rich

use your 416 on the boom, lav of choice on the cast. and use the RSM91 or MK41 for a clean sea fx track.
the fx track will help smooth out the difference between the lav mics as the cast move their body positions toward or away from the sea. maybe not for you on the day, but it might help post.
be careful how the boom is moved though. if you can get two booms on the scene, it will help keep the background noise consistent as the booms wont have to move too much. but it it needs to be one boom, you should try to avoid changing the angle of the mic too much, otherwise the background noise will change too much as the angle of the mic is changed. to put that another way, always keep the boom mic pointing straight down, even as it is moved between characters.

how much budget do they have for post?
ive seen a demo of one or other of the post tools, that literally faded down the sea noise from the mix track with no noticeable artefacts. 

2 hours ago, Rick Reineke said:

" *Not available on units sold and/or operated in the United States"

What does this mean? I do not see any * in the features list. Maybe just not sold in the USA.

looks like the bluetooth headphone function

I think it’s easy to notice that there is a difference between the two if you listen in stereo (one track in each ear)

your brain notices that there is something odd going on. 
but yes. Tonally, they are pretty similar. 

have you had any contact with the location team?

was the mix track ok?
i cant imagine that any long form job would have kept the location team on if all they were hearing on the day and in dailies was off mic dailogue.
could be that they were relying on radios all the time?
and as you mention it was only some of the slates, what were the shot sizes? was it the wide shots where the radios were mixed higher in the mix, and then when the boom could get in close, that was the favoured mic in the mix.

the type of mic wont affect wether something sounds on or off mic. just its position.
a MKH60 might have a bit more isolation from the environment over an MKH50, but i will be willing to bet that the MKH50 will sound more natural than the 60 when you can get it nice and close. (i dont have much experience with the sennheiser mics, but i find this with my similar type DPA mics)

here is that test. hopefully it is helpful.
i dont say on the test which channel is the A20. not sure wether best to say on here in a week or two, or answer if you send me a PM. 

i have been very impressed with scenes with gunfire, where i set the gain for the dialogue and didn't worry about the guns. the guns didnt overload the tx.
as well as scenes where it gets loud. as there is no need (or indeed ability) for adjusting the gain at the tx, its the same as using a cabled mic in that respect. i prefer to set the gain for the loudest part, and then push the fader up as far as it needs to go, so that i don't risk making a sudden gain change on the ISO during something post would rather i hadn't done so.

i have also recorded something with someone in a hazmat suit shouting with a DPA 6061 on their forehead. i had the gain on the scorpio at 0dB - any lower and the channel would switch off - and whilst the signal was in the red, it wasn't overloaded.

(i tried to upload the file here directly, but got an error message on posting, so here is a google drive link)

you know what. i have never thought to do that test. i'll try and get around to it in the next week.

though i will say that i am very pleased with the sound of the A20 on the boom (and the A10 as well for that matter) and have never felt i was missing anything and should run a cable instead.

1 hour ago, mattiagreyfox said:

Thanks a lot for the reply
What about this Canford one?
https://www.canford.co.uk/Products/41-0202_CANFORD-LOW-PROFILE-XLR-3-Pin-male-cable-connector
It says "Depth from the back of the male connector to the panel connector is 21.5mm" but I am not sure what that means, I assume that's not the full length and that at the end we're still looking at 3.5 cm?

get the cable techniques version. its available from Wendys broadcast in the uk
https://www.wendysbroadcast.co.uk/broadcast-audio-products/?get=low-profile-connectors&ct=c&deptid=26
 

the caps on these are held in with two grub screws, and you have a reasonable range of adjustment of where the cable leaves the side of the cap.

as long as you suitable sized cable, and probably heatshrink to make sure the cable is gripped securely in the cap, you should be fine. 

i'll post a picture in a moment of one of these next to a ruler to help you out.

dont use a low profile connector with a push in end cap. that just feels like you are asking for trouble.

does the problem follow a transmitter, or a receiver?

check that the modulation (LR or standard) hasnt somehow changed itself.

assuming you have more than one channel of A20, swap the tuning assignment of the suspect channel and one that works.
so instead of tx 1 being received by rx channel 1 and 2 to 2 (though ideally to an entirely separate receiver), swap the tuning of rx channel 1 and 2.
that should help you point you wether the fault is with the transmitter or receiver.

