James Louis

I'm going to treat the earwig with tape to make sure it sits further out from his ear. Any recommendations for material? I walked the whole set and surroundings, earwigs in both ears. Touched everything, walked the set, put my hands under water. Flushed the toilets and triggered the pump, touched the earwig to every transmitter and receiver, refreqed the comteks, did a intermodulation test from every walkie, touched all the props, walked 200 yards out of range-I couldn't upset the dragon. We go into rehearsal-mind you the camera is not rolling-and sure enough our actor gets blasted with white noise. I boomed in a crawl space 2 feet from front of camera and our actor. I kept the other unit in my ear the whole time (there was never a pretense of crew cooties) and not one drop out. He hands his to me to say, "see this one's acting up" and yup, I got to hear it. It's intolerable. Not just the static of an open mic. To the contrary, I repeat, it's noise you can no longer speak over in a mic or line sent to the unit. I hand him the other unit. His acts up. Mine-the one he just passed to me to swap out- makes it through all the remaining takes. His ear canals are uniquely deep, a lot of baritone in his voice. I'm also going to put his earwigs on a surface and trigger a similar tonal register-sit it on stuff that vibrates. My voice on the other hand is kind of owen wilson boyish. Just so you know I saw you: I will account for the conditions we are "airing" the batteries. It is admittedly a dusty work space. And there's literally exceptionally fine particulates that are being used for effect-nothing smaller than what is to code. But certainly feel the soot everywhere-on my keyboard as I write this even. Wait a sec, maybe they are full of sh-t. And our mixer reviewed your reply Scott-he'll put it back in the oven. Also, our crane operator wins the MVP for anchoring the antenna with a free sightline above any wiring and paneling. Owe him one.

Back on board-our AD is skipping the SM-58, our first AC stopped pulling focus with a remote, got everyone on airplane mode (lest this was not self evident to people)-and at least for now, we are at peace. Oh wait, yup. Spit at us again. What a sport our principal is. Oh did I mention, we are on an ARRI Alexa, using a TeraLink local network going through a linksys? In the other room is an Airport Express, but that's just about out of range and does have internet.

Phonak batteries? I suspect no. Probably somebody made a run for any ol watch battery. Let's see if greater minds than I can use these new puzzle pieces, and I'll refresh this post as the evening progresses as well as tomorrow...

Bless you for these immediate replies-We have been ill-equipped to try another antenna, and when they sent us another invisity, they have only sent us another of the same whip. (True Audio, Nashville, which I've always respected.) We are shuttling in a new unit, and having a little more to do with it this time, I'm telling them to do it right: get the manufacturer's antenna, and the TX-300v in order to take any brains out of this decision making. It's not a subtle failure, as it would be if you were driving passed a radio station out of range. Could an antenna really chime in to that extent? I know digital signals can fail completely, but I thought if it were a range problem it should be a partial failure, first, no? It's not like if we take a step back in the direction we came from it goes back in range... Anyho, I like how you think, and I'll let the mixer know that we're already getting replies! Best Board Ever!

