I have always heard about folks using PAD (Passive Attenuation Device) to help cope with the auto Gain Control on Consumer (AGC) gear. The AGC on my Sony CX560 is not too bad in terms of when I am speaking or starting or stopping – but it does pump up the background noise during silent periods. I get around this with the Final Cut Pro noise filter. I wondered if an ATT-488 XLR PAD would help. I could not find any videos showing an ATT-488 PAD used with a consumer camcorder – so I made one.
PAD: ATT-448
Shotgun Microphone:
Microphone Stand:
Camcorder Sony CX-560 (a classic)
Simple conclusion – you don’t see videos about PADs because they make things worse. They do defeat the AGC – but then other noise in the audio path is more apparent. And the noise that comes in when using the pad is *worse* and harder to filter out. So – bye bye PAD.