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T_will

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Everything posted by T_will

  1. Apples and oranges and shrimp... SD 552: Historically Bridged the gap/ filled the void of dedicated 3-6 channel portable audio mixer/ routers vs extremely expensive all in one mixer multi-track recorders (Cantar, 788T, Deva/ Fusion, Fostex PD-6, HHB PDR2000 etc) SD 552 allowed Doco/Eng/Reality types, 5 audio channels, with an integrated TC stamped BWF stereo recording. As opposed to using a satellite primary/ back up: Fostex, Marantz, Tascam, Sony, Edirol 16-24bit/48kHz capable audio recording device. The output flexibility exceeded most competitors of its class in its day. 5 direct outs pre or post with 3 mix outputs. Pretty much decimating the F8's output functionality, not to mention line P48V when the din of aircraft/ live shows would blow your condenser mics to smithereens. I haven't used an F8 and I'm sure it's great as a recorder, but my instinct is just that, multitrack recorder, period. Ham fisted mixing at best, which brings me to the question? Is this about TRACKING, MIXING or BOTH? 'Cause in my estimation the F8 needs a proper mixer on the front end, period. (My fatty fat sweaty fingers on the run? Just can't see it). And finally, Not sayin', just saying', If you're a mixer worth your salt, 2 empty tracks should bloody well suffice (not that any sane sound recordist/ mixer would purposely choose to limit their available track count...but when it's tits up and that's all you got, it's about the skills). I'll now take my comments off the air and return to drywalling...
  2. NO NO NO. READ Peter's post again. Mic into Line = you need to Amplify NOT Attenuate. Claro?
  3. I'm sure you've tried different cables? I have used my kmr 81i for years in diverse and extreme temperatures without issue. The one hiccup with said mic is a gold washer between threaded head of mic and the fabric filter - that if loose, may rattle (tinkle). Having said that yes it could of course be humidity, but the only time it really crapped out for me (similar sound to your example, though far more violent) was rain water getting into audio connectors at boom pole. I did have a km185 that would misbehave motor boating/ whining etc, turns out it had a contact issue; of all places between capsule and body, hot glue to the rescue.
  4. Realizing it could have been a continuity issue, at the last minute Boom Op picked bag off table to save the take. HERO! Or, the worlds least ergonomic audio bag ever seen in the western world? Or, yourodetubecanon swag bag? (do not leave unattended!) Or, the shit I do for my 2nd cousin. Or, A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
  5. Eric F, A consistent dialogue track may be hampered by the gain structure of your set up: from microphone through the MM1 to the H4N. Though the H4N has balanced line-level XLR inputs, it is NOT rated for a +4dBu PRO LINE-LEVEL input (MM1 Clipping output at +22 dBu into 100k ohms, +20 dBu into 600 ohms) The MM1 can crank out some serious levels that the H4N will not be able to handle. So you have a problem: Play it safe on the MM1 (less mic gain resulting in poor signal-to-noise, and avoid overloading the H4N's input/digital track. Or Proper mic gain (re: signal-to-noise) and risk a blown out track. Unfortunately the MM1 does not have the option of: mic/line -10/line +4 output: impedance matching (to recorder) option. One solution (apart from a better mic, placement, location, acting/directing, professional sound recordist, etc) might be to get an in-line Pad/ attenuator so your "Pro" MM1 plays nice with your "not-so-pro" H4N; or go direct to the H4N and by-pass the MM1, but who are we kidding? H4N Pre-amps are, well, definitely nowhere close to the quality of the MM1. Also, is your sound gal monitoring from the MM1 or the H4N? Because it should be the H4N, I say, unfortunately. My 2 cents on this one time dime, best of luck and keep having fun. T Theoretically speaking. ZOOM H4N input specs: XLR (balanced input) / standard phone (unbalanced input) combo jack Input impedance (using balanced input) 1 kΩ balanced, pin 2 hot (using unbalanced input) 480 kΩ unbalanced Input level (using balanced input) −10 dBm _ −42 dBm (using unbalanced input) +2 dBm _ −32 dBm
  6. Love watching end credits, particularly Peter Strickland's, "The Duke of Burgundy". Partial screen grab. FYI, Strickland also directed "Berberian Sound Studio" (instant classic for soundies)
  7. Possibly your cables and/or… 633 User Guide and Technical Information Adjusting Output Levels The nominal level of analog outputs can be adjusted from Setup Menu options OUTPUTS > XLR-L Out, OUTPUTS > XLR-R Out, OUTPUTS > TA3-X1 Out, and OUTPUTS > TA3-X2 Out. The available options are Mic, Line, and -10. The master level of L, R, X1, X2, X3, and X4 buses can be adjusted in 1 dB increments from 0 dB down to -30 dB / Off. To adjust the bus levels of L, R, X1, X2, X3, or X4 buses: Press the Meters Button repeatedly until a Meter View is displayed that includes the output to be adjusted. Rotate the Select Encoder to highlight the meter label of the output to be adjusted. Press the Select Encoder. The background of the output’s meter label will become yellow to indicate that level adjustment mode is accessed. Rotate the Select Encoder to adjust the level. The dB value will be displayed in the lower right corner of the LCD during adjustment. Press the Select Encoder again, or wait 2 seconds. The background color of the meter label will become grey to indicate exit from level adjustment mode. Output level adjustments do not affect tone signal from the 633’s tone generator. 28 Good luck boom boom.
