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A month ago I spent my day off with the great senator Mike Michaels. We had Chicken and Waffles and a great conversation. He is doing good but staying away from the internet. Which is admirable and something that I inspire to do. I snapped a photo which my Leica CL on a Kodak XX 5222 cinema B&W stock. Developed in Kodak Xtol 1:1 at 75F

First of all, contact your state Department of Labor and file a claim. Secondly, and they'll hate this, is fill out an IRS Form SS-8 (link attached). Email this to every beverlyboy email address you have and cc everyone on the call sheets you had, especially producer/director. They WILL NOT want the IRS now making worker determinations as the penalties from Dept. of Labor are huge for non-payment. https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-ss-8 File that form with the IRS. And subsequently file a dispute regarding the 1099 and let bev boy know that too. Be a complete pain in their ass and encourage all the other crew to do the same. Good Luck. You should also send copies of your unpaid invoice and demand to Roku's legal department claiming copyright for unpaid product and state the you explicity do NOT release any rights to the use of your recordings as no work for hire has been effected due to non payment. Give them everybody's contact info at bev boy. That'll be fun.

Today, Halter Technical began posting a series of Reels that I hope uplifts and inspires working professionals, and those who are building their career. New episodes of #RespectSound will appear on Mondays and Fridays on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. I hope you'll check them out! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKnxJ6JEwFFU9_AtlyE1IYL8b_reDjV80

I'm a R4+ and M2D2 user and would say Sonosax all the way for music. I used SD and Zaxcom for many years and have recorded music on them for convenience with good results, all fine, great machines. but doing the same with Sonosax is a big jump in musicality and 'ease of sound'. Generally the stuff I have recorded that way has been small music groups playing mostly acoustic instruments along with multiple voices, with a mix of ribbon mics and dynamics, leaving the Schoeps and so on in the cabinet much of the time.

A used Sound Devices 788T (or even a SD 744) would be all you need to record music. I AM a professional music recordist and for anything under eight tracks, I still use, and am still awe-struck by the quality of, acoustic music recorded on my 788T. D.

I've had a pre-production copy for a few weeks now, and have been testing it, and have written one of my usual blog post write ups, with plenty of embedded audio files. Doubtless it won't quite address everything you want to know about the mic, but I hope there is the odd bit there that might interest one or two of you. Cheers, Roland https://drbadphil.com/sennheisers-new-fig-8-the-mkh-8030

This thought experiment nerd-sniped me, so I thought I would see if I could turn it into a real experiment. Some caveats first, then a TLDR, then the details for reproducability. Caveats: I don't have a particularly fancy or accurate way to measure SPL. SPL readings came from the NIOSH SLM app on my iPhone and should be taken with grain of salt. I used a pretty crummy studio monitor (Yamaha HS5) for my source; the frequency fresponse for that monitor is definitely not flat, and it's a little guy, so low frequency reproduction is questionable. I don't have the quietest room in the world; my floor is somewhere around 29 or 30 db(A) according to the NIOSH SLM app. So I'm not sure that this necessarily gets to the heart of the thought experiment for truly quiet sources, but I figured that it's real world enough until someone with an anechoic chamber volunteers. TLDR: For a DPA 4060 in a room with an ambient SPL of ~30 db(A) and a target signal in the neighborhood of 60 db(A), adding up to 51 db of digital gain from GainForward on a Sound Devices 888 doesn't appear to increase the noise floor any differently than applying that gain to a regular old preamp. The test: I took two DPA 4060s and attached them in front of a speaker. My test audio track was a tone (for alignment), 30 seconds of silence, 60 seconds of pink noise, 30 seconds of silence, and final tone for alignment. I started with a control - both lavs hooked up with the DPA XLR adapter to inputs 1 and 2 on my 888. I set levels based on the pink noise, so that I was peaking around -18. That happened to be 50 db, based on the loudness of my speakers and exact position of the mics. Putting my phone between the two mics, I measured the pink noise at around 60 db(A) (plus or minus whatever, since this isn't a super accurate way to measure sound pressure). I did two takes with MicA in input 1 and MicB in input 2, then I swapped them and did two more. These control samples gave me my margin of error - I measured the peaks and RMS for the clips as a whole, the silence sections and the pink noise sections. Then I swapped in an A20 Mini, switching the microdot on one of the 4060's to the lemo connector. I didn't change the levels, since when I swapped from the XLR connection to the A20 mini, I noticed that it was peaking in the right place to match the mic coming in VIA XLR. It seems like 36.5 db of digital gain (which was the same position of the trim knob) gave me the same level. I ran through two takes, then again swapped Mic A and Mic B (so Mic A went from the transmitter to the 888 XLR input, and vice versa) and ran it twice more. Then, just to see what happened, I turned the gain up as high as I could on both until I was just shy of clipping (the final clips peaked at -0.5 db when I got them into my DAW). That was preamp gain of 65 db for the XLR input and 51.5 db of digital gain for the A20 mini. I ran through two takes as well. Pulling all the takes in and matching their peaks, running through an A20 mini and adding digital gain does not appear to add any to the noise floor. Again, see all the caveats above - this was not a perfect test, I don't have great SPL measuring equipment, or even a particularly quiet room, but I thought it was interesting enough to share.

