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John Blankenship

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Everything posted by John Blankenship

  1. What Eric said -- a proper lav. Then, add to that a bit of compression as you guessed and you'll sound just as bad as most newsfolk. (Bad in this case compared to clean and natural sound as Jeff referenced.)
  2. If you haven't yet, see my post on these alternate Lemo style connectors:
  3. I'm not sure how you got that from what I said. The Schoeps sounds great at 1m or at 10m, but the ratio of direct to reflected sound changes, so getting what you want depends upon a good understanding of that relationship, the room acoustics, and the effect of those acoustics. In any room you're dealing with wave reflection, absorption, and diffusion, taking into account that each of those varies by frequency, and is different throughout the room. Then there's the whole issue of what are your expectations. So, yes, the Schoeps sounds great, but it's a tool, not a magic wand.
  4. As you have discovered, the ME66 is not really suitable for anything in the realm of quality professional audio. Its predecessor in the budget world, the ME80, sounded notably better, albeit with a rather high noise floor. My first choice here would definitely be a Schoeps colette series mic with an MK41 capsule coupled with a CMC1 or CMC6 preamp. The smoothness of the Schoeps' off-axis response makes it one of the most natural sounding mics available. With its excellent smoothness, the Schoeps will likely yield more intelligible and consistent dialog than most other choices. However, if you expect a distant room microphone to give you a tight close-miked sound, it makes one wonder if your experiments defy the laws of physics as you are expecting your audio to do.
  5. The naturalness of an MK41 capsule, as well as the smoothness of its off-axis pickup is awesome. You will no doubt learn to appreciate it even more over time as it proves stellar in so many different situations. GEEKINESS: Worthy of note is the fact that the MK41 capsule is a Super-Cardioid design, which is between a Cardioid and a Hyper-Cardioid. This results in a pickup pattern that is tighter than a cardioid and has less of a rear lobe than a Hyper-Cardioid. In some cases an MK41 appears to have a wider pattern than it actually does as its smooth off-axis maintains the high frequencies in a more linear fashion than do many other directional mics that tend to exhibit more of a narrow cone effect in the highs. Enjoy!
  6. I'm not saying this relates directly to Ken's particular situation, but worthy of note: In any modern device, when replacing an internal clock backup battery, I strongly suggest lightly burnishing both the battery surface and machine contacts, followed with a drop of contact solution (such as Deoxit D5 Contact Cleaner and Rejuvenator) at the contact points. Internal clock backup circuits draw such minimal current that any corrosion or oxidation at the contact points can be an issue.
  7. On the topic at hand, if I'm feeding a camera with a mini-jack input, I agree with Philip -- they should be happy they're getting any kind of audio at all into their compromised choice.
  8. Jim: "...for instance, I'm not doing it right now." -- You made me laugh -- thanks! -- Besides feeding a mic level input, there are other instances where padding at the plug is useful. Some of the Panasonic camcorders have been better served with a -10dB nominal over a 0dB or +4dB nominal. A cable padded at the camera plugs optimized them. Likewise, if you're feeding an Arri Amira that hasn't been updated to the proper input level (The Amira originally shipped with a +8dB maximum line input) a 16dB pad can optimize gain-staging into the camera to allow proper headroom. Then, of course, there was the Red One that required a lower line level. On a side note, I believe Red is still the winner for the number of different audio connections and varied levels that can be incorporated. While we're giving awards, Sony, of course, takes the prize for the creativity of different locations where a headphone jack is placed on succeeding camera models.
