Eric

I used Ken's suggestion (WD40) since I had it around the house. Cables seem to be fine. It may make them slippery for a bit, but so far so good.

Little accessory box from Wish. It's bigger than the ones that I've seen people keep individual their mics and their accessories in. This is for little mini accessories only (mounts, windscreens, clips, etc.). It does not come with lures, etc. Shipping can take a while. I use a countryman hard case for my lavs. https://www.wish.com/product/5aed4a21beb8ef716bcc5b43?from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=CA&_force_currency_code=CAD&pid=googleadwords_int&c=6493229759&ad_cid=5aed4a21beb8ef716bcc5b43&ad_cc=CA&ad_lang=EN&ad_curr=CAD&ad_price=3.00&campaign_id=6493229759&exclude_install=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2eebw7W68gIVKz2tBh0eyQbXEAQYASABEgLdZvD_BwE&hide_login_modal=true&share=web

Sennheiser HD 280Pro or Sennheiser HD25ii.

I've gone with the beyer dynamic DT250 headphone pads. I have even put them in the (front load) washing machine in a delicates bag. This can also be done by hand. They don't last forever, but I believe it's from trying to get them on and off the headphones for washing rather than the washing itself.

Wow, I just came across this with two lavs I haven't used in a while. All sticky and shiny sitting in a drawer over covid. Weird. I see I'm not the only one. Wasn't used in any crazy type of situations. Hadn't been used at all for 6 months. Thanks for the suggestions.

You can always start with a Zoom H4N or similar, but it sounds like you want more than that. I have heard some half decent recordings out of that online. For stereo ambience it seems like 2 x cardiods are the way to go. You can check these sites for general info (I just did a google search and these came up): https://www.wildmountainechoes.com/equipment/microphones-nature-recording-ii-different-microphones-different-situations/ https://www.wildmountainechoes.com/equipment/choosing-microphones-2/ https://acousticnature.com/journal/lowest-self-noise-microphones-field-recording-comparative-list I also checked this place when doing a bit of research: https://www.creativefieldrecording.com/2020/03/25/field-recording-gear-and-travel-daan-hendriks/ As Rick mentioned, this is primarily a dialogue recording forum. There are a lot of resources online from people who record ambience and record SFX libraries. Search those out. I'll also second his wind protection idea. No sense in recording amazing ambience just to have it ruined by wind. I was able to borrow a Rode NT4 from a friend and used it along with a SD633. I found the NT4 a little noisy for quiet ambience. Maybe I cranked the preamps up a little too much. I was experimenting with ambience recording. I felt the setup worked well for city ambience.

This "feature" is helpful when you are shooting a reality show with 15-20+ mics and have to tune a transmitter backstage. Having the ability to change the freq on a tx without stomping on a frequency being used is a good idea. It's sort of like the UM400a days where you could tune the tx with a tweaker before turning it on. This is sort of the same, but different, as you have to turn these packs on to change freqs. Having the ability to turn this off...never thought about that.

Yes, and this version too: https://www.hawkwoods.co.uk/Sound/P/AD-NP1 Oh sorry, that's the short version. I have friend who gutted a full size NP1 and did it himself. He felt the older ones were "better" to take apart and glue back together vs. a L-ion blue IDX type. His opinion.

I have a FilmTech LSP4 that has been sitting unused since integrated mixer/recorders came into being. If that spikes your interest DM me. It is large-ish and doesn't have a recorder. It's a 4 channel mixer with phantom (even T-power!). Quiet preamps x 4. XLR inputs with phantom power. Low risk of sudden death (e.g. from ancient electronics) -- it's not that ancient -- depends on your age I suppose. Great portability. Line-level out. Shipping costs to Paris alone might kill this "just a preamp" idea if not some of your other criteria.

Yes, I do. I've seen them at the shop. Haven't been there is a while though. I think they still have them.

I have worn a mask for a long day and had my ears rubbed raw. For me it seems to depend on the material used for the ear loops. Some people I saw wore these types of things: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0874Q4J3Y I know URSA makes this: https://ursastraps.com/product/ursa-maskies/

Alex, Good to hear. It's a quality book. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Perhaps a good place to start is a good read. Jay Rose's book is an excellent resource. https://www.amazon.ca/Producing-Great-Sound-Film-Video/dp/0415722071 Starts with sound principles, microphones, all the way through to post. If you're on a budget, check your local library. They had it at mine. I'm sure there are many more books that could be helpful to you.