This is regarding the legacy BP-TRX units. The Theos system is not falling under this agreement. Next week, we will show something at IBC Amsterdam...

For those of us in the Lectro ecosystem: the digital successor to the SSM was just announced. https://www.gothamsound.com/product/dssm-digital-transmitter

The DSSM will be an excellent addition to my D2 wireless eco system. I too what would love remote control if TX’s . I’m betting that WMAS with its 6 MHz bandwidth will the be future for remote control for not only Lectro but all manufacturers in the next couple years and all those 2.4 ghz controlled systems will be outdated. And if/when we do see a WMAS compatible system with remote control Lectro’s track record shows that these D2 TX’s will most likely work with the next gen RX’s maximizing your investment.

Nice! How wonderful it was for me to actually be with people in the real world. I have been so overly cautious because of Covid I have missed so many events, so many people. It was great evening, I think one of the best Awards show we've done.

I’ve been on a mic acquisition kick lately, and I’ve ended up with too many shotgun mics, so I need to figure out which ones I want to keep as my workhorses. To help me choose, I decided to test to them all under controlled circumstances and see what I could learn. I wrote way more than I intended, so instead of posting the whole thing here, I put it in a post on my website. And for those who don't want to read an 11-page review (I don't blame you), here's my last-paragraph-first summary: https://documentarysoundguy.ca/the-shotgun-shootout-schoeps-cmit-supercmit-sanken-cs-3e-sennheiser-mkh-60/ Enjoy, and happy listening!

Yea yea I know they stole. But everybody else in business steals including the usual bag manufacturers so … I know I am going to get a lot of hate but as you all might have found out already I don’t give a F@ck. This is just information. Proaim made a bag. Still old school heavy design and made of polyester but a cheaper version. Price is $167

I smell some kind of "racism" here, non US/EU brands is not equal to "low quality / bad image"! To be honest, our industry has been ruled by US and EU companies forever, I would love to see if there could be a chance for a cooperation between companies like Zoom and Aaton, developing more reliable and affordable machines. I think the cooperation between Steinberg and Yamaha is a positive example. The Zoom F8 series are fantastic products at a relative low price. They gave many people the opportunity to get into the world of cinematic sound, those couldn't afford it before such machine existed. But since here is about Aaton, let's give it a hope that Aaton can find an investor and keep making one of the best machines for the industry.

Imagine if Blackmagic purchased Aaton and released a $3K Cantar Mini v2, that would be insane!

