Izen Ears

I'm curious to hear from anyone with experience with this. Last time I worked (1.6 years ago) there were no AI plugins. Let's imagine a ratio between the best of what was painstakingly done by humans before the strikes, and these same humans now, with AI help. Obvs the AI will save human hours, but can it also do things better than a human, in minutes? Can AI help to make crap sound become good sound? If anyone has experience, I'm curious if the AI is more or less effective with different noises. Things like: Genny rumble Riverboat engines Air handling Machine noise People noise (talking off-mic, laughter bursts, etc.) Distant or passing music Traffic drone Street traffic (or one vehicle passing) Clothing noise Weird room resonance or reflections Footfalls Dish and chair noise Plastic bag noise Floorboards creaking Thanks for listening. Dan Izen

What about the sound quality? Years ago I tested many cheap headphones and they all sounded like absolute crap. The $35 Comtek LS-3 mono headsets sound fantastic. Are these cheap ones coming close to the sound quality of the LS-3s? I found it pretty hard to talk about background noises when people were listening to cans that sucked.

I tried Remove on more than one of these old lavs and it did not work. Remove works well to remove everything else, but you have to wipe off the residue. It did not change anything on those old degraded ones.

I assumes it was some nefarious plastic degradation or breakdown. It seems to happen to many (or all) the 10+ years old COSs.

Do both batteries drain equally or does one drain before the other? There must be some magic in the BDS that limits the output voltage, otherwise you'd have 32 volts coming outta there, right? I use two batteries but I never even thought of getting a dual cup. I just use two BDS boxes. That behavior almost sounds like old batteries that can't hold a charge anymore, but if they lasted all morning that doesn't make any sense. Dan Izen

Super impressive!

Holy shit! Ouch, that sucks. I think it will still work for me since I barely ever use it, and mostly keep it in its bag inside of pelican case. But that absolutely is a design flaw. They should do a recall-and-replace.

Mag mounts for all wires puts the antennas outside the car. You can just stick em to the roof. With those and a pair of good antennas you should be able to keep a decent connection. It's a little weird for the actors since they can't step out of the car without unplugging their mic, but those things work incredibly well. All that said if it were me with that little time, I would just drop the bag in and let the mix do whatever it wants. If they really want a mix, that's a whole discussion about giving us enough time to rig everything.

I think that all the time while using the Deva 5.8 from 2008. It's nothing short of a marvel of human accomplishment.

Yikes! I hope the new one I just got doesn't start doing that. I'd see if I could send it back to them, that's an obvious design / materials flaw.

I've been able to grab the whole pad with the clip and use that to take it on and off. I found it pretty easy to slip on and off, once I got the hang of the grip. I was thinking about cutting those pads off, but upon closer inspection those are what holds the clips on so they must stay. I did install corner loops using some beefy straps after poking holes. I guess this harness is meant to be loosened for putting it on, then tightened when it's on. Yesterday I did not do this, because I forgot. Today I will be loosening them and I predict that will make the clipping easier. I'm kinda smitten with the six-clip system, I feel like I could never go back to four ha ha!

No wonder it was never used haha! I can't think of a use for that. I used the Ktek today and it was great! I was able to adjust to basically all the weight is on my waist, it's great. It is pretty hard to get on and off, but I don't see a way to make it better while enjoying the 6-point system. This thing is pretty great, so far. We'll see if I wake up tomorrow with anything sore.

I'm about to go out today and give this Ktek Stingray a go! Thank you! If this Ktek doesn't work out I'll holler!

Alright so I went with the Ktek standard sized stingray harness. So far it seems great! My old Petrol bag isn't the most ideal bag to use with it, because it doesn't have hooks on the upper corners against the body, but it does have two sets of hooks so I think it will work. I am thinking I should install some hooks on those corners. Maybe just some steel loops or something bolted there. I've got a job starting Thursday where I'll be running and gunning so that'll be the true test. Most of the weight lands where my lower back connects to the waist. I don't really feel it on my shoulders too much. I really appreciate the design of the carabiners, the fact that they have the little nib on the big curved part instead of the straight part. It's actually much easier than the Petrol harness. Also I quite like the six points of attachment. It is a bit of a process to connect, but there is that "shortcut" of leaving one side fully attached. The standard size fits great, but yes most of the straps are pulled out a bunch. I did raise the spine part to the topmost position. I will say that the chopped up kids shin pads really did the trick on that old Versaflex! I wore that and walked around for a couple hours without rest yesterday with that set up, and my shoulders and back feel totally fine. I did not have to do any overhead booming, which is good because then those pads would have pushed into my shoulders. Right now the bag is sitting at 26 pounds, but with all the stuff in it it is more like 35 pounds. I just don't do enough of these small bag jobs to justify purchasing a whole smaller rig. I do have a Nomad but it is installed in the big cart as a back up deck. I suppose I could pull it out; I do have a smaller bag for it. But I would (always, every time and forevermore) much rather use the Deva so I'm gonna "big bag" it as long as my body holds out! That beefy Portabrace would have likely been the next best candidate. I like the look of the Portabrace way more than the too-colorful Orca. (Sadly the timing was bad to get Jim's Petrol.) Thank you everyone for your replies!

Yes that one looks awesome, similar to the Orca. Have you tried that one? The Portabrace AH-3HD looks pretty dang awesome. And it's significantly lower in cost. I must say I'm super intrigued by the KTek invention, but that Portabrace does look like a great alternative to the Petrol.