JamesDemer

On the reality side of Survivor USA there are no lavs. Everything is boomed with an MKH70 on a long pole. This gives us the ability to capture dialogue and never have to interact with the contestants. It's physically demanding but works well. Everything you see that is at a Tribe Camp is boom only.

I am loving this post! Thanks for all who added interesting ideas and concepts. As I mentioned to John Gooch, We are about to introduce a new DemerBox model that has volume control on the front keypad. Although it will be stepped (unlike a pot) it will stick out at all and will interface with our new circuit board. There will also be a real time, always on battery indicator on the keypad. I've included a picture. In addition to the switch stuff, the new DemerBox circuit board will also have digital signal processing (DSP) that will allow us to flatten out the dips in the dynamic response at higher frequencies. I'm really excited about this. DB 2018 Switch Plate.pdf

I've used the DPA 5100 in a few exotic locations with phenomenal results. Its so sensitive you can't stand to closely or you'll hear yourself breathing. It works well in very humid conditions and I've had Schoeps mics fail in humidity. http://www.dpamicrophones.com/en/products.aspx?c=item&category=117&item=24312

I just did this mod on 2 G2 transmitters and 2 G2 receivers. It was pretty easy though I haven't tested them yet. I decided to leave the battery doors on and it worked just fine. Take your time and don't lose the little rubber side bumpers and you'll be ok if you try this one yourself.

This is the mod needed to make the Stingray perfect! Nice work.

I've built a number of these for myself and crew members over the years. Its a great idea and fantastic that someone has commercialized it!

I have boompoles set up for internal, external and flow through. Each has its own best use for me. For instance, when I'm traveling to many different countries to do current event/news stories I prefer a very short externally cabled boom. It fits in the lid of a Pelican 1510 (when I take the end cap off) and I carry a spare xlr in case of damage or loss. I also work on a show that requires its audio guys to be in extreme outside environments, such as standing in the pouring rain for days on end, or running through the jungle and then standing in waist deep water. I tried to use an internally coiled pole on this show but, without fail and no matter how hard I take preventive measures, the internal connection where the coiled cable meets the pole's xlr gets wet and fails. Externally cabled poles fail less in extreme environments. That is my experience. Cable management is an issue however. There's no silver bullet. When I'm working domestically I'll break out the trusty K-Tek that I've had since the late 90's with an internal cable and side xlr. Its a luxury!

This bag looks great and I love that it stands up by itself. Because its rigid, will it fit into a Pelican 1650? I travel for work almost exclusively and pack my kit into a 1650 rolling case. Its nice to be able to put the bag in the case without too much breakdown of components, so when I arrive at the location I can have dinner and beers with the crew instead of spending hours building up my kit. And because The Senator will give me a hard time for not listing the interior case dimesnions, here they are 28.57" x 17.52" x 10.65" (72.5 x 44.5 x 27 cm)

I just ordered mine and it will be in my hands tomorrow! I've been using my 788/cl-8 on a long term news magazine job for a few months now and while the 788 has been rock solid on many trips around the globe and in tough conditions, its hefty, a battery hog and just too big to comfortably travel with. I'll probably machine down the fader knobs and fabricate my own bag out of Cuben fiber and 1/4" closed cell foam for a custom build up. There's no "perfect" piece of gear but for my needs, this comes really close. Time will tell!

I bought a 3rd party ER-4 cable on Ebay and it has almost no microphonics. I almost always use either Ultimate Ears UE10-Pro IEM's or Starkey Tunz http://www.trytunz.com/musicians.html Starkey is a large hearing aid manufacturer and their IEM's are amazing. I can wear them all day with no fatigue or discomfort, the isolation is superb and the transparent audio quality is spot on. I'll never go back to traditional headphones.

I had the typical antenna breakage problem, including a physical antenna connection failure on the board inside the receiver. I also had some strange power and receive issues that were intermittent and unexplained. Talamas, the company I bought the D4 from, tested my (2nd) unit and were able to repeat the symptoms but couldnt figure out what was causing the problem. Although the D4's are light weight, they are boxy and clunky in a bag or on a camera. The transmitter uses a lot of power and gets very hot as well. I own a lot of Lectrosonics gear and have for years. Both Lectro and Talamas were very professional in the way they handled my situation. I really wanted the D4 to work for me but I lost confidence in it after multiple failures. Although I wont buy another D4 I'll continue to buy Lectrosonics products.

I owned a D4 system and it failed me 3 times. I eventually returned it for a refund after multiple fixes by Lectrosonics. My impression is that it could be a really great system but it is not built for use on a camera. James

I cross country ski all winter and run trails the rest of the year. If I'm in a hotel I always take the stairs and I try to run just a bit when I'm on set. Its a good diversion from work and gives you time to think about your day. I started running 50 and 100 mile trail races about 10 years ago. The fear of getting too heavy keeps me from eating everything on the craft service table so thats a bonus. When I mixed Winters Bone I would run from the set to the hotel occasionally.Its very hilly in the Ozarks so that really kept me fit! I also did a movie (On the Ice) in the arctic circle and had to run on a small "track" I made on the frozen Arctic Ocean. If I strayed from the track there was risk of a polar bear attack.