In general, it is very strange to see that much lack of competition. Making an audio recorder and it´s UI is not an atomic science. I don´t prefer the anatomy of cantar recorders at all - it makes even easy operations tricky. Boot times terrible. Input functions limited. Unbearably heavy. Lack of MixAssist / Dugan until the last minute, Lack of SuperSlot. Stiff onboard mixer faders (great cantaress, though). A need to buy an external box to have physical gain knobs. Buttons don´t work when dust gets in. There´s too much stress on set to operate such an absurdly complex piece of equipment on top of it. It´s not doing anything else than recording an audio signal and timecode ! Cantar only worked mentally in some absurd way : once you forced that thing to operate the way you wanted, you got honored with that spurious "atomic scientist pride". But that didn´t win a nobel prize for you. That´s where the audio mixer job only begins. SD, ZOOM and even ZAXCOM make much more straightforward equipment. Yes, I don´t love the overheating Scorpio that´s less durable and flawless compared to 6XX/7XX line but it seems like it´s the best new piece of equipment out there recently. My secret horse is ZOOM Japan. They´re a hair away of making something big. Add Dante support, double the channel count , make bigger mixing surface with same brains as great F - Control. You will rule this market. RIP Aaton. You were not my love but you have my respect.

Denecke for me. No interest in trying to use a different kind of slate. When will they incorporate Bluetooth and other features? I hope never. I like that the slate has no menu to navigate or wireless status to keep an eye on. Battery. Jam. Don’t worry about it again until tomorrow. After it gets dropped for the 100th time maybe it will need a short trip back to Denecke for a reasonable fee and then it’s good for another 100 drops.

Wait--you got the screaming and they complained about the low bits within the same take? I'd file that in the "Ignore" folder.

When you currently have only one channel of Lectrosonics, it's overkill to put your 2nd channel in a completely different block. And as Karl mentions in that linked video, there are benefits to staying within the same block (for instance you could easily replace your 2x UCR411 with a single SRb, if you needed to go lightweight. Or you could bring just one UM400 and it would act as a spare emergency backup transmitter for either of your transmitters, if talent lost/broke one of them. But if you were using two different blocks, you'd need twice as many spare backups with you). If you've got a clean block, then you can fit a lot of channels within that block. (so long as you're being sensible and using frequency coordination, such as with FreqFinder) You're not going to get interference just because they're in the same block!

Seems there will be a respite until 2031 in Region 1 at least (Europe, Africa, Middle East and others). The 470 - 694 MHz retains broadcast as a primary user, keeps PMSE (program making and special events, wireless microphones and similar applications in regulatory-speak) as secondary, and while some countries might authorize some mobile activity it would be on a secondary basis if at all. One of the key points of the opinions supporting broadcast and PMSE was regulatory stability, and it seems the next review is scheduled for 2031. So, some peace of mind for now I guess. EBU seems to be happy. https://tech.ebu.ch/news/2023/12/ebu-position-reflected-in-wrc-23-decision-on-uhf-band

For the audio aspects, Dugan is your friend--nothing beats it in this kind of situation. For the content: as was said, you give your warnings to the director (while dispelling any fantasies about the fact that the talent is individually lav-miced and on on their own channel making much of a diff when they are sitting close together, esp. in a lively discussion) and hope for the best. Often these sorts of scenes are "led" by one or two people who know the agenda, the time frame and keep order in terms of responses (you see this on TV all the time). A truly free-form discussion with a lot of folks can quickly become uncuttable.

In case anybody needs it for future reference, I found that the local regulations for Columbia and Mexico are 470-608 MHz with 100mW and 902-928 MHz with 1W, respectively. I'm a native Spanish speaker and have been dealing with government-enforced information for some years now, and it was really tricky locating this precise data. In case Deity folks want to use it, here it is!

I suppose it's worth asking about the ZMT4-Flex transmitter, which is made of flexible silicone, and which is supposedly designed specifically for sports applications. Has anybody actually used these? I know Zaxcom boasts about supplying the NFL. They are 0.4" thick and flexible, which I would think would help with safety. I would think something that thin could be safely hidden on the back even in a direct fall as long as it's not directly on the spine. There's also the Q5X Playermic, which is a similar flexible design and footprint: https://www.q5x.com/product/qt-ad10-playermic/. I'm not sure who ripped off whom here, but both claim to be useful for sports and safety. Would love hearing about direct experience with either.

