BAB414

Could it have something to do with the wiring of the lav? Bias vs. non-bias?

19 hours ago, Fred Salles said:

I pull this thread back to say that all of the above issues could be the pins of usb connector on the 664 (or 688 in my case but same issues) being too oxidated. SD probably did not use gold plated usb connectors.

The pins tend to get dirty and oxidated out of control which affect the usb connection and data flow. Sometimes changing a cable would work because of a tighter contact would push the oxides away, but the best thing to do is to clean the plug with deoxit or any desoxyding product.

It also happen for laptop computers used on the field (dirt, change in hygrometry, etc...)  connected to sound card, you blame the machine or cable but cleaning the pins often solve the issues.

Having these issues regularly on my current shoot, I was actually looking for infos about the usb port on the 6 series, I did not find any actual components failure reports. Then I started cleaning the pins and they were pretty dirty from oxides. It is now working fine. 🤞

Hey Fred, this is a great suggestion and one I never considered. I was so sure it was a software bug this never occurred to me. I appreciate it and will give it a try. Cheers!

Thanks Tony. I've been tinkering and got everything to work as desired. Very very cool. I appreciate all the intel.

4 hours ago, henrimic said:

Hi Ben

 

I had this shooting two days ago with two Phonak Roger, and here is my report.

 

We used two different models: the V1 with the "Base station" (Line input only) and the V2 with the "Multimedia Hub" and its mini-jack input (line too).

 

I havn't noticed any improvement regarding the range between V1 and V2. Generally, it's quite limited, no more than 15 - 20 meters.

 

I definitely prefer the multimedia hub as you can pair it with a classical IFB receiver and place it easily close to or even in the pocket of the talent.

 

The sound is clear and the volume is OK. The talent needs to place it well deep in the ear to avoid any leakage of this tiny sound in your microphones.

 

I did not experienced any disturbance with other 2.4 GHz devices.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Henri

Thank you Henri. I appreciate all that. Since I'm now confidently able to power the base station off a battery, I'm just going to get it as close to talent as possible, and maybe use a 411 or R1A as others have suggested to hop over a line signal. I also bought a couple antenna amps in case the on set 2.4Ghz freqs are creating issues from the other departments.

3 hours ago, Philip Perkins said:

That's very different fabric than what I got, but I've had this stuff for many years--maybe this is better.  Worth a shot.

I put it between my utility's receiver and talkback transmitter and his hits went away.

On 9/16/2021 at 2:24 PM, Spin360 said:

I'm interested in your solution. What kind of RF shield cloth did you use, and how?

Here ya go:

JJ CARE Faraday Fabric 44"x39”, Upgraded Faraday Cloth with Free 1"x24" Faraday Tape https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0855KQ36Z/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_98SQF53AXQG2AXG1TRDT?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Larry Fisher is the ultimate RF guru. He's helped me many times through this site and otherwise.

1 minute ago, Philip Perkins said:

I lined my 744T bag with RF shield cloth years ago, doubled up on the surface facing the RX.  It has helped, am still using it this way

Yes, the 744 is a notorious RF sprayer, something to do with the spinning harddrive?

Same reason I keep the trusty FP-33 on the truck.

Yes, it's the amps and volts I'm concerned about. Admittedly, I am not well-versed when it comes to electronics power specs. I got the Coga sound quickdraw (24V/3A), which I highly recommend. It acts as a great little distro for the Hi-Q batteries and it's powered everything I've plugged into it including a Speakeasy speaker, but not the Roger base station.

The base station itself says 5v / .5A but the specs in the manual say the AC adapter outputs 5.3VDC @ 4amps so I'm kind of lost there. I was therefore looking at this https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1478529-REG/omnicharge_op2ha004_omni_20_powerbank_portable.html hoping it would work, at least just for the base station if not for the amplifier as well.

On 9/9/2021 at 3:38 PM, Tony Johnson said:

yes similar to what I have, you can get a gold coloured version on Ebay that you can power off 5 v USB, you can also power the base station off the same and a 2500mwh or similar battery pack will last months on the base station

Tony if you don't mind, I'd love a link to your battery pack and any special power cables you're using.

18 minutes ago, Tony Johnson said:

Hi Ben I have used the phonak roger system with base station a lot. 

