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Benjamin Gandy

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Everything posted by Benjamin Gandy

  1. Well in the picture the gate's off. I would also have a fast attack, probably about 1ms. Depends on the purpose of the compressor as to the other settings. I'd prefer a limiter to a compressor, so I'd probably have the threshold 2dB below clipping and at least 10:1. I wouldn't have the EQ on either, but I'd rather keep the signal path as clear as possible before recording.
  2. I agree, the quality of your recordings is ultimately limited by the quality of your equipment.
  3. I should mention that the USBPre will not work as a standalone preamp. It's designed as an interface with preamps, rather than just a preamp, and it has to be bus powered. However, the pretty similar MixPre-D is designed as a small mixer. The MixPre-D is the little brother of the SD mixer family, and will work with the DR-680 like any other mixer. The price point is pretty much the same as well. The AES outputs will only go to 96kHz though, but the DR-680 will go to 192kHz with two tracks, or 96kHz with all six (/eight with digital inputs). In addition I believe the MixPre-D also doubles as a 2x2 interface. will work fine with the 680. Also, any bag that can fit a 442/SQN 4s will fit the 680, although you might have to add some foam padding beneath the MixPre because it's less tall. The Petrol 607 won't fit the 680.
  4. I wasn't surprised by the value, but I was definitely impressed when I got mine. I run a 302 into two inputs and use the other inputs as lines from radios, if at all. The internal battery indicator is a classic three bar symbol, and the only time it flashes up low battery is when you press the button to begin recording, so I run it from my NP1 shoe along with my 302. One 73Wh will last a good 12 hour day with quite a bit to spare. Sticking a DC plug onto a Hirose cable was easy (as is making a hirose to DC cable from scratch). I don't use the mic amps, but the lines produce no more noise than my 302. As for its durability, it's lasted me for 18 months with no problems, but then it's always stayed in the bag. I've not used it in humid conditions, so I have no idea about its tolerance to humidity. I'd suspect it would be less tolerant than a 744, say, but I really couldn't answer that. I'll only upgrade if I need more tracks, more output flexibility or timecode capability. I'm much more likely to upgrade my mixer to a 442 or 552 before I upgrade the recorder. Speaking of output flexibility, you have six RCA outs - three stereo pairs or direct outs for the six tracks. Somewhat useful, but a pain if you want to send different mixes to different sources, although a return mixer could solve that quite easily. I just run a stereo mix from pair one into my 302 return. Since it's digital output routing it'd be nice if there was a software update that allowed more monitor busses, or even just two additional mono auxes from a couple of the outputs. That feature alone would make me not want to upgrade for quite some time, provided timecode wasn't needed needed and six tracks were enough.
  5. Would you say that you've used the Body of Lies method more since then? Or have you just gone with whatever boom and lav method is most appropriate and applicable for the production?
  6. As far as I know SD pres aren't known for being particularly bright, but I would say mine are more neutral but crisp, rather than bright. On my 302 there is no difference between running it from AAs or 12V, sound wise or other. I can't really imagine that there would be any difference, voltage levels can be pretty forgiving, but it's not outside the realms of possibility. Have you done an immediate A/B between internal and external power? If the batteries used have a little lower or higher voltage than what it's expecting then it might be doing something somewhere deep within its bowels that's having an effect. I've never come across this with my 302 so I can't really add any more.
  7. I didn't necessarily mean deliberately degrading the quality of the recordings to spite digital recording, but when you put it like that. I agree it is pretty unrealistic, but I might give it a go on some old rushes to see how it turns out though, it might not be that terrible. I've bounced music to tape and back in one pass and not seen any particular increase of noise floor or degradation of quality, but then the material doesn't always require as high technical standards as film.
  8. I should have said my cardioid seems more an omni and the hyper seems more a cardioid. I'm yet to deliberately test it, but it seems that the hyper is pretty wide for a hyper and has little lobe at the rear, and the cardioid has relatively little rear axis rejection. That said, most of my dialogue has been recorded in typical rooms rather than on a stage. I've just found that the cardioid is less of a cardioid than I'd like, and likewise with the hyper.
  9. Quite a few times I've said on set that this one's going to be a guide only, and they look at me with big, puzzled eyes. Of course it's scrawled in big block letters all over my report and it still finds its way into the soundtrack somehow. People just don't appear to have the time or money for ADR. Then again, it seems ADR is less necessary now; equipment can pick up much better on set tracks, and big noisy sets are now big silent blue screens. I never liked ADR anyway.
