Justin Allen

Well, I admit it, I'm an idiot.  I was also looking to add a shotgun mic to my Track E's and purchased the Sennheiser Track E to XLR cable thinking I could just plug it into one of my boom mics. I completely forgot about powering the mic.

I used a pair of Track E's this weekend and just started looking at the results. I used them with 4 Sync E's as well. I can say that the 32-bit float worked perfectly and the mic that comes with it picked up everything it needed to, plus a bit more. I have not done any post work on the audio yet so I don't know how much I have to play with it yet. I am sure I'll have to use a higher-end lav with them however.

I am having one issue, and I am sure it's my issue, not Tentacle Sync's. When using the Sync E's, they lay down a timecode audio track on the second channel and with Resolve it very easy to just apply that timecode to the footage. So far, with the Track E's I can only see the timecode if I use their studio program, but so far I have not had success in writing that timecode to the audio track, vs the file track. And Resolve cannot read the file track. So, for now, I cannot sync everything together just yet. Again, I am 99% sure this is my issue but I did reach out to Tentacle Sync support to confirm that, and show me the error of my ways.

12 hours ago, DanieldH said:

Both systems have their legitimacy. 

The Tentacle units, both on camera and on talent, are a lot smaller and are a good addon for already existing wireless units. 

I am wondering if anyone besides me has anxiety with using the Tentacle Sync Track E and not being able to monitor the audio in real time. I know you can see it recording on their app but.....

Thanks Andrew for answering my questions. Regarding question 4 ( If you use 1 BP-TRX as a transmitter and set up another one as a camera hop or IEM to transmit to other BP-TRX's on cameras, or acting as IEM's, can you then listen "live" and still record in the US? ) sorry if I wasn't clear. I was wondering if you had a transmitter on the talent and were recording internally as well as transmitting to another BP-TRX that was set-up as a Camera Hop or IEM, would that unit be able to receive the initial transmitter and if so, could you then listen "live" to it.

I suspect that the transmitter can only transmit to one set up as a receiver and not as anything else. Hopefully I was better at explaining what I was asking about.

I asked a few questions on the live stream but they were not answered.

1) Is the delay still 19ms? (Curtis Judd did tell me that it is).

2) Is there an option to add plug-in's, something like noise assist? I asked this because Andrew mentioned that the BP-TRX is "just like a computer"

3) When will it actually ship?

4) If you use 1 BP-TRX as a transmitter and set up another one as a camera hop or IEM to transmit to other BP-TRX's on cameras, or acting as IEM's, can you then listen "live" and still record in the US?

I think, based on my limited audio knowledge as well as my understanding of how these might work for me, they seen better suited as a camera hop / IEM system rather than a traditional audio capture system.

Deity has made a huge miscalculation over the last several months. Pre-announcing the BP-TX2 and then taking far too long to release it, and then allowing their existing stock to basically disappear. They have exhausted the patience of people that wanted to buy their products. Personally I was completely on-board with this unit however now I have moved on. I know of others that have felt the same way.

It doesn't matter how good a product is if you cannot release it.

9 hours ago, ProSound said:

I have a Mix pre 6 II with NA on it and an 833 with NA on it. It works very well for productions that are going to do zero audio post. I use it regularly for news live shots and corporate interview style productions. Even in a decent sounding room using it a -2 helps dry the room and make the audio more present. In noisy news live shot situations I have dialed it up to -8 as well. It is worth the money 

If you set it wrong is it correctable in post? Not sure if it's non-destructive or not.

Jim,

Great thoughts and thanks for the answers. On the EW 500 G4 system I was thinking about I was incorrect. It is certainly not a 2.4 GHz system and does in fact live in the 470 - 558 MHz world. Thank you for correcting me on that. 

On the Deity systems I want to look them but have heard just a few things that leave me with the impression that they might be a bit frustrating for me. I think, over the last 6 months as I have been researching wireless systems, that I settled on the Lectrosonics system because they can be depended upon and a rock solid. While things always happen, I am working to minimize issues. 

After reading what Phil wrote I have decided that if the company adds more than one person, wireless labs will be the way to go. As I said above, renting never even crossed my mind. I have looked at Gotham and will be calling them tomorrow about their Lectrosonics 2 channel SRC ENG wireless kit with Sunken lavs. I'll run them into my MixPre 6 II recorder.

Great question about the scientific equipment running and I will follow-up with my client on that. It's a science fair for high school kids and because of Covid they cannot do their demos in person, so they are going virtual. Many of the demos are really designed to be hands on and we are working with them to provide multiple camera angles and unique perspectives, as well as send out thousands of home-based kits for the kids to follow along with on some experiments.  

Again, I appreciate the thoughts and help!

1 hour ago, Dalton Patterson said:

When I go to the car mechanic the first thing I always ask is how can I do this job myself? Then I ask where he buys his auto parts and if I can have his same discount. Finally I ask him how to do how to do something he has mastered over years by blood sweat and tears. Funny, he never has a nice answer. 

