Please Listen to my audio and give advice! at DVinfo.net

Brian Manning · October 1st, 2012, 03:44 AM

audio test - YouTube

Hi all, I placed the senny lapel mic on the ground beside the guitarist about 2 metres away from his amps. The greenlight thats says RF was on...what is this? Is it telling you that there is radio frequency interuption?

First 20 seconds is colour, 2nd 20 seconds is B+W - both of these have original audio.
In the 3rd 20 seconds or so, I tried fixing the audio in audition cs6 by sampling the hiss noise and reducing it. Then back in premiere, I put a multiband compressor and a lowpass on to knock the rest of the hiss out. It sounds a little bassy like theres a towel around the mic.

Do you reckon i could get it any better?

Many thanks,
B

Colin McDonald · October 1st, 2012, 04:36 AM

The green light on the receiver only comes on when you are in Ireland. :-)

No, really, that's just confirming it is receiving a signal from the transmitter - it goes out if the Mute function on the TX is enabled (there's an indicator on the RX display for Mute). Interestingly, it still shows a green light on mine even if the mic is disconnected on the TX.

Your video is only 51 seconds long, so the "3rd 20 seconds or so" is not really long enough to tell if the background noise is reduced much. Any chance of putting up a link to the original audio as a WAV or AIFF before YouTube compresses it further?

I've yet to hear a guitar amp that didn't hiss and hum at least a bit, so I thought the sound was not bad for the conditions as far as can be heard from a Youtube video.

If you are still using the Sennheiser ME 2 lav mic that was supplied with the kit then the best way to improve your audio would be to replace that with a better lav mic. I've been using a Sennheiser MKE 2-ew Gold for a while now and the difference is really quite noticeable - it would certainly improve the top end (assuming it is there to be heard on the guitar amp in the first place).

Since you are dealing with an acoustic guitar, ideally you would be better micing the guitar itself rather than the amp but I appreciate that may not be practical in the circumstances.

Rick Reineke · October 1st, 2012, 11:49 AM

Aside from when in Ireland,..The green light on the portable receiver indicates it is receiving an RF signal.. but it does not indicate it's carrying the desired audio.. OR if it's actually originating from it's companion transmitter.. or elsewhere. Audio should be monitored throughout the shoot for RF hits and.. no audio at all.

Colin McDonald · October 1st, 2012, 12:16 PM

Right you are, Rick! It's amazing how many people don't monitor the audio as it is recorded. I wonder how often they don't bother to watch the viewfinder on the camera as it records.

As I mentioned, my G2 set gives a healthy green RF light with the mic disconnected so you can't assume that all is well from the green light.

But I think Brian was concerned that the green LED indicated a fault - "not necessarily" might have been a better answer.

Rick Reineke · October 1st, 2012, 06:50 PM

"[i]But I think Brian was concerned that the green LED indicated a fault - "not necessarily" might have been a better answer[/i"]
Right, If the green LED is illuminated, and the companion transmitter is off, it could very well indicate an issue... a regional TV station in the frequency range, RF spray from a camera or other device, In any case, it should be investigated. Many 'one-man-band' entities won't want to deal with it, and therefor should use a cable. Even the Lecto, Zaxcom, a once an other $3k systems are not set and forget.

October 1st, 2012, 03:44 AM	#1
Brian Manning Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Dublin Ireland Posts: 57	Please Listen to my audio and give advice! audio test - YouTube Hi all, I placed the senny lapel mic on the ground beside the guitarist about 2 metres away from his amps. The greenlight thats says RF was on...what is this? Is it telling you that there is radio frequency interuption? First 20 seconds is colour, 2nd 20 seconds is B+W - both of these have original audio. In the 3rd 20 seconds or so, I tried fixing the audio in audition cs6 by sampling the hiss noise and reducing it. Then back in premiere, I put a multiband compressor and a lowpass on to knock the rest of the hiss out. It sounds a little bassy like theres a towel around the mic. Do you reckon i could get it any better? Many thanks, B

October 1st, 2012, 04:36 AM	#2
Colin McDonald Trustee Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Posts: 1,546	Re: Please Listen to my audio and give advice! The green light on the receiver only comes on when you are in Ireland. :-) No, really, that's just confirming it is receiving a signal from the transmitter - it goes out if the Mute function on the TX is enabled (there's an indicator on the RX display for Mute). Interestingly, it still shows a green light on mine even if the mic is disconnected on the TX. Your video is only 51 seconds long, so the "3rd 20 seconds or so" is not really long enough to tell if the background noise is reduced much. Any chance of putting up a link to the original audio as a WAV or AIFF before YouTube compresses it further? I've yet to hear a guitar amp that didn't hiss and hum at least a bit, so I thought the sound was not bad for the conditions as far as can be heard from a Youtube video. If you are still using the Sennheiser ME 2 lav mic that was supplied with the kit then the best way to improve your audio would be to replace that with a better lav mic. I've been using a Sennheiser MKE 2-ew Gold for a while now and the difference is really quite noticeable - it would certainly improve the top end (assuming it is there to be heard on the guitar amp in the first place). Since you are dealing with an acoustic guitar, ideally you would be better micing the guitar itself rather than the amp but I appreciate that may not be practical in the circumstances.

October 1st, 2012, 11:49 AM	#3
Rick Reineke Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: New York Posts: 2,038	Re: Please Listen to my audio and give advice! Aside from when in Ireland,..The green light on the portable receiver indicates it is receiving an RF signal.. but it does not indicate it's carrying the desired audio.. OR if it's actually originating from it's companion transmitter.. or elsewhere. Audio should be monitored throughout the shoot for RF hits and.. no audio at all.

October 1st, 2012, 12:16 PM	#4
Colin McDonald Trustee Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Posts: 1,546	Re: Please Listen to my audio and give advice! Right you are, Rick! It's amazing how many people don't monitor the audio as it is recorded. I wonder how often they don't bother to watch the viewfinder on the camera as it records. As I mentioned, my G2 set gives a healthy green RF light with the mic disconnected so you can't assume that all is well from the green light. But I think Brian was concerned that the green LED indicated a fault - "not necessarily" might have been a better answer.

October 1st, 2012, 06:50 PM	#5
Rick Reineke Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: New York Posts: 2,038	Re: Please Listen to my audio and give advice! "[i]But I think Brian was concerned that the green LED indicated a fault - "not necessarily" might have been a better answer[/i"] Right, If the green LED is illuminated, and the companion transmitter is off, it could very well indicate an issue... a regional TV station in the frequency range, RF spray from a camera or other device, In any case, it should be investigated. Many 'one-man-band' entities won't want to deal with it, and therefor should use a cable. Even the Lecto, Zaxcom, a once an other $3k systems are not set and forget.