Ok, this is a very generic question but at the same time it is one of the most important one.

Back in October I was working on a short film and I used a friend's Hi-8 camera and just a generic mic he bought from radio shack. We used an extender and just used that as our book. It worked fine. This was the short film listed on the site called "Student Film"

My most recent project I used a XL-1. We went to Fry's and spent over $100 buying lav mics to use and other components needed. When we got to filming nothing worked. At first we couldn’t get the mics to even pick up sound, then we would get sound, but also allot of static. It sucked. We ended up going with the on-board mic that came with the XL-1. To make a long story short I am very depressed because I have all this footage for my most recent short film, but my audio is really not so great.

For my next project I am determined to get the best audio possible. Clear crisp and perfect. What is the best way to do this? What input should I used? What mics should I use? Where should I go? Why does the XL-1 not have a mic input?

Thanks a million to anyone that responds.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ryan Gomez,

The XL1 doesn't have mic inputs? No XLRs? No miniplugs? I'm sure it has some XLR ports you could use.

To get great audio you'll need to invest in a great shotgun mic, try Sennheiser ME66, those are phenomenal, but of course expensive. I own an Audio Technica 897 mic and it is fantastic, and it was only about $250 (much less than the sennheiser and the quality is nearly as good). And remember, always boom the mic whenever possible (for wider shots, yes you'll need some lavs).

I don't really know why your lavs didn't work, maybe they were defective, maybe there was an incorrect setting within the XL1

The Xl-1 has a miniplug mic input and there is an adapter you can buy to make them XLR inputs. As far as setting or the quality of the mic, beats me

Thanks a bunch. Is this what you are talking about?
http://www.zzounds.com/item--SENME66

yeah that's it, but remember, you need the K6 power module too (which is another $200+).

A power module? What? Why?

I use a pair of Sennheiser mics. (they were about $500 each along with the power module, I didnt know you could get them for cheaper...) They work perfectly. Clean and crisp.

out of curiosity, why do you use two?

yeah, the Sennheiser ME66 has to be used with the K6 or K6P power supply, the only reason the mic itself is sold seperately is because some people may already own either of the K6 power supplies (for other different types of sennheiser mics I guess). So yeah, it's definitely a required item. The price for it on www.bhphotovideo.com is $246.95

Condenser mics need power, either from a battery placed inside them, from a power source placed betweent he mic and the camera, or from a DAT machine that provides phantom power.

Condenser mics are more sensitive because they use disruption in the electrical field to pick up the voice (hence they need electricity).


for the lavaliers: i don't know why they wouldn't work, but the reason they probably picking up so much static is because they were tuned into the right channel. much like walkie talkies, lavaliers can pick up radio, television, and sometimes cell phone signals, which come out as static or jumbled voices.

meaning that if anything in a few blocks radius is using the channel you're on, the lavs will pick it up. some lavs have a switch like walkie talkies do to switch channels, but other lavs need to be taken to a audio specialist to be tuned to their own dedicated channel not used by any other media (quite expensive, but guaranteed results)