I've been shooting audio tests on my new XL1 and am confused about the results. Using a good sennheiser 815 shotgun, I go into the XLR adapter and can generate a good signal according to the on camera levels (everything is set to manual.) However, when I digitze the audio it comes in low- even with a cable that adds the balanced/unbalanced signal boost. If I go through a mixer, I can boost the signal that way but it also boosts noise, of course. Thing is, I have a DV tape of footage using a sony vx1000 and if i digitize that using the same setup the signal is much stronger. I'm wondering if the audio meters on the canon are unhelpful and I should let the levels go even higher, perhaps even peaking beyond what one would consider an acceptable peak on a digital display (usually the levels should be around -12 db, I'd say). Am I missing something? I've done all I could do in camera for the strongest seeming signal, but the levels seem low on output even though the camera meters seem fine. Any experience with that?

Also, has anyone found the 12 bit sample rate to be high enough in quality to use?

thanks

-- memo salazar (xximixx@juno.com), July 28, 1999