Recording from XLR on an SR11

[ambrandt]

Howdy!
I've had an SR11 for about 2.5 years now, and it works great! Terrific picture and surprisingly good sound (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt8nAekPZdc ... that was my first outing with it... I know the audio is a little screwed up... bass is too powerful... will work on that) for such a little thing.
Now, that being said, there is one thing that is frustrating me to no end about the SR11 (and it seems pretty much everything Sony that can record audio)... the odd plug-in power.

I've read through tons of posts and searched high-and-low and can't find a solution.

Just a heads-up, this is a multi-question question (that should maybe be split into many posts among the various areas there that it would apply to)!

1) Is there an easy way to bypass or block the plug-in power? Like, if I'm at a concert (and I can film it) and I can tap into the mixing boards output with a regular stereo-to-1/8" patch cord, is there a way around that so I don't get a "60Hz hum" (that's what the sound guy at another one of their concerts called it when I tried that very thing)? I was thinking if I could place a piece or two of tape on the plug in just the right place so the contacts don't touch the power terminals inside the jack (would need a picture of where they are inside there) or maybe there's some device I could plug the plug into that would block or filter that power.

1.9) While looking for a decent second camcorder that I could afford, I came across the HVR-A1 line of camcorders and noticed that they all seem to come with a nifty XLR adapter. Unfortunately, those camcorders are a wee bit (/end minimilization) outside of my price range, but recording the audio from the board's XLR outputs would be a way to go for good solid audio, or so I've read (see 1.95 below).

Does anyone know maybe where to find just the XLR adapter (the thing above the lens here: http://cgi.ebay.com/SONY-HVR-A1U-1080I- ... 5add9bf2de ... I can't find a model number for the thing) or something that would do the same thing? I caught an old post on another board about someone using a Beachtek DXA-2T to do something like what I'm aiming for (apparently, the ground switch on the thing supposedly filters that PIP out and sends it to ground). Basically, something that plug into the camcorders mic-in (plug-in-power) jack and be able to connect to the mixers RCA out or XLR (from what I've read, XLR sounds better) without getting that PIP hum sent back to the mixer.

1.95) What, if any, difference would XLR audio make over using the typical MP3 player patch cord (1/8" headphone jack to RCA plugs)?

2) If the XLR adapter wouldn't be possible for under a couple hundred clams (and have it work with PIP), would one of those digital audio recorders hooked up to the mixer's audio out through a stereo patch cable like I mentioned above be a good substitute? Ultimately, the band that I would be filming would want a copy of the end result DVD and probably the raw unedited footage (I would have a copy of each too), and being that the band has given some thought to maybe doing concert DVDs at some point, video & audio quality is kind of a requirement, so 128kbps MP3 wouldn't really work, and having some audience clapping would be okay, but I would want the band to stand out (for a good example, check out Pink Floyd's PULSE concert... it can be found on YouTube... try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV6PKfzkbeo though that's from the VHS version (I'm pretty sure... the song order seems the same); the recently released DVD has much higher audio quality... notice how the audience doesn't overwhelm the band's music).

I would think that most band mic setups at a concert would pick up more band than audience from the stage mics and that would probably be audible through the speakers unless they remove that with effects processors or something (although, with one of them digital recorders recording the stage audio without the audience through the mixer assuming that's how most mics pickup sound (just what's in front of it), and the SR11 filming and recording open-air mic audio with its onboard mics, I 'spose I could remix it in post production so that the SR11's audio would only show through a little with the band being more prominent... I would do all the post production stuff in Sony Vegas).

Somehow, it's the little details that can catch someone off guard when trying something like a multi-cam concert shoot.

If anyone can answer any of this, that would be terrific! Or... anything that can point me in the right direction would be helpful, too.

Thanks in advance,

Aaron B.

[acgold7]

Welcome to the forums, and thanks for posting.

A couple of posting notes, then on to the answers:

It's best if you break up separate questions into separate posts unless they are all really about the same subject. We could break them up for you but sometimes this would end up leaving some vital piece of info out, so we like to monkey around with your posts as little as possible.

Also, breaking your posts up into paragraphs helps with clarity and readability -- I've added some paragraph breaks for you so it's a little easier to see where you're going.

Okay, enough housekeeping. Now on to the meat:

1. You're making this unnecessarily complicated. There's nothing wrong with plug-in power on a minijack, either by Sony or anyone else. It's just that it's not meant to do what you want to do. So all you need is a BeachTek or JuicedLink adapter. The JL adapters are supposed to be quieter. They will effectively and easily adapt a proper XLR mic or output to your minijack -- no hassles and you shouldn't be getting any hum at all.

1.9. The A1 audio block is not adaptable to other cams, and even if you could it'd cost you a fortune and probably wouldn't do you much good anyway. Stick with the BT or JL adapters.

Taking a feed from the board is always a bad idea because the house mix is not the same as a recording mix. It's unlikely, for example, that they will mic the guitars or drums. So taking their feed will likely not include those instruments. However, in those rare instances where each and every instrument and vocalist is properly mic'ed and mixed down to appropriate levels, you could take a board feed through your adapter box, set on "line."

1.95. XLR cables via an adapter box are better than cheap 1/8" cables because they are balanced to eliminate hum and all that other nasty stuff that comes with cheap gear.

Using an external recorder like a Zoom H4n is a good idea. The internal mics are fine if you set the levels properly, or you could plug in two XLR mics, or do a mix of both. Just make sure you set your levels during a sound check.

2. You would never record mp3 if you care about sound. Use wav.