Do you turn on mic ATT for wedding reception?

[Taky Cheung]

I have a Canon XH-A1 with Rode NTG-1 mic. I never turned on the mic ATT feature on the camera. Does anybody do that? I'm wondering should I turn it on and keep it on for the entire reception to filter more ambient noise.

Your thought?

[Matt Barwick]

Same combo as you Taky.

I wouldn't have it on for the entire reception. I only turn have it on at the reception when there's particularly loud audio eg loud music during dances etc. - particularly if I'm positioned near the DJs or bands speakers.

Cheers,

Matt.

[Taky Cheung]

Matt, actually, that's my setup =)

one XH-A1s as main cam with NTG-1
one XH-A1 as Roll-B with NTG-1 and NTG-2 pointing at different direction
one HV30 on merlin for steadicam shot and as backup. The HV30 also used as playback deck at home to capture video. =)

I am going to try to have ATT on tmrw for the entire day.. =)

[Chris Harding]

With me it depends on the DJ!!! If my ears hurt then it's time to switch the ATT on and turn both channels down to almost zero. Some DJ's are reasonable but some only seem to have one volume "max" On a Rode I would kick in at least -20db if the DJ is a loudness freak. Otherwise I just run everything as normal. Actually most wedding DJ's are quite reasonable but you do get the odd blast master!!

Chris

[Travis Cossel]

Taky, you don't need to turn on ATT for the entire day. Attenuation doesn't filter out more ambient sound, it simply drops the overall level of the sound you're recording.

We only use ATT for the parts of the reception where the DJ is playing music, because most of them tend to play it quite loud and if you end up near one of the speakers you can damage your mic. I did this last summer. Not fun.

Don't forget you have audio levels on your XHA1. If they are spiking 'hot' then it's time to turn on the ATT. If they are normal, leave the ATT off.

[Don Bloom]

for receptions only...for introductions and speeches I leave my hypercaroid set to 0 and my drum mic in front of the DJs speaker is set to -6. that helps for speeches with non pro people handling the microphone (they have no clue where to hold it) and keeps the music from overloading. For dancing, I set the hypercaroid to -10 and set a -10 attenuator to the drum mic for a total of -16. That setup has worked well for me and really helps to keep post time to a minimum.
YMMV.

[Galen Rath]

Don't rely only on the audio meter on the XH-A1 if you are in manual audio control--you can get distortion even if the meter isn't peaking--I believe even the manual says this--so wear headphones always when in manual mode in loud environments.

[Peter Manojlovic]

Originally Posted by Galen Rath

Don't rely only on the audio meter on the XH-A1 if you are in manual audio control--you can get distortion even if the meter isn't peaking--I believe even the manual says this--so wear headphones always when in manual mode in loud environments.

Yes, i've also experienced this...

Unfortunately, sometime's the music's so loud, that even headphones can't help me deterimine weahter sound is coming from the camera or DJ speakers...

[Oren Arieli]

Travis hit the nail on the head. If you're riding the audio in manual (which is really the better option), you can easily tell when the audio is 'too hot'. If your pots are set very low and the audio is peaking, it is time to attenuate. In general, you want the pots on the A1 to be at the 9pm position (mid way) to assure that you have proper adjustment to raise and lower the levels as needed. Running in Auto mode for audio is asking for trouble at louder events. You'll never realize your audio is distorted until you get it back home and listen in a quiet environment. I find it helps to have earbuds that knock down the exterior noise by 20 dB or more so you can hear the camera audio better.