The HDX900 is not a dinky camera. As an early adopter I'm sharing my experience with my professional peers and the manufacturer. I hope it has been helpful. James

I'm not sure about the male version but I just put together some of the new Neutrik female right angle connectors, part # NC3FRX, and it has 5 orientation choices. Not only that it has no little screws like the old version, is super easy to assemble and is very slender so you can plug them in side by side in tight quarters. Here is the URL for the male which also has 5 positions http://www.markertek.com/Cables-Connectors-Adapters/Audio-Connectors/XLR-Connectors/Neutrik-USA-Inc/NC3MRX.xhtml?NC3MRX-B Good luck! BTW, before this new style came out I modified some straight xlr barrels by getting rid of the whole back section, cutting a notch with a dremel for the cable to exit the shell, then filling the whole thing with hot glue. I used them for a few years before the glue started to separate from the shell.

The most likely cause of the receiver failure is due to a faulty connection where the antenna meets the board. It might be a bad solder joint or something more serious. It most likely happened when the camera ops repeatedly bumped the antenna mount with their arm. Either way Lectrosonics is standing behind this product. They clearly want to see the D4 system used as wireless to camera units, as you can see by the description on their websitehttp://www.lectrosonics.com/wireless/digital/d4/d4.htm Mike, everything you've posted in response to my comments has been rather unhelpful. To suggest that I'm using this equipment beyond its original design and I need to deal with it is wrong and rather rude. I may be new to this forum but I am by no means new to this profession. I've mixed an academy award winning documentary, a sundance grand jury prize winning drama, 10+ years of network and cable reality and travel shows all over the world. Please be more considerate to the members of this forum so they may feel comfortable asking questions and sharing their opinions without the fear of being criticized or made to feel stupid.

Thanks to all for the comments, even Studiomprd who seems to be riding a high horse. Justan, I spoke at length with Bruce from Lectro about the antennas and he informed me that the issue is the FCC. It seems that the FCC needs to sign off on a new antenna design and thats a slow process. Meanwhile I'm going to try to come up with a better spot to mount the receiver so the camera ops arm doesnt come in contact with the antennas. In any case on saturday I'm heading to Barrow, Alaska for 6 weeks to mix a feature and I've sent the D4 in for repair.

I feel I should add that I own lots of Lectro gear, including 5-210 receivers that I bought 9 years ago and they are solid workhorses. They've been around the world. I've come to expect Lectro gear to perform in rugged conditions because it always has for me, and lots of my fellow mixers. Please dont take my previous post as Lectrosonics bashing. I just want the D4 to be tougher. And no camera menu messing around.

I purchased a D4 system a bit over a month ago for reality/travel show work as a wireless to camera hop and while the audio quality and range are superb (really great on both counts) I've had a few problems. Here's the thing. I've been using 100 series Sennheiser radio mics with custom attenuated cables as camera hops for years, and they sound great. I've blind A/B'd them with 411's and the difference is imperceptible. They've never failed me either but when I put them on a camera I always get a comment about how cheap they are or musings about how much rental I'm getting for them. So I spent close to 4 grand on a D4 system. The first problem I had was the size of the transmitter and receiver is large-ish. Light weight but kind of bulky. I put the transmitter in the front pouch of my bag and it over heated and shut down for a few minutes so I had to come up with a mount on my bag that allows for plenty of air circulation. The second problem was that in order to set the receiver up properly to a Panasonic HDX900 (popular reality camera) I had to change the line input audio gain in the cameras menu setting. That is something I didnt even know you could do on a full size camera body, and kind of a pain. The third, and biggest problem, are the LOUSY antennas on the units. I've had 2 camera operators each break antennas on the receiver, $40 a piece to replace btw. I was just working in Puerto Rico when the receiver failed altogether. I had to cable up in difficult situations and that was no fun. I called Lectro, and while pleasant, the response I got was "do you have a backup?" My first thought was that for $3750 plus shipping and cables I shouldn't need a backup, but I sure wish I had my $500 a set Sennheisers right now. I managed to get the D4 receiver working by un-screwing the locking nut that holds the sma antenna barrel in place and gaffers taping the antenna in a sideways splint. Needless to say it made me nervous and didnt always work but the camera op was cool and let me know every time it failed. In summary, I feel like the D4 system has a lot going for it but I wonder if its ready for prime time. The cost of the components that make up the unit are not where the $3750 resides. Its the R&D and I think that Lectro needs to take this great digital technology and get it out of the lab and into the hands of guys like us that use it every day before they release it. Comments?

I built a hackintosh out of a Lenovo S10 and everything works flawlessly. My S10 has an Express34 slot so I can even use Firewire 400/800. The 2 biggest problems are screen size and processing power. You can dress up a netbook to look like a mac but it does have limitations.