Jim Rillie

You can measure drift according to the Denecke standard with a GR-1 or GR-2. Both very handy pieces of kit. Regards, Jim Rillie

Phil, For what it is, sound design great. The Tram did a good job. Was it wireless, or hard wired? Musta been scary knowing camera audio is it, mit out meters, just monitor. Liked it. The only thing is eyeline... Regards, Jim Rillie

On June 29 DJGo reported: " The CMIT is not a workhorse, yesterdays shoot has proven this.. it cannot take the slightest humidity in the room well, leaving you with a sizzling, crackling blue pipe, worthless and rather dissapointing. " Would love to know the unfortunate circumstances that this failure occurred. I have been using these mics extensively (now in my third year), and never had a failure. I live and work by the North Atlantic in Nova Scotia where things are humid more often than not. I do get the humidity ascending whine occasionally (very rare since I started keeping the contacts clean many years ago) on the CMC systems, but so far not on the CMITs. Maybe your CMIT needs cleaning or service? Or is this more common than I realize? Would like to hear if other CMIT users have experienced this. And BTW, the CMIT definitely is my workhorse mic. Regards, Jim Rillie

@ Ray and others The no headphones approach is indeed how many of the UK and Australian soundos in the ABC learned booming. I had an excellent Irish boom op on a show I did about 10 years ago when we shot the Irish portion of the mini series. It was Noel Quinn, and he didn't wear a Comtek, didn't like to work that way, and his work was excellent. A good soul as well. So there! Our compromise was to have our trainee, who Noel did a great training job with, wear a Comtek so he could relay info when the cart wasn't really close to set. I don't think our product was compromised in any way by not using phones in this instance. The other benefit to this method is that the boom op can identify and locate many little nagging unnecessary noises quickly with a two ear perspective on the set. My 2cents, although before and since then I have always worked with boom ops who want to use phones, and I do like to work that way. I would not be opposed to doing it again any time with a boom op who trained in that method. I have tried booming it both ways in my experience and do prefer phones as well, but it is liberating if you know your way around mics and their patterns. Regards, Jim Rillie

I use Q tips, tooth pick, and alcohol. Carefully and gently. And a nice blast of air or dust off, after in case of releasing dust. Jim Rillie

The only time I have ever had any difficulty with Cantar meters/ info, day or night is with polarized sunglasses on. Just the nature of the display. Not as high tech and multi-purpose as touch screens, but always readable. my experience anyways. Jim Rillie

Hey Jesse, The 81 in my experience is a friendlier mic than the 416. The audio pickup on the edge of the pattern is what I'm talking about. The 416 , while very directional and environmentally bullet proof, has a drastic drop of frequency response just off the pick-up pattern. The 81, and many other mics made by Schoeps, Neumann and others have a smoother off axis response, making the pick-up pattern in our uses a useful tool. The lower talker on the beam has the gain to make it work, and the louder talker just off pattern will have a reduced level, but good sounding, natural frequency response. I hope this is clearly understandable, as it is one of the basic principles we all use daily, and why we are not all proponents of any particular mic. They all have their strong points. If you are working in a rain forest, these esoteric ideas may be tossed out the window for practical reasons. My 2cents... Jim Rillie

I heard "Motor off Sound", meaning the motor was not driving the stock through. There ya go. Everybody has a different version they like, as opposed to the overused "mit out sound" Regards jim Rillie

Not an option 250mAh as opposed to iPower 520mAh RTegards, Jim Rillie

We find the overcovers and grey stickies are the bomb for taking care of both wind noise and clothing noise, usually mounted on skin, sometimes in the placket of shirts, etc. Of course depending on how stylish and tight the wardrobe is. It's always a crapshoot isn't it. Why we still go for the boom option whenever possible. One caveat is that the grey stickies can vary in their quality. Maybe they get less sticky with age or something. Last year my guys discovered one side of a batch of stickies we got was better than the other for sticking to skin. Regards, jim Rillie

Jeff, I think this explains Alex's choice for the Hackintosh. Sounds brilliant to me... "The gist of the computer is that it's all solid state, has panel mounted XLR ins and outs for audio via an internal USB audio interface, and a very efficient 12V regulated power supply with a panel mounted XLR4 input. I wanted it to run Wave Agent, LecNet, and something for playback." I also think Alex will ditch the Rubbermaid, and end up with something more along the lines of the top section footprint. And yes, Fabian I was pretty sure it's a K, because it reminds me of my K75s dashboard. Regards, Jim Rillie

Beemer behind in shot 1. K?or R? Oh, nice cart BTW.

