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mikefilosa

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Posts posted by mikefilosa

  1. MC -

    Yeah, I got that device too, but didn't have it with me at the time... only used in the past for archiving. 

    I bought one of the Zaxcom HD2-USB devices early on, and yes, they are great - and FAST.

    You are absolutely right - well worth the money as insurance AND an archiving time-saver. 

     

    I will NOT leave home without it ever again, that's for sure. 

     

    So between DVD-RAMs and / or the HD2-USB, I hope that everyone can get prepared for the distinct possibility that their firewire output will eventually wear out or fail someday.   It's one component in the chain that we just take for granted, and it's aging and functionality is not measureable.

     

    MF

  2. Thanks Crew.

     

    My post is certainly about a survival story, but more along the line of hoping that my similarly equipped compadres be sure that they have a couple of good, trusty, and re-usable DVD-RAMs tucked away for what might someday be the inevitable...

     

    Without them I would have been somewhat dead for their dailies - Hours between driving home, getting out some disks, re-mirroring, and then the subsequent delivery trip.  With a job scheduled for the next day - a less than fun prospect.

     

    I think I saw some DVD-RAMs for sale on this group not too long ago -  people, go and get some!

     

    MF

  3. For another dose of this MO, check out "Visions of Light" (also available via Netflix), a celebrated doc about cinematography featuring many interviews with the leading cinematographers of the times..... up to 1992 .....

     

    NO audio credits listed whatsoever ....

     

    FWIW, I'm not totally against visible lavs in some situations, but an upside down ECM-50 roughly clamped to a chest with the wire running down the front of the shirt - that is just a bit too much.

     

    MF

  4. I hope this is the right section to post this in... I'd like it to not get buried as some posts can in the group - I hope the thread can stay afloat long enough to save a few brethren and sistren (?) from the sinking feeling I felt for a few minutes last week..... 

     

     

    I am sad to report that for the first time in over TEN years, I have to send a machine back to Zaxcom.

     

    On a recent set, the FireWire output of my Deva 5 apparently went out. 

    This was a 2nd Unit day of a show that does dailies, and there was little room for this kind of problem.

    I am not sure what happened, beyond age and my incredibly-good-luck-and happiness with my Deva so far.  

     

    The only variable of the day was a different brand of CF card that was supplied to me by production for media.  I have been as faithful to the SanDisk Extreme CF as I had been to Maxell in the days of DAT and then DVD-RAM - never an issue with either of those brands.  I have used the same Lexar CF reader/writer since the disc went out-of-vogue.  I think it's been about three years since I turned one in to a client.  (BTW, my backup Lexar would not work either...)

     

    Anyway - thank the stars that I have always carried a pair of DVD-RAM disks tucked deep in the kit. 

    I was able to mirror to disk, and then use my Lexar to receive the data to the supplied CF cards via my MacBook Pro, and thus survive the day.  

     

    I did not have my Zaxcom H2-USB with me, and now that will never happen again either.

    I strongly recommend some sort of backup plan in hand for the russian-roulette day that this might occur to you.

     

    At the VERY LEAST, might I suggest having a change of shorts around for that less-than-fun feeling that you might be cooked for delivering data at day's end.... 

     

    MF

  5. I personally don't see the advantage of sending AES to a camera unless it is via a wireless unit: You would potentially have problems sending AES over a standard breakaway cable, and then only some cameras can accept AES anyways...

     

    +2 / And...

    You'll never get a cent more for your efforts and investment ..... NEVER EVER -

     

    Trust us !!

     

    MF

  6. Which would be better for capturing the best dialogue and why? Would the 4053b be a good investment for it's price?

    I know the MKH costs twice as much, but does it sound like it has TWICE as much quality over the 4053b?

    The MKH 50 is a rich-sounding and favored mic amongst many of us. 

    It is also useful in music work.

     

    But the AT 4053b sounds pretty good too - dollar for dollar a good investment, but not an equal to the 50.  

