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Derek H

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Everything posted by Derek H

  1. So I just got an Android based smartphone and I feel like its changing the way I do things in a lot of little ways and I had the following idea.. Seeing how so many people in production have a web capable device in their pocket these days have any of you experimented with or implemented a live webcast based ifb feed? From a cart based rig I would imagine the process would be fairly straight forward. A laptop taking a mono feed from the board and some type of encoding/streaming software. Possibly some server space as well.. the webcast would likely be password protected and all you would have to do is pass out a card with the url and password. Also, I would love to see some software developed to acomplish this with a smartphone.. I had a scenario the other day at work where we were shooting in a vehicle and the AP was in a follow vehicle sometimes a few blocks away. Obviously a traditional comtek in an eng bag isn't much use in this situation. I would like to see some kind of bluetooth interface to the phone that could live in the sound bag that would act as a line input from the mixer to the phone. Then some software on the phone that takes the audio encodes it, and upload it live over the internet. There would be delay involved for sure but that wouldn't matter in this kind of situation.. Anyway, kind of a pipedream but all the tech is there its just a matter of getting it all together. There are many smartphone apps that do this for a live video but none that I can find work exclusively on audio or can take a line feed somehow. Any ideas? -d
  2. I've spent a lot of time this last year wearing a police type vest and its really not that bad, infact I find that the vest provides a nice solid mounting surface for the rig and there is less bounce and movement when the vest is on. I like the idea of just clipping the rig to the molle but my vest doesn't have any.
  3. I imagine that the downy feathers that bury the ear work just like a windjammer to cut down on the wind noise!
  4. How is the finish on the Loon poles? I usually prefer VDB's glossy smooth finish to the matte dry finish of the K-Teks.. Always thought that the gloss finish made for less handling noise. Loon's poles have a similar finish appearance to K-Tek, can anyone comment on how it handles? Thanks, d
  5. Could it be to soften the jacket some and improve on how the cable lays under the garmet? Or to reduce cable noise?
  6. Won't be able to attend but I'm hoping that we continue to be spoiled with the great video coverage that Coffey Sound has provided in the past! - lots of cool new gear to drool over.
  7. I use the cs3e daily on the verite show I'm currently working on.. and for that I love it. Often in noisy locations and it helps to pull a voice out of the background. Also does well in small reverberant spaces (think small rectangular rooms, with smooth brick walls) whereas other shotguns will get in to some strange phasey territory. Important when you're switching locations often with no time to swap mics. Regarding RF.. you should be aware that after a certain model number the RF performance was improved by Sanken.. older models can be modified to be up to the same spec quite easily. ..for comparisons sake the RF performance of the cs3e is much better than my Schoeps cmc541. For example the Schoeps will suck in RF buzz when near to my Zax transmitter (even with the RF trap) while the Sanken remains silent. EMC plug or not. Sorry no experience with the CS2 yet. best, D
  8. If it was just a single camera I would have no reservations. As Robert pointed out you're not the only one busting their A to cover the scene. Just make sure you're following the camera's perspective and keep your head on a swivel for other interesting bits.. If there's only one camera to be viewed the producers won't really know what they're missing anyway I do a good amount of doc style shoots and often I'm the one pointing out things to the cameraman who can't be looking around as freely as I can. That said, I did a similar show once with a bunch of girls romping around and convinced the production to go with multitrack.. ultimately it would have been a lot better to just have more boom operators. Multi-track is a luxury that some post operations just don't have time to deal with. Also, work is work. My 2 cents
  9. This is a good point, though I imagine trying to attach anything to a player's leg would be met with resistance.. This makes me remember hearing about how Steve-O (of jackass fame) injured his back when he fell on his transmitter during a rehearsal for dancing with the stars or something like that. I imagine it was a lectro 400 or similarly chunky Tx. Something to watch out for..
  10. Just a suggestion: Try running the cable down the back and securing at the shoulder with some real strong tape.. Then make a J-shape to get the lav from the shoulder to the proper place on the chest and tape/clip however you find works.. This way your strain relief should be maintained through all sorts of movement and will minimize the risk of the lav being pulled out of place. Good luck! -d
  11. - A 4 channel transmitter.. to go with the QRX.. Maybe something along the lines of a new STA for the 900AA that has two AES inputs. - An IFB/transmitter ZaxNET control system for ENG rigs to use sans Deva/Fusion Just my wish list...
