soundbeing

Angelo, Just came across this thread. What you are experiencing is far beyond a phase issue. It is an incompatibility issue. Using the AES CH.1 side of the SuperCmit you are using the DSP processing which is quite complex and in my opinion should never be utilized as the normal preferred output of this mic for exactly the issues your editor is experiencing. My personal approach with this mic is to work the CH.2 -unprocessed audio and use DSP only when the exceptional noise reduction is required. When I do use the DSP in the production mix it is ISO'd as I always keep the CH.2-unprocessed on the dedicated Boom track at all times. I also do my best to keep all wires out of the mix at this time with the exception of maybe an off camera line or to snatch a line that would be lost otherwise. Being a digital microphone it takes extra care to mix with the wires. The DSP makes it extremely difficult if not impossible to do so. I have been known to crossfade between processed/unprocessed as a scene progresses to make it compatible with wires. It is touchy. The SuperCmit in my opinion is the most superior mic in my inventory and the quietest smoothest sounding shotgun I know of.

When hired as 2nd unit for THE WATERBOY research led me to purchase a BIG EARS parabolic. We were able to provide football field dialogue and FX that blew Todd AO away. Same for ANY GIVEN SUNDAY. We had significant luck some years earlier on features with a JVC parabola array but that mic was no longer available. BIG EARS parabolic with the right omni capsule has a very coherent and non-tinney sound. Although I do not use it often, it has remained a special tool on many features. Large group coverage on long lens and it picks up like a shotgun only from much further away and quite cleanly. Wildlife documentary and this mic really shines. From 500' away we've covered moose munching and breathing like it was close mic'ed. Hunting wild turkey (film not bullets) we heard a turkey coming toward us through the bush and alerted camera as to where to expect it to appear. The turkey kept sounding bigger and bigger until it broke into our field of vision from the scrub at maybe 30'. We halfway expected it be a 25' tall monster from how large and big it was sounding as it approached. I love parabolic on features. Try a high quality parabolic on acoustic guitar during a recording session and it stands out clean and distinct even if mixed way back. Mark Weber

The digital latency always bugged me when I added Lectro 400 series to my 205s. There are 2 approaches that I have used that improved time alignment coherency. When I ran the boom on a 400 and actors on 205s I would route the mix as split channels separating 205s from 400s and dial in delay on the analogue 205 routing then re-combine the 2 channels to the mix track. Usually 5ms worked best which corrected both latency and boom distance of 2 to 3 feet overhead. Later I reversed my approach and now run boom on an analogue 205 and primary actors on digital 400s. No fancy channel routing. This way the latency works in favor of the mix effectively bringing the alignment of the boom 3' closer to the wires. M.Weber

Gotham Sound sold me on the Lectro D4 as the wireless digital link for my new Schoeps SuperCmit boom mic. Not only does it deliver both the DSP and CMIT channels in analogue to the mixer which solved the digital gain problems we had been hearing about, but also provides simultaneous Boom Talkback on separate channel. It is an easy switch back to analogue boom which remains pre-wired on the boom utility belt and we just switch the transmitter between digital and analogue. This combination is a fantastic tool and I believe we are cutting some of the cleanest/clearest audio tracks of my career. The SuperCmit DSP is unbelievably wonderful. I was skeptical of the range of this 900MHZ system, but have been pleasantly surprised at the solid range it is delivering. We are currently adding remote antennae that will mount on my antennae mast in hopes of increasing the range even further. With the IFB receiver option I will be working the D4 as a compact multichannel IEM system for band performance and for those challenging film-set multichannel IFB needs as well as track assigned hop-to-camera needs. I’m a happy camper. M.Weber

Here is a follow-up to my follow-up. Arria Alexa is becoming a problem without dedicated clock-it boxes. Here is a note sent out by our telecine lab regarding timecode issues in Alexa; Hello All, Well, as was the case yesterday with multiple camera rolls having mismatched CAMERA to AUDIO TC, there were several again today....I will now be noting this daily on the reports when it occurs. The following is listed on todays' daily report: CR A49-53: Scenes 39,44-46 have several takes with mismatched timecodes between CAMERA and AUDIO. Slate and AUDIO TC match and are correct. Camera MUST be monitored and jammed ( and as frequently as the other equipment) in order for a consistent match between AUDIO and CAMERA codes. SG We are asking to have clock-it boxes attached to all cameras, at all times. M. Weber