  8. Same problem occurred with my smd after a couple days on sweaty talent. It was beyond just cleaning contacts, and needed thorough repairs Care Of Mother Ship. Best of luck
  9. The missing link (and what I had hoped to find on SD's silver platter reveal last fall). Well done guys! Hopefully PSC's gonna rock some serious sales. (just to nit pick, no master fader, but that's a personal preference of course; nevertheless I'm "all aboard"!) Limited mic-pre's? No problem, I hoard, plenty at my disposal to interface with (hang on to your versatile portable mixers, you just never know?) mic-pre to line level direct out, yup can do. Disclaimer for the pedantic among us: missing link refers to price+ergonomics+features; yes there has been and continues to be a plentitude of boards available for the cart based mixer. However, the gap created by a glut in the market of (relatively) affordable multi-track recorders was wanting of the Solicemini or some similarly priced 1st hand product, IMO.
  10. PVS Number of storage/ organizing options up the road in Ottawa... http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=64664&cat=1,43326 Including Festool products too (see the tabs menu) - "Toupie"
  11. Hook, Line and Sinker...here we go. I have absolute confidence in Lectrosonics otherwise I would be spending my cash elsewhere. Sales and service have always been beyond reproach. With regards to blame? I do not hold any of the following parties responsible for the anomaly/ freak out of my receiver: Production, The manufacturer, climate change, my baseball cap, the manufacturer of my baseball cap, Remote Audio, Petrol, IDX, Sanken or even you Senator. It is MY responsibility to protect MY gear, thus the liability falls squarely on my shoulders. This is 100% my problem. So don't project or transfer your litigious experiences, 'cause this cat aint looking for a freebie. I break it, I bought it. RE: Automobile analogy. Not pertinent. Had, however, you said that your petrol fuelled Toyota had mysteriously starting demanding diesel on the instrument dash display- I'd get it, but you didn't, so I don't. Yes some of us are still curious and thankfully so. Glad to know I'm not completely jaded. Toby
  12. Mike, Hardly rhetorical. If I wasn't interested I wouldn't have queried. Has this scenario ever presented itself to you and if so did you come understand the causal relationship that results in crap happening? Thank you LarryF for the reply. Cheers Toby
  13. Hello group (in particular, Larry F) Just got an RA number should be going out to Toronto this week for repairs... Hot n humid week of shooting in LA. My sweat made its way into the on/off switch of my "bagged" UCR411a rendering it unstable for the rest of the shoot ("powering down" but never shutting off, not making a solid open up "on" contact, not recognizing ext DC power etc) Day off today so I opened up the unit to see what kinda filth had gotten in there and maybe clean the contacts (long past the warranty, fyi) Turns on and off now, recognizes ext power. However, it has gone from a block 21 to a block 20 unit. Fires up as Block 20 displaying all freqs available in block 20 (TV 21-25) Unfortunately I don't have a Block 20 TX to test tx/rx. If memory serves me correctly that block change occurred during the heat of battle. "Shift" happens and the desperate wtf? dial in my Tx freq but to no avail. Blinking status...check freq etc I had back up units, so no harm no foul. Question: What's going on under the hood that could possibly cause a block change like that? Firmware: 4.1/ 4.0 Many thanks, Toby
  14. Pros: Routing flexibility Direct outs PFL/AFL Line Level Input and output gain stages are sonically really clean adding another +/- 30db pre 664 Semi okay foot print less than 40W power consumption Cons: AC only No Mic Pre No EQ D-Sub 25 pin Cables Not my first choice, but a good working choice for my current gig. I A/B-ed Line Level UCR 411 to 664; and UCR 411 through SSL to 664. Huge difference in quality, REALLY! Still using the 664 for comms routing/ monitoring etc = one less d-sub cable. XDesk is very good in that dept too. Necessity is the mother of invention + rental house rate made it even more desirable. There you have it, my 6 cents (adjusted for inflation) Toby
  15. Upgraded HD-P2 to V1.08 Supposed to have rectified 23.976 fps issues with EXT TC. HD-P2 now plays nice with ACC-501, and TS-C sending it LTC @ 23.976 Imported WAV file into Premiere Pro CS5. All good. TC and Waveform confirmed sync vis a vis TS-C clap. Nice. Latest Wave Agent not importing HDP2 files or 664 files for that matter, can't comment at the moment. Trash and Reinstall? Thanks Tom
  16. Well played guys but.... You can't compete with this set up: Pegz2. Center piece - brains of it all is the ZOOM H2 24/48. Allows simultaneous recording of Comtek Radio Mic/ IFB and Boom. If VHF hits are a problem, I can quickly remove it from the bag and place recorder discretely on talent with stock Comtek Lav (still works). I then lock into camera with my trusty XLR-1/8" stereo connector (Pegz2 allows space for adapters, always carry them especially 4 pin lemos?!) Spacious Front pouch for Time Code (Free-run TOD) Double system- notice the knife and fork hands? Can Ambient Recording do that? Manfrotto Unipod, what can I say? Stands on its own three feet and supports H2 for SFX gathering. Fig 8 Capsule for unwanted 0 and 180 degree Walla, works great on podiums (altars?) Notice how, by simplifying one can fill gaps in bag with awesome reading material, allowing dreams to flourish, and money left over for a decent Denecke PS-1A. "It's not the arrows, it's the bow, I mean, it's not the quill it's the bowling ball - er, Archie?"
