Guest Mick Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 It finally happened. In the middle of a scene my Cooper 208 tanked, (power supply) and I'm left hanging. Quick scramble. re-route the wirelesses (2) directly to the Deva V, reset the Deva configuration for hardware faders and post fader recording and mix the scene with the knobs. PHeeewwww! Lunch was then spent digging my heretofore but since not -on -your -nelly -up -for -sale Soundcraft GP1 out of the truck and re patching the rest of my wires and the Deva II so that we could continue for the next few days while the Cooper is repaired. Moral of the tale? There's no such thing as too much equipment!!! Backups for everything is an essential part of a mixer's kit. Expensive, yes, but in a situation like the one I was in, and countless others of you I'm sure, the expense is justified by that one occasion when you could look the UPM in the eye and say, "Don't worry, it'll just be a minute or two and we'll be up and running again" That's why I run two Devas, have two mixers and double up on pretty much everything else. Mics, wires, cables, even carts. Wives? no no. Regards Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Milliken Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 Mick I fully agree with you on this, it is difficult and stressful enough going through gear failure on set while shooting even if you have back up on the truck, how much more stressful does it become if it turns into a phone scramble, which depending on where and when you are (in the working week) could easily become a total mare of a situation. All that said I do not have a back up Deva, just 2 PD2,s (good doorstops as previously mentioned in another post) and 2 HHB,s, maybe next year. Kindest Regards Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 Hey Mick, greetings. Why are you posting on a day off? I'm working on this high holiday of commercials is my excuse. I agree with your position regarding back up gear for your system. All mixers IMHO should have double everything. Now that doesn't mean 2 Deva 4's are nessisary, but a second recorder is a must. same with all the gear. As far as wife's, one is more than enough. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 Wow--I'd never heard of a Cooper mixer failing in the field--that's a first (and an ugly one). I've always felt that part of what they pay us for is to run way far down a list of "what-ifs" before each job, although losing a big mixer is probably the toughest thing that can happen (a spare 208?). Good on you for being ready for even this once-in-a-lifetime problem. Philip Perkins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 Philip brings up a point that I thought, but failed to mention, I have never heard of a Cooper going down. It must of happened somewhere, somehow before Micks went south, but I haven"t heard of it. I still use my 106 in all of productions various conditions and it has been rock steady. I remember the day Jeff n Don droped off my new Cooper, one of the 1st five made, and how excited I was to recieve it. It was 1988 if I'm not mistaken, maybe 1989. All n all it is the best money I ever spent on my package. It saddens me to think my Coop has a check out date. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mick Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 I am in no way critical of Andy Cooper's product and remain an avid user. It's inevitable that parts of complicated and quality machines fail from time to time. I was more interested in promoting equipment reserves than in casting doubt about the endurance of the 208. This reminds me of the story of the Rolls Royce that broke dowm in the south of France with a broken axle. RR flew out a tech from London with a replacement, towed the car to the nearest facility, fixed the problem and just as the tech was leaving the owner said "How much do I owe you?" To which the tech replied, "Nothing sir" "How come, you had to replace a broken axle for Heaven's sake!" Tech: "Axles don't break on Rolls Royces sir" Regards Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Hey Mick, the way I read your post, I didn't get a neg. vibe about Andys product, I read a day in the life drama of a Snd. Mix. All Pro's need a plan A, and a plan B, and if you are like me, a plan C. I won't even mention what plan D is. Anything can happen and has to many of us, that's what make's it so much fun. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mick Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Copy that Crew. I just wanted to clarify the meaning of the post in general and not put Coopersound on the hook. The weekend post was because I thought my on set laptop would be down this week but Murphy took the day off! Regards Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Waelder Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Gee, I must be just lucky - I've had a Cooper go into catastrophic failure twice in recent memory! I should state right away that neither occasion was in any way due to any defect in construction or design of Andy's panel. To the contrary, the excellence of construction made it possible to rapidly correct the problem and continue using the mixer. On the first occasion, I was working in the rain and had to go to base camp and leave the sound gear in the care of my boom operator. He was a hard working fellow but he was inattentive that day and didn't notice that the pattern of rain shifted and water that had been deflected was now dripping directly on the board. When I returned, the board was thoroughly soaked and completely inoperative. I was lucky and the immediate shots could be recorded with a single mike so I patched directly into the recorder. I removed the channel boards and the main output board from the Cooper chassis and put them in a dry place. In a couple of hours, all was well again. The second occasion came while doing promos for a show called "The Nine." This was a pretty good budget TV show (as these things go) and I wanted to leave a good impression. We had been doing little set pieces with the actors as they were available from first unit. There was a minor glitch in my headphone connection and I removed the output board to get at the conector. Later, as I was returning from craft services and an actress was already on her way down to our set, someone called my attention to bizarre behavior from my sound cart. The mixer would spontaneously shut itself down and then "reboot" to the accompanyment of double beeps from the oscillator. I repatched power and did some other frantic stuff but the board was in full failure mode. I was supplying both a DVD and a DAT back-up so I couldn't just patch into the recorder. However, I had a Sound Devices 442 with me and hurridly connected that to the recorders. I don't use the little 442 all that often so I had to refamiliarize myself in a hurry. But all was OK. Later, when I had five minutes to think without the pressure of an actress on the way, I remembered the little headphone fix I had done. Checking the connections, I found that a ribbon connector was pulled just a little loose and would slip in and out of connection. Even when the equipment is the greatest, the capacity of the human mixer for messing things up demands back up gear. David Waelder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 Hey David, your story reminded me of a war story of my own. How many of you sound people out there have seen a fire sprinkler system go off cause of heat from the lights? I have been a wittness 5 times in my 30 yrs. The last time was in a hotel and my Cooper 106 got soaked in the chaos. I took it apart and cleaned the parts and connections, and dried every thing with rags and compressed air and sunlight. Hour and a half later I put all back together and crossed my fingers. Worked like a champ. I did take it to Location sound and have it checked at the prod companys expence, but it was a happy ending and has been trouble free since that day 5 plus years ago. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundtrane Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 I remember one day of shoot 4 years ago when the CS208 on my cart didn't power up in the afternoon. It was running off battery. I had to quickly reconnect my mics directly to the PD4 and continue. I found out later that all the power transistors on every channel had blown. This is the one and only time the CS208 went down in my experience. -vin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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