Dalton,

Actually when I have car issues I just give the car to the mechanic and let them deal with it. That's because I do not even have the basic familiarity with automotive mechanics. I do however have more than a basic familiar with post-production, production and a passing familiarity with audio. I am also working hard, especially over the last 9 months, to teach myself the bare basic fundamentals of proper sound techniques. I say by myself because of Covid, and the 2-3 hours distance to any type of even basic film production work.

While I also believe you have a valid point, and I am not surprised to have someone bring this up, let me leave you with this thought. If my plan in life was to be a car mechanic, and I have worked towards learning how to fix cars by myself, and understood some of the basics, then yes, maybe I would ask my mechanic some pointers on how to do something that he has mastered over the years by his blood sweat and tears. And my mechanic would not mind because he knows that the only way to learn how to do something is to do it yourself and when there are failure points comes opportunities to learn even more.

Thanks for the comments so far. To answer the questions concerning which 2.4 GHz system, I was thinking about the Sennheiser EW 500 G4 system. Would you go with the Deity Connect over the Sennheiser?

As to renting something...I actually didn't think of that. I'll look into it and see what the pricing looks like. I am typically opposed to renting because it seems like money wasted to me...but it's a great thought.

Question: In a case where you have 3 people trying to present behind a table, is there a way to boom that? Or would you just get so much overlap on the mics that it would sound too bad?

First off I wanted to say thank you to everyone who posts here. I have followed the boards for several months now, working hard to learn as much as I can and to begin developing a very basic understanding of sound from the production point of view. I do have an understanding from the post side, where I have 15 plus years experience working with NLE's and about 5 years working with ProTools. But that is not recent experience.

That being said here's my background / question. I live in a town about 2-3 hours away from a big city. I am building out a small production house because there is an opportunity for one here, and anytime anyone needs something currently they have to import them in and import huge travel prices as well. Typically people are adding up to $1,000 to do a job here just because of the travel and hotel needed. In my quest to build out this company I have picked up some basic sound equipment, a Mix-Pre 6 II, A Sennheiser MKH 416, and a Deity S-MIc 2S. My next mic for interviews is going to be a Schoeps CMC641 Set. At least it was until I picked up a job where I don't know to go wired, or wireless.

The set-up is that I have a 6 foot table with up to 3 people that need to be present for a series of videos. They will be either standing at the table, or sitting, depending on the group. They will be doing a demo of scientific equipment during this time. My issues are that I am struggling with how to used wired mic's in this set-up, and if I use wireless mics then, because of budget, I am going to have to get a 2.4 GHz system instead of the Lectrosonics system that I plan on getting in about 6 months.

And I know someone will say that I need to get hire an individual and while I do agree with that thought process, the current bids I am getting for this 3 day shoot are just out of the range to be practical. SO given that I have no choice but to throw myself into the deep end and make the best decision for the pathway I need to move forward.

Thank you everyone, in advance, for your thoughts...good, harsh, reality check, or helpful! 

Didn't Zoom also just release a wireless system that would also violate Zaxcom's patent?

Since this product has been delayed for the last year I am wondering if you decided to include 32 bit floating audio in it? Since I haven't heard anything about it my guess is no, but I thought I would throw that out there. Especially as there are multiple other companies offering it now.

Sure seems to be taking way longer than we were initially led to believe to release it. Not really any updates, no videos or pictures of it being used. Hopefully something will happen soon.

When I was researching the MixPre 6 II and timecode options I saw a test where the person jam synced it using a tentacle sync and then unplugged it for 3-4 hours. When comparing timecode it seems the MixPre 6 II lost a frame or two within that time period. However, as you would expect, keeping a tentacle sync plugged into the MixPre 6 II and one into a camera there was zero frame loss during an entire day of shooting. For me I just keep the tentacle sync's plugged in to everything all the time.

On 11/13/2020 at 2:39 PM, Philip Perkins said:

Do hospital health workers not use throw-away masks with ear loops?  Are those ear loops easier on the ears?

I have been, and still am, an ER nurse for the last 12 years. Over the last 8 months I have had more face mask time than in the 12 years before that. To answer a few questions in this thread.

1) Yes we do wear masks with ear loops in them. Usually you would wear them in you went into a room that required them, or during traumas.. Now we wear them for a 12 hours shifts every day. It leads you face swollen, embed marks on your face, destroys your ears and is generally unpleasant.

- There are straps you can buy that will keep the loops off your ears but they come with their own pressure points as well as possibly expose you to the very thing you are trying to avoid. So I used to alternate them day by day.

- Pull up scarfs are useless and have been shown multiple times over the last 8 months to be useless. regardless of what you think they will not work.

- For about $1500 - $2000 dollars you can buy a self-contained PAPR unit with a full shield face mask that seals to your face. Yes I bought one and use it a lot, especially in traumas and intubations.

- For about $40.00 you can buy a mask made by a company called Halo ( https://halolife.io ). I love these masks and regular use them. They fit well, come down below your chin, have an anti-forging strip on top and a replaceable filter in the mask. I have 7 of them and just rotate them and usually take out the filters and wash them about once a month, or 3-5 times.

Another note. N-95 masks are produced to US standards. KN95 masks are produced to worldwide standards and usually would not be used in the US.

Hope this helps everyone.