Reinout Weebers

I see you're referring to non-rechargable Lithium's, right? I use lots of rechargeable batteries, mainly Eneloop pro's. But until now I haven't tried (rechargeable) Lithium AA's or AAA's. Does anyone have experience with rechargeable Li-io or Li-Po's? I do use the 9V iPower Li-Po's and the're great imo. Brands like iPower: http://www.ipowerus.com/products/aa-1-5v-2600-mwh-lipolymer-rechargeable-battery/ or KentLi AA on ebay... regards, Reinout.

One thing I don't like about the tentacle is it's build-in battery. I always like to be able to switch batteries... AA's or AAA's are available around the globe, so if the Sh%$T hits the fan, just buy a pack around the corner.. I still use my Tri-Level red Ambient lockit. But I rarely used the tri level part... For me the next buy will be the Betso's.

I use a custom LiFe battery 33Ah @ 12Volts. Fully charged I can power my Cantar X3 + Cantarem, Rack6, Sharkfins and cart light's for a day... easy. I had it made by deherrieboerderij in Amsterdam. I can imagine If you're a handy man you can build it yourself. One LiFe battery (choose a capacity that fits your needs) a peli case a charger, some connectors and fuses.. Done! Or you can ask your local tech guys ;-)

Beside's the loads of tape I use to hide them, I love the original (clear) concealers from DPA. I heard HideAmic, which I like to use for the Sanken COS will become available for the DPA's as well. I love them especially in ties.

Hi Guys, I'm looking for an EN2 DX2 receiver from Audio LTD in the freq. range of 614MHz to 654MHz. If anyone has a receiver they want to sell, let me know. I understood that Audio doesn't make them anymore but I use the EN2 series for IFB and need a small upgrade for a future project. Any help is appreciated. I'm sorry if this question should be in another section of the forum. kind regards, Reinout

Like many I use the on board meta data in my Catar x3 or SD 633. The tracknames I use are for instance CMIT, Tx Harry, Tx Mary, MixL, MixR..... Telling what mike you used makes it easier to match dubbing mics. If there are any problems you can easily check which mic you used. In the Cantar I have permanent notes where I put in the scene synopsis. The take notes I use to note particularities like what part of a take wasn't good and why. Also in case of wild/setnoise/atmo what it's about. T, G, N, W Aren't available in every machine but even on paper it gives a quick overview. Lately in a project we encountered a problem with the dailies forms. The editor therefore used my reports. So keep your notes tight, they will come in handy.

+1 for the subject, I was always intrigued by set politics, and how to position myself physically... and mentally on set. Fun fact is that in the Netherlands most heads of the sound department do not sit behind the cart and mix. Simply because there is no money for good boom-op's. So besides the hand full of decent boom op's, most of us will be head of department and boom-op at the same time. So I like to place my cart and assistant as close as possible. Good communication with each other is key in this case. The mix is not as perfect as a seasoned sound mixer will deliver, but good enough for me and the director to monitor. I prioritize the ISO's and push as hard as I can for a perfect mix with every assistant. As you said Jan, great list btw, I also don't like all my communication to be heard while rehearsing or setup. Therefore I used a gooseneck mic on the cart for a long time, so whispering would be enough. No anxious looks our way... Wire talent in a quiet spot +1. I prefer to wire at wardrobe or a greenroom. Although many "say" they don't mind a noisy public spot, in the end they appreciate the effort and focus. I can't agree more on this point. Further away, and thus less visual distractions? I get that, but if something moves without being absolutely necessary it should be killed..... the movement I mean. No for real. Because I'm on set I can't see everything happening around video village. Therefore I'm really strict towards unnecessary movement/sounds. I know we all are, but it can't be said enough, now and on set. In some cases I like to exaggerate a bit in the beginning of a production, so everyone knows I mean business. When PA's see me going OFF set they know something's up and pay attention This physical communication helps allot indeed. During a take I like to have eyecontact with a 1st AD or Director. I'll never make myself invisible (although I would like to have the ability) Frequently I nod my head if something doesn't ruin a take or shake my head when something does. This can results in a running pickup or cut. As you might understand in my case visibility helps. For cart position, I like it to work for as many shot's as possible, including weather protection, ac power, home.... Radio reception is always difficult. Until now I seem to manage, but many of my colleagues use a battery fed rack on a snake to get the receivers closer to the set for those extra dB's. I presume this was meant in the case of a long snake earlier in the thread. Nice subject and interesting opinions! Thanks