Thought a follow-up post on my third Alexa shoot might be in order. We are running 3 Alexas. #3 is steadycam and is jammed each time they build it so no problems there. Our A cam was TC intermittent. It jammed and all works fine until the camera suddenly spits the TC out and syncs itself to some other planet in the solar system. We have numerous memos from editorial at this point. This camera sometimes goes into error mode upon rolling and requires re-boots. May be a camera problem or a camera assistant problem. Our B cam has not had many problems. Production has now requested we mount a clockit on all cameras. Now everything is TC stable on A cam, but B cam has rejected the external TC a few times. At this point A cam has clockit mounted and B cam only uses clockit only to jam but not mounted. M.Weber

Now working on my 3rd show with Alexa. First show went perfect with morning and lunch TC jam. Second show had problems with TC consistency(we ended up slapping syncboxes on the cams). Current show with current Alexa firmware has B cam working perfectly with 6 hour jams but A cam spitting TC out every so often requiring numerous re-jams. We give cam dept sync boxes and let them deal with camera issues. We have our hands full without babysitting camera idiosyncrasies. They keep trying to give the boxes back so they won't have to be responsible for them but we are holding strong to the logic that if the camera dept needs sync boxes they have to keep track of them but can turn them back in at end of day. Life is Good.

Look at Radio Design Labs STM-2. Very small 24V/DC clean mic. pre. Power with 12V and lose less than 6db gain. Currently on Ebay at approx. $75. Just won Ebay bid for STM-3 (high gain version) for $30. My use was for boom operator Talkback mic to transmits over spare channel of LECTROSONICS DT4 quad system. (Line inputs only). These RDL units are in use worldwide in radio stations and broadcast studios.

A few days ago posted as reply #4 on the thread Re: IFB/Comtek alternativeI quote myself "To keep this short, after testing numerous systems I purchased a Sennheiser EK300-IEM system which is what had been used during then 1st season American Idol. For well under $1000 I ended up with a 3-receiver package including high-gain sharkfin antenna, highly discriminating stereo IEM that has faithfully become the privacy system between mixer and boom-op/utility and invited guest. When I say "highly discriminating" I mean that I have been able to use this system to send ref. audio and timecode to a single receiver on video cameras and not have timecode bleed into audio. The use of the flexibilities of this system leave a mixer wide open for creative usage. The sound team often enjoys full bandwidth stereo music playback in privacy when all hell is breaking loose on set." Yes, it works sending audio and timecode together to cameras without crosstalk problems. Just don't send timecode too hot.

Several years ago I was forced away from standard Com-Tek/IFB systems by a demanding director who wanted the flexibility of split tracks delivered to his headphone. We considered dual IFBs with a combining headphone adapter but what became more obvious was to find a stereo In-Ear system. To keep this short, after testing numerous systems I purchased a Sennheiser EK300-IEM system which what had been used during then 1st season American Idol. For well under $1000 I ended up with a 3-receiver package including high-gain sharkfin antenna, highly discriminating stereo IEM that has faithfully become the privacy system between mixer and boom-op/utility and invited guest. When I say "highly discriminating" I mean that I have been able to use this system to send ref. audio and timecode to a single receiver on video cameras and not have timecode bleed into audio. The use of the flexibilities of this system leave a mixer wide open for creative usage. The sound team often enjoys full bandwidth stereo music playback in privacy when all hell is breaking loose on set. In my opinion, however, replacing Com-Teks/IFB with IEM is overkill for such a use.

