Jim Feeley

I would say we've seen mixed results from consolidation. I mean, it looks like Audiotonix has a lot of investment from private equity companies, but at least Audiotonix is focused on audio. So maybe Audiotonix will be a better fit than DPA's and Wisycom's previous owners (?) Palladio Holding, which also owned/invested in shoes and the dooms-day lawnmower shown below. The SD gang, at least publicly, say they're happy with the Audiotonix relationship; access to capital, collaborating with colleagues at the other companies, stuff like that. But I'm not an insider.

The company that acquired Sound Devices a few years ago is acquiring again. Hope this all works out (not a side-eye diss; I do hope it works out). DPA Microphones, Wisycom and Austrian Audio, join the Audiotonix mix Chessington, February 2nd, 2026 — Audiotonix has announced its agreement to acquire three pioneering microphone and wireless audio companies to complement its current roster of global technology brands: DPA Microphones, Wisycom, and Austrian Audio. The acquisition is now being filed for regulatory approval and should be completed in H1 2026. The press release with some more details and statements: https://audiotonix.com/news/dpa-microphones-wisycom-and-austrian-audio-join-the-audiotonix-mix/

No worries. Ya, it gets tricky and I hardly have a perfect ethical-purchasing record.

I'm not an equipment or brand snob. I don't like the way Behringer/Music Tribe conducts business and harasses people. So I avoid their products. If I did a lot of live sound, though, avoiding their X32 mixer might make that difficult.

Ya, I get rental for TC slates...but also ya, the call to attention is important (in addition to the theater and dealing with wild cameras). But I'm glad I bought the slates used; they're not an everyday tool in my little world.

I'm not planning on buying this (or anything from Behringer). But this is coming. https://www.behringer.com/behringer/product?modelCode=0603-AFE Audio on the YouTube video isn't great...

For me, backup esp if 2+ cameras rolling (and esp if one or two of them are phones, GoPros, the persnickety producer with a small mirrorless camera who actually has a good eye but really could be doing something else and trust us, etc). And TC slates impress the heck out of clients...and the client's clients. Jim "low/mid corporate and documentary" Feeley

I store them flat or with the cap slightly below the bottom. And store them in a thick ziplock bag. And still buy new ones before I expect to need to it seems... But the bag helps.

I think the opening clasp for the lav cable is what compromises the waterproofness of their TX bags (but not their phone bags since no wires leave the bag). Aquapac says "Waterproofness Warning!: This case features our 'TC' Aquaclip which makes the case waterproof to IPX6 (a quick dunking should be fine, but not prolonged immersion)." https://aquapac.net/collections/waterproof-radio-microphone-cases/products/small-wire-through-case-548 The clamp is pretty cool, though...and effective IME. 18-second demo by Aquapac: Whitney, thanks. I'm hip to using gloves and condoms. I still use both, even after my vasectomy. But for things like long days with the TX on a farmer working in the rain and watering crops (the upcoming long doc shoot), IME those covers sometimes get torn. So that's the thing I want to avoid.

I have a couple Aquapacs, but they're aging so I'm looking to get a couple/few new waterproof bags for transmitters. Frankly, I mainly need splash and rainproof, but waterproof is totally fine. So are Aquapacs still the best choice, or are there alternatives that are better? TIA!

My take: If there are no active co-moderators/owners of this site, then it looks like we will need cooperation from the executor of Jeff's estate/trust/etc, as several here have said, and an estate-planning lawyer friend casually confirmed. My hunch is the process will be similar to that spelled out on this Wordpress.com support page, and may require at least sending out a death certificate: https://wordpress.com/support/deceased-user/ So reaching out to the listed moderator(s), Invision, et al now makes sense. But for one of us reaching out to the family, I'd still like to wait for the new year (ie- Friday) to not pile on during the holidays. Just my take. As for who could/should reach out, it'd be great if someone here knows a member of Jeff's family or was a close colleague of Jeff and knows someone in the family/estate. So who could reach out if we don't reach a JWS moderator or close colleague of Jeff? Maybe Larry F or Glenn S? If neither of those, then one of us? Again, I'm willing to do it. And if we don't see any better volunteers, I will start reaching out to Jeff's family members on Friday. Jim PS- then later, but not too much later, we can all figure out how we want to formalize JWS's structure (ie- form or join an existing nonprofit?), and making sure account for the wishes of Jeff's family and colleagues.

The domain is registered through May 2027. No idea about the SSL certificate. I vote we wait until the beginning of January (ie- after the holidays) and select one of us to reach out to Jeff's family/estate, etc. Mainly so they're not bombarded with well-meaning questions from all of us. I could give it a go. But I in real life, I was only a casual friends with Jeff. Always enjoyed each other's company, but others here knew him much better than I. So I will gladly defer to someone like that (and then help however's appropriate).

Like TDSG, I don't want to get ahead of people's mourning, but I can't tell if the staff page is up to date: https://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/staff/ And more directly, I'm willing to help. I've run fairly large email lists and forums for decades now. Though currently, I'm only moderating one, doculink.org. Not trying to brag, but mainly I've learned to keep a light hand on discussions and deal with various technical snafus. I don't want to cut in line, but if I can help keep this great community resource going, I'm willing to do that.

If it makes you happy and inspires confidence in your work, go for it. But is there any audible (or significant, as opposed to measurable, inaudible) difference? I don't know. I mean, Schoeps sells stereo microphone cables and they say, "bulk cable by Belden." https://schoeps.de/en/products/accessories/stereo-accessories/stereo-cables/ks-5-u.html Maybe their cables aren't perfect, but I'll guess Schoeps wouldn't sell cables that they think restrict the quality of their microphones. Again, would be interesting to know more about what the people here who make careful recordings of music and other sounds for critical clients and listeners are using.

There are a few (at least) people here who record music, including music made on acoustic instruments. I'd love to hear those people's take on capacitance in modern good cables, if there's a value below which it just doesn't matter, and what cables they think are good enough for careful music recording. Jim PS- I know this has been touched on implicitly here, but I'm all for explicit exposition.