ptalsky Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Hi all, I'm going to be doing some upgrading again shortly and am thinking of switching from my standard Venue to a VR Field - it's either that or a bunch of Rx's for my bag. I like the form factor of the VRF for my cart better than the full venue, and of course then I don't also have to buy a bunch of additional Rx's for my bag. How have people's experiences been with the VR Field so far? Also, how are people running antennae to it when in the bag - especially with mixed frequencies (I use block 21 and 25)? Have they added a battery meter (I saw this issue come up in earlier posts)? Any other thoughts and/or considerations? Thanks! Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 overall good. npl7 lasts approximately 3.5 hours you could use one omni and one sharkfin in bag(pop a flexmount in half and the sharkfin will sit in bag well) reference audio meter would "block out" while level on a 411a was under peaking so i think its calibrated differently it is in no way fast to alter the hardware. pulling a venue out to change a xlr sucks bang for the buck is awesome no battery meter as you mention (Why LECTRO, WHY?!?!?) can use a battery bud/bds in between power out to in if you want to use one source for all of your bag or power from external supply i leave about 1 foot bnc with a barrel from antenna in(one cable for each, that is) to another short bnc that goes to the batwing and omni. this gives me the ability to quickly drop the bag and throw a longer bnc, in line, and mount the antennas. if i have to do a walk/talk i can lift the batwing 3' up for better range and directionality. ideally i would love this unit to have a battery meter, mult out for a snake fan(in addition to xlrs), and the ability to shut off unused rx. That aside, i find the field venue economical and an asset Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 " no battery meter as you mention (Why LECTRO, WHY?!?!?) " OK, once more: the Venue was designed primarily for use in racks at "Venues", and thus power would be from mains. due to "popular demand", it was modified for more convenience in portable use, like in bags, which was a pretty straightforward physical adaptation of the the same electronics into a different package; despite its popularity with production sound mixers, sales of this variation of the highly successful Venue series have been rather modest. " ideally i would love this unit to have a battery meter, mult out for a snake fan(in addition to xlrs), and the ability to shut off unused rx. " ain't gonna happen, get over it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Ain't gonna happen... Right. In fact let's make sure all manufacturers we use don't listen to us and update their products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 "they" did upgrade their products: "they" now have the SRa dual RX's, with numerous accessories, and are about to release the "Octo-pack" (which will probably be a moderate seller) which does not seem to be destined to have a d-sub multi-output connector in addition to the XLR's; in fact it seems that whenever manufacturers use d-sub multi-connectors, they get soundly rejected by our little clique as being unsuitable. even the use of TAn series connectors draws fire!! nope, you can't please all of the people, ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpaul215 Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 I am a little surprised how large the VR Field is.... especially now that you could effectively replace it with 3 x SR receivers, or an Octo-pack. You do not get the simplicity of everything ganged together (easier tuning and monitoring, but more flexibility). ..and yes, I realize the field is a slightly modified version of the Venue (which I have on my cart). I'm curious how easy life is with a bag with something as large as a VRField and a 6+track recorder strapped to my chest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfatjames Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 this is how mine look like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 Love that the lighter is tethered to the bag, Oddly enough the cigarettes, which probably cost a lot more, are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricL Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 Though, please correct me if i'm wrong but i looked over the whole manual and didn't see it, with the SR's there's no front-end tracking, which you can get Tracking modules for the venue. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfatjames Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 the ciggies are "love"... the sr are without tracking and the venue you can get the vrt that is with tracking but mine are all vrs... and they still work well with normal whip antenna... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptalsky Posted July 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 James, where/how do you mount your antennas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfatjames Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 on the front of the bag for the whip antenna... