bcopenhagen

Actually, I’ve done that in the past and found that often the people who have the answer to those kinds of questions are out of the office, running the booth at NAB. I was hoping someone had an answer when I checked back and saw a new post here. But hey, I’m glad you bothered to join the thread for the sole purpose of your helpful suggestion. You should get a hat. If I get the info, I’ll post it.

Does anyone know what the release date is for these? If not, can someone find out from ambient folks at NAB?

I’d love to be wrong! But consider this: Selecting the input type happens before the routing. The flexible routing means channels to tracks, but the Scorpio has 16 channels (ie, signal paths) from the physical inputs. I’m leaving the 17-32 Dante-only channels out of this discussion for the moment. from the FAQs: “Channels 1-16 can be fed from analog mic or line, SL-6, AES3 or AES42 (XLR inputs 1 and 6), Dante, or Rtn-A, -B, or -C.” Also, in the manual for the 688 (on which the implementation of AES on XLR 1 & 6 seems to be based), choosing AES as the input type for Ch 2 is a contextual choice, available only when AES has been selected on Ch 1 input. That seems to imply that if you want the 2nd ch of AES, it has to use the signal path of Ch 2. Anyway, it doesn’t seem likely that SD can implement 8 channels of AES input, given the hardware inputs. So I’ll just let that idea die quietly in its sleep and will still consider the Scorpio as a viable contender for my next recorder upgrade. -Brian

To refine Vincent’s explanation above, and speaking from theory (not actual usage!): the physical input is on XLRs 1 & 6, each of which can provide 2 channels of audio for AES3. If you want both AES channels from XLR 1, you will need to choose AES for both ch 1 & 2 in the input settings on the recorder. 4 channels of AES available on 2 XLR connectors. But you won’t be able to then use XLR 2 & 5 for mic pres…

Thanks for being an active part of this thread, Paul. I am also interested in the decision to limit the AES inputs to just 4 channels. Is there a hardware or software limitation to using 2 more XLRs to provide a total of 8 AES3 ins? I was hoping to read about Scorpio and see 8 AES inputs, whereupon the clouds would have parted with the angels singing to me that this is, indeed, my next recorder. If you’re taking requests, that would be the one that would tip the scale for me. As it happens, I just wrapped on a film that required 14-16 tracks recording all the time, for which I built a Boom Recorder rig; the 8 AES outputs from the Sonosax mixer were integral to getting 16 channels of audio into the computer interface (8 digital, 8 analog). I’d much rather have done the job with a Scorpio. Brian Copenhagen

Ah. Glad I found this thread to explain the same issue: "Forum unavailable at this time" thanks for playing, Tapatalk! better luck next time. And thank you, Jeff, for tolerating it all these years. I was one of the happy users of Tapatalk, but I'll just have to move on to another technology. -Brian

Mostly owner operators in SF, myself included. PM me about what you need in SF and when.

Looks great! I'll be excited to see the Audio Ltd version. Brian

The portable receivers have the same excellent audio quality as the rack receivers, with obviously more flexibility for doing portable work. They have a wide range of gain control and a nice low noise floor (dependent also on your mic). It's been rumored that Shure may respond to the resounding desire for top-display portable receivers. Yes, they are many steps up from a Sennheiser G2/G3 system (assume you mean ew100 series). -Brian

Nice work! No... not the first. Here's my box from a couple years ago. Doesn't have those fancy push-button combo switches/LEDs, but it does regulate down to 9V for the outputs. I decided on just a single PTC fuse at the front end. -Brian

Agree with Max above: ça tourne in French, as in the motor of the camera is turning. British have been known to say the same, ie, "turning", because the AD makes the call as, "let's turn over" instead of "roll camera"

I've been working with Nelson for around 11 years, and can answer some of these questions. I'm not sure if Nelson lurks here much, but I was happy to see this very thorough post about the recent cart build. @CrewC - You've got that right, he is indeed a free thinking man, with a record of finding creative ways to implement current and sometimes unorthodox technology for location sound. He used to broadcast to video village headsets using an FM transmitter and sony walkmans. Always sounded better than the older Comteks. His attention to every detail of recording (both acoustic and electronic) has allowed studio quality recording to take place amongst the rigors of location work. As for other recording options (for portable work), the mainstays in recent years have been the HHB Portadrive and more recently the Sound Devices 788T. @Alan - It was indeed Scott and myself on Chasing Mavericks. We used waterproof bags that Nelson invented, sealed with a waterproof tape and put in the small of the back for the wetsuits. Mics were placed at the base of the neck in wetsuits modified to our specs in order to allow the sound to pass through. We worked constantly with the various elements (ie, water, and thick wetsuits) throughout the production to get better and better results, and had a very supportive wardrobe department. The boom was always the best option, but the wetsuit lav mics pulled through in some very tricky situations. Range was great. As an example, we were able to stay on the cliffs above Pleasure Point (in Santa Cruz, about 75 feet off the beach), and get good reception to about 75 yards out into the water. Sometimes we remoted the antennas if it was on the edge of signal reception. @John - his original post link goes to a thorough description of the cart components, but I just noticed that Tap-a-Talk doesn't display the text, only the photos. So, from the description: "Modified Neve 5422 console with custom direct outs built by Stephen Balliet of Reflection Audio" Cheers, Brian

