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TomBoisseau

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Posts posted by TomBoisseau

  1. On 7/31/2014 at 7:00 PM, stevegrider said:

    Is it feasible for your talent to use a prop that can be miced? I once did a hidden camera show and the talent was taking a "survey" and I was able to conceal a wireless lav in the clipboard. (It was one that had a compartment for documents underneath). She could point it at the talent with no suspicion. Does your talent have something they could hold that has that potential?

    I have done that very same technique with a clipboard that has a storage area inside of it.  I drilled a hole in the end that is pointed outward, inserted a rubber gromet, and then stuck a lav in that hole with the transmitter inside the clipboard.  It's worked pretty well!

  2. When the time comes, will it be possible for us to replace the rechargeable battery in the BP-TRX ourselves, or will the unit need to be sent back to the local manufacture's rep?   Also, if we are able to replace them ourselves, do they use some "standard" rechargeable that can obtained from other sources, or are they proprietary?

     

    Thanks.

    Tom

     

  3. I do a LOT of corporate live streaming!  Frankly, other than a small snake to the streaming "table", my sources are mostly wireless microphones with the receivers right next to me at FOH (the rooms I work in usually seat only about 200 people)!  I will often place a hardwired podium mic, and take a playback feed from a computer, but for me there is usually not a great need for long snakes.  

     

    I would think however you'd want a mixer with faders.  When you get into those interactive panel discussions, it's rather difficult to do fast "active" mixing on a computer.  But if that's what you want to do and you only want to address the headphone issue, I think Rick's suggestion is a good one.  The other option is to use an IEM system to send you the headphone/PFL feed wirelessly!

     

    Tom

     

     

  4. Thanks for your input Neil.  

     

    How well "recessed" is the Hirose connector on the Cable Techniques unit?  It appears (from photos) that the "sideway" recess is greater with the Sound Devices adapter, which might possibly mean less strain on the connection when using in a bag and when running about.

     

    Tom

  5. I’m considering getting a Hirose adapter for my MixPre-3 II.  I’m currently trying to decide between the Sound Devices MX-HIROSE and the Cable Techniques MX-POWERSLED.  The The Cable Techniques looks to be more robust, however the Sound Devices unit appears to be smaller / lower profile (which I like).  They both are about $100.  Any words of wisdom?

     

    Thanks,

    Tom

  6. I was on a low budget corporate job a few months ago.  We were shooting one of the executives on the sidewalks of downtown Atlanta.  I was using my Sound Devices 633 in a K-Tek bag attached to my harness and wearing some Sony MDR7506 headphones.  The cameraman was shooting with a small “palm sized” camera.  As we were about to shoot on the sidewalk, someone came running out of the building and told us we could NOT shoot there.  So we crossed the street and proceeded to try again.  Someone else came running out of a different building on this side of the street and told us we could NOT shoot there.  Later, we were in the parking lot of a Target store.  Then client had actually contacted the Target corporate office and had received permission for us to shoot in the parking lot of this particular store.  However, someone came running out of the store and said we could NOT shoot there.  We indicated that we had received permission from corporate to be there, but they said that they had not been informed of such and that we would have to leave.

     

    It occurred to me... the camera was so tiny, most people probably would have not noticed it.  I however, with my “big” rig, harness, and headphones, surely must have drawn attention.  I wondered, If I had a “tiny” rig in a fanny pack and just a pair of ear buds, perhaps we would have gone unnoticed! 

     

    To that end, I put on my Christmas list, and my wife for Christmas gave me a MixPre-3 II.  So now I’d like to find an inconspicuous fanny pack just big enough for the MixPre with the 8 AA cell battery pack and 1 or 2 Sennheiser G3 ENG receivers.  Any suggestions as to what might work well?

     

    Thanks,

    Tom

  7. Well... for me, the only work I've had recently is because of Zoom and Microsoft Teams!

     

    One of my corporate clients wants to continue to communicate with their employees, so they use Microsoft teams.  But they're doing it a little differently.  They have each presenter call into their own individual "Teams" meeting.  The only other person on these individual meetings is "us", in the control room.  This allows us (from their control room) to crop and grab almost a full screen iso shot of each presenter that they can switch to at any time and not be at the mercy of "Teams" auto switching.  Then we sent it back out to their employees on yet another separate "Teams" meeting. 

     

    The dilemma is the audio, for which they've been hiring me.  Because they have set up all the presenters into different "meetings", and because the employees log into still another meeting to watch and listen, I have to get audio out of all the various meetings (multiple computers) and feed them to the others via multiple mix minuses.  

     

    Not all of these "meetings" are sent out live.  Some are edited and sent out later, which allows them to switch to other presenters for reactions shots, something that's not so easily done with multiple people logged into single meeting. 

     

    Of course none of this is "location sound", but I'm sure grateful to have the work!