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricL Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 So with the SR's not having tracking then a six pack venue field system doesn't look so bad. What would the different be between running 6 411 receivers vs the Venue field with six tracking modules? Besides cost? Venue Field 2100 + 3000 for 6 VRT modules Total $5100 vs 6 UCR411a at 1700 apiece for Total of $10200 I haven't heard much about the difference between using the VRT venues vs 411 receivers, other then portability, etc... what about performance since you'd be using the same transmitters either way. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfatjames Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 I guess the 411 you can break them up, but the vrf is just one machine and it is big... actually weight wise i thin the vrf is about the same weight with 6 411... and the vrf you only need 1 pair of antenna... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricL Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Yeah the Field is 5.7lbs with six modules (i'm assuming no battery though according to Lectro's specs) and a 411a weighs just over 15oz (w/ battery) so six of those would be 5.6, so less then 2oz lighter for 6 - 411's then add a pound+ battery, that's not THAT heavy. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundtrane Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 If the venue mainframe fails, all six receivers will be unavailable. one of the reasons i went for the Sixpack with 411's. apart from the obvious reason of being able to pull an Rx or two out to use in a bag. -vin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayushahuja Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 Hey Guys, I'd asked Larry this question on RAMPS a while back - here's part of what he had to say .. Quoted from http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.movies.production.sound/browse_thread/thread/bd1e6a39e1ab2d23/50fdb00e00fc8847#50fdb00e00fc8847 ------------- Hi Yush, Lots of questions here but I'm going to be quick. The UCR411 has the tracking front end right at the input. The Venue VRT has a tracking front end but it is after a distribution amp that can not be tracking since it has to handle all possible frequency settings of multiple units. So the VRT in a Venue is like multiple UCR411's with a good distribution amp in front of them. However, even a good distribution amp degrades the signal slightly. That is to say, a single UCR411 without a distribution amp has a little better performance than a single or multiple VRT Venue setup. The SR is non tracking with moderate current RF amps and SAW filter input filters. Performance of the SR's is a little better than the 401 but not up to the UCR411. The SR's reason for existence is light weight, low power, two channels in a small package and a form factor that fits into a slot camera. Since the VR Field with the VRT modules is also a Venue, it should also perform a little better than the SR Octopack . The VRS modules put things on a level playing field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpaul215 Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 So with the SR's not having tracking then a six pack venue field system doesn't look so bad. What would the different be between running 6 411 receivers vs the Venue field with six tracking modules? Besides cost? Venue Field 2100 + 3000 for 6 VRT modules Total $5100 vs 6 UCR411a at 1700 apiece for Total of $10200 I haven't heard much about the difference between using the VRT venues vs 411 receivers, other then portability, etc... what about performance since you'd be using the same transmitters either way. Eric In that situation I would go for the VR Field over 6 x 411s. The advantage to the 411 setup is that you can also just use two of them for a smaller job, but the bundling of the Venue system is great. Like i said, I have the rack mount version on my cart and I love it. yes, there is the situation where the whole VR Field could die as opposed to one 411, but I do also own individual receivers that I have in a pelican somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 " I haven't heard much about the difference between using the VRT venues vs 411 receivers " OK, here it comes: have you spoken with Lectrosonics about this?? have you brought it up on the Lectrosonics users' forum?? have you read the FAQ's ?? Lectrosonics has a well deserved reputation for giving clear, dependable, factual (when discussing facts!), and "straight-shooting" responses. Larry F has honestly and candidly discussed your questions in the above mentioned forums, as well as ramps; as a company, Lectrosonics offers a number of products for a number of target markets, and frankly, we are one of their smaller target markets. The Venue was designed for , DUH, venues, not carts or bags. that it works well, and that they created a varient, speaks well of their responsiveness to customers and prospects. The Octo-pack was designed for production sound mixers, and we were even asked for our input on some of the design issues they faced. Lectrosonics wireless' original (1980's) claim to "fame" (popularity with the marketplace and specifically with production sound, is routed to their early on commitment to RF designs featuring highly selective front ends in the RX's. One popular VHF wireless manufacturer (HME) offered Helical filters as an accessory for increased selectivity, to install between the antenna and the RX; and each helical filter unit was carefully tuned to the receiver's crystal