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DPA 4060 on talent at shooting range, risk of damage?


Karri

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Like the title says, I have a shoot coming up with the talents going to a shooting range. The lavs in use are DPA 4060's, and I'm wondering if the mic diaphgrams might be damaged by the sound pressure from the guns fired by the talents (most likely 9 mm)? How about a Sanken CS3e? Thanks for any insight.

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While I have never used my DPA's with live firing, I have used Coss11 many times and those mics are still fine.

The gun shot sound wasn't great but that has more to do with I was gained for the dialogue. Limiters can only do so much and my trim fingers aren't quicker then a speeding bullet.  

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Hi Karri, 

The audio from a 4060 will most likely not be useable. I've done SFX recordings on gun ranges before, it is definitely a lesson in gain structure. Use a mic that you're not afraid of hurting and have a backup ready. This is a case where pads will be your friend and if you don't have it, now would be a great time to invest in or rent some Neverclip enabled equipment. There are some threads here and on Facebook with lots of sage advice. You might also want to contact Member Watson Wu who very recently completed a library of gunshots with all sorts of equipment. You'll find similar answers to Nate's ^ about Cos11's working, but it'll be tricky to gain and mix it to go between gun shots and dialogue. Might not be a bad idea to go with two mics and two trims. 

Above all else remember to wear heavy duty earplugs under your cans and get used to mixing with them before you roll. Protecting your ears will be worth mediocre audio over losing your hearing and not being able to work. 

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It will sound fine. Done it many times,

The main problem is the transmitter gain.

Unless you are using Zaxcom where you can control the TX gain you won't be able to get good level for dialog and shooting.

Grab a 4061 just to be sure...

Edited by Jeff Wexler
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Set the transmitters lower than normal for the dialog (as not to have their limiters as active during gunfire), turn off the limiters on the recorder, set the input levels for the dialog, and let the gunfire go. Seriously, turn the recorder limiters off when recording with gunfire.

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It went fine. I had the limiters on my Nomad down but with a fast release. Turned the boom all the way down during gunfire, and even got some semi-usable gunshots. This is a reality show with ENG style shooting so gunshot fidelity wasn't exactly a priority anyways. And got to fire a gun, woo! Only a .22LR, the talents went all the way from .22LR to (I think) a S&W .500 Magnum revolver.

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