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Dan Brockett

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Everything posted by Dan Brockett

  1. I also picked up the Deity Connect as I have a Rødelink that actually seems to perform pretty well at distances under 50', even under some challenging circumstances. UHF is definitely better but as we continue to lose more and more spectrum, I am all for trying out alternative solutions. I used the Connect for an event shoot at a local university last week, interior, multiple speakers trading off the two Tx with Rx and camera located about 30' away. This room definitely had wireless routers, two in fact and there were no issues with interference or dropouts. I played with the Connect system around the office beforehand and was able to go to a room about 30' away with three sets of walls between Tx and Rx and even though the antenna signal strength dropped, the sound didn't, it worked fine and didn't degrade at all, which surprised me, I thought it might cut out. The noise floor is a little high compared to pro UHF systems and the foil sealed buttons are definitely flimsier than on something like a Lectro. But overall, the system seems to offer a lot of bang for the buck. It was simple and painless to update the firmware to the latest 1.33 version. It's very nice being able to control the Tx from the Rx. The shoot was only about 5 hours long and both Tx and Rx showed only about 1/3 of the batteries being consumed. I didn't have a chance yet to try the auto power level for the Tx. The latency is noticeable but at 19ms, didn't seem to be a deal breaker although it could be a bit messier if you are mixing hard wired sources with these? FWIW, the Deity team via Facebook is super responsive, I asked a couple of questions twice and both times they got back to me with answers withing 30 minutes, impressive. Deity is going to sell a ton of these to video and event people who aren't sound pros. They are a step up from the Røde systems, especially the Go, they also have a lot of nice user features. Even the case they come in with the laser cut foam cutouts is very nice for a stock case. My .02 so far with them.
  2. I'm so glad you brought up SEO Monroe. I'm working with an SEO expert/web designer on another website, not my sound mixer website yet and it's a long process of trial and error but it can reap huge dividends in traffic, RFPs and gigs. The problem I see with most of our sites as freelancers is the design of site, photography, rates, none of that stuff matters if nobody is looking at it, right? The primary way to get people to call you is to fine tune your SEO and make sure those people see your site. Optimizing SEO begins with the design of the site. I have another website for an unrelated topic that I did myself on Wix and I have never received even on email or inquiry from it after using all of Wix's SEO tools and that's sites been up for a couple of years. So to me, Wix's SEO tools don't seem to do anything. I think if you are serious about building new business with your website, it pays to hire an expert and NOT DIY it. It's the old "If a tree falls in the forest..." axiom. It's not cheap and is a LOT of work on your part to even work with a good designer and SEO expert and it never ends, you don't "Do" SEO and then walk away, it's an ongoing process for years if you do it right, you keep fine tuning it, checking analytics, refining it and seeing what people respond to and what turns them off. Is simple better? Is complex and highly detailed better? This is why I so appreciate all of you posting your sites and stories. It seems to be like everything else, the best way to get work is by networking, word of mouth and reputation, but there are some sound mixers out there who make significant income from website inquiries that they turn into new clients. Learning the best way to do that seems to be quite a journey. Thanks, these are great to look at!
  3. I've seen this on set and it's so frustrating, the double standard for audio. This weird culture extends even into post. I was a new producer at a production company that had all of the studios as clients quite a few years ago, doing DVD bonus, documentaries, HBO First Looks, etc. From my experience at my own production company and others I had worked for, it was always SOP to at least do a sound mix past in post, some basic dialog editing, some compression, possibly a few SFX, etc. Not heavy duty sound design, just basics that could be done in a few hours. The owner of the company (We were given an overall budget and made our own budgets for our own line items) told me that I should plan for color correction and grading but to nix my line item for a basic sound mix. When I told him that sound is really more important than picture in visual storytelling, he told me that, "Nobody cares about audio at the studios, they can't hear the difference." I fought him on it but was still overruled, my masters went out without a sound mix and to me, they sounded like garbage, no basic compression, dialog editing or fixing room tone inconsistencies. When we did higher profile stuff, he would let me budget in a sound mix, but for the day to day stuff, no sound mix, which was really disturbing to me.
  4. I'm talking more about EPK, BTS, documentaries, higher end corporate. Not exactly "live", stuff with a crew that will be shot, color corrected and sound mixed, where the DP, wardrobe, hair and makeup have actually put in effort to make talent look as good as possible and the image to look as good as possible. What about a walk and talk with a show host? This would all be stuff with a boom also, I agree, it's riskier if you only have lavs. This sounds more like my world too.