Thanks for doing a real test. There is a long tradition of location soundies doing their own gear tests, no matter how "cowboy" they are so that they then really KNOW what their gear does. Well done.

Have someone offset with the wav file call the cell phone and just play it back. Hold the phone up to the speaker of a labtop. I suggest the person who green lit the whole phone thing would be a great playback operator!

We lost the 'clicker' to our giant 19" TV back then. In those days, everyone had ash trays on the coffee table whether you smoked or not, for guests. For some reason, I dropped a small bolt into the ash tray one day (a nice big glass one) and the channel changed! So we had ourselves a one-way (channel up only) channel changer that we used for the rest of the time we owned the TV.

Sound devices "renting" extra channels and software plugins comes to mind. Their prices have taken a sharp turn upwards and their business practices have taken a turn downwards since they were acquired. It's all pretty tame compared to the examples that Doctorow has collected, but our industry isn't immune.

Wisycom provides a new feature with the newest Firmware 2.0.0. After upgradeing there is a new option under TC SETUP where you can sync the transmitter over bluetooth to a Tentacle sync E. Great improvement on set. No need to look for the proprietaty sync cable for syncing. Just hit the Jam button.

I wonder why no one has thought to incorporate timecode into one of these mixers? I know a lot of them can record multitrack to USB but no one ever thinks about adding timecode. Would be great if this could record + timecode + metadata for track names etc as then it could be a perfect small cart companion to Dante wireless receivers.

After a few years of designing, testing and developing we are proud to introduce the next evolution of Soundbag Dashboards. We have created a new modular design that will allow users to completely customize their Soundbag Dashboard to their exact setup: Soundbag Dashboards Goes Modular Introducing the next evolution of Soundbag Dashboards. We’ve taken the original concept of the Soundbag Dashboard and evolved it to be completely modular and customizable to a sound mixer’s exact setup. The new modular design allows the end user to create a completely customizable Soundbag Dashboard. How it works Start by choosing a Soundbag Dashboard “Rail” to fit your mixer/recorder. Each Soundbag Dashboard mixer rail is designed to fit perfectly to a specific mixer, with no modifications needed. No messy adhesive, velcro or straps! Just like the original Soundbag Dashboard, the low profile Soundbag Dashboard Rails seamlessly attach to your mixer using existing mounting points. Next, choose from our selection of low profile “Brackets” that fit your wireless receivers. Soundbag Dashboards has designed brackets for most of today’s top wireless receivers, including Lectrosonics, Shure, Sound Devices and more. Just like the mixer rails, every Soundbag Dashboard receiver bracket is precision machined to attach to a specific wireless receiver, using pre-existing mounting points. You can choose from single receiver brackets or dual brackets. Single brackets hold one receiver while dual brackets allow you to stack two receivers at a time. Soundbag Dashboards also has a bracket for some of the most popular Battery Distribution Systems on the market. Now, slide the receiver brackets onto the “Rail” and position them wherever works best for you. When you’re happy with the positioning, you can lock them in place by tightening the set screws located at the bottom of the Soundbag Dashboard rail, using the provided Allen key. Brackets can slide parallel with the rail or, in a Soundbag Dashboards first, the brackets can be turned 90 degrees to the rail, so you can fit more receivers onto your Soundbag Dashboard and allow even more customization of your setup. There you go! You’ve now created your own custom Soundbag Dashboard that is personalized to your exact kit. Features - All components are precision machined out of lightweight, aircraft-grade 6061 aluminium, for years of use in the most extreme conditions. There are no printed plastic parts that can warp, crack or break. - All components are anodized for a high quality, great looking finish. - Soundbag Dashboards keeps your Soundbag organized by keeping all your equipment locked in place - As manufacturers introduce new audio equipment, Soundbag Dashboards will create new rails and brackets to allow you to update your kit, without having to purchase a whole new Dashboard. Current Compatible Equipment Mixer / Recorders: Sound Devices Mixpre 6, Mixpre 10, 833, 888, 664/688, 633, Zoom F8 (Sound Devices Scorpio coming soon) Wireless Receivers: Lectrosonics 411, Lectrosonics SR series, Lectrosonics DSR4, Sound Devices A-10 / A-20, Shure ADX5D and Wisycom. BDS: Deity SPD-1, Audio Root VM DBox, Audio Root eSmart BG-DH mkII, Battery Bud v1 and 2, Remote Audio BDS RM. Soundbag Dashboards Modular Dashboard System… Taking your Soundbag to the next level! for more info visit the website: www.soundbagdashboards.com Available to buy at our website or ask for them at your favourite location sound retailer.

