afewmoreyears Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 I know it seems strange to say, but, always read the instructions that come with each and every piece of gear you buy. If your one of those people that has little time and simply tears the box open and rushes the item into use, try to use what time you do have to read them anyhow. I can guarentee the manufacturer knows a great deal more about the gear than you do.. I suggest placing ALL instructions by your toilet in your favorite bathroom... when provided with those few minutes (depending on digestive systems of course) READ THEM... and then... READ THEM AGAIN.. When you are done reading them... scan them into a pdf file and get them to your favorite tablet, phone or computer for reference later... Doing this will most likely also provide contact info and other valuable information for later..I promise... I am finding many Mixers and other sound personel that have no idea how to set up gear they use every day... I would think this is more widespread than we think... Why?... Because they do not carefully read the instructions.... This is a fact.... Don't forget to try actually using the information provided first to set things up.... Then go nuts setting up the gear in a Willey Nilly free for all of "I know best settings and user operation methods.." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 So you're asking/suggesting that the American Male completely change their habits? What next, asking for directions?...... I certainly have been guilty of this in the past but time has taught me a thing or two and I now read instructions and keep the pdf files on my home computer and work lap top. Good advise. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McL Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Good advice I don't scan the manuals if I can get 'em online in searchable .pdf form. This search and find has saved my harried (that's harried...) butt darned near more times than I can practically count. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent R. Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 I have most of the manuals as PDF files on my iPhone. And most of the time I have my phone with me when taking a d*mp... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henchman Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Manual, manual.... Isn't that gears in a car, as opposed to automatic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
André Boisvert Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 I propose that the F in RTFM should stand for Fabulous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Gilbert Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Gear used to be simple, few pots, few switches, easy. Those days are over..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominiquegreffard Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 I recently showed an (30+ years) experienced sound mixer on how to change the output power (50, 100, 250mw) on his many smqv's that he had for years. I thought to myself how can you spend thousands on gear and not read the instructions... It feels that with the new digital tools reading instructions becomes more and more important. Good idea of a thread old school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmahaAudio Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 While in a position of authority I insisted that a very experienced photographer read the manual before being allowed to use the brand new super-duper digital cameras he'd been assigned. He was pissed. Came back the next day thanking me because of all of the really cool stuff the new camera could do that he'd never known about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 On one hand, I think equipment SHOULD be designed so that someone can get it going without reading the manual in a basic way--"quick start" etc.. But there is no way that you could learn about all the things a piece of modern digital gear can do w/o doing some reading. Of course, it is incumbent on the manufacturers to make manuals that are understandable and well organized (Adobe, are you listening re Audition?). I for one would sure like a look at a MAXX manual.... philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Perhaps this thread should become cool things you discovered reading the manual. And stupid things you found out from someone else you could have known had you read the manual. It's important to point out new manuals for SD machines come out with each firmware update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 I for one would sure like a look at a MAXX manual.... philp Last week I asked Zax when we'd see a MAXX manual. They replied: "The manual should be available when Maxx ships – which should be in the next few weeks. Maxx’s operations is very similar to that of Nomad. So if you want to take a look at Nomads manual you will get a very good idea about Maxx." Good, but I'm also interested in the specific differences, both in terms of features and operation, between Nomad and Maxx. http://www.zaxcom.com/instruction-manuals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Hurley Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 How about having the manual installed in the machine. Easily accessed,updated etc. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimPitot Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Menu shortcuts are available to view in the 664 menu - great feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Rose Posted May 27, 2013 Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Of course, it is incumbent on the manufacturers to make manuals that are understandable and well organized (Adobe, are you listening re Audition?). There are some manufacturers who realize that a readable, comprehensive manual is an important part of keeping the customer happy. They hire writers - usually freelance - who know how the gear is used in the real world, and let them talk to programmers and circuit designers as well as product managers. I'm even proud of some of the docs I've written for Orban, Telos, 25-Seven, Countryman... ...then there are manufacturers who dump documentation into the corporate communication department, where a manual may be looked at as a chore to be finished as cheaply as possible because it's nowhere near as sexy as ads and trade show booths. If they hire anyone at all, it'll be an English major who's expected to learn on the job, and who reports to the corp comm manager rather than to being responsible to the product team or the users. Lots of different ways to run a company... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Norflus Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 Last week I asked Zax when we'd see a MAXX manual. They replied: "The manual should be available when Maxx ships – which should be in the next few weeks. Maxx’s operations is very similar to that of Nomad. So if you want to take a look at Nomads manual you will get a very good idea about Maxx." Good, but I'm also interested in the specific differences, both in terms of features and operation, between Nomad and Maxx. http://www.zaxcom.com/instruction-manuals The manual for Maxx is currently being written - and in terms of operations Nomad and Maxx are very similar. With the exception of ZaxNet and less inputs and output busses the menu structure is almost identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonG Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 +1 on reading the manual. Can we charge a fee for everyone who asks questions who's answers can be found in the manual? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmahaAudio Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 Last week I asked Zax when we'd see a MAXX manual. They replied: "The manual should be available when Maxx ships – which should be in the next few weeks. Maxx’s operations is very similar to that of Nomad. So if you want to take a look at Nomads manual you will get a very good idea about Maxx." Good, but I'm also interested in the specific differences, both in terms of features and operation, between Nomad and Maxx. I always insist on reading the manual before I buy something, just to see how it works. This may have, in theory, cost me $$$ as some firms expect me to order their vaporware on the strength of an announcement. I don't like being a beta tester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfisk Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 oh man...this was a big one for me back when I was selling gear. A lot of my answers to technical questions would be "well, if you read page 'x' in the manual, you'll see that blah blah blabity blah"....and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewest Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 I'm terrible at reading manuals as I just want to get my grubby hands on the new toy (664) My 5 year old granddaughter can do more things with my iPhone than I've ever tried! mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 The manual for Maxx is currently being written - and in terms of operations Nomad and Maxx are very similar. With the exception of ZaxNet and less inputs and output busses the menu structure is almost identical. Sure, that's what Zax said in the quote above. But the Nomad manual points out differences between Nomad Lite and other Nomads; I'll guess Maxx is more like Nomad Lite. And I'll guess the the lack of ZaxNet will presumably change menu hierarchies, if not key menus. So I'm looking forward to replacing my guesses with information, and I'm more interested the differences than the similarities. Not that I'm stressed out about all this, and I know first-hand how much work it takes to create a good manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 RTFM ?? why..?? people think that's what jwsoundgroup.net is for... wow, a whole thread about RTFM... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afewmoreyears Posted May 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 Sorry Senator...... but I had to at least present the concept.... I just had to.... it seems like a no brainer... but even if you can put in a battery and get some lights to flash... there is so much more... but not if you ignore the basic concept of simply reading... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanross Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 Did you guys know the Nomad is also a recorder!? I just read that in the manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Maloney Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 I have all manuals loaded into my Ipad, in a early morning fog its hard trying to remember the steps to change from a 200 to a 400 mode Also before a shoot I load the manual for the camera being used that day. This has been very much appreciated by young DPs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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