  12. I just received about 20 of the REAN TA3's from Markertek, I'll post back here with my results at some point.
  13. Tom - Are you referring to the Rean TA3 when you say cheap Chinese version?
  14. That's the first thing I thought because of it being much more compact but.. -No DC input -No Balanced line input. Though it could be an excellent option for using as a stereo feed from a PA on certain jobs. I wonder how much more it will cost.. Personally, I don't see much benefit in putting two lavs on one person just for a stereo perspective.. for redundancy maybe, but loosing an additional input makes it a no go for the ENG rigs I use. A question regarding the connector though.. The photos show a 3 pin connector, I'm guessing this is a mistake? Also, in the wireless user manual (old from 2009) Zaxcom advises against using the threaded-locking type connectors and recommends the push pull type Lemo.. Why then, in all the product photos does Zaxcom show the screw-on type in use? I would prefer the screw-on as the push-pull sticks out much longer.. posing a bending risk. Senator, I know what you're going to say.. And I'll get to asking Zaxcom eventually but I'm just thinking out loud.. and hoping others who have used both types may have commentary.
  15. Jan - Love the bit about bringing "dummy" cases to look the part! I only own enough gear to do the "bag" jobs and sometimes it seems that the less you can bring and still be effective the more the producers are impressed. Also, I've found that on a lot of the documentary type work I do if I have a large bag or pelican with backup stuff in it it won't do me any good unless I drag it everywhere we go all day.. which is often not an option; so a smaller bag with the bare minimum is a much better route. For example on my current job I can carry everything I need by myself in one trip. - 1 mixer rig. (302 rig in a petrol 302 bag: 2x radios with transmitters and lavs/clips/tape, comtek Tx, and Zax Tx) - 1 small utility bag - 1 boom pole. This way it can all easily go into the trunk of any vehicle even if the trunk is already mostly full. Inside the small utility bag I have a single lectro leather pouch that carries all my backup stuff that I normally never need to open. - Spare transmitters - A breakaway cable (serves as backup for the camera hops) - A few short XLRs of different types: coily, cloth, etc.. - Spare Antennas The idea being that I have just enough to get me through the day if any cable or component in the mixer rig fails (well.. except the mixer itself I guess, but I've come to trust the 302 I have)
  16. Looks even smaller than the battery bud.. nice work! What size hammond box is that?
  17. I would guess not too many of us here are brave enough to venture into Lemo territory when it comes to DIY cable making.. I took apart a lemo 3pin from a busted lav once (like the zax 900 uses, and high-end sennheisers).. I was appalled at the microscopic scale of that connector. We're talking about solder terminals thar are barely bigger than the 30awg wire they're designed to accept. Also they are spaced sooo close together that a schmintz too much solder will bridge all three pins together and leave the connector a tiny, ugly, $20 mistake. If you make a go of it please report in on how it went and what you learned. I'm guessing you'll need a sedative or two to steady your hand enough. Best of luck! -d
  18. Monitoring on earbuds too by the looks of that cable
  19. While the Oktava setup would be similar in price to one of these single point mics I think for ease of use on location I've decided to go for a single point mic. Makes mounting and wind protection compatible with my current mics. As for the emesser I don't usually use a full zeppelin and I imagine trying to mount an emesser on a mic using a rycote softie would be some sort of compromise or another..
  20. Thanks Oleg, Wouldn't be using for dialog. Just SFX now and then.
  21. Hi, I know this topic has been beaten up on previous posts, but nowhere on this board is any mention of the Sony 680S (maybe because it's a relatively new model). Every once and awhile I get the itch to add an MS mic to my kit for the documentary stuff but never so eager to drop $2k+ for the css5, neumann, or dual mic setups. These two, the Audio Technica BP4029 and the Sony ECM 680S, have near identical feature sets and are priced to be competitive to each other. Hoping someone here has used one or both of these models enough to have developed some feedback regarding their usefulness for sub-$1000 stereo recording. Differences in specs I have noticed: - Sony is about 30mm longer - Sony can only output coded LR or Mono signals.. no pure M/S - Sony is stated to be an electret condenser - AT is stated to be a "Fixed-Charged Back Plate Permanently Polarized Condenser" - my guess is that this is tech jargon meaning electret condenser.. - AT offers wide and narrow matrix output as well as non-matrixed M/S.
  22. Love that their stuff is backward compatible as well. My rough plan is to upgrade my hops at some point to a QRX & TRX900/sta150 and keep the old model on the same block to use as a second receiver for a B cam and keep the older stereoline transmitter in to use for 4 channel sends if I ever need it. I also think the QRX will be great in the bag as a talent receiver. In a similar setup to those of you that are using SR's in the bag to reduce the number of Rx needed over the shoulder. In that scenario it could also replace your comtek/ifb without having to buy an IFB100(if you buy into the ERX system)
  23. I found that even the older generation of Zaxcom gear works well.. just a few more kinks to work out.
  24. don't know about thinner coily than what K-tek has but you really need to secure the cable to something solid at the male connector side so that you create a strain relief.. The solder joints themselves will never be strong enough to hold through all the twisting and pulling. Even if you weren't having the bunching up problem on the thin section you would still have breakage problems if you're just soldering the cable with no other mechanical connection. Ambient QX line of poles can be internally cabled, an email to them may shed some light.
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