Comteks are great ….. and terrible. They make us money and keep clients happy, even though they don’t sound that good. They are one of the items that i have come to see as the “face” of my sound since every client on set will interact with them directly and often. So last year I finally got tired of buying cheap hanging shoe racks (they only last a few months) to store, organize, inventory, and distribute my comteks and I commissioned a set of custom hanging pouches. Now that i have them I can’t believe I didn’t do this before. I have both 8x and 12x versions (I do mostly commercial and scripted narrative). I hang one on the back of my cart, or move it to a mic stand to put in video village. So i thought i’d post them here as a starting point to see how others are carrying and distributing their comteks. Please fill this thread with pictures and ideas that fit your individual workflows.

This has already been posted to some effect on a couple of FB groups, but there are folks here that don't journey into the meta. My cart for the last many years was much larger as it housed a much heavier and extensive amount of components. I kept using the rig even as the gear became smaller and was capable of even more functionality. I decided it was time to re-think my set up and look for a more ergonomic and smaller footprint. I wanted a standing rig (yes, I sit during set ups and when not mixing), and something that would be more nimble in getting into tight spots. Looked at several different manufactures and custom cart rigs and settled on the Inovativ Deploy as the base structure. Needed some covers and extra bits here and there to fulfill the demands of production, travel and safety. Photos below are what we've ended up with. Always a work in progress but so far happy with the results.

To clarify my underlying point, I think all systems have failure points. Waveform sync, TC, etc. They can all go wrong, which is exactly why the industry has come to rely not on only one tool or method, but on redundancy. A TC slate is one piece of the redundant puzzle. Redundancy is a feature, not a burden.

D Clay Audio, I don't know if this helps at all, I couldn't find a TXAdvance scan in Nashville, but here is the closest. Chattanooga.

If you're after good SD pres then those on the 552 are the best they get. Lundahl mic transformers per pre, same as the 302, MM1 and 442.

Did Zaxcom patent the mixing of tracks ? 🤣

Yes! I have two that are maintained and ready to work. I love analog and don't care about any digital benefits or remote control controllers. I love having a standalone analog mixer! It's so sad to me that all the name brand digital recorders are built to use their own remote controllers that are not compatible with other devices. The Solices have both had minimal maintenance over the 10+ years I've had them, and it was never expensive. Compared to a digital mixer I used to love until its processor died and no replacements were available, the Solice is a lifetime piece of gear. Like tube amps, if you know how to keep them. I have no idea what I'd do if I lost them. At this point they are the most prized items of the kit! I am so happy I invested when I did. Dan Izen

Just stumbled on this technical paper on history of Sennheiser's MKH line of mics and what makes the various generations different from each other: https://assets.sennheiser.com/global-downloads/file/11061/MKH-Story_WhitePaper_en.pdf I'd imagine this isn't new for some people, but it was to me.

If you want TC gear that can be serviced by its manufacturer then go Denecke.

I've had no or very slow and non-specific response from DPA re: service for a mic that is out of warranty. I also tried a few audio techs for repair and they had no better luck with DPA than I did. Am done with DPA.

Something new from DPA at a really good price (under $1000). Specs look to be on par or better (lower noise, lower current, higher headroom) than the 4017 but with no switchable filters. I don't think I'd miss them though because this, like the mini CMIT, has a built in roll off starting at about 60Hz. A little less presence boost than the 4017 otherwise very flat. Form factor seems nice at a little over 7" but with enough preamp section to be easily mountable in a variety of shock mounts. A little heavier than the miniCMIT. Also they're touting it as extremely durable and water/humidity resistant. Here in Chicago I saw a picture of them putting golf balls with it. No mention of RF immunity. Wouldn't mind trying one!

