ivanovich

i’s go with the cinela. have you gone to the site? cosi is nice and compact but the pianissimo might be a good option too. figure 8 mics are very susceptible to wind and handling noise, cinela is great on all of these fronts.

i like this thing. albeit $3.3k and 120lbs?!?! i boomed for a mixer who has a very similar idea and built it for $1kish through 8020 distributor but it was not 120lbs....thats insane

Chiming in about the service side of the situation... After 15+ years of using my CCM41 without any issues, it started acting up with hiss coming in and out. I contacted Redding Audio in CT and they took care of everything. I recommend going through them. Schoeps Germany was very responsive and I had the mic back in about 3 weeks. I’d say contact them and see whats up. Any mic is going to be susceptible to rough environments where dust, humidity, and other factors will increase the need for service.

When I get to location I try to always get the mics up on the booms asap and continue setting up the rest of the gear, cameras and such. By the time all is said and done, I plug in the the battery for the boom TX’s and everything is acclimated. It normally doesnt take too long unless theres a huge temperature change in which case lenses need to acclimate too....

all mics need cleaning sometimes. i sent a ccm41 in for service and it took about a month portal to portal. i did have to pick up an replacement to fill in those gaps however the cmit that i have i got at the same time and i haven't had any issues with it. i live in a humid climate and always rock solid. i store mine in a vark audio dry tube. works like a charm.

Vark Audio has a very nice mic amp box that is made for the 633. I’m sure you could use it on the bigger recorder too.

JB1’s all the way. For all the reasons Jon and John mentioned. Also the build quality is great and they actually have replaceable batteries. So after many years of use, all you have to do is replace battery and you can keep on jammin’!

in the studio, to record drums, i almost always use a mechanical high pass filter. something like putting the mic in a small peli case or put something on the mic itself like fabric and taping it down, to attenuate both SPL levels and high frequencies. you can mess with opening and closing the box/case/fabric/whatever to get the sound just right. i’ve used this on cars and it sounds pretty good when mixed with the typical mic setups.

I really like the Canadian Protogear bag. Got a chance to see Chris Giles’s bag and it was pretty sweet. Still haven’t ordered mine yet but it seems like one of the best I’ve seen. That being said, the original Cantar bag also works great but might require some tinkering to get that octopack on there....

Zaxcom Nova or Sonosax SX-R4+

yes the 6 series is sub par in this department. i feel like its more for dialogue. the x3 works like a charm for ms, surround and all that. one recorder which has not been mentioned is the sonosax sx-r4+. it will do what you want. give you unprocessed isos and give you the decoded MS signal in the mix track where you can change the width. its also great for ambisonics

Sounds like you’d love an X3 or cantar mini 😉

not on SD recorders here but not on Zaxcom recorders either... System works great as long as you have a way to transmit Zaxnet to take advantage of remote gain and frequency select, etc. No regrets. system is solid!

benb, yep did the mod myself. like stated above super easy solder job. i accidentally unsoldered the zaxnet antenna (green cable) but then i soldered it back up. different batts to suit your need. i use the ikan 5800ma/43wh and can go all day(8-9hrs) they’re on the bigger side. i kinda want to get the smaller ones just because they’re lighter, though i dont mind doing a batt swap at lunch....

you cant go wrong with any of the above mentioned mics. its really more about the player than anything in music. i cant speak to the geffel m300/m310 but i would assume they’re fantastic. i have a um70s which is fantastic but a LDC. haven’t had any issues with it and i’ve had it for about 15 years. in front of a good player all of the above mentioned mics will sound great. i do like the sound of a mk41/mk4. same with the senny 40/50. the neumann km184’s. i’d say contact your local studio and book a day there and test out whatever mics (sdc)they have. i wont go into ribbons/tube/LDC’s as you were asking about SDCs. a lot of great vintage and new microphones out there. it seems like everyone is listening to earbuds for the most part.....

what firmware are you running on the mixpre? on the ifb200 etc? dont follow the firmware history too closely since i don't use those units but might be worth checking out

my understanding has always been that any bits get added to the bottom of the scale. unless something changed i would think that those extra 8bits get placed at the bottom of the scale not in the 0 dbfs or above the 0 dbfs. its really not like tape where you can bias the machine differently along with different formulations. i compare it to overxposing film/sensor. at some point, if its overexposed you lose all details and sich. the magic halpens when you add more shadow details. its the same thing here i feel like. perhaps i’m wrong and 32 bit float goves you bits above 0dbfs. i never record at 32bit fixed or float. 24bits has great dynamic range as it is.

