gabi

Hello guys,

I've been getting very harsh interference from walkie talkie radios on my Lectro SRC. Radios are Motorola DTR650 on frequency band 900 MHz. My SRC is block C1.
My bag consisted of:
Sound devices Mixpre10t 
Lectro 411 block 28
Lectro SRa block 29
Lectro SRc block C1
2 Lectro LT tx block 24 (camera sends).
2 way radio was my own, less than 1 meter distance from bag.

Is this a known issue? Is there a way to fix this?

Thank you 

Gabi Cunha

Hello guys,

I've been getting very harsh interference from walkie talkie radios on my Lectro SRC. Radios are Motorola DTR650 on frequency band 900 MHz. My SRC is block C1.
My bag consisted of:
Sound devices Mixpre10t 
Lectro 411 block 28
Lectro SRa block 29
Lectro SRc block C1
2 Lectro LT tx block 24 (camera sends).
2 way radio was my own, less than 1 meter distance from bag.

Is this a known issue? Is there a way to fix this?

Thank you 

Gabi Cunha

15 seconds and I hit stop.

Gabi.

Thanks, Jeff.

yes, it is a helpful tool, but it is not "on the site", it is in your browser.

My browser spell check tool is set to portuguese (my native language). The old discussion group used to have its own spell check tool which I used all the time. I don't like the idea of changing the parameters of my browser everytime I want to post on this group. I just miss the feature...

I thought I had posted on "post to the host"...

Gabi

Hi Jeff,

I can't find the spell check tool on this new site. It is a big help for us who don't speak very good english...

thanks,

Gabi

Like to introduce our new cart...

Have 8 of these available from next week.

Three wheel options.

More at http://www.rastorder.com.au/product_mb.htm

Rob Stalder

Awsome! Too bad I live in Brazil and shipping is so expensive...

Gabi

Great videos about the NABShow from Trew Audio folks on their website:

http://www.trewaudio.com/audioflow/category/nab2011/

Gabi

" where is the 'Deva Users Group'?  "

some folks think it is here...

Now that's very helpful...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/devaII/

Gabi

That's great, Jan. I've tried to get in touch with him via Facebook but I don't think he's very FB active, so I'm not sure he saw the message. I hope he can get the time to chime in and share this great and tough experience...

thanks,

Gabi

Does anybody know how to get in touch with Ken Ishii?

I've just watched Black Swan and I've never seen so many mirrors in my intire life. I know for a fact that they spent months erasing the camera reflections on the mirrors and I was curious about microphone placement on the film. Outfits are as tight and minimal as can be, heavy dancing scenes all the time and mirrors all over the place... boy, that really seems difficult to record. It sounds incredible though.

Thanks,

Gabi Cunha

This is a nice article:

http://www.imakenews.com/eletra/mod_print_view.cfm?this_id=1922956&u=gothamsound&show_issue_date=F&issue_id=000476770&lid=b11&uid=0

Gabi

I honestly don't know whether I should be happy or angry about the Canon craze. Unless we start shooting films on phones (don't laugh, you know anything is possible), I can't think of a worse camera to make a movie on.

Wait no more...

iPhone movie makes debut in South Korea

Thanks, everybody!

That is so nice...

Well done.

Gabi

For those who use case style sound carts the answer is pretty obvious, just close the the case and load it into the truck. But for those who build their carts around Magliner or PSC style carts (or Chinhda’s, RastOrder and so on) and have very complex setups I don't expect you to uncable and pack everything everyday after wrap (or whenever you have to move to another location). How do you protect your cart and the gear on it when you have to load it into a truck?

I just used a picture of Mr Stasinis cart to illustrate the subject. I hope he doesn't mind.

Gabi

I second that. It wouldn't harm any happy user to have an additional "offset" input trim page on the Fusion menu.

Gabi

Yeap, touch screen has been freezing on me too.

Sometimes I press a letter with the stylus and it gives me another letter when I'm typing scene and take. Or it simply won't respond. Not particularly hot or cold (it's never cold at my hemisphere... Brazil)

Gabi

I think you are already there...

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4065269/#SoundDepartment

Sign up and look for projects you were on. Then you can update your profile. Takes a few days before the imdb site updates it because they check every information you give them.

Good luck,

Gabi

A little clarity, please for me (and this has nothing to do with trim pots), "gabi" and "gabriel" are two different people, right? I did not realize this. I thought that Gabi just changed her name as used here. You are both located in Brazil, yes? Sorry if I have offended anyone assuming that Gabi and Gabriel(a?) were the same person.

-  Jeff Wexler

Jeff,

We are two different people. Gabriel Gomes (aka Bié) is a sound mixer based in São Paulo, Brazil. He has more than 30 years of experience as a sound person. He also runs a rental house of his own and he is very respected in our community.

My name is Gabriela Cunha (aka Gabi) and I've been a regular on this forum for a while. I must confess I never took the time to write on "who am I today" and introduce myself. I am 36 years old and have been a  sound person for the past 15 years (5 as boom operator, 10 as sound mixer).

We both live in São Paulo, Brazil and we are the only two sound people in the country that own Zaxcom products. Brazil is pretty much a "Sound Devices market" because there are no Zaxcom dealers around here.

