Fred Salles

If that can help for non studio future projects: I used the M2D2 on the AES input of Sound Devices recorders (series 6&8) without a single clock issue that I can remember. The recorders never needed to be synch slaved and I there is no setting for AES output clocking in the M2D2, so that probably means it just worked fine from day 1 onward and I never had to question it. I just remember the AES out sample rate can be set different from the system one, but i do not see the use of it nor if I understood properly.

Hi, I recommend BSRF products for these situation. Unfortunately their dedicated active combiner is just 2 to 1 but wide band and very reliable, I have used it with 2 tx T4 VHF (so 50mW each) and it worked great: https://www.bs-rf.com/en/products/combiner/ I am wondering if you could use an active splitter in reverse ? I have never tried but I was told once that it works. Maybe if you have time try an active diversity splitter (BSRF AS122, PSC, ... ) using just one channel. You might need to put 50ohm termination plug on unused SMA connectors. Beware that most combiner/splitter have a maximum power input. In your case the Mini Circuits ZFSC-4-1-S+ has a max 1w so you are hitting the max with 4 times 250mw, although you said with one tx running at 100mw so that is fine.

Just a side note: I found it a good idea to always carry a smoke detector in my charging case. I glued a magnet on mine to fix it quickly above the charging stations. it makes me sleep better 😅

I have. On a shoot where I had 3 IFB feeds and used both VHF and a UHF band (forgot wich one). All IFBlue rx. They are exactely the same sound wise. Absolutely no difference whatsoever. I had the feeling that VHF band reached better through walls (tx outside rx inside) than the UHF band. But could not conduct proper test. Regarding the RF pollution I shot in France (Marseille, Paris), in Algeria and in Kenya with VHF system. You do need a proper scan with TX advance to find the best frequencie(s). Once it is done the system is perfectly stable. And the range is very good even though the power is 50mW. I was told the VHF band does not require more power to be efficient (beside the fact that more is not allowed in France). The only notable drawback is the size of the TX antenna. Some find it too big for bag work. I don’t, nonpb to manage in the bag.

Thanks PCMSoundie, I like that as a possible solution for clients&agency tents instead of speakers on commercial shoot where there are always more and more people asking for IFB than initially required by production and paid for, ending up to frustration (and speaker is often an issue for me when too close to set). I can very well see this thing installed by the LCD monitor with a side poster with QR code for all those interested to hear audio but who were not accounted for for a proper IFB (on average around 5 people). It does not need a wifi router as it seems to be its own access point.

Thanks Gregoire indeed for such an active updating of your fantastic piece of software. Airspy mini seems to be my next upgrade!

Whatever you choose, for me there is but one rule: shelves and ratchet straps. Even if you have the luxury of a your own sound vehicule make sure you have appropriate shelvings. Appart from whatever is on wheel (sound cart, assistant cart, etc) for me every case must have its space on a shelve and there must be space to access it quicly, meaning the floor must be free. And you must be able to tight everything securely and fast (hence ratchet starps). Any other solution involve time waste and/or risk.

Note that the original post is asking about how to handle the MTP61 files (not any other data). The MTP61 does not allow physical card extraction so one has to transfer the files to a card via mag to usb cable or the LBC61. I would avoid as much as possible to hand over the MTP61 to the data wrangler or DIT. So I have to do the transfer. So far for files recorded occasionally on an rx (mostly MTP60) I have done like Fieldsound. I back up at the end of the shoot and deliver to post on FTP with all additional sounds I have recorded off set or when I managed to get booked additional days for ambient recording. It allows me to organise the files as I want including renaming. But I never had to record on tx on a regular basis or as a main recorder. That would be another discussion I guess. And probably involve OT yes. The few times I recorded fx or specific sounds on tx during set was on MTP60 so I was able to hand over the card to DIT. “Recover” do you mean when there is a file missing or corrupt? I use “disk drill “ for that. Otherwise the basic transfer does not require specific software since files are already wav and the mtp61 is seen as an external drive by the computer. You can use Teracopy on PC if you want checksum verification. I use wave agent for renaming files if needed after backup.

