Izen Ears

Alright so I went with the Ktek standard sized stingray harness. So far it seems great! My old Petrol bag isn't the most ideal bag to use with it, because it doesn't have hooks on the upper corners against the body, but it does have two sets of hooks so I think it will work. I am thinking I should install some hooks on those corners. Maybe just some steel loops or something bolted there. I've got a job starting Thursday where I'll be running and gunning so that'll be the true test. Most of the weight lands where my lower back connects to the waist. I don't really feel it on my shoulders too much. I really appreciate the design of the carabiners, the fact that they have the little nib on the big curved part instead of the straight part. It's actually much easier than the Petrol harness. Also I quite like the six points of attachment. It is a bit of a process to connect, but there is that "shortcut" of leaving one side fully attached. The standard size fits great, but yes most of the straps are pulled out a bunch. I did raise the spine part to the topmost position. I will say that the chopped up kids shin pads really did the trick on that old Versaflex! I wore that and walked around for a couple hours without rest yesterday with that set up, and my shoulders and back feel totally fine. I did not have to do any overhead booming, which is good because then those pads would have pushed into my shoulders. Right now the bag is sitting at 26 pounds, but with all the stuff in it it is more like 35 pounds. I just don't do enough of these small bag jobs to justify purchasing a whole smaller rig. I do have a Nomad but it is installed in the big cart as a back up deck. I suppose I could pull it out; I do have a smaller bag for it. But I would (always, every time and forevermore) much rather use the Deva so I'm gonna "big bag" it as long as my body holds out! That beefy Portabrace would have likely been the best candidate. I like the look of the Portabrace way more than the too-colorful Orca. (Sadly the timing was bad to get Jim's Petrol.) Thank you everyone for your replies!

Yes that one looks awesome, similar to the Orca. Have you tried that one? The Portabrace AH-3HD looks pretty dang awesome. And it's significantly lower in cost. I must say I'm super intrigued by the KTek invention, but that Portabrace does look like a great alternative to the Petrol.

Oh dang that is great info! Thank you so much. I guess I have a fairly long torso, so I should probably get the standard fit. Probably exactly like you say, the standard upper and the smaller lower would be a perfect fit. If I can't get a vintage Petrol, this KTek is looking like the best choice. The Orca does kind of look like a decent replacement for the Petrol tho-

Dude! Yes please! I'm PMing my email. I'd love to see if it's the same one, it had wide shoulders. Wider than 4" I think. I just went to the sporting goods store and purchased some boxing shin pads to put on my shoulders for the next few days. I totally need a proper harness. I wish I knew what happened to my old one, it's one of those mysteries.

You might be right about the wider harness still hurting the shoulders, but somehow I feel that will make all of the difference. I remember wearing the petrol harness with a 35 pound bag and being fine! Also I kind of feel like my shoulders would be more sore if the bag were lower, because the angle would be pulling the muscles further downward. But then again I have not tried anything except the Petrol and the old Versaflex. Yep, that Stingray harness looks amazing. That's probably what I'll go for. Question - does your K tech harness allow you to set the bag up high? The Orca looks very good also, as does the Versaflex short harness.

I used to have a brilliant Petrol harness. It is gone, and in its place is my old Versaflex harness. Today my shoulders just about died. I miss my petrol harness. So of course they don't make it anymore. I see some nice looking ones from Orca and Portabrace and Versaflex. I have a heavy bag that I almost never wore because it had been years since I worked an actual run and gun gig. I took out some rx and made the bag as light as possible, but it's still a beast. My back and feet are fine, it's just the harness digs into my shoulders. I'm quite intrigued by the short bag version from Versaflex. I like wearing the bag tight and high up so the bottom is at my belt line. Also I guess I have a fairly small frame - I think I'm a normal 160 pound 5'10"er - so there's always a foot or more of extra strap after tightening! Thanks JWers! Dan Izen

Sometimes I wonder how long this site will be active, and thank my lucky stars that I was able to get in early! Despite the like button, this is one of the greatest (and only) places I visit online. Thank you Jeff and thank you donators!

Wow I hadn't seen those freq distinctions in a diagram before! I wish every maker did that. (Heh, do they already do this now?) All these years my ears have told me just how much of a giant rear lobe that mic has, in fact to me it's practically an omni at those lower freqs. Thanks for posting! Dan Izen

Thank you all for your replies! After getting majorly burned in 2008 using digital wires I just stuck with the Lectro hybrids. Good to know they work as advertised these days! Dan Izen

Is 35 watts enough, or are these semi-immune to RFI or something?

Haha! Nice. I once had an issue with a guitar amp where everything was working great, but when I installed the chassis into the cabinet, the sound disappeared. I took it in and out and couldn't find any cause. Then I looked at where the chassis screws went and noticed another wire in close proximity to one of the holes. Turns out the screw was grounding a signal wire and I had to reroute the wire and repair the break in its insulation. Glad it's solved

I think it was insurance?

I have seen a high res of this that was part of a commercial. I thought that whole thing was just for a commercial? I agree that it is amazing and I watched it many times when I first saw it. I couldn't believe it was staged either.

That is crazy, never heard that before. I'm very interested in this, I hope it gets solved. Did it happen with more than one mic? It does kind of sound like resistor hiss, but I can't imagine this being that since they recover and sound normal again. It may have something to do with those resistors? Are you trying to simply add a dB pad? Maybe remove the resistor and see if it still happens. (Calling John Blankenship!)

Thanks for doing this! Super interesting.

What's this about a factory 3.2k tone?

Does that mean the Deva 24 is permanently out of production?

I love this! So hardcore. Thanks for posting and the warning. They should go to jail.

Once around 2009 or 2010 I spoke to a Lectro rep and he asked me what would I like to see. Immediately I answered recording transmitters. What a bummer Zaxcom has killed that dream. I was an early adopter of Zaxcom wireless because of this feature, but they just sucked so hard I ended up selling them at a great loss. If only their tech could have lived up to their patents.

Oh man this'll be gooood! I heard a podcast that featured rats hanging out - all originally above 60kHz. They had to slow down the recording so we could hear em. Apparently all the fun playing and hanging out noises (including procreation) happens up there, and the mostly only distress sounds are audible. So yeah, there is a secret universe of sounds!

Even for these shout/whisper scenes?!

Probably not helpful thought here, but when I encounter whispers-with-loud scenes, I just mix the scene quietly so the loud sounds are proper. I think the real solution is a limiter on the Comtek / IFB outputs. Then people could jam up their volumes and they wouldn't care about the heavy compression when the loud sounds happen. (At least they wouldn't care as much as post production would care if the compression was on the source track.) I've thought about trying this with guitar compressor pedals...

I bet it'll sound great for screaming. I use kick drum mics to record bass and also tom toms. My pal Mark told me he used drum mics for the screaming scenes in Beasts Of The Southern Wild and they sounded great.

That's wild! I've always wanted a glass guitar...

I once had to have a lawyer send two letters. The second one did it and was paid quickly. I hope for the best outcome for you. Please keep us current, I am very interested in this story! Dan Izen