Mine is on the way from Hong Kong, so they tell me this week. Once I've learned how to use it, and had results, will talk about it. My only scanning experience so far is the 411 scans. Jim Rillie

Winter, I am mostly a cart-based drama mixer with self-powered Cantar, and use the NP!s for peripherals. For instance, I run 3 Lectro 411As and two multicouplers for them on an NP1, usually a 12hr day, if all three receivers used a lot, may have to switch np1's near day's end. I also use one NP1 for a Comtek Base station TX and LED littlelite, lasts a 12 hr day usually, if light on a lot, I change np1 in last hour or so. The grey ones seem very close to, but not quite up to the IDX NP1 capacity- maybe within a 1/2 hour or so. I have always preferred several power sources to prevent any likelihood of interference between things like Mixers, recorders, and especially RF units. An old habit. My actor wirelesses are in a 6 pack, with their own heavy lead acid source. So there you have it- 4 different power sources for various gear. Regards, Jim Rillie

Tim, I can confirm that they will charge normally in a JL-2 Plus charger. I have both IDX batteries and these grey batteries, and performance is similar. They all charge well in either of my chargers ( one grey 4 bay one and one IDX JL-2 Plus. This kind of homework helping is what this group is all about, I think. Regards, Jim Rillie

benr, Here is my review FWIW I have used this app for a bit now, on nothing critical, but it works as advertised. Great little addition to the iPad Touch or whatever iOS platform you are using Regards, Jim Rillie

David, thank you for this heads up. Looks like a Nagra III for the 21st century. I still play back personal tapes from the 70s and 80s on my 4sTC. perfect PB from originals recorded on a Stellavox, and Nagra III and expect if I put it in record it would do the task assigned. For the old school of us, this looks like a perfect replacement for the Zoom, which" I wouldn't go there."because I don't know why, I'm just an old fart. Cantar works so good for me, a super small deal is good- replaces the TCD D3 and Dolby Walkman slot that has remained empty for a few years. Just rambling... Regards, Jim Rillie

Which brings us back to option 1. Tried and true Regards, Jim Rillie

Being old school myself, I go with the tried and true, option #1. If it ain't broke, why try to fix it ? The fewer calls from post , the better. RF is always at the mercy of the elements, and time code is the last thing we want to be monitoring, when we are trying to wrangle all the RF audio feeds we deal with already. Jim Rillie

+1 for Keens from an old guy

Question for the New Endian... I live in Halifax, NS, Canada. Out of range for any TV channels to or from the US. I have one local broadcast digital TV channel on a Lectro block I use in my area - Ch 39 in Lectro block 24 at 620MHz to 626MHz. I can see it in any 411 scan. Could there be a way for a user to enter Diigital TV channels he/she knows of in their region to FreqFinder, and could the program then take this into account when making its intermod calculations? I am just setting up the program on gen4 iPod Touch with my system this week. as part of the annual house keeping/gear checking process. Just thinking aloud... Regards, Jim Rillie Production Sound Mixer

Shamed me into it, afewmoreyears. Starting Monday PM after my local 849 department heads Meeting. Regards, Jim Rillie

Isn't that how we test 9 volts? Jim Rillie

Hate to sound like a fanboy (I'm too old) My Cantar has been providing excellent sound reports for years now. When I talk to post, they are always very happy with the depth of meta data I'm able to give them. I enter (on the fly or pre roll, all the info about the shot and take I can. After take , I can still make comments regarding problems in the take, or was it good for a certain line etc, thru aDell X51v PDA on Bluetooth. The only thing I miss from hand written sound reports is the "circled take" thing, which the Cantar software doesn't have a simple way to do. I work TV and movie drama. Regards, Jim Rillie