Nelson Stoll Boom Recorder Sound Cart

[soundidea]

Hi sound people,

I have uploaded pictures and information about my current mix cart that I used for the just finished Woody Allen film . Unfortunately the upload did not show up in the gallery section as intended due to an issue with the jwsound site software. You can see the pictures and info here:

Email me with comments!

Nelson Stoll

nelson@stollaudio.com

[old school]

Nice rig. Boom Recorder only, no dedicated recorder?

CrewC

[Jeff Wexler]

Nice rig. Boom Recorder only, no dedicated recorder?

CrewC

Nelson states in his write up:

"This is the Production Mix cart I used on the Woody Allen San Francisco Film 2012. It was my first time recording a film on a computer. Boom Recorder v8, using a RME Fireface800 interface into a MacMini i7 with SSD boot drive and a 7200 Baracuda media drive"

So, no dedicated recorder, just BoomRecorder running on his Mac Mini. The only mention of a dedicated recorder is his previous use of the Fostex DV-824.

[ccsnd]

I honestly think that both metacorder and boom recorder are rock solid programs. I have been running without a dedicated recorder on my cart for a couple of years now, (with metacorder) and have yet to lose a single take.

As long as the machine your running on is well maintained and a dedicated recording computer, it seems to me you are set.

[Marc Wielage]

It could work. The only two things I would worry about would be 1) noise from the computer or hard drive's fan, and 2) the need for AC (unless you used a laptop). In reality, the noise on most sets and locations would probably prevent you from ever hearing it, especially if the crew is using digital cameras with fans. I think the program itself is pretty much rock-solid, though my inclination would be to go to 2 hard drives (internal and external), just in case.

[Gerard-NYNY]

I recently put an Intel 520 Solid State Drive into a laptop. Very quiet. SSD is the way to go if you're concerned about noise.

[Miles Anderson]

I recently put an Intel 520 Solid State Drive into a laptop. Very quiet. SSD is the way to go if you're concerned about noise.

and battery life — SSD's significantly reduce power demands

[Marc Wielage]

Yep, SSD would eliminate my whining about the hard drive fan whining.

[Max Hirtenstein]

are SSD's good enough these days to be a dedicated recording drive?

[ccsnd]

My current setup is a mac mini I5 in s drawer.

Dead Silent, Doesn't overheat (even with the drawer closed)

I use a dc to ac inverter with a switch wired to the fan and a big deep cycle.

I record to the internal mac drive (partitioned / spinning disk), a external firewire drive (in the same drawer), and mirror to a thumb drive.

[old school]

Thanks JW. I believe in Boom Recorder and use it here and there but I couldn't use it everywhere and I'd bet Nelson has other options he uses as well. Nice rig for a big gig. Nelsons work speaks for itself. His methods over time point to a free thinking man. I dig your style Mr Stoll.

CrewC

[Alan H. Chang]

Nelson!

First, congrats on the Woody Allen film. Second, another congrats on Mavericks, as one of the 2nd Unit Boom Ops with Keenan's team, it was a blast with all those waves. Thanks Phil for the rep.

There are several mixers that use Shure UR series wireless systems as their main talent bodypacks and have conceded that the UR systems has an advantage over other brands used throughout our industry. How did you and your team (Scott, and Brian I think?) rig the packs for water/wetsuit situations? How were the wireless range during the water scenes? When I first watched the film, it sounded like most of the dialogue were boomed and made it onto the final print, along with some ADR as needed.

Boom Recorder rocks!

[johngooch]

HI Nelson,

quick question, what is your mixer? Twelco? Homemade?

[graham]

It could work. The only two things I would worry about would be 1) noise from the computer or hard drive's fan, and 2) the need for AC (unless you used a laptop). In reality, the noise on most sets and locations would probably prevent you from ever hearing it, especially if the crew is using digital cameras with fans. I think the program itself is pretty much rock-solid, though my inclination would be to go to 2 hard drives (internal and external), just in case.

I think the dv824 isabout the same in whining as a computer. The new Mini can be run on 12v DC with some modding and the older one works with the carnetix 18v. There are also external battery options for the laptop

[bcopenhagen]

I've been working with Nelson for around 11 years, and can answer some of these questions. I'm not sure if Nelson lurks here much, but I was happy to see this very thorough post about the recent cart build.

I'd bet Nelson has other options he uses as well. Nice rig for a big gig. Nelsons work speaks for itself. His methods over time point to a free thinking man.