(off-topic.... check your PMs re: your FS post) -bcopenhagen

Do a search on the forum for cart power supplies. There has been a lot of discussions over the years. In particular, an elegant solution (and relatively cheap) is our host's cart power system, which uses a 12V power supply with a SLA battery floating on it. A DIY power solution for shore power with a battery backup. -Brian

Comtek says, "Channel 7-0 corresponds to 174.000 MHz" Thanks for playing. With that info, I'm officially uninterested in the BST-25/phonak/M72/MRC-182 package on ebay. But it's a decent package, if that's what you're looking for: http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMTEK-BST-25-Synthesized-Base-Station-Receiver-WIRELESS-MICROPHONE-SYSTEM-Cue-/130672198145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6cab8201 -Brian

Anyone know what frequency corresponds to Comtek channel 7-0? I can't find it on my Comtek freq cheat sheet. Other 7-x numbers are in the range of 174-179 MHz, so I'm guessing it's up there somewhere, but I'd like to know for sure. I've emailed Comtek as well, but thought someone might know here. Brian

Call a Technocrane house for ideas and opinions. In my experience, a Telex (or other) comms system is a standard piece of kit for them, and they will have war stories. Aside from that, spider-sense is tingling at the thought of taking on the responsibility for it. -Brian

Just to check your workflow... What type plug-in was the Waves plug? Audiosuite plug that you used to process the audio? RTAS that you used in real-time to re-record? We're you using BWF? Did you check the timestamp using a different software than WA? It was probably FCP voodoo, but it's worth asking the questions. -Brian

RED Epic has a 4-pin Lemo that handles TC in, Genlock, and GPIO trigger. Why do that? So they can have one small lemo connector that serves three different functions. It reminded me as well of Sony's penchant for doing things their own way. -Brian

Worked yesterday with a colleague who owns a Red ONE, and who will be upgrading to the Epic soon. I decided I won't complain anymore about waiting for gear that is announced, then takes awhile to appear on the market. Red buyers actually have to put a several thousand dollar deposit down... AND they wait for several months. Not looking forward to the upgrade with him (3.5mm connectors? No thank you) since we have regularly sent audio to the ONE. I guess it might mean double-system... -Brian

You can use a MIDI controller to mix into Boom Recorder by using an audio interface with a software "go-between". For quite some time, Graham Gardiner used a BCF-2000 with both an RME FF400 and TotalMix; and, later, a Metric Halo 2882 and MH's MIO software. There's a little info about that system -Brian

Someone could always take Senator's advice and contact the manufacturer to see why they used the 4-pin Lemo. My guess is that they wanted to reduce the number of surface-mount inputs for various functions, so they decided to put TC, Genlock, and GPIO Trigger all on one tiny Lemo connector. Since it's not an input connector dedicated only to TC input, it's probably good that it's NOT a 5-pin. Still a hassle... Last time I was around the Epic (for an underwater rig), the tech plugged the TC into the wrong BNC on the little lemo/triple-bnc adapter. We promptly found out the correct color for TC input, and I labelled all of his BNCs with their proper functions in English. I mean, really, what a nuisance to try to remember color-coding... -Brian

Agreed, Marc. Documentation is lacking a bit. I will probably make up a few custom aluminum bars soon to accommodate Lyres. Certainly cheaper than buying a new modular bar, which may not thread onto an older suspension anyway! -Brian

With all due respect, there's a few corrections to make here. I've been looking into all this recently. Modern Rycote shockmount systems are either Modular or Pre-Modular. The Modular bar has holes, grooves, and will accept the $29 Lyre upgrade kit (part number 042210) directly into pre-drilled holes on top. The Pre-Modular (or Non-Modular) bar is a solid bar with screws in the ends (where your U-loop or C-loop clips/bands attach). The $32 Non-Modular Lyre upgrade kit (part number 042223) will adapt to the solid bar with an adaptor block that screws into the end, and the Lyre screws into the top of the block. I don't specifically know about Invision shockmounts (which also use the Lyre system), but as far as I can tell, they do NOT interface with blimp-style windscreens. I believe the Invision mounts are intended to use slide-on Softie's for additional wind protection. Also worth noting is the different factors of stiffness available. If you're using lighter microphones, you may want to get the 62-Shore lighter Lyres. Black Lyres are 72-shore. And Grey Lyres are 82-shore, even stiffer still for long shotguns and the like. I'm not an expert yet, but I'm learning it. Check out Redding Audio for a good bout of info: http://reddingaudio.com/downloads.php#rycote Or call your local vendor to get their 2 cents. -Brian

Our upcoming production also just jumped from film to Alexa with Day 1 a week away. Latest word is that post wants 24fps, 48.048 kHz. We'll be downplaying the idea of audio to camera ( for the extra gear and hassle). We'll jam from the Ambient slates via one-way LEMO 5-pin cables: 2x a day, after long power-downs, and speed-changes. I like Robert's idea to put the "irregular" jams into the hands of the cam dept, as they will know best regarding speed changes and power downs. Doesn't make sense for sound to have to baby-sit the cam. -Brian