Equipment Recommendation

[Justin Allen]

First off I wanted to say thank you to everyone who posts here. I have followed the boards for several months now, working hard to learn as much as I can and to begin developing a very basic understanding of sound from the production point of view. I do have an understanding from the post side, where I have 15 plus years experience working with NLE's and about 5 years working with ProTools. But that is not recent experience.

 

That being said here's my background / question. I live in a town about 2-3 hours away from a big city. I am building out a small production house because there is an opportunity for one here, and anytime anyone needs something currently they have to import them in and import huge travel prices as well. Typically people are adding up to $1,000 to do a job here just because of the travel and hotel needed. In my quest to build out this company I have picked up some basic sound equipment, a Mix-Pre 6 II, A Sennheiser MKH 416, and a Deity S-MIc 2S. My next mic for interviews is going to be a Schoeps CMC641 Set. At least it was until I picked up a job where I don't know to go wired, or wireless.

The set-up is that I have a 6 foot table with up to 3 people that need to be present for a series of videos. They will be either standing at the table, or sitting, depending on the group. They will be doing a demo of scientific equipment during this time. My issues are that I am struggling with how to used wired mic's in this set-up, and if I use wireless mics then, because of budget, I am going to have to get a 2.4 GHz system instead of the Lectrosonics system that I plan on getting in about 6 months.

And I know someone will say that I need to get hire an individual and while I do agree with that thought process, the current bids I am getting for this 3 day shoot are just out of the range to be practical. SO given that I have no choice but to throw myself into the deep end and make the best decision for the pathway I need to move forward.

Thank you everyone, in advance, for your thoughts...good, harsh, reality check, or helpful! 

[Philip Perkins]

Rental not possible?  LA/NY etc rental houses often do 3 day weeks...?  Get the right tool for the job.  I don't think the right tool is a 2.4 GHz wireless.

[IronFilm]

11 hours ago, Justin Allen said:

...and if I use wireless mics then, because of budget, I am going to have to get a 2.4 GHz system instead of the Lectrosonics system that I plan on getting in about 6 months.

Which 2.4 GHz system? There is a wiiiiiide range in performance of them!!
Deity Connect Wireless would be the best out of them. 

But I'd suggest, just wait 6 months before buying anything, and then get those Lectros you already have your eye on! Until then: Rent. 

Or alternatively, settle for older secondhand Lectros so that you can get them now instead of in 6 months time.

[Justin Allen]

Thanks for the comments so far. To answer the questions concerning which 2.4 GHz system, I was thinking about the Sennheiser EW 500 G4 system. Would you go with the Deity Connect over the Sennheiser?

 

As to renting something...I actually didn't think of that. I'll look into it and see what the pricing looks like. I am typically opposed to renting because it seems like money wasted to me...but it's a great thought.

 

Question: In a case where you have 3 people trying to present behind a table, is there a way to boom that? Or would you just get so much overlap on the mics that it would sound too bad?

[Jim Feeley]

Justin, the Sennheiser G4 systems operate in the 470-600MHz range (different models for different ranges). Maybe you're thinking of the Sennheiser AVX systems which are 1.9GHz. Or maybe another model from them? 

 

In 2.4 GHz, I've seen a lot of chat about the Deity Connect systems, but I don't think I know anyone who owns them. And I think they're currently backordered. The prices and features are impressive, I just personally don't know about the performance. There have been plenty of YouTube reviews, but I haven't seen (and haven't really looked for) any that I found convincingly authoritative.

 

Does anyone here have plenty of experience using the Deity Connect systems for say 10+ days? Bonus points if you used it on jobs.

 

As for booming three people behind a table, especially if they're socially distanced, sounds hard to me. Unless everything is planned ahead and you can get the presenters to speak in turn, cue you before they speak, etc... Uhg. Can you use wired lavs, or as Phil recommends, just rent wireless? You can get complete Lectro and Zax kits from Trew and Gotham and others (I've used rentals from T&G and they provided great kits with all the bits I needed; they aren't the only options, though), and you can get Sennheiser G4-class stuff from BorrowLenses and their competitors. I've never rented audio from BL, but did rent a Sony FS7mkII (no mkII models at our local camera houses), and it was a decent kit. So I'd be willing to rent from BL again...

 

One last thing: What sort of scientific equipment will they be explaining or demoing? Is it loud and/or does it emit lots of radio interference that would mess up your wireless mics? And if it does emit RF, do you have a backup plan to capture clear dialog? Our job is to make things sound great....and if that's not possible, to have the equipment and experience to make it sound acceptable. Good luck!

 

 

 

[Dalton Patterson]

6 hours ago, Justin Allen said:

Question: In a case where you have 3 people trying to present behind a table, is there a way to boom that?

When I go to the car mechanic the first thing I always ask is how can I do this job myself? Then I ask where he buys his auto parts and if I can have his same discount. Finally I ask him how to do how to do something he has mastered over years by blood sweat and tears. Funny, he never has a nice answer. 

[Justin Allen]

Jim,

 

Great thoughts and thanks for the answers. On the EW 500 G4 system I was thinking about I was incorrect. It is certainly not a 2.4 GHz system and does in fact live in the 470 - 558 MHz world. Thank you for correcting me on that. 

 

On the Deity systems I want to look them but have heard just a few things that leave me with the impression that they might be a bit frustrating for me. I think, over the last 6 months as I have been researching wireless systems, that I settled on the Lectrosonics system because they can be depended upon and a rock solid. While things always happen, I am working to minimize issues. 

 

After reading what Phil wrote I have decided that if the company adds more than one person, wireless labs will be the way to go. As I said above, renting never even crossed my mind. I have looked at Gotham and will be calling them tomorrow about their Lectrosonics 2 channel SRC ENG wireless kit with Sunken lavs. I'll run them into my MixPre 6 II recorder.

Great question about the scientific equipment running and I will follow-up with my client on that. It's a science fair for high school kids and because of Covid they cannot do their demos in person, so they are going virtual. Many of the demos are really designed to be hands on and we are working with them to provide multiple camera angles and unique perspectives, as well as send out thousands of home-based kits for the kids to follow along with on some experiments.  

Again, I appreciate the thoughts and help!

 

 

1 hour ago, Dalton Patterson said:

When I go to the car mechanic the first thing I always ask is how can I do this job myself? Then I ask where he buys his auto parts and if I can have his same discount. Finally I ask him how to do how to do something he has mastered over years by blood sweat and tears. Funny, he never has a nice answer. 

 

Dalton,

 

Actually when I have car issues I just give the car to the mechanic and let them deal with it. That's because I do not even have the basic familiarity with automotive mechanics. I do however have more than a basic familiar with post-production, production and a passing familiarity with audio. I am also working hard, especially over the last 9 months, to teach myself the bare basic fundamentals of proper sound techniques. I say by myself because of Covid, and the 2-3 hours distance to any type of even basic film production work.

 

While I also believe you have a valid point, and I am not surprised to have someone bring this up, let me leave you with this thought. If my plan in life was to be a car mechanic, and I have worked towards learning how to fix cars by myself, and understood some of the basics, then yes, maybe I would ask my mechanic some pointers on how to do something that he has mastered over the years by his blood sweat and tears. And my mechanic would not mind because he knows that the only way to learn how to do something is to do it yourself and when there are failure points comes opportunities to learn even more.

 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Justin Allen