     

    Tom

  8. 9 hours ago, Constantin said:


    Yes, I know the impedances are different, but that’s not necessarily a reason for interference, but certainly possible. I would have thought that standard RG58 would be good enough. It has a loss of about 1dB per every 3m, so I can make up for that with my Betso antennas. The Wisycom RF-o-F is very expensive as is that of RFVenue, although the latter especially looks like a great system. But thanks for the tip regarding BS-RF (Hopefully that‘s not the short form for that other BS term), that looks like a great system and I really like the fact that they have a two-channel box and a duplex box. 
     

     

    No.  Standard RG58 will NOT be adequate, especially for a 50m run!  Even the heavy stuff that's about as big a round as a garden hose would be questionable at that distance.  Unless you can somehow digitize it all and then "decode it at your end (I've never heard of that being done) you're not going to be able to send an RF signal work and have it "well" at that sort of distance.  

     

    Tom

  9. Of course you'd still need the proper "adaptor cable", but many years ago both Shure and Electrovoice offered a "line level" stick microphone.  They required a battery and essentially had a mic pre built into the handle.  The EV mic was a model RE34.  I have one!  It can be quite handy especially for testing purposes.  The Shure was a model SM82 and they may have had another one as well, I can't remember.

     

    I'm not really suggesting that OP consider using one of the above, just pointing out that such items do, or at least did, exist.

     

    Tom

     

     

     



     

  10. Well, I have two "favorites". Here is the first; I'll share the second one latter.

     

    I love this little guy.  I purchased this Etek MA400 powered mixer used off of ebay well after the product had been discontinued.  they still show up every now and then.  It was intended to resemble the "laptop" computers" from the late 1980's.  Frankly some of the laptops back then really were this big (and almost as heavy).  It has 6 XLR mic inputs as well as stereo RCA inputs and outputs.  I actually played a very small gig with this unit, and it did okay.  It has a 2 channel x 190 watt amplifier (although I question that rating) a selection of 100 different effects, 3 aux sends, and is switchable 120/240 volts.  While it survived the 2 time I used it, from reports I've read elsewhere, it appears it had a father high failure rate (note the speaker outputs are labeled "minimum 8 ohm").

     

    While admittedly it's been nearly 20 years since I've used it, I think the design is so unique and almost "symbolic" of the future and of marketing, I doubt I'll ever part with it!

     

    Tom 

     

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  11. We used this very technique about 10 years ago for a couple seasons of "Swift Justice With Nancy Grace", however we used a Countryman B6, which fits quite nicely under a button, and we pointed the element down to minimize air blasts.  We secured the mic under the button using "Joe's Sticky Stuff".  Given her outfit (at the time it was similar to the blue Delta flight attendant outfits with the "vests" that they used to wear) and the fact that they continued to heavy starch her shirt, it was the only thing we could come up with that worked.

     

    Tom

  12. I have a couple different versions of the RF Explorer.  Personally I've found that the center of frequencies that appear in it's "scan" can be off by as much as 5Mhz.  For that reason I don't trust the specific frequency numbers that it displays.  However it is helpful for showing "relative" frequencies especially when you see two on top of each other, but only one is coming from you!  I'd rather trust the scan on the Lectro receiver, in spite of the limited info that it provides.

     

    Tom

  13.  

    I suppose I'm that last to know, but I was shocked today when browsing Sound Devices website that the 688 has been discontinued... (they've put it in the "legacy" category) but they still have the 664!  Amazing!  And the 664 now sells for $5000!  Was that bumped up?  I thought is was a fair bit less.  Why would you buy a 664 when for only another grand you can get (they still are available on some sites) a 688?

     

    I was thinking about picking up a second 688.  For my needs, the 688 is more than adequate, although I will admit I'd love to (although I don't need it) the Dante capabilities of the new Scorpio and the 888.

     

    Tom

  14. I've had some varying good results, assuming I'm running the FOH PA on a decent digital console and recording through the same, by putting the ambient mics on a compressor with a sidechain being that of the talent's main microphone(s).  This way, the audience response quickly and "automatically" opens up the moment the talent pauses for a reaction, and quickly is pushed down when the talent begins talking again thereby also greatly reducing the "hollowness" normally associated with recording and a live PA.

     

    Tom

     

     

  15. Frankly, there are a number of applications I'd love to use the 688 / CL12 for, but I'm fearful that it will lock up on me or have the dreaded "power issue".  For instance, I do regular live events for CSPAN where I'm recording continuously for 3 hours or more!  There is no opportunity for a "take 2".  I have another "live event" client that tends to run even longer.  Sadly, it seems I can not trust this combo for anything that does not permit a second take.  So sad.  

     

    I agree with the poster above.  THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED!!  I'm tired of excuses and "work a rounds".  For what we pay for this gear, it should be far more reliable than this!

     

    Tom

     

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