rich

2 hours ago, OB1 said:

 

I was always curious what purpose the individual SMA powering option on the DADM was for...

Micron radio mics (who Aldo the Audio Wireless designer used to work for) allowed you to power your receivers via the SMA connectors. 

1 hour ago, Derek H said:

This thread is obviously aimed directly at the Sound Devices Nexus and A10/A20 system. 
 

I suspect they’ve thought about this scenario and there is something happening behind the scenes with the A20 input stage that allows their gain forward concept to work well even dealing with low levels. If it didn’t work well at low levels then rule out using it on almost any TV show or movie because that’s all we seem to get out of many actors is low levels. Maybe someone who owns one of these systems and has used it on a real scene can comment on how it performs. 

they perform great.

i have not noticed any noticeable difference since swapping from my A10 to A20 mini for cast radios.
the A20 mini are handling the quiet and loud sounds from cast equally well. but without the necessity of changing gain on the tx to get good levels at the mixer, which makes my workflow, and that of my team sooooo much less stressful.

when testing, the noise floor sounded fairly similar between an A20 mini with 45dB of gain on an A10rx, and an A10 with 22dB of gain and 23db of gain at the mixer. my normal settings for A20 mini are 24-28dB and A10rx at 0, and A10 tx at 22dB with between 0 and +4 at the mixer.

1 hour ago, thope said:

Let's get this topic back on to Sound Devices and the Nexus!

 

I'm loving the system.. in Pre production at the moment for its first job. 

 

How many Nexus users do we have out there that aren't recording on 8 series recorders? I use a Cantar and would love to have knobs to control the gain on the nexus...much like you can do with the 8 series recorders. It would he cool to plug a  bank of knobs directly into the USB port on the back of the Nexus... 

Would be great to see if there's enough users interested in this to make SD take notice. 

 

Trev

given that you can control the Nexus via its web app. can you plug your midi gain controller into your laptop connected to the nexus via the ethernet port and have its controls mapped to control the gain of each nexus channel? 

 

i use Mogami 2901for any cables i need to make with 00.303 Lemo

but i use the FGB.00.303.CLAD27 because i prefer the cable clamp part, rather than the crimp connector as it seldom grips the cable properly.

its probably being picked by some of the cabling. did you add something new 1-2 years ago?

easiest work around is keep your phone away from your recording equipment. its general good practice, and what we all used to do way back when.
we've all gotten a bit complacent about that recently as newer equipment is generally better shielded against RF form phones than the older stuff (though i can still occasionally pick it up if my phone cant find 3G and up)

As long as your body is not between the transmitter and antennas, the extra height will be a good thing. 

i would give that a go.
if that doesnt work, swap the red and blue wires.

i think fig 2 could work too, but you'll need to connect one of the colour wires to pin 1

whilst i cant properly answer your question as i dont have any sennheiser plug on transmitters. but i do have the MMP-B and MMP-C pre amps, and have no issue using either with my A10 tx. or straight into my recorder.

do you have a volt meter so you can verify that you can see 48v on pins 2 and 3? 

56 minutes ago, thope said:

Thanks so much for your reply.

I did a very similar test last week and had similar results. The nexlink did indeed extend to double the range of the audio stream.

 

Really keen to see how the transmitters hold up after a shoot. The battery door looks very breakable to me.

 

Trev

I’ve had A20s form as soon as they were available. Since then I have only had to replace one battery door clip. 
and since they changed the seal on the door so it doesn’t disintegrate, there have been no other issues. 

i have been using this stuff

https://cpc.farnell.com/multicore-solder/628904/solder-pb-free-sac305-1-0mm-500g/dp/SD01307?CMP=TREML007-005

which has been fine for me. mostly wiring mics and occasionally some PCBs, but nothing delicate with the PCB.
also doesnt spit flux over your hand as you are soldering, which the previous solder i had bought would do.

i would also suggest getting a new tip for your soldering iron as well so you dont mix leaded and unleaded solder on it. 

whilst i opted for noise assist rather than Cedar. 
I only apply to the mix track. that way all sources sent to the mix track get processed. and if you are recording the isos, then they are unaffected. (though you can of course record a processed and unprocessed track if you choose)

14 hours ago, codyman said:

The EW-DP 835 handheld set might be a cheap voice of god solution.  I've got one of those portable JBL Eon One Compact units and it has a USB port so it could power the receiver for a truly wireless / battery operated unit.

I have some of the ew-d SK hand helds and they have a slide on / off switch. Rather than the more preferable hold to talk for VOG. It looks like there isn’t an EW-DP version. But I may not have searched hard enough. 

17 minutes ago, ntchi said:

 

The fixed antenna is indeed a strange design choice. I own couple DX receivers and love them for corporate events. They are fantastic, never had a dropout.