Hi my union talent is at his wits end with the invisity, and I don't blame him. When it craps out with solid white noise, only pulling it out, twisting it again, and saying a prayer will give you an arbitrary bit of time before it craps out again. Inevitably during a take. I've tried Phonek's contact, technical support, their US 800 number, which only covers their transmitters, and even their facebook messenger. No response. I've also done the google search for this site as well as the production audio google group. I might add: we're on a stage not unlike a freight container. The top and all 4 sides are panels of leds and props, ribs of steel. Also, you might find it interesting to note that the earwig is measured to work 13 hours off a single battery. We were superstitious at first and swapped out the batteries. I've hovered the antenna within 15 feet of the user, while the transmitter remains anywhere from 20 to 30 feet from the talent, (and 40 feet from the antenna) depending on where in the tube the talent is standing. Also of interest, our mixer just walked the full set, touched everything, has kept it in for the last 35 minutes, walked out to our reception/holding, and workshop area, all of which is well outside the recommended range for the device, and the earwig hasn't acted up once. Our talent is not a particularly sweaty person, to the contrary, he's as buff as an astronaut. Intrigued? Read on: Hi, your FAQ contact is still throwing an error: Greetings! This will be the second time that I have submitted this inquiry. A few things I might add: 1) read the FAQ mentioning that occasional hiss is normal. I don't understand how a PTT system would make this better-we are using a shure mic sm58 with a PTT system going into a BST-25, and we still get a hiss. Pressing the button and talking again has not made the problem go away. 2) this is the second invisity that we have received and we are experiencing the same behavior. 3) we did do a frequency scan for our area and our mixer toasted the invisity this morning with the PC software-the next day clearly confirms that he picked a frequency that is permitted with the transmitter, but this is an area I do not fully understand. I think it was Channel 42. Can you help us choose a reliable frequency, and now that we have two units, would you recommend we use the same frequency on both, or use a separate frequency as a backup? Please do read the full description such that you know what I have tried or understand Technical Support: We are currently on-set with a union feature film. Our primary talent is experiencing full white noise static through an invisity received from a BST-25 Transmitter. When it happens, which is on average very 10 minutes, between rehearsals, etc, the peoples can be temporarily remedied by changing to the other gain setting or even turning it to the 0 position. But even in the 0 position, I have noticed that the static comes in. The sound masks all incoming signal, which we are sending through a dynamic microphone. That is, the signal does not interrupt the hiss. The bst-25 is on Channel 14 16.337 The antenna signal between the '3' and '7' The earwig is set to channel 14 216.3375 I am going from a sticker on the earwigs case. We toasted it to Channel 42 16075 Could you help me troubleshoot the static problem? We are using a Lectro SNA-600 antenna which I would be grateful if you could confirm my extended length for each arm to be 29.7cm. Is that correct? Thank you so much for your support, and I can reply with images and further details if I receive an email from you. All the best, James

Thanks for indulging my follow up questions. Yeah I hear ya, old school, on not seeing an sm-57 as a VO mic, despite being happy to have one in a pinch, of course. (Frankly I'm more accustomed to using them against a guitar cabinet than I am as a vocal mic.) I'm just exploring the ambiguity of the original question, which is VO, but in an uncontrolled environment-a pop up shop if you will. What do eng reporters use to complete their story? Surely this kind of mic back in the truck isn't necessarily chosen due to it's top studio calibre; it might be the same handheld mic done for interviewing, no? In this scenario, I'm thinking the coloration from one mic to the next isn't critical to getting the story approved and out the door. Another scenario for casual VO environment are for talent who are uploading it themselves from their kitchen table-maybe that was the original intent of the question. For that there are any number of USB mics and household interfaces. As for recording fed lines to the on-camera talent, what have you found to be the best way to schedule these VO exchanges? I suspect it's better to bring the off-camera talent in separately rather than to swing a boom that's otherwise matching what the camera sees or than setting a separate mic stand up in a complementary pattern just for the VO talent. What is the expert experience on this? Forgive me, could you tell me what the slate or director's term is for choosing to shoot one talent at a time? And thanks for mentioning the mkh8040 for example-good argument for buy-in to the sennheiser line if the mics complement each other's response. Yeah, that pop-up mic trap didn't grab me either. Getting the talent to sit down to begin with isn't going to encourage the most open performance, I don't think (and then plop their papers on a table). I played trumpet as a soloist for many years and only practiced standing up, but of course I later learned what an orchestra seat entailed. Never was entirely used to it, and my performance/tone wouldn't have matched. And setting up the box on a hotel table just doesn't present itself any more professionally to the talent, I don't think.

If you're going to mitigate this with a mic, I'd go with vin's suggestion the SuperCMIT, or at least this gives you more reason to have one in the first place. Can be placed more effectively than most to downplay standing waves. But clearly, the majority of advice here offers even more attainable solutions for which you will get plenty mileage.

