jonathan chiles

Bummer! I did notice that the Nextel used by Schoeps seems to be a bit more durable these days.. but remember seeing some CMC5's  peeling as well. It does seem like something they (sennheiser) should be fixing although its only cosmetic. My 8060s are solid up til now, but I see the finish does show rub marks quite easily from going in and out of suspensions

Just checking back after a crazy week.. Larry thanks so much for the detailed reply. I have read you before mentioning these 3rd order input intermod figures and that those are the ones that matter. Also thanks for reminding me that a SNA600 is only 30mHz wide and thus could be a better choice sometimes. I think I am going to invest in some PF25s for now and see how things go.

Best wishes from Cape Town!

 Assuming wide band antennas like the Betso Sharkies I am using (470 - 850mHz) I have always gone for RF multicouplers with as narrow a pass band as possible (such as Lectro UMC16A which is 2 blocks wide only) and avoid anything wide band. Real world use... is there a valid reason to avoid something like a PSC RF Multi wideband (470 - 870mHz)?? I am feeding Lectro SRb and 411A and am looking for an RF combiner that is baggable and can power antennas. I know the filters on the receivers do a good job (especially 411A) but I worry about amplifying a lot of out of band noise which is then passed on by the wideband multicpupler and then possibly overloading the receiver front ends and thereby neutralizing any gains from the directional active antennas. 

Thoughts? I know Larry F is near

I think the suspensions for the Scheoeps CCM series will work for the KC5 and capsule? Send Rycote an email they will help when they can.

Like Constantin I am also a fan of ORTF stereo and have used this technique with pair of Schoeps CMC541 for classical music recording which is a very satisfying system especially with omni outriggers to fill the lower octaves. I find that what I really need is a compact stereo system that stays built and can be quickly deployed when needed.  Looks like ortf pairs of CCM4 or MKH8040 in a dedicated Cinela or Rycote suspension would do well. And Mike thanks for pointing to the Sanken CSS-50 which may also be nearly as good. I expect the noisefloor on the Sanken to be somewhat higher but probably not an issue in real world recording situations. Still something about the purity of two high quality cardioid condensors in ortf just feels right!

Just worked with one of these last week and pleasantly surprised that this has a 5 pin Lemo in and seems to hold time code surprisingly well! Had no chance to explore the audio section but this seems to be a solid step up from the Dragon and from the Alexa mini for that matter.  

I am interested in having a very compact and quick to deploy stereo setup that I can throw up high on a stand on locations while dialogue is being recorded to grab background atmos for post. I am thinking about  a CCM41/CCM8 pair but am also quite interested in a compact ORTF pair of cardioids.. who is using what? And equally important, what suspensions and wind protection?  

Agreed, small windjammer would be great! I have been using my tester baseball (thanks Simon!) mainly indoors on an MKH50 but would be nice to be able to venture outdoors on light wind days and not have to go into the zeppelin. Having said that I live on the coast and light wind days are rare!

I have both, and honestly the MKH40 does not get much stick time.. the 50 is slightly tighter but also seems to suck out the dialogue more and has a richer low end which is great on interior close ups. I have Schoeps as well but mostly reach for the 50 first...

I had the CS-1E for a while and was impressed with the hot signal, reach and compactness.. I felt in needed a low cut though and ended up passing it on to a friend when I got my MKH8060.. I still kind of miss it though, with a Rycote Tacit it probably would have been a winner. I think the older CS-1 had a higher noise floor than the E?

I use a 50 with a UH400a regularly and gain on the tx is usually about 2 o'clock if I recall correctly. I think the 50 has a decent output level though not as hot as my MKH8060.

Thanks Larry!

Love having your continued input here

Thanks all for impressions.. also keen to hear more, but already being happy with the SRb for my bag jobs, I am more than confident in adding an SRc when the time comes. Would also be interested re Peters concerns about how the front end filters on the SRC will handle having having 20 transmitters at 50mW in fairly close proximity.. These seem like a good bet for reality as you can buy transmitters that are wide band (or on different blocks) and keep the channel separation better and hopefully avoid intermod problems. 