@CrewC - You've got that right, he is indeed a free thinking man, with a record of finding creative ways to implement current and sometimes unorthodox technology for location sound. He used to broadcast to video village headsets using an FM transmitter and sony walkmans. Always sounded better than the older Comteks.

His attention to every detail of recording (both acoustic and electronic) has allowed studio quality recording to take place amongst the rigors of location work.

As for other recording options (for portable work), the mainstays in recent years have been the HHB Portadrive and more recently the Sound Devices 788T.

Phil for the rep.

How did you and your team (Scott, and Brian I think?) rig the packs for water/wetsuit situations? How were the wireless range during the water scenes? When I first watched the film, it sounded like most of the dialogue were boomed and made it onto the final print, along with some ADR as needed.

@Alan - It was indeed Scott and myself on Chasing Mavericks. We used waterproof bags that Nelson invented, sealed with a waterproof tape and put in the small of the back for the wetsuits. Mics were placed at the base of the neck in wetsuits modified to our specs in order to allow the sound to pass through. We worked constantly with the various elements (ie, water, and thick wetsuits) throughout the production to get better and better results, and had a very supportive wardrobe department. The boom was always the best option, but the wetsuit lav mics pulled through in some very tricky situations.

Range was great. As an example, we were able to stay on the cliffs above Pleasure Point (in Santa Cruz, about 75 feet off the beach), and get good reception to about 75 yards out into the water. Sometimes we remoted the antennas if it was on the edge of signal reception.

quick question, what is your mixer? Twelco? Homemade?

@John - his original post link goes to a thorough description of the cart components, but I just noticed that Tap-a-Talk doesn't display the text, only the photos. So, from the description:

"Modified Neve 5422 console with custom direct outs built by Stephen Balliet of Reflection Audio"

Cheers,

Brian

[Gerard-NYNY]

are SSD's good enough these days to be a dedicated recording drive?

I would think so. But here's the thing to consider: The tech guy who did the mod for me suggested (and I took his advice) that I use the

180 GB Intel 520 SSD because he said the higher capacity ones can become unstable using Windows 7, which the Intel 520 180 GB

went into (an MSI A6200, with a i3-350M processor).

That being the case, it is rock solid, and I did beat up on it to see what happens.

I ran Iolo System Mechanic 10 thru the usb and ran its Program Accelerator

(re-aligning files on an external hard drive 170 GB, 3/4 full) and ran Webroot Secure Anywhere Anti-Virus, full complete scan, played a YouTube Video with sound off so I could listen tto the SSD, and played an Mp3 on the MS player, sound up a little bit, had 2 different browsers open, then sound off on the mp3 so I could listen to the SSD. Not a hiccup on the Video until I opened up Apache Open Office,

BUT--I was using my cell phone as a modem.

SSD was a wee little more noisey but not much, the pitch it runs at was a bit higher, I have to lean into it to hear it.

The SSD runs much cooler, and I can feel the difference on the keyboard and on the side vent.

I did some searching around looking to see about RAM ugrade, and here's something to consider. Extra Ram wont make a difference if the video chip or card cannot process more ram, or the screen processor cannot handle the new higher flow speeds. if those processors cannot be cannot be upgraded bc they are embedded in the motherboard or whatever, its not going to help increasing RAM for some things. So I didnt.

+++EDIT+++ then after living with the ssd i decided to upgrade the ram regardless of the wobbling/creasing in the fonts while scrolling. i went from 4 gb to 8 gb and tested the download speed of a 1mb file on iolo system mechanic, which indicated a 400% increase in download speed. transitions in browser. opening applications and boot up are all faster by my eye.

I have noticed that if I scroll fast on this budget screen fonts wobble a bit if its on bright. i kind of expected this or something, before putting in the SSD, because of the issue directly above, regarding RAM.If I had an I5 or i7 processor, and they were matched with the right parts, probably wouldn't affect it. Parts have to harmonize.

Thats what I know at this point on the machine the SSD is in. Overall, happy with it. Before it was hit or miss, mostly miss trying to watch YouTube videos using my 3G phone as a modem 460 kbs on the stock MSI.

Now I can run multiple apps programs and browsers and Youtube didnt get affected. The machine boots up fast, loads programs fast, and responds 25 to 30 percent faster over all. Its a zippy machine now. Upgrade was worth it.