     

    Are you aware that the 4053 is modular?  There are a few other available capsules for that body that might make it a particularly useful purchase, all tricked out.

    Thus, you are honestly deciding a bit between  "apples and oranges" here. 

     

    Ultimately, I have always felt and noticed over my years that, in this business,

    you get what you pay for. 

     

    MF

     

     

  7. It is a race to the bottom, trust me. 

    I'll second that.... and third it.

     

    FWIW

    I still have a small package of GP300s.  I don't rent them out much at all. 

    For starters, at least in the commercial world, the walkies often are "on the clock" well before sound is - so being available and ready to transfer is an issue.  THEN, they might well go "off the clock" long past sound's involvement with the project - thus another more complicated transfer.  If I am working the next day, as is often the case - even more of a hassle.

     

    And, as mentioned above, every time you see some A-hole swinging one (of yours) around by the mic cable, or watching them fall to the cement with such ferocity that the battery falls off - well it's a lot less fun than one wants to deal with.

     

    Best left to a rental house situation that can inspect each unit and piece with detail before and after, and that often has the clout to collect on the large amount of L and D that generally occurs. 

     

    MF

  8. I did have a chance to work with Hal Needham back in the mid-80s.  It was a commercial shoot on the UCLA campus. 

    As our producer was fond of playing with the latest-greatest, we had one of Hal's ShotMakers at our disposal, and he came out to supervise. 

     

    It was borne out of his thinking out of the box - The truck was awesome, an his enthusiasm for making the shot work matched the awesome-inity.  

     

    Here is a short clip of his groundbreaking invention.  If I am not mistaken, the only, barely-slightly-similar mobile arm around back then was the Chapman Titan, and there was no opportunity to do anything but fly a camera with it - and certainly not at the speeds allowed by the Shotmaker, if it was even driveable at all. 

     

    http://youtu.be/FDkR9j-QKJI

     

    Does anyone know if these are still being used / popular out on the west coast?

     

    MF

  9. Thanks for this info - I'd have missed it otherwise -

     

    I do like my StudioLive 16ch, but it only comes out for certain jobs that are more like temporary installations.

    It's a bit large and weighty, and a little tall to the rear, so I haven't thought of integrating it to any sort of cart.

     

    It also pulls 200 watts, compared to 90 for the Yamaha...  I've never tried it on any inverter source.

     

    However, I do think the preamps are definitely markedly superior to my Yamaha 0196v2

     

    Just a couple of cents....

     

    MF

  10. To me, it's very very interesting that China is investing so heavily in keeping the masses entertained.

    I recently heard a story on NPR stating that they are putting up cinema screens / theaters at an insane rate,

    like 100 per DAY, all over that very large country.

     

    As the Chinese people become more and more aware of the gross inequities that have evolved in what is supposedly a "classless society", what better way to placate them and keep their eyes off the ball......

     

    It's been going on HERE for decades ...

     

    MF

  11. Plain and simple -

     

    Hire a sound guy, perhaps from this forum, and let him focus on your show and how it sounds. 

    Why squander the rest of everyone's efforts and financing on anything less .......

    An unbelievable number of colossal and expensive failures, sometimes fatal to companies and individual careers,

    BEGIN with the very supposition that attention to sound is an unnecessary expense, and that "anyone" can do it.... 

     

    Good sounds make even bad pictures look better....

    Bad sound will kill everything.  I mean everything.

    Good sound will not fix bad scripts, however!)

     

    As you did state you were a bit new to this thing, let me assure you that anyone can make pictures nowadays.

    ANYONE, with even just available light, can make passable pictures with today's technology.  

    I see it every week.....

     

    The same is not at all true for sound..... and that includes the very important responsibilities of sync and asset management.

     

    And don't wait until it's too late to budget and book properly for the sound of your long-term project, after you've been blindly convinced by camera department to be given carte blanche for crazy, often idle excess. 

     

    This is not antagonism - Just some real advice....