This one, I use it for field recordings, but i thought it could be handy to quickly have a spare boom pole. not the best pole, but handy as a spare: https://www.manfrotto.com/nl-en/carbon-nanopole-stand-ms0490c/ Here in the field with a Sanken cms-50 -> F3 Setup. Quick and dirty yet high quality atoms recording setup:

Arguably my shop has produced some of the most aggressive cart builds that have ever been attempted. I have been very fortunate in that over the years I have had an unprecedented level of exposure to many very successful sound mixers who all have their workflow and preferred brands recorders and wireless. I am pretty much on the same page with @joepfeil. Early on in my career I used a mixture of prosumer wireless systems and some second hand professional gear. I was also using a Tascam HSp82 at the time which had toggleable inputs as either analog or AES. Long ago when I first looked at the Zaxcom website I was blown away with how complicated it all seemed (I was very green). I was homeless at the time and living in an Astro van. I ended up dropping my entire savings into a RX12, Bluefins, a couple ZMT3's, and a 743. It was an unfathomable investment for me at the time considering my living situation. I did it because it was an investment into myself and my career. I will never forget the first day I used the 743 on set. It was for a Tove Lo music video. My little makeshift soundcart was at the back of the stage and I was so scared that I was going to be plagued with the same RF problems I had suffered though with the prosumer gear for so long. Not only that, I had just wired in and powered up the RX12 for the first time just days before the shoot. I was working by myself and running back and forth between the cart every time they rolled. The signal was clean, rock solid, and for the first time I experienced true professional confidence in both myself and my equipment. Fast forward many years later and my inventory of Zaxcom wireless systems and recorders has grown significantly. I credit much of my professional success to Zaxcom.

I think Lectro being engineering driven and publishing all sorts of technical data also makes them stand out. I have a feeling I will miss servo wiring ... that's an unsung hero for Lectro. And their service is excellent too.

That's exactly what I was hoping for. A simple bank of knobs that you could plug into the usb port on the back of the nexus and have control at your fingertips. I'm not sure what sort of software support sound devices need to supply to get this to work..

This isn't about "defending" anyone. It's not a "battle", and this isn't politics. I care about the quality of information and quality of discourse on JWSound, so I'm correcting those as best I can. You are supporting your argument with facts that change, and assumptions that are frequently wrong. If you want me to stop pointing them out, check your facts and make a better argument.

Not only no TC but most all of them have internal clocks much inferior to what we're used to, so they need to get WC from an external source, preferably one that is also making the TC for the whole system (and camera boxes). Most low budg digital mixers (incl. this one) do not have external WC inputs, which makes them kind of useless for movie sound no matter how great the rest of it is.

I'm struggling to see what Jim is seeing here. Without internal recording for isos, you'd have to flow dante to external recorder(s), so I don't see that it saves much money. Which really just makes it a large, heavy control surface, with the accoutrements of a digtial effects rack. Is it the effects and "live" workflow that makes this attractive?

Re: audio level/gain staging: The MixPre 10 is not set up the way professional Industry Standard mixers are. I find it to be usable... but not straight forward. To make it match my SD 688, which matches my new SD Scorpio, required some calibration and thought. I first sent tone at 0db from the MP 10 and 688 to a third mixer, a stand-in for the receiving camera. After that just work backwards making sure the gain on your transmitters is set properly and with the receivers putting out +4/Line Level. With your fader at 12:00, adjust the input gain on the MixPre10 to make your meters look the same as they would look on a standard pro mixer. Use tone from your receiver to set this if possible. Using 'Lectrosonics dual/quad channel digital receivers and an older BDS from Remote Audio (powered by a pair of Lithium NP style batteries) I have no buzz in my audio. Try powering each piece of equipment on batteries, with the rest on the power supply, until you can isolate the problem. I had an audio/power supply conflict problem in 1996 which was a sort of reverse gating. 'Lectrosonics made a change for that one. Cheers, Tim