Yes the antenna comes off, it is stuck on with lock tite so requires a bit of effort to remove. I would then put an RF booster amp like the sunhans on to the base station and use a whip, this makes a big difference to the range. I then run it out close to set on an XLR. I am not sure its actually line level but I have found the level is too low and we have passed this on to Phonak to see if they can improve this. With the base station gain on max and some extra gain on the output of my mixer I can get enough level. The new V2 ear wig has more gain the V1 and arguably better range with better battery life. The touch screen remote is a handy device as its the only way of increasing the gain of the ear wig receiver, I think they are set to a mid range gain in the factory and the touch screen allows you to change this. I have never tried it but have heard it works. I own a repeater too but have found with the booster RF amp and placing the base station close to set is a better option.

Regards

Tony

Tanks Tony. Is this the amp you're talking about? https://www.amazon.com/Sunhans-Sh-2500-Wireless-Repeater-Booster/dp/B00HJ1NQLS/ref=asc_df_B00HJ1NQLS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312780390407&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10438628374804762862&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1023414&hvtargid=pla-404289817190&psc=1

15 minutes ago, henrimic said:

Hi Ben,

 

I’ve worked with the base station a couple of time and I am not certain the antenna is removable. 
And I may be wrong but I am pretty sure it’s a line level device. 
 

What I can tell, is that the repeater is an absolute must. The range is far better and this little box is very easy to hide close to the character.

 

An even better solution is to use the «  multimedia hub », same box as the repeater, but with a mini jack input. You can easily tape it to an IFB receiver and you have than the same range as with regular VHF or UHF transmission.  
 

I have a shooting next week with two earpieces, one with the base station and the other with multimedia hub. I’ll let you know how it compares. 

Thank you, I appreciate the input.

I'm about to work with one of these systems. I've been made aware of many of the pitfalls here and have a little limited experience myself.

Does the Base Station require line level or will a level straight from an SM58 be enough?

Can the included SMA antenna be screwed off or is it part of the chassis?

I wanted to try replacing it with something like this. I've heard of people putting amps in-line but I'm not sure exactly which and what that entails.

Thanks,

Ben

1 hour ago, osa said:

Great thank you glad i checked here. I checked with Glenn and he also advised against it. He mentioned there is a 50ohm resistor that could possibly burn out if power is applied. I am going to remote via short low loss cables his stock antennas for now and advise he purchase the ua874 active fins. 

I used to use the ua874's and never had issues until I was outside in the rain. I only used them when remoting over long distances. I kept them dry but was having really bad RF/electrical noise when we would move them during the take to keep up with talent. My boom op at the time said that the Shures should really be thought of as installation antennas for live sound. This was of course well before the new Shure Axient system and I'm sure their new gear is more robust for production sound. Also, this was not a scientific test of any kind. However, I switched to the Lectro ALP690s and have not had the issue again. Just 2 cents.

Thanks for the suggestions. For now, I'm going to try this https://www.amazon.com/Stage-MSA5000-Stand-Laptop-Mount/dp/B00V3A619U

On 7/27/2020 at 1:05 AM, JonG said:

I’d like to revive this thread. Sadly, nearly all the links above no longer work, and I’d imagine that there are more options available today. I think that having computers on sound carts is becoming ever more frequent, so we may as well get used to the idea of this being a continual hunt!

I'm looking for a plate that's just big enough to handle a 13" macbook pro. No arm, and not big. Can't seem to find anything that suits my needs yet.

Eas

1 hour ago, PMC said:

For some years now I have been using pouches from Williams Listen Systems. My Comtek xmtrs fit snuggly into them. Secure fit and don't fall out. With belt clip. 

 

Maybe you can find these pouches at Williams or ebay. 

Easy enough to pull them out and put them back for battery changes?

54 minutes ago, JonG said:

I’m going to echo some folks here in saying that anything that requires an app to run it in the field is a no go. And anyone here that’s been in the business for more than a few years will tell you that when you’re in the field, things need to operate on their own. Apps are great and can make things easier, but are entirely unreliable. Cl-wifi was a great addition to the 788T, but at some point it was nearly impossibly to keep connected because of all the 2.4ghz stuff that other departments were bringing on set, and even though I kept a dedicated iPad for it set to not auto update anything, the damn thing somehow updated itself anyways and then the app was no longer supported. So that feature became entirely useless, and SDs complete refusal to continue to support CL-WiFi’s app or hardware was the writing on the wall that they were basically going to use their hand to push people along to newer products years before discontinuing the 788T. So the lesson here is that with that piece of equipment, it is still a very good machine that operates at 100% without an app, making it still completely useful after its being discontinued, and there are still many people who continue to use it as their primary machine, despite the app no longer being supported. When your devices have literally no way to manually interface with them, how reliable are they going to be today while they are supported, or tomorrow when a new product comes out. Frankly, at the price point we’re looking at, it seems like a bit of a gamble to me. That, along with non removable memory (finite read/write times), the choice of AAA batteries, and proprietary remote control from in house recorders (consider those who use other machines), makes this a hot no from my standpoint. Personal choice of course, but I feel like I should express my concerns here for people who have not yet had the experience of equipment longevity being cut down by controlled obsolescence. Not to mention the fact that people somehow manage to get to set in the morning with their phones needing a charge already and without a charger, I can imagine how many times productions are going to SOL because their sound department isn’t responsible enough to show up with a fully charged phone lol. 

