Bob, to make it quite clear: of course, you are talking here about feeding CH1+CH2 with a single mic connected to CH1, right? Because when both channels are fed separately, you CAN set them independently (eg. one manual the other auto, one with wind filter on the other off etc).

same complaint as my wife - i don't make myself clear ;-)

are you sure about this on the v1? for the life of me i can't seem to set the levels independently.

thanks

leslie

Leslie, unless Douglas is talking about connecting one mic with two physical connections - I don't get it either. In another thread (started by yourself) it has been established (to my greatest surprise), that setting one mic to CH1+CH2 doesn't allow for independent (separate) channels adjustment...

I mean, I didn't check it myself, though; I took what you and Marcus were saying for granted. Now, with DSE saying what I said in the other thread, I think I must do some testing - otherwise I'm confused.

i plugged both the stock sony and my me66 into ch1, switched output to 1 AND 2, turned agc OFF, but there was no separate control of each channel anyway no how...

douglas - we are talking about the v1(p)?

leslie

Did you set SEPARATE in the XLR menu (might be LINKED)?

hi piotr,

double, nay, tripled checked - NO separate control (and in menu!). i get the little symbol showing i'm on manual in the viewfinder, but it only means i'm on manual for both channels, no independently.

leslie

OK Leslie - also did the test and you're right: with one mic, connected to CH1 and recording to CH1+CH2, the CH2 volume knob does nothing regardless on settings (manual/AGC, or LINKED/SEPARATE).

It only works with another physical connection (2 mics, or one with an Y cable, or a stereo one). With my sterero, LINKED is usefull as I can adjust both channels with one knob.

I guess DSE didn't check it, and - just like myself - commented based on how it should work, and not how it actually does...

Now I'm confused although that isn't hard!

Both XLR INPUTS have individual gains controls. If you feed channel 1 to tracks 1 & 2 then you only have 1 level control, naturally. Solution is to make a "Y" cable if that's what you want.

On the PD150 you can have separate gain controls and separate AGC (note you have to switch the camera into VCR more to change this, wierd huh?). However the gain controls work through the little wheel thingy on the back of the cam, you push the wheel to select the channel whose gain you want to change, not much use really.

hi bob, fancy meeting you here ;-}

and the same on the 170 - (though you didn't have to switch to vcr to change). on the one 170 there was a button marked audio and that brought up a creens showing what was going on, and if a channel was set to manual, you could turn the wheel and adjust to your hearts content.

i found it extremely useful, as explained earlier in this thread.

what i don't understand is:

a. how spot (sorry douglas if that's too informal), can do it on his camera and i can't.

b. why sony changed it in the first place.

but then again, what do i know. anyway, off to the races on friday (scone horse week) to shoot the hats, frocks, plunging / bulging necklines, and of course, the hapless, helpless punters....

now we'll see how the v1 stands up to cu's of horses legs passing the finish line...

leslie

OT, but it'd be cool to see some of that footage...

ciao,
Matt

shooting tomorrow - what format should i post on the web?

leslie

If you read the + sign as MIX then I'd see that both channels should still be active and have their own gain and feed both Tracks 1 and 2.

If you read the + sign as meaning CH2 ROUTED TO CH1 so that would mean only CH1 was inputting a signal that is recorded on Track 1 and Track 2. Then only CH1 could have a gain control.

I certainly assumed MIX. That would tie both 1 and 2 inputs together and then feed both circuits 1 and 2.

If you make a Y cable -- only use ONE XLR for power just in case the two power pins shouldn't be connected. I don't know -- I just never tie two powers together. Like in case you turn on power off on one channel and the pin went to ground instead of OPEN.

Remember if that if you set the V1 to match your mics rated sensitivity -- you really should be able to set the level a tiny bit hot and let the limiter hold the signal to under 0dB. Also remember, the REF LEVEL is -20 not -12 like for DV. Average levels will LOOK much lower than you are used to. Don't crank it up.

I found AUTO always worked best -- after I set the sensitivity to match the mic.

Bottom-line, I would check IF I had a problem before I built a cable.

Steve is correct, Piotr; if you're using phantom, you don't want to be using a Y connector. Stereo mics would be another story; you'll be fine there.
Reference levels are not something to be worried about. Averages aren't something to be concerned about either; Digital audio is a bit-bucket, and like any bucket, you want as much as possible in the bucket without spilling anything. Peaks should be your worry.
Leslie, I now understand what you wanted. Yes, it's a drag that the V1 doesn't offer independent. The Z1 does exactly as the PD cams did; complete independence of the two, not just two level controls and latched compression. Then again...that's one of the differentiators between the Z and the V.

All three images here are being fed a 700Hz tone from a Shure A15TG tone generator. The A15TG is a fixed level output, fixed frequency output.
Which camcorder is set to -20dB? Which one is set to -12dB? Which cam is DV and which is HDV? Or are any of them at a reference level? Should the HDV meters change when recording DV/DVCAM?

There are several informative discussions on this subject in the "Now Hear This" forum here on DVInfo.net. I'd like to invite you to join in over there.