I haven't heard the MR8, but given that it's built with the same parts and manufacturer as the Zoom box, it's got to be pretty good. The Pre's are noisy on the Zoom, but all low priced pre's are noisy unless you've got a fairly hot mic and a fairly strong subject level.
Still, it's a PCM file, so if it's clean going in, it's clean coming out...
Seeing these just makes me laugh. When my band was on the road with ZZTop, we were in awe at the money Dusty had spent on a 'room' in the back of their bus, just for recording. And it didn't do near what these little suckers will do, for less than 1% of the cost.

Another Mic Comparison
 

A buddy and I did another mic comprarison. My oktava 012 with hyper capsule to his Neumann TLM103. We are in a fairly dead, but not very quiet room with both mics mounted eight inches away from my mouth, both up but at opposite sides. The oktava has a BBG on it, the Neumann has a pop screen in front of it. Both are run equal distances to a dual input preamp and recorded to seperate channels on the computer. The gain knobs are in the same position, which was a bit low, so I added 12db of gain to each track in Audition.

You can hear this comparison and a plug for donating to your local PBS station, by going to www.onequarterblue.com/mic_comparison enjoy.


P.S. I should mention that these clips were then converted to mp3 at 256kbs with a frequency limit set to 14000Hz.

SENN G2 due date?
 

Saw on a site that SENN G2 was due out "in Spring 2004." Does anyone have any more specific info on release date and any opinions on whether this is worth waiting for? (in terms of quality, ease of use, portability).

PS Saw an 8/03 thread here that the SENN G2 was "out in a few weeks." What happened?

Sound Devices recorders update
 

Sound Devices has added new pictures of their 7 series recorders. They have a cool-looking white housing. They've also posted video clips and are now claiming a Q2 release date.

http://www.sounddevices.com/products/7.htm

The 100 and 300 series are apparently available at
djmart now. Priced $50 more than the prior model. They have no word on the 500 series.
Curiously, their website does not list which
frequency range (i.e. A, B, or C) that they are offering.
B&H says April.
I think the size and weight reduction is worth the
wait. I guess the switch to AA batteries gives
a cost savings and longer run time.

Anyone tried/have the Core Sounds PDAudio-cd sound interface or Mic2496 Preamp?
 

Title says it all really, but I'm looking for a good quality recorder. On paper the devices look damned amazing and I might be tempted to link them with a pda as a portable recording solution.

Cheers
Aaron

Cad Gxl1200
 

I am curious about this mic.
Who can tell me more about it. Or who has heard it?

http://www.cadmics.com/gxl1200.htm

Good thing I'm honest (relatively anyway)
 

I just bought a Denecke AD-20 A/D converter from Core Sounds (sorry Chris, but none of the sponsors carry it) and when the box came it seemed a little heavy. I open it up, and dig around in the styrofoam peanuts. That's strange. There seems to be something else in there. Out comes not one, or even two, but SIX AD-20s. That's like two grand worth of gear! And the knucklehead FedEx guy had just left the box on top of the garbage can in front of our brownstone (I live in a pretty urban area). They seem like nice folks over at Core Sounds, so I'll send 'em back next week, but I'd be lying if I said unloading them on eBay didn't cross my mind.

Anyway, there's been nothing written about this unit in these forums, so I thought I'd write a little about my experience with it. I haven't had a lot of time to play with it, but it seems very rugged, and man is it quiet. I can't hear any self-noise. None. I know it's there, but this is my first experience recording with this type of gear and I'm really impressed. In fact, it makes me regret buying such an expensive mini-disc recorder since I'm bypassing its converter and pre-amp anyway. My advice to anyone looking to record on a mini-disc is buy the cheapest unit you can find on eBay (make sure it has the latest version of Atrac and manual recording) and spend the money on a good portable A/D converter. You'll end up spending about the same amount.

We're shooting tomorrow (Sunday) and I may use the unit. I usually never use new gear on a shoot, but I'd really like to give this a shot, so maybe I'll break my rule. I'll report back in here after I've used this thing for a while.

New Sennheiser E614
 

The E614 is a super-cardioid back-elektret condensor mic with a near flat frequencyresponce from 40 tot 20.000 Hz .

In Holland it is advised for € 199, incl. BTW. See Sennheiser.nl.

I have not seen it yet on the German site.


Message in English from Mojo Pie and in Dutch from Pro Audio Visie.

NB.: In between I found more specs on Sennheiser USA.

Indoor/outdoor mic - under $100
 

First off, I tried to search but didn't find anything, if i've missed a post somewhere I'm sorry.

I'm a high school senior and I need to buy a indoor/outdoor mic for around 100 dollars if possible.

Things I'm looking for:
No echo indoors while filming
Low ambience noise when filming outdoors

I'm also purchasing a DXA-6 beachtek adapter from b&h.

It would also be nice to use the mic with a boom stick incase the situation arises.

Is there even such a mic on the market?

I have a feeling that I'm going to get laughed at... but I'm running out of time before my film is due for our film fest.

Thanks guys!

-Kay

A while back, Bryan suggested the Apex 191 for me. It seems like a good cardioid for $99 Canadian. I still need a shock mount for it, though. I'm feeling that tomorrow I'll have some luck with finding one, one that I can slip into a hot-shoe as well as mount onto my tripod (or a b-pole).

