feeding a quality preamp at mic level.

definitely setup will be tailored to the ambient environment. i find that a good setup though is the transmitter is setup around -18 but not too low or too high. I then set the receiver accordingly to what i find is a good level. I make my fine adjustments on the h4n as needed. what i've also noticed in the past is that scanning for free frequencies right beforehand is key to having the best results.