Hi Guys, In fact the bag is finished for me. I tried to upload the pictures in order of progress, but unfortunately it got mixed up a bit. I like the the raw leather and colour and hope it will age fast. Also my Cantar overheated a while ago because of direct sunlight. So therefore a lighter colour as well. The carbon plate mentioned didn't convince me. When you screw a plate on the Cantar body it covers the mic inputs. When you don't need to plug in/out that often... when shooting a documentary or something it's fine, but in my case I want them to be accessible. Also the machine itself isn't covered and when put on the floor will be unprotected. I don't like that one bit. As you can see in the pic's, my front bag can move up and down a bit. This is because of the hight of the RX's. This leads of course to a bit more wear. The alu frame could be made from carbon.. But this needs some serious designing. My welder copied this one from my cardboard design ;-) And alu is light, strong and cheap. For the shoulder strap: I took an old sony cam-strap and cut off the Cam-C clips, them put them on my Camrade harness. Works really nice. My intention is not to take this in production. I hope sharing this will lead to new ideas and maybe someone will start to produce a bag in the near future. I couldn't wait any longer for a bag to buy... and IMHO still think it wasn't smart to release a machine like this without a bag.... Cheers!

Don't use to much force!!!!! To be serious I don't have any problem with accidental knob or fader movement.

Because no bag is on the market for the Cantar X3 yet.... I designed my own. With a "little" help from professionals as 'De Herrieboerderij' aka Kees Schouten in Amsterdam witch helped me with the aluminium frame, and a my new friend Andrea Monti from The Guild of Holland, he made the leather parts. Because the AudioLTD rack3 with Rx2040's, like almost all receivers, is to high I made a little frame to hang a front bag from. This front bag, when sitting on the ground, blocks some faders/knobs/buttons. But when I carry the bag it drops 4 cm, and everything is accessible again. The two leather straps can be released quickly and all mic and line in's become accessible. Here are some pics to enjoy. BTW I ordered some extra plastic bridges and 3/8 thumb screws (all small batch made). These are now with the guys from Noyzboyz Amsterdam.

This is actually my Cantar (#0005) in an X2 bag from Kortwich. Noyzboyz ordered this special make witch is an extra 1cm in width. As you can see (almost clearly) in the picture the track solo buttons are kind of blocked by the bag, also rotaries 6,7 and 8 are not free from the bag. Also because of the new Cam-C clips to attach you harness, the holes in the back of the bag aren't in the exact right spot. My main concern was how to bring my receivers in this bag configuration. Because of the long faders my Rack3 with 2040 receivers would block the solo's, a part of the faders and some rotaries. Therefore I decided to make my own bag, when finished I will put up some pictures.

I agree. We all know how hard the job is. Video's like this don't show the camera framing, decoupage and on set discussions. Equipment wise I only worry about the guys back. Any boom, if not handled wisely, can do some serious damage. I like his balanced footwork. Fencer, boxer, boom op or dancer? Keep it up! Hearing is easy, listening is a craft.

I use my Piano 2S with a CMIT and CCM41, MS pair. I only have the short fur wind jammer, but most of the time the neoprene cover is enough. And the clarity of the system is fantastic. It really does right to the mic's. With my old rycote system I was used to getting wind in the figure 8 mic faster then the CMIT. I figure because of the proximiy of the 8 capsule to the basket. With the Piano the figure 8, until now, never caught wind..... knock on wood... Hard wind sometimes is just audible, but only by swooshing past the system/boom, not by hitting the membrane. This swooshing past the system, does anyone notice a difference between the short and the long fur jammers?

I was under the impression that the SuperCMIT was a mod 2 mic, so that cleared up some things for me. Schoeps website: The SuperCMIT 2 U is a digital microphone. Its output signal format is AES42, Mode 1. This means that it runs on its own clock (48 kHz) and must be driven by an AES42 input with a sample rate converter (SRC). I once read an article from John Willett (are you on here?) that explained the digital mic. Read it again. Was helpfull ;-) http://www.taperssection.com/reference/pdf/AES%20-%20Digital%20Microphones%20-%20AES42%20and%20all%20that.pdf Reinout

So in mod 2 the mic is able to (word clock) slave to the recorder/amp. And because I'm using the DA42 (mod 1 amp) for now, the mic is in free run and has to be re sampled by the SRC on the DA42 or my 788T. Sounds logically, thanks! Hearing is easy, listening is a craft.