PSC elite poles have an internal cable that can be removed easily. I can only speak to the pole with XLR out the bottom and not the right angle XLR bottom. Unscrew the bottom XLRM, take off the top boom screw, and drop the XLRF through the pole. Non solder internal cable to no cable. This is not Ambient though.

Sound Devices metadata editing. Like Constantin I did use a wired computer keyboard plugged into the 788's USB port for easy labelling.

I don't usually get paid upfront. I invoice and receive payment in 30 days. I did get payment right after one gig when I recorded a stand-up comic at a club. The cameraperson I was shooting with insisted on this. In hindsight it was a cheque and could have bounced. It didn't. Some people suggest upfront/end of day payment when a foreign prod. co. comes to shoot in your country. I have generally gone with trust on this one (with US companies) and have had no issue <knock on wood>. I have only missed out on a day's pay when the prod. co. went bankrupt in a #metoo scandal. I'm glad you finally got paid Erob.

I've had B6 caps get a tear in them and go missing. Either that, or just fall off when attaching snot tape at the end to hide. Frustrating.

The sound supervisor i worked with used this system on a couple of reality/competition type shows. http://www.mambamix.com/ Each producer could listen to a mix of whatever mics they wanted to from an iPad. I believe there was a headphone lack splitter hardwired from his cart. Each iPad controlled one of the 1/4" HP jacks. I don't own it so I can't give you the full run down. Last I used it was last summer. Things may have changed since then. A different show used https://www.unityintercom.com/ where producers could hear talent and control room/director. They could listen on iPhones, which sounds like what you're looking for. Not sure how many lavs you can listen to on one device. This seems to more of an intercom/IFB type of thing, but was used on a competition show I worked on. Good luck. Please let us know what you find.

In past experience I've found that the Sennheiser MKE-2 gold lav is a "tight" sounding mic. It didn't pick up as much ambience when shooting in a noisier area (compared to a boom). As an experiment run two channels when recording your show (or just do a test record), one lav the other your 50 and see (hear) which you like better. I know this answer is really not an "answer" as with many sound/audio questions. Either way, you're doing fine audio wise.

I do like and use Sennheiser HD25II and the Sennheiser HD 280 pro. I find the isolation better than the Sony 7506 or the Beyer Dynamic DT250. Beyer Dynamic DT250 seemed nice and flat to me. Dialogue sounds like what it would coming out of a speaker. I used the 7506 for a long time, but haven't for 10+ years. My two cents anyways.

A little interview about the SD face shields in a podcast to which I regularly listen. It's 28:39 into the 99% invisible podcast. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/masking-for-a-friend/

Screen Grabs from "Feel This Moment" Pitbull fet. by Christina Aguilera at 1:10 into the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jlI4uzZGjU He deadened the room. No idea if this was used for the video or for actual recorded bits, you get the idea. I really like the RE20.

Audio Services Canada (http://www.audioservicescanada.com/) made me an adaptor that fit in the boot of XLR connectors. Likely similar circuitry. It was inside the shortie XLR that went from my boom pole to the MHK416T. My Rycote basket did not have a conbox as it is an older version. Worked quite well. This is an option if you don't want to open up the microphone and do it there. I'm sure this could work quite well though have not used it: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/275819-REG/PSC_FPSC0010A_A4812_48V_to_12T.html

Boom poles can be a personal decision (like many other things). Do you like the feel of the collars, etc. I like the PSC elite coiled cable pole. I have a large one and a smaller one that fits inside my Pelican Storm im2950 case for travel. Travel pole is a PSC elite medium internal coiled cable pole. What I like about the PSC is the XLR can be removed easily with the bottom XLR pole if needed. I don't have the right angle version. I unscrew the top end of the pole and "detangle" the internal coiled cable somewhat regularly. I have not had any issues where the boom pole can not collapse fully due to funky internal cable issues.

I was in HK 2-3 years ago. I was using Lectro block 21/25 without issue. G3 (A band) for camera scratch track. Things could have changed since then.