Gimborano, I would seriously consider the ktek stingray small bag. I just picked up a used one from a friend and its amazing. I’m coming from the orca bag world (own the 28-30-34) and the difference is night and day. I used to use the or-34 (the big one) and it was way too wide for the recorder and fader pack. There was a lot of wasted space. Its overall just awkward for that combo. With the ktek bag you could put your rec/fader combo and the RX’s in the main compartment and still have room to put the antenna distro box and a comtek bst75 inside the front outer pocket. you’d still have plenty of room for the battery at the bottom of the bag. At the bottom of the bag is also a strap to hold the battery in place. Ontop of all this, you still have room on the side pockets to keep TX’s or lav swag, markers, and tweakers. I highly recommend it. Maybe there’s a dealer that can send you a demo? Check out the FB group too!

jensen transformers might also be a good option

point taken. both great recorders! cheers!

they're nice they're nice! i love my sxr4+! for me it's the best little portable recorder for all of the reasons stated above! i love this little machine! i rarely engage limiters anyways because it has an extended dynamic range as do the Zaxcom wireless systems....then I go in digital and its sweet!

johngooch, the sonosax limiters arent bad, its just the aaton one are like butter left out over night in the middle of summer...hehe

The answer to these questions is easy. Just get both! I haven't used the CM but work on the X3 regularly. One thing I really like about the x3 is the limiters. Aside from the mic amps being super sweet, the limiters just sound amazing and are there for safety. They're pretty much like a Neve 2264 or a 33609 metal knob version. They work, they're transparent and great on every source. The Aaton recorders may seem really complex but they actually aren't. Like with anything in life--speakers, girlfriends, microphones, wife--you just have to get to know them. Once you learn them it is a breeze. I simply love the quickness and customization of almost every aspect of the recorder. Once you get to know the workflow everything is a breeze. The limiters (or lack there of--sometimes) on the SX-R4+ are sub par in comparison to the Aaton ones. I know the inputs have an incredible amount of dynamic range, but still, it's nice to have nice sounding limiters. Per your output question, I have my Zaxnet audio coming out of the TA3 connector and I have the analog output option card which I use for comteks and/or hard wiring to camera and such. I feel there's enough outputs to take care of business for most things. One annoying thing is the lack of a slate mic on the recorder itself. You have to use the RC8 joint to get access to the slate mic. Otherwise it is an amazing sounding machine! I love that it uses the smart batteries and that it has a hirose power output. Usually I rock two Zaxcom RX's (4 TX's) via digital inputs and line inputs which leave all mic amps open. But then you need more faders.... All in all, the SX-R4+ is excellent for portability. I don't need any power distro or anything. It's also super power efficient. Both recorders allow you to configure most of the pots (faders on the x3) to whatever input and to gang them if you're doing stereo/ambisonic/surround work. This is something the 600 series lack. If you complement the sonosax with the x3 you'll have all your bases covered! I did a shootout between the Maxx, 633, and the SX-R4+ and went with the sonosax. Where are you located again? I'm sure there's a dealer that would let you audition both units!

i’ve used the 742/rx200. works like a charm. good for capturing atmos on the run for documentary stuff. i recently got the sound guys solution sony l-mount battery sled and i must say its awesome. the batteries last a good while and you dont have to think about it. just build it into your budget. i’m waiting on the locking cone mod as well which i hear is stellar. all this being said, if its for sfx or hi-res atmo i usually go with a smaller recorder (sx-r4+ or a 744t) and hard wire it. you cant control the TX with the rx200 though. you need something that is zaxnet capable as stated above.... all this being said, the 742/3 and rx200 is pretty damn solid!

hey patrick, yeah, i have the daylight/night time switch programmed into a button on part of the screen screen so i can change it on the fly. but still, its just not bright enough. i got a delkin 2.5inch digital camera collapsible screen hood which works and helps a bunch. its also nice because you can take the hood on and off. works like a charm. screen is definitely not as bright as the x3 screen or the sound devices and zaxcom screens though. ivan