Maybe this should be a separate topic, but do you mean off-camera commentary, man on street, news casting? I'd probably join in with the SM-57. How about the SM-58, would it work as well? Now what would you use for a wild track? Also uncontrolled environment, also off camera. And something that would be worth packing: gets knocked around, not too expensive. I would think it would be more important that it cuts well with your boom, and therefore just use the boom mic itself. But what if the shooting schedule permitted for a separate, make-shift recording area? Would you still put a boom into a little mic booth? (I'm assuming a news truck or actors VO is not concerned with matching the location dialog when editing.) Or would you match the room tone of the set, and therefore not request to schedule the day in this manner? If someone is shouting down the stairs but we don't see them, for example, they still need to belong to that same environment, right? So are there some manufacturers which have completed their line with a cardioid, condenser or dynamic mic that cross-fades well with their boom, but intended for a relatively more deliberate reading into the mic?

Bump. Just hoping Tom Duffy gets a chance to cover the ground I discuss above. Maybe I'll reach out to him separately if this thread ran its course...

Senator, thank you for the notice-it was a more definitive source on the diameter than the ansmann.de site itself. Because this thread lost a bit of wind I thought I'd share this link http://cpc.farnell.com/batteries-rechargeable You'll notice that battery choices can be filtered by diameter, capacity, size, voltage...and you can specify a functioning range to search within. Do appreciate that these measurements may not be as accurate nor precise as the ones volunteered on our forum, and that the site may not carry all manufacturers. So it's not really a database of measurements. But it is the only site that I found with product pages that cover physical size. My conclusion for my SD302 after looking at a number of topics on our site here, is to get the Ansmann Max-e Slim Line 2500 mAh. 5035442 (but in the slim shape, which shaves .15mm off the diameter). I just don't know enough about the length dimension of varying equipment that I will need in the foreseeable future, so I solved things for now. Sound Devices specifies their battery tube at .6 inches with a .005" margin of error, which to me is better to think of expansion and contraction rather than a manufacturing error. I took this dimension and subtracted the range of change, and converted into millimeters. Then from out existing findings I concluded in mm's what I needed for an acceptable wiggle room. It's the swelling of the batteries that is the real concern here. I used this number as my maximum diameter when comparing results. Even if I'm not reaching the highest ratings, I do like the idea of using the Max-e technology, even if it simply means that I can charge things at my convenience, rotating them out on the set, or getting a good night's sleep without ruminating whether I'll wake up to swap anything out in the middle of the night. I'm really echoing the opinion of another fellow on the boards here that came to this conclusion. And maybe they'll be good for the odd occasions when a friend is in a pinch that day, or a crew on the street that I'm familiar with says "hell ya we're stuck can you run back with your gear?" (That never happens to me. It's a fantasy). The Maha Powerex 2700's were comparably slim at 14.4mm, for those simply chasing after maximum capacity and compatibility with the 302 and 442. And they throw in bundled packs along with nifty cases. I just liked my choice more after seeing how you guys measured it against the eneloop and punching in my own numbers. It's really a different topic, but I'm okay with loosing the best capacity ratings currently if instead I can time with confidence when I'm swapping my batteries out. With my make-shift set up, I could conceivably have gotten varying capacity for different items, based on their drain, shaved some money, and still plan to do a full swap-out at particular times of the day. That's in part what takes all this guesswork out of a proper distribution system. But my rag-tag gear doesn't warrant that kind of investment.

