soundmanjohn

Backed it, thanks. John

Case Design will also do custom inserts for Peli cases, I believe. Also Maplin do a Peli knock-off for about £50: not sure if it'll be large enough for the windshield, though. https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/large-high-impact-case-with-pre-cut-foam-interior-n14gr

Got my Stuart Torrance low-profile loom for my MixPre-6. A thing of beauty as always from Stuart.

Asking for a friend: anyone know of somewhere he can get a number of ReVox tape machines serviced in Los Angeles? Thanks, John

For those who haven't seen these yet: https://www.trewaudio.com/product/hawk-woods-sd-1/ https://www.trewaudio.com/product/hawk-woods-sd-2/ Sd-1 quoted as being UK£87 including tax, SD-2 at UK£115 incuding tax. Regards,

The director of the the theatre show I'm currently working on, who is also a movie director, saw the film yesterday in a local cinema and said the biggest problem he found with the sound was lack of dynamic range, pretty loud all the time, so no space for big sound events. I plan to try and see it over the weekend. John

OK, maybe time for a little Ambisonic refresher here: apologies for those who already know, but I sense some real confusion here. All first-order Ambisonic microphones currently available use what's known as a tetrahedral array of four cardioid-ish capsules. Viewed from the front, those from Soundfield, Sennheiser and Core Sound have capsules arranged to point as follows: Front Left Up, Front Right Down, Back Left Down, Back Right Up. (Note that there is no actual front capsule - probably best to choose FLU which is nomally channel 1 in the output designation if you're going to scratch and verbally ident.) The DPA-4 mic reverses the up and down for each direction and as it's rare as hen's teeth, we'll ignore it for the moment. The SPS200, the Sennheiser Ambeo and the CoreSound TetraMic all deliver just the four capsule outputs and use software to carry out further processing. WIthout the further processing, these four mic outputs comprise what is known as an A-Format signal and if that's what you deliver to post, without any further details of mic orientation, you're just delivering four mic signals pointing in random directions. Soundfield, Sennheiser and CoreSound all have software-based tools to convert the A-Format signal to what's known as B-Format, which allows the magic to happen: Effectively, what you get in a B-Format signal is four mathematically defined microphones: an omni reference and three figure-of-eights, effectively pointing front-back, left-right and up-down. Further processing introduces correction filters and, in the case of the CoreSound, capsule corrections as well, specific to each particular microphone. Only CoreSound does this, Soundfield and Sennheiser rely on a generic corrections, reckoning that their capsule tolerances are pretty tight, although some have found this not to be the case. Soundfield's SurroundZone 2 (http://www.soundfield.com/products/surroundzone2) is free and deals with signals both in A & B-Format for its own microphones: CoreSound provides two free VST programs to deal with the A-B format conversion and capusle correction and then another for B-Format to various other output formats. (http://www.core-sound.com/TetraMic/1.php) Sennheiser's Ambeo effort currently only does the A-B conversion for its own microphone, but see below for an alternative.(http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/ambeo-blueprints-downloads) So, if you're delivering A-Format, you need to tell post which manufacturer the mic is from and the orientation at recording, i.e. front-fire, end-fire, and if inverted. The higher-priced Soundfields have the A to B-Format conversion carried out in hardware and the ability to correct for microphone orientation at the time of recording, plus a few other niceties, like a high-pass filter, gain control and, in the case of the ST450, the ability to output B-Format and a derived stereo output at the same time, with pattern and width control for the stereo output on the front panel, without affecting the B-Format output, which can be a time-saver if full surround is not required. if you're delivering B-Format and have corrected for mic orientation at recording time, this should probably be noted for information. B-Format signals can then be transcoded to any channel count, from mono to full surround with height, with the right software. Some of this software is free, as in the Soundfield and CoreSound offerings, along with programs from the likes of Daniel Courville, (http://www.radio.uqam.ca/ambisonic/) Angelo Farino (http://pcfarina.eng.unipr.it/Ambisonics.htm) and Bruce WIggins, (https://www.brucewiggins.co.uk/?page_id=78); some is not, like Dave McGriffy's premium VVEncode software for the TetraMic (https://www.vvaudio.com/products) and, the most comprehensive and powerful program, Svein Berge's Harpex-X, which can handle both flavours of Soundfield and the Sennhesier Ambeo and gives you all very many possibilities for transcoding. It's expensive, but it's worth it, in my opinion. Harpex-X also deals with FuMa (Furse-Malham) and AmbiX (or ACN or SND3, or whatever you want to call it) channel designation which, instead of the FuMa sequence of WXYZ, uses a numbered designation, the first four of which, 0,1,2 & 3 correspond to FuMa's WYZX, although there's some level jiggery pokery as well. The reasons for the change are to do with the ease of defining higher-order signals (more channels, better localisation.) http://www.harpex.net/ If you want to do really astonishing stuff in post with 1st order Ambisonics, the you should invest in Richard Furse's Blue Ripple software packages. http://www.blueripplesound.com/product-listings/pro-audio I hope this clarifies things a bit... (or maybe not.) Oh, and if you want Ambisonics on the cheap, only without the height element, the Zoom H2n with the V2 Firmware does a pretty good job. Regards, John Edit: I left out Matthias Kronlachner's excellent ambiX software - it's here: http://www.matthiaskronlachner.com/?p=2015

Well, M/S, for a start, but I find them useful in many circumstances because of the side null. In tight spaces in orchestra pits, for example, or in odd acoustics to minimise reflections from side walls. John

One of these recordings was played over the air by the BBC: the news reader, highly respected and professional Charlotte Green, heard her producer commenting in her headphones that it sounded like a bee trapped in a jar. This did not bode well for Charlotte's composure, as you can hear:

This unit is a pre-production model and the belt clip is fixed: production models will have a removeable clip. Not sure about power, but can probably find out.

Got to handle this little fella yesterday: no sharp corners, talent skin friendly, no external antenna, rechargeable battery giving seven hours continuous. No portable receivers as yet, but rack-mounted 2 & 4 channel units can be 12 v dc powered. Not cheap, but very neat.

The MixPre-6 is €899 excluding tax. FedEx to the UK is €25. No definite date for delivery, but expected any time soon, I guess.

Waiting to hear from Ambient in Germany when they have mine in stock. Great company, easy to deal with and a couple of hundred bucks cheaper than buying in the UK. WIll report in as soon as it gets here. John

I'm saving up for a Mix-Pre 6 as a backup/alternative to my ageing 744, but am also surprised and a bit dismayed by the UK price-point, which is pretty high, at approximately US$1,240.00 pre-tax. VAT adds 20%, so we're nearer US$1,500.00. The Zoom F4 comes in at just over half that, at around US$770.00, which is a big difference, so I'm not sure how much of dent these are going to make in the UK market at the moment. Regardless, it's something I'm looking forward to for later in the year. Regards,

TwistedWave will do the batch conversion for you, albeit outside ProTools, or ask Svein for a beta of Harpex-X, which will do the SPS A-B conversion as well as the 5.1 transcode. The Ambeo plug-in is just for the Ambeo mic, and isn't actually that good, in my opinion.

My first ever kit for recording sound effects was a second-hand Uher 4000S and an AKG D707. A pair of DT48s, cheap from the local hi-fi emporium who had got them in for a customer who hated them and gave them back, lasted me for years, with a complete refurb from Beyer UK after about twenty years. Shortly after, they were stolen from a committee room at The Houses Of Parliament. Went from mono Uher to stereo Uher, Sony TCD5 Pro cassette machine, Sony TCD D10 DAT, Metric Halo 2882 & laptop, then SD 788T. More mics, including assorted Soundfields and Rycotes galore. Happy now. John

And here's another book for you to look at: Gordon Hempton's 'Earth Is A Solar-Powered Jukebox' written by the man who's been there and done that. https://quietplanet.com/products/book

Unless there's no wind at all, you may have problems. Foam windshields are fine in a studio, but nothing beats a properly designed basket-windshield when you're outdoors.

Wel, if you read the beginning of the article, it does mention what else I mostly use for recording when I'm not using the Soundfield, which is a M/S pair using MKH30/40 in a Rycote windshield. I thoroughly recommend that set up for low noise and portability. You can find them used within your budget from various places. Replacing the MKH40 with an MKH50 or a 20 would give you more options but push your budget through the roof, but we've been there before, I think.

Yes, exactly. This is the problem I'm finding with this thread: we could go on for ever making recommendations, but without one fairly vital piece of information, that of your actual budget, most of it will be a total waste of time. We've gone from just over £1,000 for all the kit, to the realms of £3,000 for a pair of Neumann LDC digital mics and the associated DMI-2 controller and another couple of grand for a recorder that takes AES in to go with it. Decide on a budget, research the kit that you can afford within your budget and then rent to see what works for you. Don't forget to factor in windshields, cables, power-supplies, a stand or boom pole, headphones, and a bag along with everything else. Go back and look at your original plan and work on that premise. Otherwise, you'll spend forever getting recommendations for kit and no time at all actually getting out and recording. For further reading, the Bernie Krause books are excellent: you could also look at Cathy Lane & Angus Carlyle's 'In The Field - The Art of Field Recording' and on a rather more esoteric level, another collection of essays and interviews called 'Autumn Leaves - Sound and the Environment in Artistic Practice' edited by Angus Carlyle.

My take on the DPA mics: http://livedesignonline.com/business-people-news/good-things-come-small-packages You may need to register to read, but it's a good magazine anyway. Regards, John

I'm in London & I've got a Telinga you can borrow, if you want to try one out: you'll need an omni like an 8020 as it's just the reflector & pistol grip. It's one of the transparent roll-up models, so easy to transport. Alternatively, I've got an old green reflector that needs a bit of TLC, brackets, etc., that's your for £20 Drop me a PM. John

Just one other little thing: Over here in London, we pronounce our River Thames as 'Tems' rather than the way it's spelt. Regards, John

Kevin, I use these people: https://www.asoundeffect.com and also these people: http://www.sonniss.com/sound-effects/ to sell my libraries. They expect well-prepared files and metadata (Soundminer helps) and will take a cut of the sale price. Be warned that the market seems to be saturated at the moment, so your material needs either to be very different or very well presented; preferably both. Bigger (lots of huge files) seems to be better, almost regardless of quality of content, at the moment, but I guess that'll settle down. The major effects guys sell from their own web-sites, using custom set-ups and I tried this for a while until a ridiculous tax law aimed at big business came in and screwed everything up for small traders in Europe. As you're in the USA, this needn't worry you and I used these guys https://getdpd.com/ to set up a web distribution service. Not cheap, but very efficient. Best of luck, John

Well, Len (the proprietor of Core Sound) has done some testing and comparisons. Here's the gist from the Facebook VR list. He was a bit more open with me, but I'm under an NDA. Start quote: "We've recently measured our production Ambeo and its "ambisonic correction filter.") In addition to its boosting noise level by its high frequency EQ, our recent measurements show that the Sennheiser Ambeo "ambisonic correction filter" adds modulation noise that degrades the audio S/N substantially. It also does a few other interesting things that are not optimal." And later, in answer to a comment about the TetraMic's noise performance: "The noise we discovered in the Ambeo plugin is modulation noise. "Modulation noise" means that it is imposed on the audio signal, and not something you'd hear if there was silence (no audio signal). The noise that you're hearing when you record with TetraMic is probably noise from your microphone pre-amp, as you compensate for the lower output of the TetraMic capsules. If you did your gain compensation digitally in your DAW, or used the best quality microphone pre-amps (like the Metric Halo ULN-8 or something similar in noise performance), you'd likely not hear what you're describing. Then you'd only hear the difference when recording the very quietest sound sources; then capsule self-noise dominates. For example, that would be when recording hammered dulcimers in a very quiet recording studio." TetraMic's B-format frequency response is -2 dB at 30 Hz. Our measurements show that Ambeo is -3 dB at 90 Hz." End quote. I'm sure there will be more at some point, and once I get my demo Ambeo back again, I'll do a comparison test with the Ambeo and a TetraMic and possibly an ST450 as well. Len's point about a decent pre-amp is the key here: I do use a Metric Halo ULN-8 with my TetraMic. It needs bags of noise-free gain to compensate for its rather low output level. All the best, John