Capturing sound from 2 lav mics and 1 shotgun with Panasonic HDC-HS700

[Big Chupa]

Hi everyone - I'm trying to take a baby step into a bigger world and up the quality of the sound accompanying my videos. I am shooting what I hope will become a successful podcast with 2 hosts in an indoor setting. I plan to mic them both with wireless lav mics, which I've purchased (Azden WLT-PRO) and also use a shotgun mic on my camera. I only purchased one receiver for the lav mics and I also bought this 4-channel mixer - JuicedLink CX431.
Questions, please:
1. Do I need another receiver? I was under the impression that the receiver could catch the signals from both lav mics, based on the way they packaged the components. But now that I'm examining them, I'm not so sure.
2. How do I connect the receivers to the mixer? Looks like the mixer only accepts XLR inputs. Do I need to purchase (3.5 mm to XLR) converter dongles?
3. If I use converter dongles, am I going to be getting stereo sound? Some of the stuff I'm reading about the Azden receiver seems to indicate that it will be outputting mono...bummer. But does the XLR conversion fix that?
4. Will the shotgun mic still be picking up the 5.1 sound that the camera is capable of?
5. Should I buy a converter dongle for the shotgun mic too? I guess I'll have to, if there is only one mic input on the camera, huh?

[edDV]

Hi everyone - I'm trying to take a baby step into a bigger world and up the quality of the sound accompanying my videos. I am shooting what I hope will become a successful podcast with 2 hosts in an indoor setting. I plan to mic them both with wireless lav mics, which I've purchased (Azden WLT-PRO) and also use a shotgun mic on my camera. I only purchased one receiver for the lav mics and I also bought this 4-channel mixer - JuicedLink CX431.
Questions, please:
1. Do I need another receiver? I was under the impression that the receiver could catch the signals from both lav mics, based on the way they packaged the components. But now that I'm examining them, I'm not so sure.

Yes, each mic is mono, each sender and receiver is mono. The senders can select VHF frequency 1 or frequency 2. Each receiver also has the same two frequency selects.

2. How do I connect the receivers to the mixer? Looks like the mixer only accepts XLR inputs. Do I need to purchase (3.5 mm to XLR) converter dongles?

Not certain this mixer will accept high impedance consumer mics. Best to call them and ask. You will need a mono miniplug to unbalanced XLR adapter for each receiver.

What is the shotgun model? It will be input 3. What is the purpose of the shotgun? Background atmosphere?

3. If I use converter dongles, am I going to be getting stereo sound? Some of the stuff I'm reading about the Azden receiver seems to indicate that it will be outputting mono...bummer. But does the XLR conversion fix that?

For stereo, each input is assigned L/C/R with Pan Switch.

4. Will the shotgun mic still be picking up the 5.1 sound that the camera is capable of?

No. The shotgun as mixer input 3 gets assigned L/C/R. Mixer output is stereo (2 channel).

5. Should I buy a converter dongle for the shotgun mic too? I guess I'll have to, if there is only one mic input on the camera, huh?

Yes, shotgun plugs into mixer. Mixer plugs into camcorder. I'm assuming mic input is stereo.

[Cornucopia]

Not sure if the last post made it clear to you, but you're going to need 2 receivers, where each reciever is tuned to a different frequency (matching the freq. of its corresponding mic), otherwise you will get crosstalk (or worse) and would not be able to pan them separately.

Also, you do not say what model your camcorder is, so you might need some converters/adapters on the mixer output as well...

Otherwise, I completely concur with edDV.

Please describe how you are going to set this up and with what sonic result in mind?

Scott

[Big Chupa]

Thanks guys - as always, I appreciate the expertise. My cam is a Panasonic HDC-HS700 and the shotgun mic is a Shure, but not "sure" what model LOL. The goal is to have 2 distinct channels of sound for the two hosts of the podcast, and the shotgun mic is for off-camera sound, like if one of the crew has something to add. It's going to be pretty informal.
I understand now that I'll need another receiver. It's just so strange how Azden packages their stuff - they sell a kit that includes a receiver and a mic, and then they sell the mics separately. But I can't find a receiver by itself. I'll look harder.

[edDV]

Not to confuse your issue but this is a perfect context to draw a distinction between consumer and pro camcorder audio.

Your mixer will allow all Lav 1 to left and Lav 2 to right maintaining separation. But when you add the shotgun as center, it will be heard on both left and right channels. That is the problem doing a stereo mix in the field. A device like the Beachtek DXA-2T allows interface with two mics to maintain channel separation into a stereo consumer camcorder with separate gain control.
http://www.beachtek.com/dxa2t.html

Pro camcorders allow recording to four or more separate audio tracks so there is no mix. All are separate. This allows a careful mix in post production.

[Cornucopia]

Or you do a dual-system (aka record audio to a separate audio-only recorder). Getting a feature-packed, 4-channel, SD-card-based audio recorder is pretty easy and inexpensive these days. It does require more stringent syncing (and obviously separate monitoring) and then marrying them in the edit, but quality can be more optimal. Just a thought.

Scott