Allen, Marc, and Graham, yes over a year after it was written: thank you Your point on loosing that word "assistant" really resonates with me. Although there are different approaches for a film-maker to free up resources, covering dialog properly with a good second and hiring production assistants, although both add value, are not equivalent, nor do they need to be mutually exclusive allocations on a SAG, not-so-low budget. I do think kids with student loans weighing on their backs really burdens them, not only with the pressure of paying it off, but also with the inability to "empty one's cup" (Lao Tzu) of their elite training. It costs me nothing additionally to listen to my colleagues and direction, and better still to really hear what my job is about. So it's a real shame to have worked hard to secure all those gigs, and yet to not embody a sense of curiosity and enjoyment when you finally earned it, being with good people, exercising your craft, doing something that has meaning for you. I believe this to be more objective than skepticism. This is not the context to be pre-occupied with unions, business, or even how you would do things better. The business decisions were already made, and you can always use a retrospective and feedback for the decisions to come. But for this moment, production is an exercise in direct experience. If you need to echo the 1st AD, even this can be done with presence and common kindness. There's lessons to be learned everywhere-assertive and louder does not need to mean angrier. Use your tools, which if you've been shadowing an actor all day, can also mean learning about your voice. Nor does it mean if you are doing it correctly that you are over-claiming your position; you are acknowledging and executing what was asked of you. What Alexander Burstein mentioned is also an interesting case scenario. I'm still thinking about. Decisions like that fall on so many things that other individuals are responsible for, continuity, what's been established, not to mention the accomplishment of our equivalent colleagues in other departments. It's not just the sound that changes when someone asks if they can open a door. If I can't even remember what was written on the last slate, I'd probably not claim to know the implications for the shooting schedule or post. But if someone put me on the spot, I wonder if I too would have been enticed to give a quick answer at the best of my intelligence, rather than respond "let me ask." It's fun to know the answers, right?

Hear ya, boom boom, and I guess going lined to the mixer just means if you've avoided clank inside the pole, you could still be dragging that length of cable about, so the external doesn't really save a person from that issue. You know, Jeff, I bought an internal aluminum pole before I had ever boomed because I anticipated the segments moving more quietly over metal than a micro fibre (Even if I'm correct, I didn't realize that wouldn't mean anything during a take! Maybe for cleaning the thing?). I wonder if a carbon fibre gets less clanks in an internal pole? And for that matter, I'd have to do a more critical discovery as to what I'm really hearing, but when it happens it just sounds so binaural that I have to conclude it's something internal and that in fact it is being recorded (unless a frozen pea dropped on my head, my jaw bone or skull plates have shifted, or the arm on my headphones clicked in place).

Here here, thanks for the follow-up. I don't own the zoom. Their input level is measured in unlabeled units 1-100. An earlier reply suggested bringing the input gain on the zoom to "63." But I'm guessing that is still higher than you'd want to operate the zoom if you wanted to mitigate some of the other issues aforementioned and really get the mileage of adding a mixer in front of it.

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/01/fcc-holding-huge-spectrum-auction-with-everyone-looking-to-secure-more-of-the-airwaves.html I believe the next wave of bidding is the H Block. Wanted to post this yesterday, but I forget which browser of mine knows how to sign into the forum! On a related note, I thought that digital broadcast was going to hail a new era of hyper-niche programming where someone like me could buy into a channel, lease space for a program, or gain public access. But only the big contenders are really invited to these auctions. The senate is rejecting the notion that proposals and bids should be evaluated equitably ("should" being the operative word of nominative economics). Yes the government is here to serve the public, but they also must consider that it's their auction, and auctions are designed to go to the highest bidder. But we also have anti-monopoly laws, so I wonder where the ref will come in and break things up. When it comes to the 600's, I hope Sennheiser has enough political appeal (nod to an existing thread: ). Wait, 600's?! That shaves into the g-band.

It's been mentioned here already, but having the transmitter plug on the far end of the boom, directly into the mic, gives the signal a clear line of reception. But what I also appreciate is that if the pole is going to flex and bounce a bit with any change of footwork and (vertical) levels he's not going to get the clank of the internal coil connector in his boom pole. Plus he is dispensing of signal going through any extraneous cable. Not that it would work in this case, but it also brings to my attention the merits of learning to work on an externally run boom pole. There is simply better and more formal training to be had, me thinks, and less handling noise when done right. That option I think is getting lost in the further requests for going wireless. (I often feel like I'm doing tai chi or trying to cut through my opponent's shield in Frank Herbert's Dune when I'm moving on an internal boom. Of course in any case there's also the whoosh of a mic as a further constraint.) Alex, just copy and google or youtube search the name of the video at this point. Even if the link is old, the footage is still getting views.

