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joaohpc

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About joaohpc

  • Birthday 02/06/1992

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  • Location
    Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • About
    Sound mixer and boom op based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • Interested in Sound for Picture
    Yes

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  1. Hi all, I own several kits of Sony UWP D11 units, which i've always used as comteks, while using Lectros as main wireless for micing. Just recently sent 2 Lectros to mothership and rented 2 other kits, so i needed to use Sonys as wires at the job i just did. What i notice is that using the same mic capsule, same gain and same cables, the transmitters behave really differently. One of them which is version 1.008 is normal, while the 3 other transmitters i own version 1.006 have a ridiculous noise floor. Tried swapping everything, but it always come down to the single transmitter which has more recent firmware. I want to upgrade older units to more recent firmware so i can rule out is not software, but hardware issue. Tried searching forums, here at jwsound... Also tried black magic, but the single reference i find says i need to get in touch with Sony support to get a firmware file. Tried doing that and it seems really difficult. They never answered me. Has anyone had success with Sony support? Does anyone have more recent firmware files to share? Or maybe a contact of someone at Sony, or support who can help me? Thank you!!
  2. I feel like 664's pre's are warmer, and i felt like 633 dynamic range was strange compared to it. I feel that 664 pres needs less gain to have a satisfactory sound and also handle peaks / louder bits better, not getting so close to limiter for the sound i like. And because of that, i often hit the limiters on 633, like it wouldn't handle the peaks properly - and i didn't like that. On 664 i almost don't hit the limiters. And yes, the limiters were used with the same settings. When looking to the meters, i would say 664 would always be peaking less than 633 for the "same warmth". I monitor the sound by the ears rather than looking to meters, and this is how i feel comparing them both when using both ears and eyes, using the same HP levels (-6). That is all really subjective and maybe i have fucked up ears, who knows... but well... these are my thoughts.
  3. Actually it might be a good idea to mix both of your ideas - i should get a 788T and use it as main recorder, and when needed i could use my 664 for 6 inputs and use 788T 4 outputs for 4 additional tracks. That doesn't sound bad! But yea, i also thought about buying a 442 and that could also work, but maybe having 2 recorders is smarter. Actually my backup is a Tascam 680, wouldnt trust on that! I had authorized media. But by the time i had a 633 they didn't have WM-Connect yet, so i used a Rii mini keyboard (the one recommended for 633) but it froze many times anyway. How did you monitor both 788s together? And how would you do with 3? My 664 never froze. Thats why im afraid to go 688's way. How do you feel about its pre's compared to your old 664? Im afraid they might have different pres. I noticed an improve when i got my 664 compared to the 633.
  4. Hi all, So i've always been a SD user and fan and i'm a bit confused regarding which should be the appropriate choice to me. I do some docs, commercials, but also drama / features. At the moment i own a 664 with CL 6, but i feel like using the line inputs at unscripted drama is a nightmare. Many of you guys will say that if i have a correct gain staging at wireless, with transmitters peaking limiters at louder bits im gonna be fine. But i don't feel like that. First of all, i hate hearing tx limiter, and when you deal with directors that want to move on without rehearsals sometimes you dont have time to set levels correctly. And also, to adjust gain at 664 you have to use a rotary button at channels menu (talking about chs 7-12). Thats why i thought about buying an used 788T. I like its sound and limiters more than my 664 and it also has 8 preamps. But... At the same time it has the limit of 8 ISO tracks, which sometimes is not enough. Also, i feel really disappointed that SD seems to be giving up on it, by, for example discontinuing CL-Wifi and putting all its efforts on 688. I feel that any day the recorder might also be discontinued. Then i thought about buying a 688, and when needed, i could use my 664 as a mixer for the channels 7-12. That seemed like a good way to go, with the automixing features, phase inversion on every channel and flexible output routing. But then i remembered of when i had a 633 and i was really annoyed by its pre amps, and also by the more than 30 freezes and reboots i had to do on it in less than 2 years. Im not sure if the design is exactly the same (preamps, limiters and freezes) at 633 and 688, but i read some reviews of folks who said 688 pres weren't as good as 664, and also many posts about freezing and re-booting. I think that pres and limiters really make a difference when you're doing features and you need a better quality dialogue. What do you guys think? I'd appreciate opinions about 688 pre amps for doing features and if you guys think 788T is still an option, without CL-Wifi and with less channels for a market that each day demands more and more ISO tracks. Thank you!
