NBJersey

Technical question on the subject of pre-roll. Do recorders generally buffer pre-roll to internal RAM? If not and it is being recorded direct to SD/CF I imagine that placing significant stress on the cards with continuous write/erase. I should probably schedule regular replacement of the cards if this is the case.

I don't think this is the best place to be asking. This is a forum for professional sound mixers so we aren't generally familiar or experienced with equipment at the very-low end of the market. Is the speaker standing at a lectern? If so a mic on a stand in front as close to their mouth as possible is the way to go. A short shotgun would be OK if they don't move side to side too much. It's also a good idea to talk to the speaker and tell them to project.

If at all possible, record the machinery first and then turn it off for the dialogue. I can't think of any situations where you aren't better off putting the machines back in in post.

Have you tested your cable or tried a couple of different ones? Is the output level equivalent to a similar mic or is it very low? If pin 2 or 3 is shorted to pin 1 you will lose 55dB, the extra gain you add to compensate will result in a lot of noise. Unfortunately it could be that the mic is just dead on arrival. Can you return it?

I haven't used it but based on the comment in this thread I wouldn't trust it in central London. Far too much noise on 2.4GHz.

You can still buy the capsules and they are well priced. Thomann.de keeps stock but I don't know about a US supplier. I'm sure they would ship internationally. I have a pair with the cardioid capsules that I use for stereo music recordings and they sound great. They are my favourite acoustic guitar mics too.

Just find your local audiologist. Any place that sells hearing aids will be able to do earplugs. The response isn't perfectly flat but it's close enough that you can mix with them in and your ear will compensate anyway. I put them in 15 mins before and by the time the show starts I have forgotten they are there. http://elacin.com/hearing-protection/music/

This is probably because the Decibel meter was set to an A-weighted curve which means it is more sensitive to higher frequencies, centred around 1KHz where the ear is most sensitive. However, the ear behaves differently to loud sounds as it does to soft sounds with the effect that at very high volumes the ear struggles to differentiate level difference between low and mid frequencies (so music will sound more bassy as volume increases). For this reason a Decibel meter would be more accurate when set to a flatter C weighting in a concert hall. Of course, many venues nowadays have these meters for environmental health reasons, often connected to a brick wall limiter to prevent excessive volume; by setting the meter to A-weighting you get 'more bass for your buck'. I have worked a couple of venues where the meter will flash a warning when the max average level is exceeded and after a few minutes if the level isn't reduced, it cuts the mains power to Front of House. In my experience, considering that sound engineers and musicians rely on their hearing for a living, they are often the worst at protecting it. A good pair of custom made earplugs with flat-response filters are an investment you will never regret.

It'll be at least 2.5 years. Longer if this journo is correct, and it makes sense. http://indy100.independent.co.uk/article/people-are-really-really-hoping-this-theory-about-david-cameron-and-brexit-is-true--bJhqBql0VZ

Share prices of big advertising firms and broadcasters have tumbled (20pc for ITV) which will have an effect on those working on commercials and subsequently everything else as spending on original content is cut to ride out the storm. I'm not convinced UK gear will be cheaper in the US as manufacturers will be paying a lot more for imported materials. Scary how misinformation, bigotry and lies have swayed the vote. Democracy isn't always what it's cracked up to be. You will feel this in the US for sure, it could mean the collapse of the EU and stock markets are falling around the globe.

Out of interest, I asked a friend that is a psychiatrist. Apparently the most common solution is that the camera/dictaphone and any cards are just kept locked in a fire-rated filing cabinet when not in use. I doubt most medical practitioners know what encryption is, so there probably isn't a huge market there either.

In all seriousness, I do think research is somewhat of a dying art with the millenial generation. After all they have never had to visit a library and it's easier to ask Siri than actually looking for an answer. I used a run a large forum that was targeted mainly at people in Audio and Theatre Technology education and it was astonishing how many people would post and ask for someone to write their assignment for them. Is that enough to earn a 'Condescending Prick' badge for my bag?

That is a fault for sure. The overload protection shouldn't be kicking in until you have been driving it very hard for hours for example. Check your speaker cables and the speakers themselves. There is almost certainly a resistive short there. If that checks out, send the mixer back and get a new one under warranty.

I had absolutely no idea editors earned that much. It's fair to say that every audio post tended towards the lower end of the scale.

I am somewhat lucky in that I live on a geographically isolated island so have been largely immune to these problems; however I am also a radio ham so well aware of the constantly rising RF noise floor. I am surprised to see high density wireless being the proposed solution to these problems when most other technologies are going in the opposite direction with spread spectrum. There is a lot of discussion in the UK at the moment for the use of the 'white space' between UHF digital TV channels with the suggestion that radios would be GPS equipped and automatically switch to the allocated channel blocks depending on their location. What I find more interesting is spread spectrum, which allows wireless devices to operate at levels well below the noise floor. Essentially one radio mic could use many 10's or 100's of Mhz of spectrum and share that same spectrum with multiple devices all in the same block. It would just be variations in modulation and clever software based decoding that allows this to work. The tech is so robust that it could cross channels already in use by TV with little ill effect. As far as I am aware, the technology for very broad spread spectrum communication is already here, it's the regulations on traditionally channelised spectrum that prevent its use.

Interesting. I'm not familiar with the gear American Footballers wear but I imagine incorporating the pack into the padding/armour would be an option. Where are the packs currently worn?

I used a LiPo RC battery in my bag for many years, with a simple DIY breakout cable to Hirose. LiPo needs to be treated well so i always had a cell monitor attached which would sound an alarm if the voltage got too low and I could keep an eye on the cell balance. This isn't the model I have but this is the kind of gadget: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__41637__HobbyKing_8482_Cellmeter_7_Universal_Digital_Battery_Checker_Balancer.html I had a total of 11Ah plus a smaller spare which was enough for two days of shooting. A good quality RC charger and a fireproof charging bag (essential) meant I could recharge both batteries in just over 2 hours.