  9. However, in many cases this becomes an issue of semantics. For instance, if your input stage consists of an op-amp and its gain characteristics are set via the negative feedback loop for 50dB gain and you alter that feedback loop (can be done as simply as with one or two resistors) so the gain is, let's say, 10dB, you've now changed that input stage from a mic level pre-amp to a line level preamp. Whereas that op-amp has an open circuit gain of maybe 120dB you could never operate it successfully without negative feedback to lower the gain, as it will typically be unstable and go into oscillation. Such circuits are intended to be defined by the parameters the solid state device achieves via associated components. Also, if they're used, the gain of an input transformer, as well as its level handling capabilities, comes into the equation. Of course, in a well designed preamp, there are other considerations such as slew rate, phase, hair color (just wanted to see if you're paying attention), etc. but the basic change can be done as simply as switching a different source to the input of the stage and changing the negative feedback loop. If you don't change any of the operating parameters of the amplifier stage and simply pad the line input down to feed a mic-level input, that's a different case. Keep in mind it's not uncommon for an input to use a combination of a pad and adjusted input amplifier characteristics. In a well designed device, such stages do not offer any significant compromise to either the mic or line signal. Then there's cheap crap and also Sony cameras. A block diagram doesn't reveal the design nuances, as that's not its purpose -- nor its porpoise (still paying attention?). That's one of the goals of a proper schematic diagram (the purpose, not the porpoise).
  10. Perhaps people are secretly missing disco -- a strange and unexpected psychological reaction to being quarantined.
  11. After changing computers and macOS versions my Waves would no longer work in Pro Tools, even though I was still using the iLok that authorized them. I discovered that now different vintages of Waves have different installs and they don't seem to like each other. I finally got the earlier Waves working, but after I tried to repair the install for the newer ones, then neither worked. I can only imagine how convoluted it would be to attempt to make them portable. I came up with what I consider a really good solution -- I deleted all Waves plugins and supporting Waves programs from my machine! My McDSP plugins are substantially better anyway.
  12. Absinth makes the heart grow fonder.
  13. Here's an example of a vibrating reed frequency meter with reeds a half Hertz apart:
  14. In Atlanta, local 695 is putting together detailed information about this very subject, so it'll hopefully eliminate some of the equipment care speculation that seems rampant. Meanwhile, here is an article that details more about how this survives on different surfaces: https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/03/20/sars-cov-2-survive-on-surfaces/ Here's what appears to be an accurate info sheet that is said to have come out from Johns Hopkins University. I haven't verified its source, but it seems right on: JH_Guidelines.pdf
  15. From my listening tests, the Sanken CS-M1 (which is a likely candidate as one of the mics referenced in DSatz' commentary above) behaves similar to a Schoeps sporting an MK41 supercardioid capsule, but with an exaggerated high end. From low to midrange frequencies, the directionality of a supercardioid is comparable to that of a shotgun microphone, but its off-axis pickup is much more uniform. I've never considered the CS-M1 to be a shotgun mic. At best it's a sawed off shotgun, but that's illegal in the states.
  16. So what you're saying is, it helps production to not hire a professional sound mixer. So, since this is a forum designed by, and for, professional sound mixers, well...
  17. I couldn't agree more -- excellent quote! A competent professional can make 16-bit recordings sound great. Conversely, even infinite dynamic range won't insulate a mediocre mixer from their own incompetence.
  18. My vague understanding is that you need to qualify for, and receive, at least $1 or more from your state unemployment to get the $600.
  19. You made my point -- his post has nothing to do with the signal from the transmitter overloading a receiver, Glenn was referring to the use of a bandpass filter in order to prevent interference from walkie talkies.
  20. People saying things they know nothing about as if they're a given fact is where "internet wisdom" comes from. It's akin to inbreeding within a family and has the same result.
  21. In what situation? Is this something that has been verified, or another case of "internet wisdom"? I've used Zax receivers with MicPlexer I, MicPlexer II, PSC RF Multi, and Lectrosonics distros all with success and satisfaction.
  22. From a letter from Gordon H. Smith, President and CEO, on the official NAB SHOW website: "... We’ve already begun planning for our 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas, which will take place April 11-14th, and we hope you’ll join us then, as well as this fall."
  23. MicPlexer v.1 has a fixed 35mHz window, so needed to be ordered for a specific block. V.2 has a 35mHz window that can be tuned to any block, or even between blocks -- if that's what you're asking.
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