Just wished they'd miniaturized it as an ew-dp 2 channel receiver. Instead of just one channel.

maybe, in about 18 months there will be a mini EW-DX 2 channel receiver.

well. it is kind of great news. but the more i look at it, i see what doesnt suit how i would want to use it.

mostly that the antennas seem permanently attached. id hope it could be modified to have SMAs instead. but i dont know that i want to spend £300 when i can get the receivers on their own, to then take it apart to see for myself. and i dont imagine sennhieser will tell me if its possible.

USB C power is another milder headache.

also worth noting, they have also recently released the EW-DX series, which is a little pricier, but has a few extra functions.

link density mode allowing closer frequency spacing. (minimum 300KHz versus 600KHz)

displays on the transmitters so you can adjust settings there, rather than with the app

dual channel half rack receivers, with a Dante option, and a quad rack full receiver.

the EW-D and EW-DX units all work together, unless you want to use link density mode, then you'll need all DX units.

i use the EW-D system for my team to communicate between ourselves.
it has the advantage over the G4 in that when they are out of range, the system mutes, rather than pop and splat.

now that there is a portable receiver, i may be able to keep them talking when i have to use the bag rig.

1 hour ago, Ben B said:

 

The 3.5 dB loss would affect only the 2 SRc plugged into the cascade out, am i right?

 

no. that was the mistake i made. it also affects the signal to the Nexus.

it does say so in the manual. but i failed to notice that. repeatedly.

1 hour ago, Ben B said:

I will be using the cascade out for that film. But if it‘s just affecting the remote control functions of the LFA it‘s a problem i can live with for this film. 
If the system works well on this project i‘ll be fully switching to the A20 so won‘t be using the cascade out anymore.

i‘ll be happy to report after a few weeks of using the Nexus, A10 Tx and A20 mini.

please dont make the same mistake that i did, and remember that when you use the cascade out, you lose 3.5dB from the system. so you will need to add an additional 4dB of gain to your antennas to compensate.

there is a bug when using the cascade outs and the wisycom LFA remote control function.

the antenna behaves normally in terms of RF. but when using the cascade output, the remote function is buggy.

if you arent using the cascade out, you will be fine.

i havent used mine as much as id like, but...

the only not quite crash i have had is when i was finding what didnt work when using wisycom LFA antennas. as far as i am aware team SD are aware of the issue, and hopefully a firmware fix will be available soon.

no issues with stability otherwise.

tx battery life when managing with Nexlink would easily get to lunch. about 25-35% left most often.

couldnt comment on nexlink interfering with other gear. but i imagine it to be no worse than a set full of peoples phones with bluetooth on and any other frequency hopping 2.4GHz tech.

i have had 6 A20 minis since they were available. i have had to replace one battery catch in that time. thats all.

range is fine. but again i havent had enough time with it to work out how to get the performance from it that i feel i could get with my A10 receivers in an A10 rack. though i am waiting on the aforementioned firmware fix for the wisycom antennas before getting to far into testing again. 
and thats not to say range is poor. just in walk tests i did initially i didnt get as far as i could previously. maybe 10m difference.
though i felt i needed to use 10mw output, rather than the 2mw i was using previously.

The resistor is there to reduce the level of the mic so the transmitter doesn’t overload. 
 

that’s the preferred wiring for COS11s and Lectrosonics. 

d'oh. it is the X+

correct. i do not want the motorised faders. they behave weirdly with my 888 - they jump to random positions and sometimes have a bit of resistance when initially moved.
i dont change the fader bank. my M+ is a backup, and having fader banks doesnt seem practical for anything requiring a quick adjustment. if i needed more faders and i wasnt using my scorpio / CL16 setup, i guess id be using the faders for the additional channels on my ipad.

888 only powered up - 10.53W (16.2v 0.65A)
M+ powered up via USB (no D2) - 11.63W (16.15v 0.72A)

M+ powered up via USB with D2 - 12.25W (16.12v 0.76A)

M+ powered with 12v and with D2 - 13.04W (16.1v 0.8A)

 

4 hours ago, vizualize said:

Thank you, so you mean that the x+ faders will change gain without the power connection? I received a message from SD that the x+ might not work at all without the m+, if it is working as a fader controller this is exactly what I need, the rest can be done through the Ipad app.

Best Regards

i have just tested to confirm. if i connect my X+ to my 888 via USB only, the X+ powers up (including the D2 display) and fader and gain control works fine.

i havent tried it with my scorpio, but with my 888, i just plugged in the USB only (no power) and it worked without doing much else.

i tried using 12v power, but the faders behaved weirdly, so unless you need the flying faders, dont bother with a power cable.

since i have been using my Nexus, i have, for the most part been able to stick with one battery in the morning, and one in the afternoon.
Nexlink has proved very good at helping extend battery life by powering the transmitters between setups etc. (i appreciate that if you arent doing drama, then this isnt as great a benefit)

however, i feel the same as you about redundancy, and so dont think i will be moving on my A10 racks and receivers just yet.