xl1 shotgun through xlr

[Adam Lawrence]

im using a shotgun mic to the XLR adapter of the XL1...

im not getting any audio levels,.,.,,though im not sure if my mic is phantom powered or not.. iunderstand that the XL1 does not phantom power mics...yet im still confused on what it takes to power my mic.....

any thoughts???

[Jeff Donald]

What mic is it, so we can determine if you need a phantom power supply etc.? I use a pre amp with phantom power. Are you using the MA-100 or 200 etc.

[Adam Lawrence]

thanks for the quick reply..

im using the ma-100 adapter with a sennhieser MKH416P48

would a power mixer with xlr ins and outs. (behringer) work
to power the mic if it is in a phantom power mic>??

[Jeff Donald]

The p48 means Phantom Power 48v (phantom power is usually 5v to 48v). What model Behringer, so I can check if it supplies phantom power?

[Erik J Na]

Adam,

MA100 is nothing but a simple XLR adapter for Canon camcorder. you need 48v phantom power for your MKH416. You could use most of PA or recording mixer as phatom power supply and good sounding mic pre.

[Jacques Mersereau]

Hey,

the Sennheiser 416 is a great mic, pretty much the industry standard for
high end ENG, but it won't work with XL1's XLR adaptor. You need
48 volt phantom power. I would suggest buying a Beachtek DA-6.
That provides TWO channels of phantom and a host of other cool features.

The people at Beachtek are great too.

[Lamce Barton]

I use a simple 48 phantom box (the little blue one that you put a 9v battery in and the boom guy clips it to his belt) it cost about 30.00 - pretty much any video/film house on the net has them. You go XLR from the Sennheiser to the box, from the box to a pigtail (15.00 "Y" from one XLR to 2), into the MA100 and there you go. (I use an XL-1s) I like the Beachtek stuff, but you don't need that for what you're doing. When using a boom, you're not taking in stereo sound, usually dialogue, so what's the difference? One ULTIMATE trick that has saved me many times, most guys on this board know it, but I'll point it out anyway:

Use a safety track! Select your ma-100 input, do a sound check, and set the left channel to -20db and the right to -12db. That way, when someone screams and blows out a channel, you have another, lower audio duplicate track to pick from. When you edit, pick the pieces of the left and right tracks that you like, sweeten as you will, and then pan it all to center. Viola! Apparently it's the oldest trick in the boook and I didn't know it. I just used it shooting a feature and it saved my bacon big time...

Also, on the phantom box, make sure the sound man has a slew of 9v batteries. The standard procedure is to use a sleeve of 24 new 9v batteries, and each day use a new battery, sound department placing a piece of bright (I like fluorescent orange) gaff tape on them, marking the date, start and finish time. Once you are down to the bottom of the barrel, then you start reclaiming the batteries, from lowest hours used to highest. You always want fresh hot phantom power for the boom, and this system sounds like a pain, but when you're standing in the middle of the freezing desert two hours from a 9v battery store and everyone is having a fit and the sound guy says, "No problem, I can get us through 7 more hours of shooting with these from days 1, 9, 12 and 18." You will thank the film Gods for having done it. NEVER use rechargeables, those things are unpredictable and problematic.

ALSO, XLR cables, even the expensive, heavy-duty super ones are unpredictable. Always keep 2 50' spares. ALWAYS.

Sorry if I ran on too long on that one...

[Adam Lawrence]

thanks for the input..

I ended up using a behringer 8-channel mixer. not very tavel savvy but worked..

i think i might try using a battery powered or dynamic mic for some travel footage i have to shoot..or try using the gadget Lamce explained about. sounds like that would be convenient.