Ok, so the input gain won't change once the device is in record. That's good to know! But suppose I'm giving a camera person/interviewer my blessing and I've set the gain for them, or suppose I am riding my levels into the recorder from a separate mixer, as was earlier suggested. What's not to prevent someone from bumping or intentionally fiddling with the potentiometers while not recording? Oh wait, does the lock switch accomplish this, or does it lock out the transport buttons as well? So what's the word: the screen shows increments of 3db, but the dial is responding to changes per .5db? (And I only heard the visible changes to the meter, not the intermediary changes.) Of course, I'm more comfortable with the later, so I'll take the happy news! For me the issue is not so much that I can not professionally adjust the levels mid-recording. I wouldn't reach for those little dials mid-stream if I could help it. I do like your solution, Tom, of finding zero-crossings to apply to volume adjustments. That kind of latency I can appreciate serves a real function. Maybe there could be something tied into the auto start feature that further delays these adjustments until natural pauses in the conversation (averages below the auto start threshold longer than .5 seconds)? Furthermore, maybe a lock feature on the input levels themselves, even if it's done in the menus, such that when they are intentionally turned, perhaps based on the rate of ticks, a pop-up comes up first asking "Unlock"? So for me, the cusp is not even the zippering; my feeling is that the real issue, and the reason folks might have a slightly more respectable answer with the DR-100, is that the dials can be taped off. With the DR-40, there's really no reason to put tape over the buttons. Someone can still hit buttons with tape stuck on them. And these raised knobs on the DR-60D, due to the relative nature of them, the latency, and the bumped shape, can't be taped off. I thought maybe one could put a pip of nail polish on the face of the mixer as a reminder to aim where the dials are calibrated to a mixer, for example. But the problem with that is I don't sense there is anything particularly absolute about where the dial is pointing and the input level that it is proportioning. That's the other big thing-calibrating has a large margin of error, because the gain is moving in steps. I'd love some further support on understanding the scale on the Tascam and why you guys chose a notch at -12. What do you want your customer to know about that value? What am I doing wrong? When I've calibrated to -20 to these tascam line of recorders, I needed forensic methods to chase away the edginess that came with normalizing. And I'd like to think I could have avoided normalizing in post to begin with. What do I like about it over the DR-100, or for its own sake? *Faces up in a mixer bag (although it will be an inevitably funny reach to the input side. A DR-100 with a safety cable can hang out the side of a bag). *Knobs over buttons on the DR-40, irregardless of my critique. *Level bracketing or 4-channel recording. *The price, and the value for that price-the feature set, from pre-amp to recorder (okay, they are not as quiet as the juicedlink), given the array of amateur and potentially pro-sumer applications, depending on the skills of the person operating it. *The attentiveness you have taken here, Tom, and with that translating into updated firmware. *The pre and post slate tone. *And say what you will about the knobs, the buttons are quiet. The pluses continue, but to cut myself off: Job well done, Tom!

Ha, yes sir, Senator! Now I'm quoting myself above: I can see how it would sound as if my intention were to pose a challenge, as to say "Absence of evidence, is evidence of absence." Rather, I was trying to suss out what is being compromised due to the connector alone (and to secondarily consider what's gained lost in choosing a quality cable). In other words, controlling for other factors like the quality of the a/d converters, how much of the s/n going into a camera or consumer recorder is attributed to the 1/8" connection? Oh, so you are saying that the xlr connections on the zoom are not it's weakest link in the signal chain? Now, I'm thinking the 2 1/4" connectors would pose less of a resistance discrepancy on a zoom, am I thinking about this right? Or would even this difference be insignificant to lowering the noise floor? And thanks for the link, Vasileios!

Oh sure, you're referring to the mini-xlr. But can anyone point to a thread addressing the degradation of signal when going out to a "mini-jack"/3.5mm stereo? Particularly when pro-gear like the pre-d could utilize xlr inputs to the recorder. Maybe you could chime in here. Or for that manner, why one would gain a consumer recorder like the zoom when one could be taking advantage of the line-level output from the mix-pre to minimize the S/N on the recorder (I know, a leading question)? I didn't understand some of the earlier advice in this thread.

