Max XLR Cable length

[Dario Corno]

Hi all, this is my first post on this VERY good forum.

Let's start with the questions... I recently bought an MA-100 adapter for my XL1, and whould like to use a Me66 as a boom mic, with the MA100 and the ME66 how long can be the XLR cable ??

Sorry for my terrible english and terrible newbie question (I did a search on the forum but have found nothing on this subject)...

Thanks, bye.

[Don Palomaki]

Very long - over 300 meters with good cable, but it is generally better to hold the length to that which you need - less extra cable coiled around, tripping people.

However, unbalancd consumer mics should be kept under 20 feet (6 meters) for best results.

[Dario Corno]

I will do some tests, thanks (also for the feet-meters conversion ;D )

And what about phantom supply ?? is there a solution without "fancy" and/or expensive accessories ?

thanks again

[Jimmy McKenzie]

1000 feet ... I suppose, but you would need a telescope to get the framing for that shot!! If you are that distant, you could record to mini disk and sync in post. Lip movements would be indistinguishable.

Anyway, the me66 you are considering requires the k6 power module that runs on one AA battery. Since the ma100 has no phantom power, this would be your power supply. (The mic module).

[Dario Corno]

Thanks again for the answer... someone told me that using batteries to supply power to the mic will decrease a bit the audio performances... is that true ??

tnx again

[Jimmy McKenzie]

Depending on what you are doing, you can bump up to film audio capturing techniques using much more expensive microphones and recording to a deck external from the camera.

Back to your proposed setup, the battery supply for the microphone you are describing is the best way to do this.

[Dario Corno]

This evening I went to a huge music store near by me and foud this "solution", the seller rent me a Sennheiser ME series mic and one Crown phantom power supply.
The mic costs about 200$ and the power supply is a portable one with a 18Volt battery (or power line connector) and costs about 90$.
With this stuff he also gave me, a small AIWA 3 ways mixer with phantom supply, so tomorrow I will do some tests registering the audio directly to the XL1 equalizing with the cam or registering it to a DAT equalizing with the mixer (yes, we have a very noisy ciack :D ).

Ok, I must admit I'm quite scared by all this equipment I don't really know, luckly there will be a studio professional that will give us some hints...

I'll let you know :D
Thanks everyone for the answers.

[Don Palomaki]

Using the AA battery is unlikely to be an audio quality issue with the Sennheiser ME66/K6 combo at resonable sound levels. It may introduce addition distortion at extremely high sound levels. Whether or not it is worth using external power sources. misers, and DAT depends on what you are recording. For many field shooting applications it is overkill. You and your client have to be the judge.