  5. I used one last night in a very unconventional way in a less than ideal audio situation and it worked surprisingly well. It seems like a wonderful piece of kit for the low price Røde asks for it, good build quality, nice accessory package included with decent quality mic mount and furry windshield for under $500.00? I too have never been a huge fan of the 416. It's rugged, reliable and sounds ok but I agree with the OP about some of my beefs with it, I like other shotguns of various flavors much more. Leaning toward the 8060 over it, although that new Sanken is interesting too.
  6. I agree, seeing a relatively large lav (think antiquated ECM-44 size) with a big foam windscreen w a tie clip or furry where it looks like a Caterpillar is on the talent is especially egregious. I have little problem with a color coordinated small B6 type lav that kind of blends in. The COS-11, I know is a great lav but I've always thought it's kind of long and imposing for what it is compared to other style lavs. Ha, ha, you funny! True, we've all been there on non-fiction shoots where talent brings wardrobe and the wardrobe is sometimes really audio unfriendly.
  7. Hi all: I'm sure this has been discussed here before but I searched and Google searched and couldn't find it if it has been talked about? I'd like to talk about hiding lavs for non-fiction? Personally, I HATE seeing a lav on anyone. To me, it reminds me of news, which if you are shooting news, great but what if you're shooting higher end interviews with A list talent on a nice set with great lighting? To me, seeing that lav sitting on their chest or lapel just looks cheesy and low rent and I instinctively want to hide it. I have heard other sound mixers say that hiding the lav is a sound compromise so they prefer to have it out in the open. But we have great lavs that are freq boosted to compensate for being placed under wardrobe. And I'm usually talking talent who is wearing a single layer shirt or blouse, not narrative stuff with a lav buried under three layers of wool period clothing. Thoughts and opinions? What about producers for non-fiction stuff you work on? Any who cares? Cares a lot? Like seeing an exposed lav? Or is this just some weird fixation I have? Thanks for any input.
  8. FWIW, I replaced the battery on my son's iPhone 6S last week, Amazon battery kit was around $20.00. I wanted to do it as a challenge just to see if I could do it. Thank goodness for YouTube! I have to say, it wasn't easy, besides prying open the case and making sure to not bend or break any of the screen or battery/power supply ribbon cables, there are five screws I had to remove that are the smallest screws I've ever seen in my life, they were almost the size of a flea. Most of them were different length too and if you accidentally insert the wrong length screw into the wrong hole, you short out the phone so if you are ever going to try this, you had better be REALLY organized. Had on my strongest reading glasses and my Petzl hiking LED headlamp and it was still hard to see some of the screws and holes. Prognosis for the patient is very good, phones been running great for the past week and holds a ridiculously long charge. Apple purposefully engineers this to be a pain in the ass so you are forced to use them and be without your phone for probably 1-2 weeks. Glad I tried it but defnitely not for the clumsy, heavy handed or faint of heart. Most repair websites rate it a 4 out of 5 stars for repair difficulty. What you are doing isn't that difficult but the minute size and tensions of the screws into the boards, etc. makes it a very delicate job.
  9. Update: I just spoke with Countryman, I had to call them yet again, although they said they were going to send me an email with the same information "tomorrow or later this week". The B6 with the insulation shedding off of the mic cable is not repairable, at least by them. They did offer me a replacement (this is the hardwired XLR model) for $221.00 + $16.00 shipping, it retails for $299.00 at most places. I have two Trams and three OST 801s, I am thinking of buying a couple of Sanken COS-11s. Not sure if I need a B6, I like the mic but there are a lot of other good and interesting lavs out there, although most like the DPAs are considerably more costly than the B6 too. Opinions? I may have them ship it back to me and try the shrink tubing, just for kicks to see if I can make it work.
  10. Yes, I called them just to make sure they received it. They did, but the last call, tech hadn't even looked at it yet. Sounds like they need another tech or two. I'm calling them again Monday but this is turning into a rabbit hole I don't want to go down, I'm too busy.
  11. Update 12/06/19: This is becoming annoying. Countryman received our B6 on November 8th, I called a few days before Thanksgiving and spoke with a nice young lady who located our B6 and paperwork and said simply, "the technician is backed up, but he should be able to get back to you next week." It is now December 6th, still no word from them which means their technician probably hasn't even laid eyes on our mic yet. Luckily we have other lavs but if this B6 was integral to our kit, this wait time would be unacceptable. All we need is the tech to look at it and tell us yay or nay on actually repairing it. This isn't the first time I've poor communication and responsiveness from Countryman. Love their mics but dealing with them seems to continually show poor customer support and responsiveness.