I enjoyed watching this. Even with the talent pivoting the lobe isn't caught overhead. And I think not having headphones or a bag for that matter would be an advantage in this case. His footwork and spacial awareness is critical, and his technique is already spot on. And as far as memorizing the dialog. It's nice, but then you're also memorizing the parentheticals, or beats that the talents take. I'd take a gander that this sounded really clean. Maybe with an internal coil boom, you'll hear some clanking inside, particularly if it started to bounce in this case. I'm more used to moving around the pole like a Chameleon weighing his steps. With the kind of space I've thus worked, people behind me, walls behind me, I'd never be able to hit all those marks. But he's able to keep his hand in one position. I wonder if a good mixer could anticipate the script, more like a conductor, and be helpful here? Particularly if the boom is getting the dialog right but the pacing of the scene wrong, if that makes sense? Maybe call out "him. stay on him. Her (a beat ahead of time). Door" Otherwise, what substance would there be to interrupt a good boom operator, who is already self-adjusting?

Have a little remaining from your open pack? Put a dot on the corners of your HD25-1II headphones in order to keep the cables to each ear inside the trench (there's always that odd chance having the head braces open will pinch and cut into the cable when you close them.) I also use sugru to water seal my pelican case after installing a clamp to the outside, ceiling PVC pipe for my boom, marking the gain dials on my return, offering a tactile pip for feeling out a connection, contouring a cheap pistol grip... I don't think talent would subject themselves to an hour to set for a custom mold, although that does sound worthwhile for me. There's a chart for mixing matching color tone. If I could envision how this could open up the mounting options for my lavs, I'd be a genius. Thing is, while needing a day to set, I'm not sure why I'd reach for it in my kit to address a wardrobe color choice. Might be great on an elaborate sound stage, in pre-production, where every mic is planted in order to blend the mics in...

Sorry I missed all the fuss! Between my twitter feed and this post-mortem, it really clarifies why folks dumped on that production as much as I heard, as well as the central role that sound reinforcement plays. On that note, Marc, I couldn't help but think of the metropolitan opera house, which not only has a very deep orchestra level, but 5 tiers. That's like a stadium. Still, all the soloists are projecting to every seat in the house! Of course, broadway has its own technique and mannerisms and not all spaces are such acoustical wonders...Still the best talent maintains a wide, open and expressive range without sounding like they are yelling at you (often with an unintended tone of anger as a consequence of a voice that is both energized but constrained). I saw Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving in a Chekov piece at BAM, and she could lob a line at you so effortlessly it was like she was sitting beside you sharing an inside joke.

I know I'm resurrecting this thread, but I thought I'd chime in while I'm researching in-ear monitoring for talent dialog: http://www.tunebug.com/products/shake/ or maybe you could quietly flip these facing out: https://www.flipsaudio.com/ good if you want to continue hearing oncoming traffic, "on your left", etc. Yes, I do find air whizzing under a cheap set of headphones in the winter will cause an earache. J

Well that sounds promising. Thanks Senator for taking the floor! (And so I yield the remainder of my minutes)

Only in as much as I had some credit on there and wanted to put it to good use. The US store at least only carries the Rode and the "Pro" by DVC. Now I see that they carry a Beyerdynamic model. Truth be told, with the talk of K-tek releasing zeppelin for the Nautilus, I've put off this purchase. I have one of their puffins, and I can get into the prosound show room one morning if the weather looks more gusty than I'm prepared. I'm on a friendly, nighttime set for December, which would hopefully afford me the time to become accustomed to the zeppelin.

Bumping my previous question... You think I should just rewire my ECM-88B? Or just keep it wired for sit-down interviews? I'd spend less money just adding other fine mics to my locker. Finding the WRR-862B in the legal frequency range is a tall order, which is why I've held off buying a transmitter for it. I somehow recall this model not working with the WL-800 series in any case (the 77's, yes), and I'm on a goose chase trying to operate this mic most typically in the B channels, for US market, which makes the price of the sony tuners weigh in that much more. Cheers to you