Oh yes and the AES output in the pipeline makes this an even better investment, thanks Larry for reminder

Hey Robert, thanks for your thoughts.. I impulsively just bought a Lectro UMC16A (block 21/22) off of the auction site. Will add 2 more 411's and stick with this for a while I think. It might be a bit bulky by modern standards but performance should be great and I keeps most of my system unchanged for now. Now to save for the PSC Solice mini!

Is there a way to combine 2 x Lectro rack mount units (UMC200 or UMCWB) for use with a single pair of antennas?

Alternatively I suppose the Six Pack would be an alternative.. 

Also I have seen a few UMC16B rackmount multicouplers going.. if I can creatively mount my receivers on the cart  that would enable up to 8 x 411.. would be quite a big and chunky setup though! See Paul Graffs rig from some years back below..

And Thanks Jonathan ML for those figures on the filters!

Tough decision for me as I am very attached to the reliability of 411s. I am talking about a cart set up where I have 4 x 411 in a rack mount combiner (Lectro UMCWB) As most of you know, we need to have minimum 6 wires on cart setup for most scripted work. One option is to find a used Lectro Six Pack and buy 2 more 411's  But the new tech and compactness of the SRC's is appealing as long as I am not giving up anything...

I have been using 4 x 411A's with a UMCWB coupler for the last few years but am now finding I need higher wireless count and want to invest in multiple SRc receivers and either an Octopack or PSC Six PAck.

I have relied on my 411's for 10 years now and am still a little hesitant to replace them with the small dual channel receivers.. I want to hear reports from people in the field using SRC's.. should I have any reservations about moving to them over the 411s..?

Sorry if this is being discussed already but I didnt find anything much on searching...

I think Rich may have intentionally injected some humour there, nice wrapping job though! And given me something to think about as I prep to do a cheerleader movie!

Also had issues with the Alexa Mini and the TIG. It would jam sometimes and other times not. I need to do some more tests with the mini, but it seems to be fussy for some reason or other (firmware?)

Just prep'ing for a commercial with the Mini. John Paul interesting to note the TC weirdness, will keep an eye on that. Re the input connector this is pulled from an Arri forum:

There is only a rather "unique" 5-pin mini Lemo Audio IN connector on the Mini, which only accepts line level.
Because the connector is so new and rare, the best (and likely only) source for it at the moment is from ARRI, who provides it with a unterminated pigtail.  I put a 5-pin Female XLT on mine.

Unfortunately there is not a headphone connector on the camera, so monitoring the quality and level of the audio is not possible.  This really limits its functionality to only being a "cue" track, and for reliable results one should consider a proper double-system recording as a requirement.

I can understand the lack of a headphone jack because of the real estate issues on such a small camera, and also its intended use on Movi's, Drones and Steadicams, but I wish it was available and also a mike level input for radio mikes for the inevitable hand held use and for documentaries.
 

May have asked this before.. but anyone experience noticeable background hiss with the 8060? I was a relatively early adopter and had a bum mic that got changed out (as many others did) I like the characteristics of this mic a lot but have been noticing more noise floor than I would like.. maybe it needs looking at.

Indeed gents I have had an "ugly" solution for some time which is a 2200mAh 3 cell LiPo velcro'd on the side. I have a low voltage cut off inline to stop the battery doing a deep discharge. I also went Shubi Snax route and obtained 2 x 9V plastic holders and glued them together side by side and wired them in parallel to a 2.1mm plug and again velcro'd it to the side. I thought this was very smart.. but found that it ran the SRb for only a couple of hours. More testing maybe.. also thanks for bringing up "Chinese" batteries must be loads on ebay with a slim form factor that would work.

Thank you gentlemen! More homework I need doing

I am wanting to add another SRb to my kit which will sometimes be in the bag and sometimes on a camera. The SR battsled is a very neat solution for powering the SR on dinkycams but somewhat pricey. Can anyone reccommend a manufacturer that makes a decent Sony battery mount plate that converts the 7.2V up to 12V? I want something cheap but not nasty that I can dual lock onto the SR when I need it.

Anyone notice the synthetic fur of the newer Rycote windjammers seems to tangle and mat much quicker than the old windjammers?

Seems to me like quality is not as good. My old windjammers look better and more fluffy and have been used way more.