Well put. I'm still sore from them refusing the address the last few bugs on the 6 series. I just live with them. The CL-wifi (and how they basically let it die) is a great example of why I'm staying away from their app-reliant products. The fact that the new transmitter requires an app to be configured is mind-boggling to me.

I'm not a fan of how much you have to rely on phone/tablet devices and their apps to configure these.

Anyone know if it records and transmits at the same time?

Just last night, we're doing a "big" scene with 100+ background actors and setting up and shooting all these little montage pieces for over three hours before they even bring the actual actors to set. The AD is super nervous. They don't even let me wire them for the camera rehearsal (which was the first time any one of us saw the action - it was a walk and talk) and then they finally permitted me to wire them on last looks. Anyone who works in film knows this is absolutely not how a set is supposed to be run. And this is not a little indie movie mind you. After the camera rehearsal, I run over to wire the two actors and the AD quietly tells me "the wires make us ready." Oh, great. I'm good and fast at wiring but I don't like the pressure of 200+ cast and crew combined waiting on me to wire actors in the wet street at midnight. I can do my job better if I'm not rushing and not feeling that pressure, let alone the fact that I could have wired them 30 minutes prior at my leisure if they would just let me. Had they been wired before the camera rehearsal, the first take would not have been MY rehearsal and the sound would have been better. By the way, this example was only the beginning of an agonizing night.

The bottom line is: it takes as long as it takes. That's my canned answer when a green AD asks me how long something will take. It's important not to feel that pressure that causes us to make poor choices or little mistakes which snowball into sound issues. If you are not provided with an environment that allows you to succeed, then there is only so much you can do. In these cases, open communication with the people in charge is what will protect you, if anything. Keep a report so there is a record. What allows me to sleep at night is knowing that I tried my best and stayed cool under pressure. I often think of it like: anyone else could have been hired to be in this situation right now. It just happens to be me, so I might as well do my best here.

Because you mention the heart arrhythmia - it's just a job. It's just a commercial. We are not saving lives. Try to take a step back and laugh at the absurdity of it all. My last line of defense when I'm so beaten down and everything is a disaster is this (and it's cynical but it works): the check will clear. The day will end in a few hours and you will be paid. I work mostly in film and TV and with film especially, I have a very high level of respect for the medium and the process (which is why I'm in this business) and when I go to work, I usually see that process completely trampled over and sometimes I take it personally. I try to remember that they are not spending all this money and effort for my benefit. I am just one of many foot soldiers on the ground trying to make their vision come to life.

Lastly, on the clothing noise - again, take your time wiring and do it right. Some outfits just will not sound good. Then, if they won't let you clip it to the outside (if it's that kind of job), let them know that the lavs are not going to sound good and be upfront and vocal about it. Hopefully you can still boom in those situations and all is well. I almost always think of the boom as my primary source even if lavs sound good.

On 1/17/2018 at 11:17 AM, janz said:

 

Jason, you are right. Thank you for describing it to JonG!

I happen to agree with Jon. If this had a battery eliminator, I'd buy it in a heartbeat for my cart. Will one of lectrosonics AA eliminators work from an electrical standpoint?

Interesting. Is there a reason there doesn't seem to be as much coverage near the higher notes?

20 hours ago, Wyatt Tuzo said:

If he has a 2 input focusrite, he likely also has outputs on it. Use this to feed your return

Good call. Yes he does. He didn't seem to be aware of that or how an interface works. It's quite the interesting job.

He's got some 2 input Focusrite interface (which should be all he needs audio-wise). I didn't really look into his cart to be honest. He now tells me he's getting a Black Magic SDI to analog audio converter which I'm hoping will do the trick. Once we solve that, we'll have to address people being too close to set who experience the live sound and then the delayed sound.

They were really hoping that the lead actor would somehow master the piano in a month's time. We shot the scene yesterday and I'm really happy with it. Live singing to playback with earwigs and a hand double for the piano. I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to record live piano with it but everything still came out great.