I think all AES42 digital mics have mod 1 and 2. Only certain equipment supports mod 2. It's software driven as I understand so hardware buttons might be harder to put on a mini DA42 then we can imagine. But it would be a great feature indeed! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Constantin, you're absolutely right. Good point to bring up the +30dB digital zoom function ;-) and its downside. Indeed we need an SRC as well, thanks. If I'm correct this conversion is needed when you use the SuperCMIT with an un-locked AES42 source right? As far as I know the ADC is in the mic. So the digital signal is ready to be received by a recorder or schoeps amp, but if not (word clock) sync this connection has to be re sampled? Or is an SRC always needed? I never played in mod 2 with a digital mic myself. But I understand that many parameters are remotely adjustable. One of them should be the Mic gain in the SuperCMIT itself. Regards Reinout Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My point exactly. This is why I can't wait to get my X3 with AES42 mod 2. Where we should be able to adjust the parameters of the mic remotely. I understand how a digital mic works, but what is an SRC? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Guys, I just finished an Amsterdam police series. We shot 75% in Amsterdam city centre, so this was the perfect time to use the SuperCMIT. We shot guerrilla style, with a small bag setup. A bit different then in the states in the Netherlands we as Head of the sound department boom our selves most of the time. So my new findings are: I used only setting 1, which is directive enough. Without artifacts. On axis means good sound. Booming at 90 degrees from above kills 80% of all side noise. I rather stay at +/- 90 degrees above the target, and pickup downward dialogue on the lav, than tilting to much and pull in background noise. Of course every situation needs its own approach. Because I boomed myself I recognize the delay, or headphone leakage, you hear while booming within close range. Perhaps with the X3 in AES42 mode 2, this will diminish. I only use the Super CMIT for dialogue. Because in mod 1 we cannot adjust the input gain of the mic it has to much headroom for atmo, setnoise etc. This means, in my ears, I have to pull up the signal on fader, and doing so pulling up the noise floor. Again, I hope in mod 2 this will be history. Last week I visited my re-recording mixer / sound designer. For the scenes we shot in the city centre he was most pleased with the Super CMIT. Of course together with the lav's. The CMIT channel was simply to wide for his taste, imaginable. The sound: The audible delay because of headphone leakage is sometimes annoying. The mic itself has a bit less bottom end than the CMIT... To my ears. Sometimes it sounds harsh on my Sony MDR 7506 headphones. I mean focussed on dialogue. But listening at home in my studio on KRK vxt6 monitors I was very pleased. Sometimes it was almost artificial looking at the shot and it's surroundings. You win allot, you loose a little in this case. Because it's directivity I had to get used to the low background noise in the mix I monitor. The mic gained my trust gradually and I use it very often now. Great tool already. Cannot wait to use it together with the X3 mod 2. Cheers Reinout Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Guerilla style dolly's made with diy pipes and skate wheels are popping up here in the Netherlands.. I've tried baby powder and W40... but the materials are just to cheap. Maybe a blowtorch will help. Will try the teflon gel or spray, because I thing the barrings make the most noise. thanks

Allot of good tip's here, backing the lot! People always want to join the steadicam crew for some reason, and many times I have to talk them out of if because it makes my tracks less useful. That's step one for me. I always try to get a wild take without dialogue. Walking in pace with actors with a long boom eliminates my own footsteps. "Let the actors walk, or run, around you in in a big circle so you don't have to walk yourself. " Different tempi and or ways of walking will also help in post.

My name is not Boom! hahaha!

Maybe Just use an MS setup and record it decoded? If you use XY, ORTF or AB you give post 2 (in)coincidental tracks as well, so why bother giving them a raw M and S track? You could give them a Left and Right.... No decoding, and you can deside how wide you'd like to let it sound. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree, a good tool is half the job...... but only half. It's nice to get some feedback here. In the Netherlands only a few guy's have this mic, so not allot to test and compare.

Ow nice stuff, thanks. I can relate with some opinions. Vin, the 788 has different inputs for AES3 and AES42 as you can see below. I/O – Digital in the 788T Balanced AES in 1-8 on DE15 connector 110 ohm, 2 V p-p, AES and S/PDIF compatible with RCA adaptor, AES42 mode 1 compatible and provides 10 V to AES42 microphones AES3 Balanced AES out 1-4 on TA3 connector; Balanced AES out 5-6 on DE15 connector 110 ohm, 2 Vp-p, AES and S/PDIF compatible with RCA adaptor Are there any post people here who wish to share their experience? would apreciate