  10. but comic sans is the best font available MY ENTIRE RESUME IS WRITTEN IN IT IN CAPITALS AND HAS NO PUNCTUATION AT ALL I think a lot of this comes down to preference. I've read a lot of things about shotguns for exteriors and cardioids for interiors, but have always contested this by trying out mine for myself. My (cheap and pretty crappy) caridoid is more an omni and the hyper is more a cardioid, so I use that most of the time for interiors. It does do well for close shots but its sensitivity and S/N is poor compared to MKHs and Schoeps. Usually the hyper/INT and shotgun/EXT rule works well, but I always have to try for myself in every location I visit. It's right that we can't really tell a lot of the time due to the amount of processing that happens in post. Generally I think production comes down to making it as technically good as possible, and then post can alter it to get the aesthetic that they need. That said, a lot of my work doesn't really end up going through extensive post, so I try to get somewhat of a nice aesthetic on set while keeping it as technically good as possible. Having a database probably wouldn't help much, but you never know; there could be a really obvious correlation between a 416 and a particular sound and a CMC and another particular sound. I do love that classic hollywood sound (that slightly compressed and band-passy sound that licks your ears, as opposed to the technically great but ), and try to aim for that. I've found a lot of the classic microphones (particularly the 416) have that quality about them, whereas it seems lacking with other, particularly cheaper, microphones. How much of that comes from the microphones I don't know - it could be more to do with tape and analogue hardware used in mixing. My shotgun sounds much more 'classic' than my cardioid/hyper, but at the end of the day it needs to sound more technically good than aesthetically good. If I do post work I always try to mix with the aim of making it sound like a classic feature, rather than a high quality short. To digress slightly, it annoys me how people can justify recording music on a 16 track Studer for the aesthetic quality, but you'd be shunned if you turned up on set today with a Nagra. Maybe I should bounce all of my tracks to a 1/4" before giving them in, just to make a point.
  11. Thanks Peter. It know it does take some sort of camera battery, but I'd have no intention of using the battery. I had an idea the K6 and K3 were related. I've used a K6 once before (once) and it was pretty terrible. I suppose I'll just keep my headroom at the resale price of the microphone, and out it if I have no reason to keep it. Cheers - Gandy
  12. One of these is thrown in with a bag I'm trying to get on eBay. I hear these things haven't been made since the eighties / early nineties, so I wondered if anyone here has come across them. It's got the ME80 shotgun/super capsule on it. I have an NTG3 which I adore as my main shotgun and I have no intention of replacing that any time soon. Mainly I'm curious about their performance; what they can be compared to in terms of today's microphones. They go for cheap on eBay so I'd imagine that they are/were pretty low end microphones, so the chances are I'll just flip it and get some return on the bag. Anyone have any insight? Any ideas what they're like with the ME40 super capsule on, compared to a typical mid-range super? I would wait until I get it to try it out for myself, but I'm trying to get an idea of whether it'd be worth over bidding on the bag because the microphone is with it - I don't want to overpay for something I won't use and have to resell for nothing, and I don't want to be outbid on something that's worth a bit, either through usage or resale. Cheers. - Gandy
  13. Is it not a little odd that an AC outlet would be on a male plug?
  14. Interesting thread. I recently got a pair of Sen G2s and one of the first things I did was tested the range. Our street is about 100 yards long, and the signal became a little spotty at about 80ish yards, I think the signal dropped out completely at about 100. Pretty impressive, at least for me, having not used any higher end radios. The receivers were indoors next to the window, so I Both the G2 and G3 have produce 30mW. The squelch is set to low on mine and I get no hisses when the range gets thin - the signal simply drops out.
  15. I never noticed that, Martin. I don't often use the Invision with my shotgun but I think I'll add the third lyre just in case.
  16. I have an INV 7 that mostly holds my hypercardioid, but I have a second set of black lyres that were originally on my windscreen. I took them off and instead used the old style rings and bands because the shotgun flopped around like mad with the lyres, occasionally hit the inside of the screen. I didn't know that the grey lyres are stiffer, so I might look into it. However, I had no problem using the INV 7 with windscreens. One point with the lyres is that if you have a larger diameter microphone in, say a 24/25mm, for an extended period, the lyres take quite a while for the mounts to move back together in order to hold a 19/20mm properly. I found needed a good squeeze to help them along. Like others have said, they're best with shorter microphones, but they will work fine with shotguns as well. I'd prefer the mounts further apart and more rigid for shotguns. The ease of swapping out microphones is one of their best qualities, but unfortunately it means I have little justification for getting a second.
  17. Heyhey all, first time poster here. As a studying audio engineer and as someone hoping to get into film I think it's time I invested in some 'proper' equipment. With a local youth film production team I've used a C1000 straight into camera, with alright results - alright, though not great. I'm fairly set on a Rode NTG3, with complementary zeppelin and boom and whatnot, I hear it's a close resemblance to an MKH416, which I'd ideally be aiming for (I've tried eBay, but can only find rickety old 12t versions, no cheap P48s). I'm sure this should be a fine option, although I'm open to suggestions. Now I also need a recorder. I've only ever gone straight to camera, so I've never had experience with solid state field recorders. I was looking at the Fostex FR2 LE (the cheaper, grey one) - my budget is as close to £500 as possible, excluding spare batteries and cards and whatnot. There aren't any second hand regular FR2s going for cheap enough. I will be using the onboard preamps, so my first concern is regarding the quality of these. I need the highest S/N ratio I can get, I hear these are quite good (although I also hear the headphone amp is pretty noisy and can be misleading, although this isn't really a concern to me). Can anyone shed some light on this issue? Anyone used this and can report the results? Audio files would be helpful but I'm sure I can find some on youtube. My second concern is battery life. I will be using 48V all the time, unfortunately. Anybody have any experience with battery life of this (or similar units) with 48V on, and can suggest anything to aid the batteries? A typical shoot will last a whole day, with several hours of actual footage shot, perhaps five hours of machine on time per day. I'm sure many of you can gauge battery life from experience. If anybody has any other suggestions as to the equipment I'd love to hear them, I need to keep costs minimal but still be able to get good to very good results. Cheers, Gandy.
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