First experience with Zaxcom qrx200 wide band RX

[soundslikejustin]

I thought of that too. Wouldn't be too hard to make a code that could ingest the missing pieces.

The dropouts are silence right? So that would mean everytime there's a dropout there's silence on the track. If the tracks have the same name as the transmitters so that the metadata and timecode match, in theory it would then be able to "fill the blanks" automatically.

But then again, in theory the world would be at peace and everyone would dance and love each other...

that would also require any mixing decisions made to be duplicated across the various places that the audio is supposed to go too. You would have the be tracking all fader moves, which would waste a LOT of DSP.

[Olle Sjostrom]

Yeah that would be ... Tricky... But maybe it could work on the isos?

[RadoStefanov]

Hey Rado, I'm fairly certain you aren't using a a Fusion or Deva on a regular basis, do you have a workflow you like to use with the SD cards? Not to sound whiny, but at the end of a long day pulling all the cards then running them through Zaxconvert and then transferring them all to one folder seems like an awful hassle, especially if you have 6-8 of them out. That has got to add a half an hour to an hour of wrap time.

Tim,

It depends how much card recording I need.  

Most of the time I need only 2 TXs for driving scenes. It takes about 5 minutes to convert the files in one folder. 

[RadoStefanov]

I thought of that too. Wouldn't be too hard to make a code that could ingest the missing pieces.

The dropouts are silence right? So that would mean everytime there's a dropout there's silence on the track. If the tracks have the same name as the transmitters so that the metadata and timecode match, in theory it would then be able to "fill the blanks" automatically.

But then again, in theory the world would be at peace and everyone would dance and love each other...

 It is a lot more complicated. 

The level will be different unless you are using AES and there is a log that remembers the level of the TX and Nomad.

Also you can not DUB with Nomad.

 

The way it works now is fine and honestly lately with the new qrx200 I have been getting drop out free sound for my driving scenes

[RadoStefanov]

What will be useful is if all TX start recording and cut simultaneously and then you can convert them to POLY in wave agent. 

[Ze Frias]

What will be useful is if all TX start recording and cut simultaneously and then you can convert them to POLY in wave agent. 

 

I wonder why it doesn't do this already? With powerroll the TX is able to determine when the recorder is engaged, and increase its output power. There should be some easy way to do the same to engage the recorder on the TX when the Zaxcom recorder goes on record.

[Jeff Wexler]

I wonder why it doesn't do this already? With powerroll the TX is able to determine when the recorder is engaged, and increase its output power. There should be some easy way to do the same to engage the recorder on the TX when the Zaxcom recorder goes on record.

There has always been a way to do this --- activating Transport Control (Deva or Fusion recorder) the transmitter's record function follows the Deva transport: when you go into record on the Deva, all the transmitters go into record, when you press stop, the transmitters stop recording. This does not, however, accomplish what someone else was saying "should be easy" which is to play back all the original mono MARF files, consolidate into one BWF poly file and replace the missing audio seamlessly, etc. This is a tall order and probably not feasible for Zaxcom to implement. 

[Ze Frias]

There has always been a way to do this --- activating Transport Control (Deva or Fusion recorder) the transmitter's record function follows the Deva transport: when you go into record on the Deva, all the transmitters go into record, when you press stop, the transmitters stop recording. This does not, however, accomplish what someone else was saying "should be easy" which is to play back all the original mono MARF files, consolidate into one BWF poly file and replace the missing audio seamlessly, etc. This is a tall order and probably not feasible for Zaxcom to implement. 

 

Thanks for clarifying that! And also, my apologies, I pulled the trigger too fast, and realized that my question wasn't phrased correctly. I was querying about the TX's recorders engaging only when the mixer presses record. Personally, I don't really care much for being able to replace missing audio in the recorder with the back-up files in the TX (though it does sound interesting).

[RadoStefanov]

I wonder why it doesn't do this already? With powerroll the TX is able to determine when the recorder is engaged, and increase its output power. There should be some easy way to do the same to engage the recorder on the TX when the Zaxcom recorder goes on record.

The zaxnet signal reaches each TX at a different time

[Wandering Ear]

The conversion of each card goes so quickly, it's a painless burden for the capability it gives you.

[Jack Norflus]

The conversion of each card goes so quickly, it's a painless burden for the capability it gives you.

And that is provided that you need to go to your back up - in most cases you probably won't.

[Wandering Ear]

And that is provided that you need to go to your back up - in most cases you probably won't.

Most of the time i use the recording tx it s intentional and planned. The backup is great, but not usually needed.

[RScottATL]

http://techmash.co.uk/2012/09/19/usb-connecting-multi-card-reader/

4-bay SD card reader. Use Micro SD to SD adapter cards and transfer ISOs at once.