  5. New situation: now a new production is coming to Brazil to shoot a "branded content" - cause they don't feel like calling it commercial, right? - for 2 major brands, where they gonna have 2 really famous guys to play Footvolley for cameras while shooting brands clothes and shoes, and whatever giant outdoors with brands. So production says its not a commercial, and they want me to do £350 for multitrack recorder with timecode (to send to 2 cameras), boom, 3 lavaliers, audio sent to 2 cameras (i could send by cable, but tell me how i could do that on a sports shoot with cameramen walking opposite directions all around) that means 2 wireless audio on camera. After i accepted that, as the rate is higher than most situations in Brazil and im also earning half a day travel rate, i sent an email to client and local producer (fixer) worried about my equipment. Its a sport shoot on a sand court with 2 players jumping, falling on the sand, sweating. And worse of all, its a footvolley match, so the guys need to use their breasts to receive the ball at the starting point, shortening my options of lav-positioning if i don't feel like having lavalier pâté for dinner. I asked if production gonna pay for any damage to my equipment, which can easily happen on this case. Got a call 5 min after questioning how did i dare ask about that, because they never paid for that, and that is the mixer's responsibility to pay for his equipment insurance. I don't feel like they're right. Read so many stories about equipment breaking during productions and production company paying for it, which seemed to be the norm for me. Also feel like im not being paid properly. But that's the story of our lives, right? The producer told me she "always do the budget making DP and sound earning the same", to which i answered her that's not true, as i know DP is gonna earn more and he doesn't get to bring US15.0000 of equipment for free as i am doing. Don't know whats gonna happen next but... oh man... Its always like that...
  6. And also carnival! Seems to be the tendency worlwide, unfortunately... Feels odd every time we work with producers that actually pay correct rates without crying for discounts or threatening you of losing the job. Stay strong.
  7. Just to be clear here: we also have a high end market where mixers earn more, specially when considering big commercials, but i'd say what is the highest rate you can earn around on that niche is 2100 brazilian reais ( 499 british pounds), with equipment included - 788T, 2 lectros, boom and comteks. I see at Bectu chart you earn in that case 457 to 513 pounds without gear, just labor. Also considering Bectu's chart: at films with major budget you guys earn 472 to 530 pounds / day without gear, while we earn tops 1500 brazilian reais ( 356 british pounds) /day with SD 788T or Aaton Cantar, 8 Lectrosonics wireless - 6 + 2 plug ons - with Sanken or DPA lav mics, 2 booms, audio on-camera, 2 timecode lockit boxes and 4 comteks. Another difference - on films we don't do 10 hours, we do 12h as standard. So if i consider your rate for 12h - 520 to 580 pounds - the difference is even more shocking.
  8. Thank you for the link, it helped a lot as an international reference. It's just amazing how things work at Germany. Found it very interesting that you have small variations of price for each piece of equipment. Most producers in Brazil don't care if you have a Sound Devices, Tascam or Zoom. They just want a multitrack recorder, as well as a lav mic or boom, be it Sennheiser ME66 or Schoeps CMIT, be it Senn ME2 or DPA4071. We sure have a few high end producers who ask for a Sound Devices, but its the minority. And then what happens is: they want the high end equipment paying for prosumer gear, and won't hire you unless you have what they want. Made a brief calculation of my gear - SD 664, Lectrosonics SRB with 2 SMQv, Sanken CS3e, 2 Sony UWP D11 as extra lavs or audio on-camera - and didn't count the timecode set. That list goes for 220 euros, or 824 brazilian reais, which is the rate we earn labor + gear. Also, when considering drama / episodic, i've seen many jobs paying that amount for 788T, 2 booms and plug ons, 6 wireless mics, audio on camera and sometimes timecode lockits. We sure must consider you always give a discount for larger jobs - i.e, 3 to 4 weeks. But you get the idea. So yea, actually we work for free. Sound mixers have tried many times to make a strong union that really has representation like camera department has here. But for some reason it never works out, we're not being taken seriously. We frequently earn labor + gear the same as (frequently less) a 2nd camera assistant.
  9. Also sorry i got the wrong idea! But i've seen a lot of people discussing this subject, and the moral side always seems to be one of the focuses. But yea, things are pretty much messed up around here, and also yea, its the second producer that tells me in UK they earn 350p/ day with equipment.