frequency. This sharp selectivity was a bit of a roadblock on the path to frequency agility at Lectrosonics, but Lectrosonics would not be content without the high selectivity which gave their receivers such good performance, and so they designed the tracking front end, a high Q circuit that tunes the front end of the RX to match the frequency that it was being tuned to. This made the products more complex, more current hungry, and of course more expensive. Lectrosonics decided to make some RX models without tracking front ends to target different market niches, the more economy minded who were willing to sacrifice that last extra bit of performance. Later, with technological advancements, the differences between tracking vs non tracking technologies have narrowed, and the newest non-tracking technology actually fits between the two in overall performance, but is lower in complexity and cost. speaking of complexity, there is an additional magnitude of difficulty including tracking front ends on a dual RX... Also, keep in mind that the original Venues had a bit of their selectivity in the antenna input and distribution (2 blocks wide), but due to popular demand they have made available wideband units with more blocks of bandwith. similarly, they first introduced wide open (a full block) modules, and later, more expensive ones (tracking) for a higher price. They sell far more of the VRS's, and you can take your pick... I've been a HAM radio operator for lotsa years!! (LOTSA years!!) and selectivity has always been, and still is an issue for receivers. The electrical term for selectivity is "Q", and one of the most popular accessories, back in the tube radio days was the "Q multiplier" (guess what that does!) as technology has improved, that accessory has faded away, due to better designs. Individuals have to make their own (subjective) decision what will work best for them, and keep in mind, there will be more new developments in the future, so there will be more options available in the foreseeable future! OK, I've done enough of your homework.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 I use one in my sound cart and is great (it's a Lectro! BUT, I think it should have, not only battery mettering or at least a simple seteable-threshold low-bat warning, but a dual bay battery compartment so you can swap them. Otherwise you have to be watching so it does not die in the middle of a take. At least, it would be good to have an external dual battery box from Lectro that let's you swap the NP1 and have a simple LED warning when one goes under 14.8V (for Li_ion) Or a DIY kit to implement that LED warning on current VRFields... oh please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonymuricy Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Folks: wouldn't this device from Remote Audio be a solution for the lacking of a battery meter in the VR Field? http://www.trewaudio.com/products/remoteaudio/remotemeter/ Best wishes Tony Muricy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twade Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 the VR field is a little bulky but still a great bet for 6 channels in the bag. You can easily swap blocks (via modules) and for a relatively low cost compared to adding a 411 RX. The VRS modules sell way more? Really? In RF heavy Cities like New York, LA, Toronto, etc VRT's are a necessity. I got in an argument with a fellow out west because he was so excited by the octopack where as I on the east think one will only struggle with RF issues. We then realized we're in different markets. If you travel though, spend a little extra and make sure you front end is covered. The BNC idea is a cool one, though you will have signal loss. Lectro makes the ACOAXBNC where you can just run them from the bottom of the bag up your harness strap. The VR field also offers different diversity modes to give you just a little more range when in tight situations. RATIO diversity pairs two receivers together for instance for just a little more reach. The software integration is great too with its walk test recorder to test for dead spots. I'd love to see a VR field part II over the octopack and I do believe, despite someone's modest sales comment, with some minor adjustments and improvements we could have some great upgrades and a hot seller - BNC's out the top, battery metering (and yes the Remote Audio Meter would work), a slimmer chassis (it was just folded over from the venue rack and they did it with ribbon cables i believe, hence the protrusion out the side) and XLR's out the side so it could rest easily in a bag - we'd have a very functional and again, hot selling unit. We are still their target market. The bulk of their sales are still their wireless. The venue was their first foray to break into venues yes, but they did consider us in that market. Why would they have put a DC input otherwise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 " Why would they have put a DC input otherwise? " for a number of reasons, just like a lot of other equipment is powered from wall warts... and you may recall, there were some power issues when porting it over for "portable" use... " The venue was their first foray to break into venues " incorrect, sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.279748a58a2b862b7aa5f3b84126e232.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.