     

    MF

  12. They were commonly referred to as "awful-tones."

    An old colleague of mine used to hate them, and due to the acute suckyness, called them "blow-o-tones" - he eventually left the south for Boston and over time became, and is still today, the lead sales and marketer for Genelec !  That's dedication for you...

     

    Philip and AVU - I forgot all about the Yamaha NS-10s !  Yes they most certainly overtook Auratones, and of course, the mandatory tissue paper "filter" that became the norm for many mixers ...  a major trend -

     

    Who started that tissue paper thing? Lillywhite? Clearmountain? EVERYone was doing it....

     

    MF

  13. These were the standard in every television facility / control room I had worked in right up until the early-90s ... 

    For "lack better terms":, they were the "lowest common denominator" of speaker that one's mix might be listened from, either from  a car radio, a "hi-fi" (always loved that term!) or your state of the art 19" mono television. We were always instructed to mix, using them in sort of an A/B comparison... Primaries were usually JBL 4311s, I think.

    While everyone else was trying to be the high-resolution leader in control room monitoring, Auratone cubes stayed right where they were, filled the L-C-D "niche", and they sold thousands and thousands of them.  

     

    As the quality of television speakers began to improve - Sony and Mitsubishi sets actually marketed with "best sound" in the forefront - I started to use them less and less, and instead would check my mixes off the nice cue speaker on the good old Ward Beck consoles, as these speakers were not only good, but I could easily get a mono mix by monitoring the tape recorders record heads...

     

    Good find Al, - But if I were your Auratone buddy,  I'd take $600 in a heartbeat and can the nostalgia !

     

    MF

  14. Hey guys, its good to see some guys using SQN's, i have a 4s II, a bit old but does the job, i want to be able to record all the channels but as there are no direct outs on all channels

    At the time the series 2 was released, it was a boon to have TWO channels ! I believe it superceded the wonderful and innovative SQN 3, which was a wonderful front end for the equally venerable NAGRA 4.2 - state of the art for those times.

    The mere possibility of direct outs and multitrack field recording, back then, just might have been a distant dream for those veterans -

    Just that the cost alone would have been astronomical, with technology of the day, and that reality would have been plenty enough to snuff out that fantasy.

    I recommend that you KEEP that mixer, as it is a great tool that you will still get to use from time to time, but do consider the direct-outs-capable SQN-4s Series 4 (older) , either of the SQN-5s, or the latest (not v1) of the SQN-2s all which will get you to your desired goal.

    MF

  15. For starters, I applaud your choice --- I am a big fan of SQN, and own several. 

    The preamps are outstanding.... both you and your clients will love them.

     

    Make sure that all faders are down.

    Make sure that your master fader is set to unity in the "detent" position and not cranked to the max. 

    You will "feel" this spot.....

    I trust that you are feeding your test mics into both left and right channels, and that you are monitoring in the Stereo position in the "Mxr" mode, and not on the Aux or Return position through your machine / recorder, which could easily introduce noise to the ears as some headphone amps are rather deficient.

     

    Let us know how you solve this one....

     

    As it is "used", and If you absolutely feel you need service, I HIGHLY recommend David White of DWSound Services.  (661) 297-2334 and / or on the web.

    He recently tuned up my tiny SQN-2S perfectly, replaced a few switches that had been through a grueling ten year intercontinental workout, and did it very affordably, without the dreaded long and costly shipment to the Isle of Man.    Evan at Vark Audio in the DC / Virginia area is also very very competent with all things SQN.   No doubt I'm sure I am leaving out a couple of others, but I'm roasted from a long and late shoot day!

     

    MF

     

    SQN Series 3, 4 (x2), 5E, and 2S v1 .......  

  16. .... "Killing Them Softly," a terrible movie but his take on a troubled hitman is great to watch......

    I agree... A film not to be missed by any fans of his.... I had to wonder how much of that performance was improvised / unscripted.

    Very strong and believable.

    I always liked to watch his interviews .... Of course they were way out of character and revealing of what his true nature was...

    But man o man, could he play a bad bad guy.... (I.e. "8MM" ! )

    MF

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