Hi, for once I totally disagree with you Philip. You cannot judge a boom op non professional and downright stupid because he/she is not wearing heaphones! The choice of wearing headphones is for the boom op to make and the practice is I guess cultural and also generational. In France for a long time boom op were not wearing headphones and were actually often disregarding the ones wearing some as “unprofessionals” 😅 A very experienced boom op does not need to ear what the mike is picking to know if she/he got it right. Just as experienced focus pullers of previous generation did not need video monitor to know if they had a soft or not. Same as Louw I was trained to boom without headphones (although comteks already existed though quite bad) for not only all the reasons Louw gave but also because the boom op need to focus on his/her movements in space, the movements of the actors and the camera, the lights, all the sounds that can occur on set, wanted or unwanted, and so on… And having to listen to something in an earphone can affect that focus. Focusing on what is recorded is the job of the sound recordist! You can practice and begin working with an earphone if you still not master your skills as a boom op but you definitely do not need it when you have experience! I know in USA it is a big thing and when I worked as a boom op on my first american tv feature the recordist made me wear headphones and head mike, plugged in an intercom box on my belt that was plugged to an insanely thick cable 🤣 It took me a while to get used to it but was happy with the ability to communicate with him so easily! That said I do ask my boom op to wear headphones for communication purpose, espescially nowadays that regearsals are things we need to fight for and therefore scarce so i need to give instructions whenever camera zoom change frame during or between takes for example… All the young ones are used to it anyway, but from time to time, an experienced boom op would prefer not to wear it during the take. If i do not have to complain about his/her job then I am fine with it as long as she wears it when I need her to hear what i have to say if necessary (sometimes eyes contact is more than enough!) Anyway all that to say that some of the best and more recognised professional boom ops here in France were, and sometimes still are, not wearing headphones, and we are very happy with their job!

Sincères condoléances Jeff. Love and support from France (actually Kenya right now).

Pretty sure it is RF overload now. Being surrounded by glass your receiver's antennas might also get reflected RF. What happen when you have the TX more than 10m away?

Did you try 10mW as well? as you said tx was never less than 5m to the rx antennas, my first guess goes to RF overload.

Hey Rich I finally got to take some time to listen to your test. Thank you so much again for that and Happy New Year to you too! I must say this is quite impressive. I do hear definitely more bass, and some medium overall warmth on channel 1, that makes channel 2 a bit more dry, espescially at a distance. So I would say CH1 is the hardwired. But the quality of channel 2, if that is the A20tx, is indeed pretty close! I hear no difference whatsover in noise/hiss, when you have some silent moments, and again the differences in the medium and the highs freq. are very very subtle. Edit: I realise I used the word “dry” wrongly. That is because in French we say “sec” as opposed to a sound “chaud” =warm. Although “sec” litteral translation is “dry” it also mean something almost harsh.

It looks like a promising achievment. I have one question: Should we be concerned to have the mike surrounded by magnets? It might not be too much of an issue for consenser mikes but i will definitely not leave my M88 near this... (=dynamic mike, for those unfamiliar) Do you know if there is any testing of different mikes behavior with close proximity to magnets?

+1000 to contact directly the psm. But I would add something further: The fact that you "have been asked to give recommendation for the next season", combined with your producer "expressly asked you to communicate through him", smell funny to me. This is neither standard procedure nor an efficient one. It denotes more of a control freaks producer that do not trust his/her team, OR she/he has a good reason to not trust some of the team (I don't know maybe the inexperienced boom op is the son of the director and the psm is not in position to complain nor disclose the issue other than to the prod ??) ... Either ways if I am not wrong then it won't do any good to just communicate through this producer, it might actually do more damages than benefits. In my experience an experienced producer would put post team in contact with production sound team so that what post-production team might see as a problem might receive an explanation that will help solve it, before raising flag to the producer as "a complaint". Experienced producers know that prod and post team do not always have same point of view or ideas, and want to have to deal only with real issues, like if there is a real communication/ego problem between the teams or a real workflow technical issue for example. My advice would be to yes speak to the producer who required it but do not present it as a complaint yet, before you have spoken to the psm. Be diplomatic and try as hard as you can to find an explanation to what you have experienced. It might well be that the psm is not experienced either, or it might be any of the reasons given by my colleagues above. But only after talking to him/her you will be able to take an informed decision. You have to find out by yourself, not let the producer decide alone.