have you checked that the pin on the tx antenna hasnt pushed in, and the antenna isnt broken, as well as double check your antenna distro cables (assuming you are using one) are good. 

are you using the phone app to control the transmitters or a Nexus?

the only time ive experienced anything similar was using A10 transmitters with the Nexus, but that was fixed some time ago.

you need the amplification at the antenna end.

the idea is to add enough amplification to compensate for the loss of your cable run.
if you have the amp at the antenna, your signal to noise should be roughly the same (assuming the amplification is adding minimal noise) as if you have the receivers connected to the antennas with no gain and a short cable run.

if you have the amp at the receiver end, you are then amplifying the signal back up to where it should be before the cable loss, but you are also increasing the noise floor which is now much closer to the signal because of the loss of the coax cable.

basically, if you have the amp at the receiver end of your coax cable, you are sacrificing your signal to noise ratio.

many antennas with built in amps (wisy LFA, Audio wireless) also have filtering that is before the amp, so that any unwanted signals are not amplified which can cause additional intermod problems, and in theory, should give better results  that amplified antennas without filtering. 

for 2 core, i like the mogami 3031. it will allow you to get 4 wires into a DB-15, or 2 into a TA5.

ive not found (or looked that hard) for a starquad that is thinner than the 4.8mm offerings from mogami or canare that is as flexible or sturdy.

the 8 series have limiters on all the analogue and digital inputs. it was the 6 series that only had limiters on the analogue inputs.

the 833 only has 1 AES input as standard. using either the XL-AES accessory to give you 4 more pairs, or an SL2 for your slot in receivers, and 2 AES pairs.

there is gain on every input. including the returns.

5 hours ago, Mungo said:

RF Venue 4 Zone is probably the product you've been looking for.

 

Unfortunately AC powered and bulky: 19 inch wide.

the 4 zone can be modified fairly easily to run on 12v.

the mains supply inside it takes your AC input and outputs 12v. but it is only practical if you are able to use a rack based system.

a more portable option is the Audio Wireless 2 zone distro

https://www.audiowireless.co.uk/online-store/AW-Diversity-Antenna-Combiner-and-Distribution-Module-DADM224-2C-IN-STOCK-p456601672

i use two of these on my cart rig. (one for main antennas, and one to feed my crew comms)

the part number for the Lemo collet nut driver is DCL.91.516.5TK
it cost me £40 when i got it, but on digging out the receipt, that was 12 years ago, so it may cost a fair bit more now.

i made a tool for the redding connectors. i had something close, and widened the space between the prongs with a dremel cutting tool. 
you could do the same with a suitable flat bladed screwdriver and a saw and file i imagine.

30 minutes ago, DanieldH said:

Conor, Rich,

do you happen to have photos of the cable contacts or even a source of a 2D drawing?

not for the redding connectors, but Lemo have a load of technical info on their site

https://www.lemo.com/int_en/solutions/originals/b-indoor-keyed/fvb-00-303-nlae13.html

2 hours ago, Conor said:

Ditch the Lemos and look at the aftermarket RED16 connector by Redding audio. It's a clone of the 3 pin Lemo, but designed such that no crimping tools are needed, voiding the need for the tool and making the connector reusable.

 

https://www.reddingaudioshop.com/product-page/3-pin-screw-locking-connector-for-sennheiser-lectrosonics

yes yes yes.
i use a similar connector (probably the same to be honest, but i dont get them from Redding)

it has a proper cable clamp making it much easier to assemble, and means its much less critical with the diameter of the cable (i have seen sooooo many Lemo crimp connectors that fail because someone has used the correct crimp tool which means that the crimped part doesnt really grip the cable. mostly COS11s)

the main reason i got the SL2 was, that if you put some batteries on the base of your 8 series recorder, you are able to swap your main batteries without your receivers and anything connected to the two Hirose connectors on the SL2 powering down.

losing a lot of cabling is also an advantage, as well as gaining a few more AES inputs. and keeping the inputs on the side free in case you need them for something else.

im not convinced that the RF distribution is as good as my Audio Wireless boxes, but its better than what was in the SL6. and less whips in your bag is a good thing. even if you are just swapping a whip on each receiver for a whip on each side of the SL2.