  17. Got my 552 out of the box in August 2010 W/ firmware 1.1. Thanks to Eric's thread and dbto's posting, just installed up-dated Firmware 1.2 (glad to see SD addressed the issue) Good times. Toby
  18. If anyone cares... I did this last week after call from Editor Re: sync With 552 "TC Off = 30 NDF" I conducted a little 12 minute test. microphone (placed near TV speaker) SD 552 TC Off @ 24/48 Sony PCM-D50 @ 24/48 Canon 7D @ 29.97 Subject recorded: TV newscast. 552 feeding audio to 2 separate recorders including its internal recorder. Ingest files, including movie file, into Logic Pro (project set to 29.97 FPS, SR 48 kHz) 3 Different audio tracks mostly played in sync, and when I say mostly, any detectable differences were of sample lengths, not frames. From this quick and rudimentary test, and without arriving at a definitive conclusion, I think I can rule out FPS as a factor for speed, certainly as it relates to Logic Pro. All three recorders running their own 48 kHz clock, showed sync and as far as I'm concerned 552 NO TC (30 fps) matched the 7D (29.97) guide track as well the lonely Sony D-50 (slowest, if anyone cares) So what does that ultimately say? It's Final Cut Pro's fault, well mine actually for not believing FCP would actually have any impact on my WAV files. FCP frame rate setting trumped audio sampling rate as reference, which isn't really news, and I got caught. Obviously I can't leave clockit at home or 552 might not play nice with others (first and last time I do that) The quick fix as mentioned earlier: we speed up audio files in FCP by 100.1% 8 audio files X 3 mouse clicks = Piece of cake. 1000 audio files X 3 mouse clicks = Provide TC/FPS during tracking. Regards, Toby
  19. Eric, I had the same issue last last week. Recording double system to SD 552. Speeding up the audio clip in FCP by 100.1% solved the problem (12 minute clips losing sync after 2-3 minutes. Off by a full second + by the end of the clip). I believe Oleg is correct, Camera 23.97 or 29.97 and SD 552 at 30 (no sync boxes/word clock) may be a problem, as the 5D's audio SR was 48 kHz as well. We looked at the Project settings, conversion settings etc. and all was consistent. The 100.1% speed up proved the only solution. Hey, worked for us. Toby
  20. Never touched it. Never (knowingly) heard it. A quick perusal of manual and brochure presents a pretty little package. Whatever happened or did not happen re: the PDR-2000? Users chime in. Would love to know more about this under reported recorder. Preamps, file storage and transfer, reliability etc I mean, drastic jump from the 1000 to 2000, and seemingly on par with the DEVA IV/V (yes/ no?) No comprende?
  21. Ah the abuse! I'm just gonna rip/tug/pull/stretch this tiny inanimate object off me like the indignant interviewees do on 60 minutes...because I can, and I look important doing it. I've read that certain lavs cannot be refurbished (fixed) given types of enclosures (at the head). Question: can Sankens be saved, and if so is it financially worth it? It's clearly a wiring fault, buzz. Twiddling cable connection at the head remedies problem, but only temporarily. I've got two that I'm loathe to retire, I've rotated in a couple of new ones, but it seems like a waste? Cut my losses? "JWSOUND Knowledge base..Activate!" Thanks, Toby
  22. Last thursday I finally needed use of his PDF warehouse, but Scott and the manuals were no where to be found. His (blog) site seems to have changed...unless this one always existed: http://www.farroutpro.com/index.html Regretting I didn't download the jpegs of his waterproof receiver setup, hinges and all.
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