  10. Thank you everyone for the feedback. I know i shouldn't charge differently depending on what country the production company comes from. That would be right in a perfect world. It is a very large story to put in this thread, but actually in Brazil our unions don't have representation with producers, so what is the value we have on our union charts and what is supposed to be the right value for our labor and equipment is never followed. We don't earn the right for the equipment we use ( quality-wise of what producers ask), and what you see happening a lot at Brazil are old (age) sound recordists that couldn't save money for their retiring even working their whole life. That is because our city is very expensive - believe it or not, almost as in London - but also because we don't get paid enough for our equipment. So when things do break - and you guys know they DO break ALL the time - everything saved is re-spent on what was not enough paid. Equipments here are taxed in 100% - yes, im serious. We need to pay 2 times the amount you guys pay for your gear, pay an expensive international shipping and cry if something breaks, because there's almost no local technical assistance. And if that wasn't enough, we don't earn as much as you guys for the very same gear. If we follow this logic you can't even get enough money to buy new gear if you don't happen to have a wealthy family, so what happens here is 70% of the mixers work with Zooms or Tascam-DR680s, even for cinema / drama / fiction. That's a whole other world and don't wanna go inside that, also don't have any intention to make a drama here, but just to say to @Lancashire soundie and @chrismedr is not that a simple moral question (or so easily logic) as you think, and it actually is quite unfair. This makes me think of what @Christian Spaeth said about equipment being a regular rate worlwide. It makes all sense. I wouldn't be complaining if that was the case. And actually, that's what i try to make happen. I don't ask the same rate as you guys because i consider the labor rate should change for each country - YES -, so i charge an inbetween of local / international rates. Also it makes less sense to go with me rather than a sound recordist from crew's country if we're charging the same, even though there are flight and hotel costs. That being said, i'd appreciate a little more help from you guys if you can let me know how much you charge for a basic kit: - Multitrack recorder with timecode - Boom - 2 wireless mics - 2 wireless utility (extra lavs or wireless sound on-camera) Also, how much would it cost for: - Extra lav - Timecode lockit box ( each ) Based on that info i can get to a fair rate. @pindrop, @Constantin, @daniel thanks for the original feedback, and would love to hear more from this point. Cheers
  11. Hello to everyone, Was hoping to get some feedback about how much are the rates for work + equipment in the UK. Im a brazilian sound mixer based in Rio de Janeiro, and everytime i work with international productions and try to negotiate rates i get the argument that in UK the mixers earn 350 pounds a day for all-in (multitrack recorder, boom, 2 to 4 lavs, wireless audio on-camera and maybe even timecode lockit boxes). This is the second time i work with an UK production, and although the production company was not the same, i got the very same argument from both. I want to find out if that is true, as i received a call for a 3 week job and now they even want a discount because it is a large period. Im brazilian and is hard to find that kind of international information. Actually i found this chart (https://www.bectu.org.uk/advice-resources/library/2244), and it says 350 pounds for a 10 hour day, but i keep asking myself if it is with or without equipment. Had a lot of trouble negotiating extra hours (they still dont want to pay me) and timecode lockit boxes as extras on the last job. Also i received the same argument when worked with a german production back to the Olympic games last year. In that case, the rate was considerably lower - 300 euros (not pounds) a day, but they didn't ask for timecode and it was just 1 camera. How much should be a week rate for 10h/day doc? In UK or Europe. I hope this is the appropriate board, and sorry if its not. I would be happy to have any kind of feedback. Thanks to all.
  12. Tom, why don't you like the MKH 60? Could you try to explain it comparing to 8060 and 416? I used a 60 together with a 8060 on a show and the 60 seemed to have much better reach, although the 8060 sounded much better / richer when close enough. The reach, though, was needed for that show and it really disappointed our team. Would be happy to hear your thoughts.
  13. I preffer the MKH 60 rather than the 416, which sometimes sounds thin on interiors, and off axis is terrible. It also has proximity effect problems. It surely is really rugged and wont go bad on you, even on terrible humid conditions, but if your choice is based on that i really doubt a 60 will let you down. It has never let me down. As Chris mentioned, you should save your money and go to another kind of mic. i personally own a MKH 60 and my next purchase is the CS3e, while the 60 will stay as backup mic and also stereo rig together with a MKH 30.
  14. Just rewired my lav to a Sennheiser G3 and it worked! Noise floor disappeared. Not sure of what happened with it using the Sony system but the wiring was correct. Will keep it wired for G3. Thank you all!
  15. JonG, was your lav the MKE 2-60 model, with the barrel? Thank you everybody. I guess i'm gonna try wiring it to G3 system and see if i get the same issue. Will post soon if it worked or not. JonG, was your lav the MKE 2-60 model, with the barrel? Thank you everybody. I guess i'm gonna try wiring it to G3 system and see if i get the same issue. Will post soon if it worked or not.
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