 

i got some countryman EMWs years ago as i needed something waterproof, but didnt want to spend the money on a B3 or B6.

i may have read somewhere that it used the same capsule as a TRAM, but couldnt tell you where i read that, and it would hve been over 10 years ago, so be very sceptical of that info without anyone else to back it up.

but, its a good sounding mic, and i ended up using them later in a scene where one actor was getting covered in blood, and everyone else was wearing a DPA 4061. the EMW matched very well, which surprised me at the time. and certainly makes them worth keeping as a more disposable / stunt mic.
and worth adding as another choice for your options

i had been using a PSC tip on my Loon for many years, and it would always move slightly with a mic attached.
on reading this thread this week, i took the tip out of my VDB pole and put it in my Loon. it is much better than the PSC tip, but there is still a little movement of the tip.

when fitting the mic, make sure the front of it is no further forward than the black ring where the ends are fitted so that you have enough air space around the mic for the windshield to be effective.

take the fur off when transporting the mic. ive always stored my fur inside out, and have no issues with the hairs matting. and whilst i havent used my rycote stuff in over 5 years, it did have at least 10 years of use and is still in very good condition.

the EW-DP receiver has a headphone out.

i use Ultimate Ears earphones when im mixing. when i had my 788 / CL9 setup, if i ran the headphone out of the 788 into the CL9, and then plugged my earphones into the CL9, i would get a lot of hiss. but plugging straight into the 788 was fine.
i think it was to do with the headphone amp in the CL9 not liking low impedence headphones so much

dont use the boost feature. it adds 30dB of gain. but. (at least on the last time i used one many years ago)
it doesnt remember that you have activated the boost function, so will need to be re-done EVERY time you power up the mic. which if your mic is in a blimp suspension is a real pain.
if you are able to keep your signal chain digital, then there shouldnt be a penalty adding the gain back in at your recorder.

also, i generally found i was using 22-28dB of gain when i was using my SCMIT, so 30dB was too much anyway.

yeah.

i got one almost 2 years ago now
i like it. much nicer display than the rf explorer. and a little more intuitive to use.

it forgets your last used settings before you switch it off. but you can save presets for the frequency ranges / settings you want to look at.
certainly a useful bit of kit to see what else is going on rf wise around you. and much better than the scan display on most receivers available these days.

theP-11XBP wont be able to charge a battery in there. phantom power doesnt supply enough current to do much more than power a mic - around 4ma. i charge my NiMh batteries at 300ma.
 the battery in the barrel is there if what you are plugging the mic into cannot supply phantom power.

and if you are using rechargeable batteries, put fresh ones in every day, rather than live with the anxiety that the battery will die whilst you are using it.
it has been many many many years since i used a hard wired lav, especially one with the in line XLR adapter, and based on that i dont imagine many others have used them either.

if you want to know how long the battery lasts, thats easy enough to test for yourself. my money is on a week.

you can set the transmitter to resume record on power up.
so as long as you have sent the transmitter a record command previously, it will start recording when you switch it on.

you have about 2 hours of timecode battery backup without a battery fitted. but you should have much longer with a battery in, but with the unit powered down. and you will need to manually jam each unit with timecode if you dont have a Nexus. but you should only need to do that once a day.

there is no nexlink control in the A20 receiver. you will need a Nexus or Nexus Go for that.

but you can group record all transmitters that are in range via the app. and the transmitters can be paired to multiple devices. though only controlled by one. and things sometimes get a bit tricky currently if you are in a busy area with lots of other bluetooth things about.

how does automix / ai know the difference between dialogue and someone thumping their chest for emphasis, or putting their coat on and making their radio noisy for a bit where they arent talking? or know when to dip the radios and raise the boom level a touch for a hug?

there is still a need for a mix to be done live on set. and for that mixer to understand the need to make the mix sound like it looks.
fortunately now, post has the opportunity to rework all the elements we give them down the line, rather than only have the 1 mix track.

and whilst that may take some of the pressure off of our job, i would hope that doesnt lessen the relevance and importance of our job.