  12. I'll second this. We purchased three OST mics this year and in each instance, Dave was great to deal with, will answer questions and is very responsive. He will get your mics wired up and shipped quickly. As far as I'm concerned, best low cost lavaliere on the market, great value and plays with some of the much more expensive lavs pretty well.
  13. Thanks for the links guys! Jeremy, I really like the clean and simple design of your site, super easy to navigate and simple for time-constrained producers to get a quick idea of who you are what you can do for them. Jon, your site is great too. A lot of info that appeals to the detail oriented producer looking at your gear, credits and vibe. Your blog entries are good reads too. Keep 'em coming, this has been a very productive thread for me and hopefully for others. Marketing yourself is such a challenge, it's great to see how some of you are doing it.
  14. Thanks guys! I'll check 'em out. I've looked at Paul Buscemi's site http://www.buscemiarts.com/Site/Home.html since I have worked with him for years and he has a lot of good info. Just wondering if people are having success with really minimal, simple sites like 2-3 pages or more detailed sites. Been studying SEO and it's fascinating how closely you can target who your website pops up in front of if you it's designed and promoted well.
  15. Hi all: Looking for your recommendations on who you think has the cleanest, easiest to navigate location sound mixer websites with good, solid information, rates, credits, etc. Thanks for any advice! Dan Brockett
  16. They should have it by now, I sent it to them on the 6th. Waiting to hear what they have to say, I'll keep you updated.
  17. I've never worked with such tiny diameters though. It seems that large enough diameter to slip over the mic capsule would be too large to fit the cable? Do they make really tiny diameter shrink tubing where I could split it, wrap it over the wire, then heat it up? The stuff I've used before was literally tube you just slipped over a wire or connection, never seen such tiny diameter shrink tubing? I know what you mean, I think it just is on my mind because the mic still sounds as clear, bright and dynamic as it ever did, it's just the cable jacket is de-laminating it seems. We have half a dozen other lavs so not a life or death thing, just wondering if it's worth trying to fix.
  18. Yeah, I think you're right, I'll see what Countryman says. Usually used with the Countryman vampire but lately I've kind of fallen in love with the Rycote Overcovers, which work so well but are sticky on that cable. It still sounds fine, even with the exposed wiring but I know it's not smart to use it that way. I was thinking about shrink tubing it but then it would probably get all stiff and not easy to rig. It's more sentimental value than practical value probably, I've recorded all over the world with this mic, lots of interviews/scenes with some amazing talent over the years. Have rented but never owned the COS11, maybe I'll replace it with one of those? I like the B6 but the cable seems more susceptible to microphonics/handling noise than most of our other lavs.
  19. Hi all: I recently went to use our Countryman B6, which we have used (and not abused) for a LONG time, probably 15 years. I noticed as I was rigging it that the plastic/nylon jacket up near the mic capsule has actually began flaking off, exposing the wiring underneath? Has this happened to you? I found it weird, I've never seen this on any other rental Countryman mic cables but as we know, the cable diameter on the B6 is tiny and different than the cable on the other Countryman mics and as I said, we've been using this mic for a long time. Sent it back to Countryman to see what they say, if the cable can be replaced and if so, it it's economically viable to do so. Hope so, really like the B6. Hopefully they'll get back to me, they say on the website it can take up two weeks for them to evaluate gear.
  20. True, never hurts to be set with your Tentacle. For me, it just depends on what we are shooting, how it's being shot and who is editing it.
  21. XT-3 is a notch above average mirrorless/DSLR. 1. Camera features separate level settings for internal and external mics 2. Auto levels for scratch mic are decent, not too much pumping, I've used a Røde Video Mic in a pinch if I could get close to talent on gimbal and I had a seperate recorder that sounded better but the on camera mic would have been usable. I've used my Tentacle Sync E with the XT-3 and I have skipped them and just used the multicam auto sync in FCP X and that works well too.
  22. Hi Jim: I've been shooting with the XT-3 for the past nine months. 1. Are you sending TC via a Tentacle or just from your mixer? 2. Honestly for scratch, I use auto levels and a Røde Video Mic and it works fine. The Tentacle Sync E mic works too. The 3.5mm input is plastic so fragile so be gentle and minimize how many times you plug and unplug gear 3. For a mirrorless, I find the audio and auto levels in general decent and much better than many other mirrorless I've used.
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