Vivid Lizard

My budget solution that both boom op and director's have liked (so far) is using my Sony UWP D11 units. The RX's have dedicated headphone outputs, but buried in the menu. I set these a bit louder than normal, then supply Koss Titanium light headphones. These headphones sound way better than they cost, are very light, have easily replaceable ear foam pads (for client cleanliness), and more importantly have in-line volume control. I've found that the Sony UWP units are much more reliable as far as avoiding hits and loss of signal than my Sennheiser G3's, although they work too in this kind of setup. I haven't had any interference yet on my camera hops close to Teradeks.

The F8 has super rock solid timecode *AND* allows you to power down now with no hit on TC if you install the v.5 firmware upgrade. The only 3 things I can see that's missing on the F8 compared to the F8n after an upgrade on the F8 is that the 1/4" connections only do line input, the XLR connections only do mic input, the TA3 outs only do mic and prosumer line, and the USB connection doesn't supply power.

Thank you, Clay.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a shotgun mic repair facility somewhere in Southern California. My Audio-Technica BP4073 recently started sending out nothing but harsh static. I've checked cables, capsule placement, different connectors and recorders, etc., and nothing makes a difference. I've sent a message to Audio-Technica service but just in case I run into a problem from them, I would like additional options. If you know of anyone in SoCal or elsewhere that I could get an estimate from, I would be grateful. Thanks.

Excellent! Thank you very much everyone for the input, especially from those who experimented with them. I will definitely be avoiding them.

Thanks, everyone for chiming in. Haven't done the key test since I don't have one to test with. The Sony is supposed to do well because of it's hybrid digital feature, but I haven't tested that either. VAS, do you have experience with the Saramonic? If so, what aspects of it did you find below par? Thanks.

I've been toying with the idea of using those newer cheap Saramonic wireless units, the ones that look so much like the Sony UWP D-series, on low-budget shoots for, say, a scratch track camera hop, a boom op hop or as IFB's (since they have a headphone out). I would rather use something like these when I agree to help out on a student film, or various other shoots where I would rather not risk my Lectros, etc. Has anyone ever played with these, even for just "s**ts & giggles"? Or heard any scuttlebutt about them? At their price point I can't imagine their sound being very good, but if they inherited their innards from the Sony original then maybe not so bad. Like the Sony's they have a 30mW max RF output, and say they are "hybrid digital". Unlike the Sony's the receivers are 2-channel, but they don't tout being diversity. My guess is that they sacrificed the diversity to go with the dual channel thing. I asked a Saramonic rep about that and he had no clue what diversity meant, so I got no usable answer. Not a good sign. Again, just toying with a thought here... thanks.

Very true

Thanks! Let's hope they ARE wired correctly...

I just got hold of some Lectro 100's, but without the receiver to mixer cables. I need to buy some of these pretty quickly, but most of the ones I see in the length I want (1', 1.5', 2'), are all stereo TRS 1/8" mini to 3-pin XLR. The "official" (but very costly) Lectrosonics one shows the mini end to be TS mono. My question is, if I got the stereo TRS mini version, would there be problem or would it also work?

Recently I was on a shoot in the desert near Palm Springs and one actress was in a wardrobe where there was no place to put her Lectro TX except where the antenna was pressed up against her sweaty skin. I was getting terrible reception from her, so thought of using the Mepitac I had as a barrier between the antenna and her skin. After I did that I seemed to get much better range... at least for whatever reason I got better sound with less breaking up at a longer distance. I wasn't able to try it again to see if it was a fluke or there is something to it.

Just got word from Scott Boland at Cable Techniques... he says that it's more of a courtesy reminder in that 12v is the usual lower end for many pro devices, and that the BB II will still continue to do it's job on lower input voltages. My F8 works fine down to about 9v, HA3D down to 9v also, and my lectro 411's down to 10v. The 12v 8300 mAh power source I use starts at about 12.3v and drops down to 11v very, very slowly, so I think I'm good for all day.

I'm thinking of buying a Battery Bud II BDS and noticed that it's rated at 12-18v input. My question is, what happens if/when the voltage from my battery source (12v, 8300 mAh, 99Wh) drops below 12v, say to 11v or even 10.5v? Does the internal circuitry of the BB start to get wonky with the current below 12v? I've sent that question to the nice folks at Cable Techniques, but also thought that the equally nice folks here might have something to say. Thanks.

I've used that little flashing LED light on my Tentacles for a quick and dirty reality check before. Simple but pretty effective.

It sounds like front end tracking so far is the biggest, but not too major, difference. If that is correct, then for my needs the lighter weight, smaller size and $550 dollar difference of the LR seems like the way to go. I'm kind of thinking of possibly going with an SMQV/LR combo to get a nice 250mW set at a somewhat better price point than an SMQV/411 set would be. Thanks for the input!