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Freeheel

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Everything posted by Freeheel

  1. Fortunately, my experience has been the opposite. The added isolation allows one to keep the volume quite low, and when used like this, IEMS could actually be a first line defence against hearing loss... Um, yes... but you can minimize this by clipping the cable carefully, and then you learn what the inducted cable noise sounds like and your brain will filter that out. But yeah, inducted cable noise when moving around is the single biggest drawback of the IEMS. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  2. My experience with the extreme fragility of the 4098 would lead me to some sort of hard case solution. I was recently working on a show that killed several of them. If I was being really cynical about it, I could almost suspect DPA is increasing aftersales by supplying inadequate protection in their packing materials and in their supplied soft cases. A 4098 mic I recently purchased, arrived in a cardboard box with two flat pieces of mini eggshell foam. Unfortunately the mic wasn't secured in any way and was no longer sandwiched between the two pieces of foam but had slipped into the unprotected space between the foam and the card board box. Extremely unimpressed by that. My current protection choice for the 4098 is a thickly foamed, plastic shell case that my Etymotic ER-4 in-ear monitors came in - now that's a protective case! Cheers, Brent Calkin
  3. + 1 on Etymotic ER-4, been using them for over a decade. Can't beat the isolation. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  4. 416T's have a bit of hiss, but not an unusual amount unless you are comparing them to an MKH 50 or 60. I think my Sanken CS3E has a similar level of noise. I would examine the preamps and gain structure of your mixer, and ask whether you regularly leave empty channels potted up. Any of those elements could add hiss to a mic that sennheiser says is normal. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  5. Hi Karl, Nice to hear about expanded frequency options for a change... Do you know whether these frequencies are viable for use in Canada? Cheers, Brent Calkin
  6. yep, the direction of the battery can be done nicely with the AA caddys that look like mini bullet magazines, with negative out for charged and positive out for discharged. I do the same with iPower 9 volts in their sleds, works like a charm. Np1s get a strip of tape sideways across all the contacts when charged, and the same piece of tape stuck vertically over a couple of them when discharged. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  7. Light vertical rain- clear Sealine brand map cover- used for protecting sea charts while kayaking. https://www.mec.ca/en/product/4013-113/Map-Case Similar to the more dirtbag, but effective trick of using a piece of clear shower curtain. Heavy sideways rain- Sachtler poncho is awesome. You don't want to be exerting yourself much in it, cause it doesn't breathe- though it's loose enough that a fair bit of air moves inside it. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  8. Yes, Sound Devices used to have a nice useful little forum as part of their website. As a loyal SD customer, it's a shame I can't access their current forum system. Cheere, Brent Calkin
  9. +1 on SMQV UM400 with Ultralife gets about 10 hrs IIRC Cheers, Brent Calkin
  10. What did you actually do? Was there lint building up on the diaphragm? Cheers, Brent Calkin
  11. +2! Pete did a pair of 416s for me. Lovely to leave those heavy crackling 48-12T barrels in the "Hope I never have to use these again" bin. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  12. The CCM MK4 is a great centre mic for M/S and I'm not surprised you like the sound of it. For the side mic, my understanding of the Emesser is that its fairly noisy, from whats been reported on this forum. I'm not familiar with the Kortwich Acht at all, but it looks like a neat little mic, and would be quite worthwhile if its self noise specifications are good and it sounds nice. I like its capability of going from figure 8 to stereo with a cable changeover. Have any of our usual audio pros played around with the Kortwich Acht, and can give us an opinion on it's sonics and noise floor? Cheers, Brent Calkin
  13. You should probably check your boom pole to be certain you will keep it. They seem to raise some alarm in security officials. I stopped trying to get mine into my hand baggage years ago after constant hassle about carrying something that could be used as a "bludgeon". Last time I carried one on recently (only because we needed to shoot immediately upon landing in the airport- and I was carrying a spare cheapie) i was given a fair bit of hassle until one of the security people asked if it was a camera monopod- to which I agreed - and this somehow made it OK... But I feel like I got lucky on that one. YMMV Cheers, Brent Calkin
  14. To answer your battery question. ALL your loose lithium rechargeables need to be carried into the cabin. Some airlines let lithiums that are installed in your gear go into the cargo hold, but I don't generally trust that and remove as many as I can. Especially since your flight can start with one set of rules and change as you go. Japan was the most stringent I have found, with their security wanting ALL batteries carried on, even AA in alkaline and NiMh chemistries...\ Cheers, Brent Calkin
