Hi Friends,
I am new here and a new owner of a Canon XL2, my first professional camcorder. I am a writer by profession and have ventured into filmmaking recently. One of the first problem I have faced with the XL2 is playback of some Mini DV tapes I had shot on a Sony PD 150. The audio is not there at all though I have edited the same footage I was previewing and they had perfect audio. Please advise me further how to trouble shoot this.
Thanks.

Are you trying to playback the tapes while in the camera? The XL2 does not have an onboard speaker. To monitor the audio with the XL2, you will need to have a set of headphones connnected.
-Jon

Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for the reply. I was trying to playback the tapes in the camera while connected to my TV with the A/V wires from the panel next to the battery. I am also confused with the audio channel settings.

Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for the reply. I was trying to playback the tapes in the camera while connected to my TV with the A/V wires from the panel next to the battery. I am also confused with the audio channel settings.


I don't think I have specifically tried that method myself, but I would assume it would work fine so long as you have the input correctly set on the tv, and you are using the lower rca jacks rather than the upper ones (assuming you recorded the standard stereo 1 & 2 channels)
-Jon

I confirmed all the connections were secure and proper but it still doesnt work, in fact the audio level indicator also doesnt indicate anything at all.

(assuming you recorded the standard stereo 1 & 2 channels)
-Jon

I am not sure and the cameraperson involved is unavailable to clarify which channels have been used.

In theory any mini-dv cassette should play in any manufacturer's system Unfortunately, in the real world there are some inconsistencies. You have found one of them. Some XL-2 cameras (including one of mine) have just enough misalignment so as to not be able to playback stuff from another camera. I am sure the tape will play back fine on the Sony PD150 or several other cameras for that matter.

To verify your connections, use one of your own tapes and record some stuff on the XL2 then play it back. If you can hear audio, your connections and setup are okay.

-gb-

Thanks Greg, I will test a tape recorded on the same camera. One thing I would like to know is if you mean that the camera is a faulty piece when you mention misalignment.

Thanks Greg, I will test a tape recorded on the same camera. One thing I would like to know is if you mean that the camera is a faulty piece when you mention misalignment.

You can send it in to Canon under warranty and the¥ will perform a head alignment. Be sure to tell them that it's because the camera can't playback material from other camera sources.

If you do send it in, be sure any tape you have shot on this camera to date is archived somewhere such as a firewire or internal hard drive. After they re-align the heads for compatibility, this camera won't play back those tapes that it recorded before.

You can find other threads here on the forum describing the exact same dilemma you are going through.

regards,

-gb-