[johnpaul215]

The on-site post people I have talked to about this agree that it's worth the minor hassle to have audio that otherwise wouldn't exist. It's that simple. If they have worked in doc/reality, it's likely at some point there was a range or RF issue. It's not like there is another option that has some one-click solution.

[Jack Norflus]

Just FYI - if you are updating the software on your QRX upon completion instead of "SUCCESS" being displayed you will see "READ RELEASE NOTES" now.

There is nothing wrong with the update. That messages is telling you that you should to read the release notes that is supplied with the software because with the new software you might not be able to figure out why you cannot receive XR mode modulation any more. Because in the new software you need to manually select XR mode (the older version had automatic mode detection) To get rid of the READ RELEASE NOTES message just hit the A/B key.

[Solid Goldberger]

It seems like people are reading my comments like I'm complaining, which I'm not. I'm only saying that for doc/eng work where I'm not carrying a laptop around, manually converting and dl'ing the micro sd cards is just not going to happen in the field (unless a catastrophic failure happens, and then I will do it in my home/hotel room on my own time).

Since we know Zaxnet can communicate "machine control" to the transmitters from a recorder, it would be cool to be able to automatically offload the transmitter cards' data. I hope that can happen one day, as it would make the recording transmitter functionality much more useful for me.

E.

[John Blankenship]

Recapturing and remixing audio from the transmitters has been planned for the Nomad all along. Glenn has even stated that it's one of his favorite features.

However, due in no small part to Zaxcom's constant innovation, some planned functions arrive at a glacial pace.

It's the proverbial "double edged sword" as the ground-breaking innovation diverts Zaxcom's limited resources from timely implementation of some long anticipated features.

[Wandering Ear]

Keep in mind, the rerecording feature doesn't happen nearly as fast as dumping the card, unless it's only 1 or 2 takes.

I'm rarely the one who is dumping media, that's not my job. If i need the tx recordings, i will hand them off to whomever is doing media management. I also carry a copy of zaxconvert on a usb stick in case they don't have it.

[Jack Norflus]

A re-record would have to take place in real time - so this may not be advantageous to some.

[John Blankenship]

It's been implemented for quite some time on the Deva. The way that re-record works is it puts the transmitter(s) into playback mode based on a time code start time. The transmitter(s) send this audio to the receiver(s) just like when the sound was originally picked up via the microphone(s).

[PTA]

Since we know Zaxnet can communicate "machine control" to the transmitters from a recorder, it would be cool to be able to automatically offload the transmitter cards' data. I hope that can happen one day, as it would make the recording transmitter functionality much more useful for me.

E.

I think this would be extremely useful. If there was a way to send a command for a specific Tx to dump it's recordings onto the Nomad's cards in a separate folder, I would be for it. Re-record would be useful too as I would only use it for specific takes.

[James Arnold]

Recapturing and remixing audio from the transmitters has been planned for the Nomad all along. Glenn has even stated that it's one of his favorite features.

However, due in no small part to Zaxcom's constant innovation, some planned functions arrive at a glacial pace.

It's the proverbial "double edged sword" as the ground-breaking innovation diverts Zaxcom's limited resources from timely implementation of some long anticipated features.

Thank you John for putting in polite terms what I usually manage to achieve in my regular abrasive style.

[RadoStefanov]

I dont thinkthe zaxnet is that fast...

[Prahlad Strickland]

qrx200 by itself destroys qrx100 even when comparing dual mode on 200 vs single mode on 100.

qrx200 with micplexer gives me some serious range advantage compared to qrx100 with micplexer.

I was excited when I heard this, but after a walk test today,  I found my QRX100 to be almost identical to the qrx200. 

 

Same frequency both on qrx 100 and 200.  I turned off 100 while testing 200 and vise versa. 

 

Dropouts occuring almost identical distances.  

 

No improvement on dual mode on the 200.     The 100 I left on single mode. 

 

Would love to compare the 100 to the 200 if both were plugged into the micplexor and a couple rabbit ears,  very curious if I get the same range. 

 

Any others experience very similar range between 100 and 200?

[RadoStefanov]

I was excited when I heard this, but after a walk test today, I found my QRX100 to be almost identical to the qrx200.

Same frequency both on qrx 100 and 200. I turned off 100 while testing 200 and vise versa.

Dropouts occuring almost identical distances.

No improvement on dual mode on the 200. The 100 I left on single mode.

Would love to compare the 100 to the 200 if both were plugged into the micplexor and a couple rabbit ears, very curious if I get the same range.

Any others experience very similar range between 100 and 200?

whip antennas ?