  15. I've had the same experience on my Mixpre 10, and to answer the comment above, it's good to have the option of having EITHER "undecoded M/S" or "decoded XY from M/S" on the ISO's. There are times when both ways are useful. If just doing stereo recordings, its nice to have the ST outs as decoded regular stereo, and have the ISOs undecoded for later processing if required. I find the Mix Pre series has other strange Mid Side issues. Like having the gain trims linked, which would cause problems if you were to use mics with different gain structures and needed to balance them with the trims. I've also talked to SD, so your report should not have been the first. I think the M/S implementation on all the Mixpres needs further work! Cheers, Brent Calkin
  16. I did not have the opportunity to test the more expensive Ambient mic, (the ASF-1 MKII) and would love to hear some real world opinions on it. The Aquarian I was using was the "plug and play" H2A-XLR. I had it plugged straight into a Sound Devices 744T, so it should have been a pretty ideal signal chain. Their manual notes that high frequency response is reduced by cable length, but I only had a 30ft cable on it, so I doubt if that was the issue. The manual claims a frequency response of 20hz to 100khz, but my experience would indicate, even if that was true, that the response graph would be anything but flat, and I find it irritating that they would leave that detail out of the specifications. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  17. I used the Aquarian Audio Hydrophones this fall on a shoot and found they sounded pretty good for the price. The main issue I had with them is that their high frequencies are drastically rolled off, so that although the humpback whales sounded OK, the sound of water lapping on the boat was really midrangy and boxy sounding. Unfortunately, we all know what water is supposed to sound like, so I wasn't completely happy with the results. The nice thing about having the high end rolled off though... is that the Aquarian audio mics noise floor is pretty good, and, as well,they have good sensitivity for quieter sounds. I also used the Ambient ASF2 hydrophone. This is the more budget of the two that Ambient sells, and costs about twice what the aquarian audio mic sells for. It has a really distinct hiss, which kind of ruins it's flatter frequency response. It's also quite quite an insensitive mic and really needed a lot of gain, which didn't really help its noise floor either... I also had the opportunity to work with some really expensive ($10,000) hydrophones, which sounded great, but are really just ridiculously priced for casual or occasional use. So I'm still looking for a decently sensitive, low noise floor, flat response hydrophone that doesn't break the bank... I like all these stories of using countryman lavs, and they work in a pinch, but they aren't so great for a job where you want to be slinging your mics into 40 feet of salt water at a moments notice, several times a day... Cheers, Brent Calkin
  18. Yep, that sound would worry me a bit. The machine comes apart pretty easily and also goes back together without issue. I'd dig into it if I were you. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  19. I seem to recall that some earlier MKH 50s had some RF issues - maybe your 40 as well? Cheers, Brent Calkin
  20. I used the supplied MKH suspension for a few years and found it worked pretty well. (in conjunction with the low end rolloff switch) My main issue with it was having to plug the boom cable straight into the mic and then wind it through the little cable holders. Works fine for recording music or stationary interviews. When chasing action though, the cable would invariably get pulled out of the friction fittings, leaving the mic cable hanging directly off the back of the mic and unprotected from the noise of the cable hitting the boom pole. The Cinela Osix may be more expensive, but you never wear out your Mic's XLR connector by plugging into it all the time, and its totally plug and play for quick boom mic changes. Not to mention, the quietest suspension I've come across.. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  21. + 1 on Sandisk Extreme Plus for Sound Devices. I'll borrow AFMY's wood to knock on... er I mean I'd better knock on wood too, but I never had any issue with them. Cheers, Brent Calkin
  22. Yep, that's a nice point about the buffer. Quite important for me! Cheers, Brent Calkin
  23. Thanks Urs, that's very helpful. What have you figured out for wind and handling noise with the D100? Cheers, Brent Calkin
  24. Your main issue is the extreme distance you are away from your subjects. (as you note) Your 416 has a pretty mighty reach, but those distances are pretty extreme. Getting a schoeps will not extend your reach, just make your distant sounding audio sound prettier. But is still going to sound far away, and if you have competing farm machinery noises, the schoeps will also make them sound nicer, but they are still going to obscure your dialogue. I'm not quite sure why your distances have to be so great... is every single shot a wide? To get decent dialogue, you need to be closer, or get a Lav on your subject... do you have a radio to attach to that lav? Cheers, Brent Calkin
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