Having been ecstatic with my Neumann KMR81 shotgun for many years, when one of my favorite boom-ops purchased the Schoeps Cmit 2 years ago I've been impressed with superior sonic fidelity of the Cmit. I've been closely following posts and demos of Super Cmit and was convinced enough of the remarkable technology of this mic to purchase one and created a system (thank you Gotham Sound) with the LECTROSONICS D4 quad transmission system that not only allows complete interface and flexibility between the digital and analogue worlds, but also offered the means to additionally route the boom talkback mic wirelessly back to the mixer and still have an aux wireless channel available. I can now use Super Cmit as an analogue or digital wireless boom mic and have both the Cmit and DSP Super-Cmit channel available at the analogue mixer. Currently I've been testing my rig and playing with the capabilities of Super Cmit. Regarding the 30db digital boost I applaud Schoeps for including it as a switchable option in the new firmware. I am not convinced it is a great idea for all around use of the mic in the field. My feeling is that booming dramatic scenes with loud moments can rather easily overload Super Cmit with +30 gain. +30 will be tremendous for quiet sensitive scenes and I can see using it for ENG interviews and such. I'd like to hear what other Super Cmit users have experienced in the real world. (before I get there). Since the LECTRO D4 can cleanly deliver the entire digital path to the receiver and output as analogue, I feel comfortable that raising the gain of the mic at the production mixer in analogue does not raise the noise floor and working with the benefit of an additional 30db of headroom. Comments please. Thanks. M.Weber

Trying to maximize Super Cmit usage and searching for the means to work with a digital mic on any platform whether digital or analogue I hope I have found a perfect mate. LECTROSONICS D4 quad transmission package not only seems to be the perfect camera hops transmitter (4 channels), but completely interfaces analogue with digital in any combination of I/O. I built a Boom Op utility belt for Super Cmit that delivers both of the AES Cmit channels to the mixer in either analogue or digital. For production mixing I plan to output analogue from D4 receiver into 2 channels of production mixer. I've built a mic preamp boost to line level and now also feed a Boom Op headset mic into Channel 3 of D4 (all analogue) and now have privacy talkback over wireless with Boom Op on the same system. Since the D4 only works at line levels, the shortcoming I am working to overcome is if we switch the boom mic from Super Cmit to standard analogue mic I will need to also boost the boom mic to line level for transmission. Any ideas you guys might have to improve this method will be well received. I am all ears. Mark Weber

Let me tell you about humidity here in Miami. My 15 year old Schoeps are relied upon heavily and we remain vigilant to prevent them from singing. Windscreens being foam trap moisture readily and at the first sign of the Schoep's song the windscreens come off immediately and are swapped out with windscreens from my desiccant Tupperware container. This container rides on my cart with all working foam windscreens and when the Schoeps are out they ride in there as well. We always temperature compensate our mics (all of them). Riding in air conditioned camera trucks is a sure set-up for problems as is studio or locations where air conditioning is run between takes. On an episode of CSI Miami in the everglades we left our cart overnight in a sealed tent rather than the truck we were unaware that the tent was air conditioned overnight and the next morning with 90% + humidity it took over an hour with hair dryers to get even the dat machine to work. When problems threaten, the windscreens do not go back on the mics until we are ready to shoot. The best fix I use is to have the mounted mics held near a hot light just to keep the mic body warmer than the ambient temperature and always prevent them from being exposed to between take A/C drafts. I've often thought about how useful a mic heating system would be when on the boom. Mark Weber C.A.S. Sound Specialist Inc. Miami, Florida

Suffice it to say that recently when my local threatened to force a second (boom) man onto our crew working under the low budget motion picture agreement that not only did the producers take a position of no minimum department requirements under the contract they signed, but the local itself backed off on it's position. Trust me when I say that if they could have forced the issue, they certainly would have.

Thank you Mr. Filosa! Here is this summer's eye opener for me. (AFAIK MTV does not pay top dollar to anyone). If an MTV reality show hired me at $50/hr as Audio Supervisor and paid $35-40/HR for ENG bag mixers why do any feature film mixers have to fight to break the $30 barrier on any feature films. In private conversation with the owner of Stickman Sound, Las Vegas who provided the gear I asked about the rate structure. He told me he almost took me aside during pre-production but felt it wasn't his place, but now that I asked he informed me the rate for Audio Supervisor should have been $75/HR. As a Video A-1 the low budget small truck rate hangs around $45/HR, large production up to $95/HR. Off duty cops are taking home $45.