Newbies - Audio Guide For Video Production
 

Ever since I purchased my GL2 this past month, I've been searching for ways to improve the audio. I knew what a microphone was, but that was about the extent of my knowledge when it came to audio.

Then I found this excellent guide, Audio Systems Guide for Video Production, that answered all of my questions and then some.

Now, I feel like I slept at a Holiday Inn lastnight ;)

Converting an audio file for phone conferncing
 

I recorded an audio, edited in FCP 4 then output it to a AIF file at 16 bit, 48 kz, no compression. The file sounded good. Our conferernce call company wants the file sent to them as a mono, 8 bit WAV file. No matter what I do, when I convert the file to mono, 8 bit...it picks up unacceptable static or noise.

I used the latest version of Peak to convert the file.

Anyone have any suggestions.

Mickey

Find a new conference call company that can handle files that aren't unacceptably compromised by squashing it so badly.
Or negotiate with your present company to allow for a compressed file type and bitrate that is still reasonable quality.
There isn't much you can do if you have no choice but to drop to 8-bit.

Ram

Referring to your last contribution, my question is: What do you guys think? Is this mic good stuff for video?

What do you think?

B&H PD170/wireless bundle
 

Anyone know how good the wireless system that is bundled in this package at B&H? Looking to use it to capture vows during weddings.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=306461&is=REG

Since this is a sound question, I'm moving the thread.

The wireless in question is the Sony UWP-C1 (66) True Diversity Portable Camera Mountable UHF Wireless Lavalier Microphone System (782 to 806 MHz)

what type of mic for this?
 

I have to shoot an outdoor sequence of a man who will be moving around near a stream and fish ladder with a 80ft waterfall in the background. He will be talking all the while describing the environment of the place.

What would be the best mic system to XLR camera input to assure I get good audio? Lav? Wireless lav, Shotgun, Boomed?
Any suggestions...

This is a toughie with running water. You need a lav, good pre, and time to set it up. Wireless is fine. Measure the distance as a fistmele, get the mic properly distanced, not as close as possible.
A boom with a GOOD and experienced operator, with a good zep and cat would be better, but the key words are good and experienced.
If you can run both, do it. Also, run one channel hot and the other not, and you should be very safe. Make sure the talent speaks up so he's not competing with the running water. That's really the critical element.

Submini splitter?
 

Anyone out there ever seen a submini splitter? I've got two I've made, but they are in kit boxes. I'm wondering if there is a molded end, or other type besides what I've built. These don't always pack well, but are rarely used, so I'd be fine with a molded "Y" cable.

Douglas
Sub mini as in 2.5mm or TA3?

sennheiser ME 64/k6-k6p mounted
 

HI all

I'd like to hear from anyone who has used the sennheiser ME64 microphone as a replacement for the NV-1. I'm thinking of getting one as my permenant on camera mic. I know people do use it on the pd150. So anyone with first hand experience?

Minidisk and microphone
 

I am looking for a stand-alone device to record sound at weddings and other events. In most cases the device will be a backup to my cameras, but in some cases I may need to rely on it as an additional sound source. Ideally the recorder should be capable of being used successfully with an omni microphone, a lav, or connected to a wireless receiver. Multiple channels would be a plus, but not absolutely necessary in this first unit.

I have never owned a minidisk or similar device, and so I'm not very familiar with them. I guess this may be an advantage as there appear to be some other choices out there now with flash and disk based solutions.

To simplify things, I am not very anxious to transfer the stored sound to my editing system using analog transfer. I'd be willing to pay a few hundred dollars extra to be able to download the captured audio quickly via a computer port.

Given my requirements what would you recommend? I'm interested in both the recorder and an omni microphone to plug into it.

Settings gains and levels for Evo 100
 

A couple of weeks ago I used my new Sennheiser Evo 100 ENG kit at my first wedding shoot. All went well, but I was a bit puzzled as to how I should set the various levels and sensitivities in the sound path for optimal results.

At the wedding shoot I had a Sony ECM-55b lav miv connected to the Evo transmitter (the little cube with the XLR at one end). The transmitter has various sensitivity levels in order to match the mics its gets mated with.

At the receiver end was the bodypack receiver. It has an output level control knob/dial.

Next was my SignVideo XLR adapter, which has its own adjustment knob.

Finally we get to the Sony VX-2000 and its own manual recording level control.

That's four indepenent controls in the path. What would be the best way to set each stage for best results?

Thanks for looking.

Another Greg Winter mod
 

Well, I ordered the complete mod job: Fix audio on the VX2000, make and supply custom cables, modify mixPre case(strengthening and tripod hole) and attach it to cam.
(I would have done the Octava mic if the Ebayer didn't ground mail it to Canada customs Arrgg ((you Canadians know what I mean)) instead of to Greg.)

Recieved this lovely message from www.GregWinter.com yesterday:

Thanks you Greg !!

Well, Greg phoned me today. All the work is done and he asks me if I wouldn't mind if he ships it tommorow. (All the time I'm saying one week is good and this is 2 days!) So, I say sure, heck its 7 o'clock and I hear his dinner engagement in the background!! Sure tommorow is fine! In the course of the conversation he lets out that he cut himself. I say bad? He says mmm..little cut... I say how?, (now feeling bad because I know its something to do with my cam) