Ramsay

I would say there is no better endorsement than what would come from someone like Jeff and I don't mean to diminish any of the work Glenn has done. He's a hero in our business. What happened was a long time ago and I can't specifically remember. John Coffey was up here with the machine and I ran it as a back up until if I remember correctly there was a power issue and when we rebooted the machine, it recorded over previous material. We were all in shock and sent the drive to Glenn who confirmed what had happened. It was probably fortunate because he no doubt found a bug which will never rear it's head again!

In answer to Jeff "Why do we want any of these companies to start building products that are just like the products from one of the other companies" I would say the look and feel of the product or industrial design is also a consideration for purchase. For example, my first Nagra 4STC was a piece of gear I still fondly remember. The closest I have to that right now is my 744T. It is a well thought out piece of equipment which has a look and feel reminicsent of my Nagra. It also has not failed once in many years of service. I've owned two incarnations of Sonosax mixers since 1987. Both still work perfectly. Zacom is a brand I have only test driven once. The Deva 4 track did exactly what it was touted as never being able to do. It recorded over previously recorded material, so ever since then I have been a little gun shy. This was many many years ago, and there have been massive upgrades to the machine and associated technology since, so maybe there still will be a Nomadic future for this mixer...

So without getting too inflamatory...I think all 3 companies which supply the core components of our job are filled with highly dedicated and talented people. Our equipment has to work better than NASA equipment in many ways. If all three were one, we would have a company with a Steve Jobs, Steve Wosniak and Bill Gates. BTW, I don't know how many of us follow the stock market, but I was looking at a company called Fusion IO as a possible pick last night. I'd be interested in opinions. It's lead scientist is Wosniak and when I looked a little deeper in to their product, it looked very attractive from a technical perspective. It's flash drive technology with other infrastructure. But I'm no expert at stock picks.....

So let's see: Lectrosonics SMVR recording transmitters and Sound Devices 1212 12 input 12 channel recorder wish list?! Or just buy Zaxcom....

I've been watching all the interesting products which Zaxcom have come up with and I'm wondering if companies like Lectrosonics and Sound Devices can legally build devices which have similar cool features like radios which record or Zaxnet type communication between devices. Thoughts?

Here is my rig

I'm using a Motu Ultralight, 744T and Boom Recorder on a new Macbook pro. All I needed to get was a 400-800 firewire adapter for the new Macbook. This is a system I have used for many years with great success. I can reord 9 tracks and the 10th is for TC. If I wasn't using the 744T, I could hook a Deneke TC box up to the Motu and still be quite comfortable recording. Used Motu Ultralights are very inexpensive.

Well that's a little scary. Loosing shots shouldn't ever happen. I know we all run backups and Sonosax is a small company doing good products, but still.... Also, is there a sound report generator in the update?

I am a fan and owner of the SXSTD. I have been patiently waiting for an update which will allow me to edit and easily input Metadata on the Sonosax recorder before I go and spend the $$$ to get one installed in my mixer. Is anyone out there actually using a Sonosax internal recorder as their main device on a "Hollywood" production? I'm intersted in hearing any feedback. Cheers, Patrick

...And the new Apple TV 1080P looks excellent BTW.

Zaxcom is listed as only having 5-9 employees. Take out Glenn, front desk, accounting.... that doesn't leave many people for assembly!

And this is why movie night is always at my house, not the theatre. My $1300.00 Epson Projector against a white wall with black painted frame, Polk speakers from the 80's, a decent sub and a modest Denon AV Amp outperforms every theatre I've been in and is always in focus. Plus all you can eat popcorn for maybe a dollar.

On the way home a few weeks ago my 16 year old son was explaining that meditation was DMT. He was calling me a hippie because I meditate. I had never heard of DMT so when we got home, I went online and did some research. I found that there was a Documentary recently released "DMT The Spirit Molecule" on Itunes, so we sat down to watch it. I enjoyed the Documentary and can say without any reservations that the experiences through the use of DMT are exactly the same as one can experience in deep meditation. Entirely profound and unforgetable experiences of mind free of the body. DMT is produced by the pineal gland. I think that pot or any natural substance is there for honest experimentation and my strict views on drugs as being bad are a bit more tempered these days.

I have used the BlueLine as my main interior mic. for many years. I have never had an issue with distortion. We compared many mics and although I have never used the Oktava I can say that I've owned every other brand and still keep a few Neumans but rarely use them. Our main ext mics are the Cs3e's. The BlueLine has a bit more reach than other Hypercards in my opinion and even if it may not be the quietest mic in a side by side comparison, I've never had issue because production dialogue is rarely ever recorded in an ultra quiet environment.

HDR surpasses the dynamic range of film.

I agree that HDR won't eleminate the need for good DP"s. It will however give amazing flexibility to the images they create. Something that is not possible with film.

Nice to see a proper mixing console in the picture too!

Real time Digital HDR recording will be possible in the next year. Another nail.

Just wondering if anyone has tried wrapping the XLR connectors on jumper cables between the boom mics and butt plug transmitters to stop cel phone interference?

I am shooting with the Alexa right now. 23.976, 48K. Jammed using standard sync boxes in the morning and at lunch. Excellent quiet camera. Plus, we are handing in flash drives of our sound so there are no expendables and a completly digital workflow. The Alexa I boldly predict is going to be the camera that will replace film. There is a 4K version coming out soon I've heard. And BTW Jeff your site is still my homepage! Outstanding website.

I spoke with Lectrosonics yesterday. Apparently there was a hardware issue with some early SM transmitters, but the "tube sound" effect has not occured in the SMV series. We suspect that the older biege Sanken we were using might have had a wiring issue. We have not had a problem since switching out of the beige mic.

Yes the Deva is certainly an option and is well respected in the Post industry. I just want to see the next generation of Sound Devices recorders before I jump in I guess. Jeff, I should have had that SM when we were doing Stargate Universe!

10 tracks for sure. I really like my 744, but I'm waiting for Sound Devices to put out a 10 track machine with a good touch screen before I move away from Boomrecorder which has been fabulous. I really like the features of the Nomad, but I'm a big fan of Sound Devices quality and support. 10 tracks Please!!! and soon.

Regarding the power issue with the Lectrosonics IFB, I discovered that when I unbalanced the XLR connector on the IFB the noise issue disappeared. Here's a question for Lectrosonics users. I have been using 211's and 210's for years. (15 of them). We have an actress who insists on wearing the SMV transmitter. (The smaller transmitter offsets the Cheetos she eats) so I bought one. I noticed during a scene that her track temporarily sounded like she was talking through a paper towel tube. I met up wit ha fellow mixer who was also filming on the lot and uses SM's. He said that this is a known issue with SM transmitters to occasionaly do this and even after returning them to the factory, they still occasionaly do this. Has any one else had this problem? I don't want to go and invest in 6 channels of these only to have an "occasional" tube voice on my track.

I just had the HD on my 744T fail after who knows how many takes, lots. I've heard that the Time machine backup works well Jeff. I haven't had a HD failure on my Imac but the screen got a bunch of vertical lines and Apple replaced it because it was a known issue...on a 5 year old machine! Good company.