I can't see how you would have offended anyone just by expressing your opinion on a subject.

Gabi

Hi Gabi,

But isn't it all about the noise level?  The point of good mic preamps is to get the highest dynamic range with the lowest noise floor.  I for one ride my trims all the time to adjust for variations in the different mics  and performances (though often the trims are in the wireless transmitter, but that's another story).  You should be able to set the trims by ear with much better accuracy than by a random point on a pot scale.  That is why the Nagra recorders had a headphone volume control that had to be adjusted with a screw driver.  The point was to set a comfortable level so the only variable was adjustment of the mic gain. 

btw, I re-checked the Deva meter screen you posted and the gain difference between channels 4 and 5 was closer to 5 db, not 10 (-12 to -17).  The Deva/Fusion mic pres and recording system have such wide dynamic range that minor differences are inconsequential.  I don't think there is anything wrong with your Fusion.  I'd be wary about trying to adjust the photo cell circuitry.  If it was something that was feasible to do I'm sure Zaxcom would have already done it.

Billy

Hi Billy,

Let's remember it is a logarithmic scale, so 6 dB is not really inconsequential. But let's assume it is. As I would normally work, I would compensate such a difference (let's assume I didn't line up to the tones on my Lectros and that I am adjusting by ear) by riding my faders or changing the gain of my transmitters. A 15 dB difference as Gabriel has found on his Fusion could make me open too much of my tx gain and cause my recording to be severely affected by the tx limiter, for example. Or on the other hand, could make me not open the gain enough and mess up with my gain structure resulting in a poor noisy recording.  If I can trust my inputs to be "dead on zero" or very close to that I can be sure that the place to make an adjustment is the TX, not the input trim. I shouldn't be riding my trims when recording from wireless receivers all set to line level...

I also ride my trims all the time to compensate for variations on different microphones, voices, performances and situations, but such a difference on the input gain just made me very confused.

I do not intend to touch my Fusion circuits in any fashion. Don't worry.

Thanks,

Gabi

Gabriel,

I think Matthias has a point here. There could be an "offset trim page" just to correct the input gain differences on each recorder. Once all the inputs are set to the same value, then we can use the trims to establish the relationship between our other devices and the recorder not to correct some hardware problem.

I hope Zaxcom is still reading this discussion.

Thanks, Matthias.

Am I missing something?  Why don't you just plug in a tone generator and set each trim to 0 (or -10 or -20 or whatever)?  Once they are set forget about them.  They will all be equal.

Billy Sarokin

Well, I suppose I could do that if I had to record sound always from the same source. But I like to be able to go from cart to bag and back to cart in a couple of minutes. That means using the mic preamps at times and then going back to line level. If I intend to use 5 similar condenser microphones in a scene (same model, same gain, right?) all I need to do is set the trim for one of them and set all other 4 inputs for the same value, right? With the Fusion I have to repeat the procedure 5 times.

Now I need to use 6 Lectros. I can feed tone from one of them, line up to one input and repeat the value for the other 5 inputs, right? With the Fusion I have to generate tone from every single receiver and set the trim for each input individually.

Now I want to go back to the cart and line up to the mix buss of my mixer ( + 4 dBu) and 6 direct outs (-10dBV). I have to go over this procedure 8 times (for each input).

With my previous recorder (744T) I just memorized the input gain settings for  +4 dBu/-10 dBv/condenser microphone at normal speech level and was able to go to the input gain page and set all inputs to my taste in seconds. (Although I hate the scrolling thing).

I am not as worried about noise level as I am about consistency and control over my recordings. And I want to be able to be flexible and fast as well.

Thanks for you reply, Mr. Sarokin.

Gabi Cunha

The inputs of the Deva and the Fusion are designed with photocell gain control. These circuits vary greatly. The reason we use them is that nothing we have tested sounds better. The input channels vary  /- 3 dB and this is normal. This is the reason we have a trim menu page. It is used to calibrate the inputs to a constant level. If the input trims are calibrated and the channels are selected pre fader everything will line up perfectly.

If a channel is off more than  /- 3 dB the unit can be sent to us for calibration to get it to be closer but as long as all channels can be calibrated to a 0dB level there in nothing to worry about.

Glenn

Hi Glenn,

I certainly did use the trim page to calibrate the inputs. I just thought 10 dBs of difference to be too much for a machine of this price range and reputation. I was expecting some precision and quality control (not that I question the quality of the preamps, but precision  and symmetry are qualities to be expected of professional gear). I love the recorder by the way, especially the touch screen, low power consuption and routing possibilities.

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Gabi

I just got my Fusion and I hope I am doing something wrong here. Unfortunately, I have a colleague that has experienced the same problem with his Fusion.

I've tried to align my Fusion to my Lectro receivers and to my suprise each input behaves in a different way. Pics attached. Lectro receivers set to  4dBu, all Fusion input trims set to 0 and each input read a different level. I used my Sound Devices 442 to double check and got the same unusual behavior, almost 10 dBs of difference from channel 4 to 5. Line up tones from all Lectros to my AD 147 read just fine, all trim pots in the same position give me the same level. I did not contact the manufacturer yet but I intend to (before the Senator asks).

Serial number # 20163

Anyone else?

Gabi Cunha