nathanalef

This is a great little piece on the studio. Never visited the original but I did recently do some session work in the new spot. Bruce is a trip, super sweet guy!

Just use phantom blocking cables... DCHT + M2r is a very reliable and versatile setup. You won’t get quite to -20 on a Mini but that’s a small drawback IMO

Not sure if Zoom has an approved media list like Sound Devices does, but I would try another type of SD card and test under the same conditions.

As an SRc owner I definitely understand the lack of excitement over the slot receiver format. Dealing with two channels in such a limited interface is clunky enough, but moving to four within one slot is approaching "Nintendo keyboard" level efficiency.

All these people saying "just keep a lockit on" clearly forgot about all the shoots where the producer declined to pay for it.

Love the internal SSD recording, EQ, and two separate auto mix groups!

I keep getting asked to send tax documents and contracts over email to producers, which makes me super uncomfortable. When absolutely required, I encrypt the document and send a text with a password to the requester. But, people seem annoyed sometimes with this system, and it's cumbersome. I try to avoid as many annoyances as possible when dealing with producers (for obvious reasons), but I feel pretty strongly about not transmitting sensitive information this way. What is the general approach around here to this problem?

Can you cite a specific timestamp from a specific episode with a good example? I watched that whole series and never felt there were any overall issues with sound. Other than the fact that they obviously rely on wires a lot for those super wides/one takes.

Thanks for getting the thread back on track, though it was an interesting tangent!

1 hour ago, chrismedr said:

 

a MixPre-3/6 with a Tentacle comes to mind, since it could also be used as an emergency backup stand alone recorder if the main unit fails (and the tentacle as a backup if the TC unit attached to camera fails ; )

chris

This seems a little excessive on all counts: size, weight, power, and so forth. I don't see any benefit of a rig like this over something like the options mentioned previously (SPDR, ZFR, H1, etc.)

I'd definitely rather keep a separate recorder in the car as a full backup option. Which brings me to my other main question, to those using a stereo backup: What situations do you envision or have you experienced where this stereo backup was necessary? How often does a mixer fail in a way that preserves the utility of the backup?

On 12/1/2015 at 1:32 PM, RScottATL said:

Reach out to me if you're wiring the 3 pins. I have some tips that can help you get them wired and protect them from shorting against other pins and the metal casing that's about 1/2mm away from the pin wells. 

Apologies for the thread resurrection, but I'm interested in your technique!

Also, is anyone using the TA5F to 3-pin Lemo adapter for SSM transmitters or is it too clunky to make sense? I'd guess the latter and it also adds a potential point of failure, but I'm curious if there are any real-world use cases out there.

Interesting and stressful story, Constantin. I know at least two mixers who run dual 970s on their carts. If you're already in digital land it's easy enough to split off before the recorder. Good luck with the dual 788 setup!

Interesting anecdote, Jon! I fortunately haven't had anyone request their cards be used, on 'NDA' gigs or otherwise, but this is a good stock line to have up my sleeve if I ever need it.

The MixPre story as I understand it was a result of a very capable audio engineer-turned-DP from the music world assuming he could easily handle a couple of tracks of production sound. But, since he is often DP/producer he has wisely started hiring professional production sound mixers for most projects. 

How many of you illustrious sound recordists utilize a separate stereo recorder, capturing a two-channel feed from the outputs of your mixer/recorder as a backup? I haven't really considered this until recently, upon hearing a horror story about corrupted files taking down a whole gig due to non-approved media in a Sound Devices MixPre. Accounting for the fact that I'm using approved media in my 633, it seems like a relatively unlikely situation (I can think of a small number of potential failures that wouldn't also take down the aux outputs).

So... what are your thoughts on backup recorders in this configuration or otherwise?

On 3/13/2019 at 12:15 PM, Kisaha said:

 

I have both also, I consider the Audix at least a tier or two above the Oktava.

 

For production sound on a boom, the Oktava is almost unusable.

Interesting! Because of handling noise? What mount are you using? I've got the Rycote INV-whatever number it is for SDC mics. One of my pair of Oktavas started knocking a little bit if you rotated it just so... but I switched to the other one in my pair and haven't had a problem since. You certainly get what you pay for, but it's perfectly useable as a backup or a starter mic. I used them on projects I have no business using them on (or maybe even working to begin with)! No complaints from producers or post.

But every time I put up the SCX1 it just sounded wrong, especially in awful noisy/reflective interiors.

It's so interesting to read threads like this... external/internal seems to be a highly personal choice, also heavily influenced by location. I can't think of any boom ops I know in LA defaulting to externally cabled poles, even at longer extensions. Seems to be more common on the East Coast and overseas, but I don't have much experience outside of LA. 

I played with an externally cabled pole when I was getting started... I didn't have the money for a good internally cabled K-tek so it was partially out of necessity and partially curiosity. The external thing is a huge learning curve, and I didn't get far enough into that world to really see any benefits. Either way, if you go the external route, I wouldn't do it on the gig until you have a lot of practice. Mainly because it's way easier to look like an idiot. Haha

I purchased the SCX1-HC with the intent of it being my main interiors mic, but was disappointed every time I put it up next to an Oktava MK-012. Worse rejection, worse tone quality, worse off-axis response than the much-cheaper Oktavas. But since I have both, I'll check tomorrow to see if the capsule threading is the same. 

Hey there, just purchased my first two Ursa straps, and I'm disappointed to find the sewn pouch (on the "big pouch" version) isn't actually big enough to house a G3 transmitter. They are just big enough to fit the clip in, but I thought the whole point was to put the whole transmitter in the pouch! Am I missing something here?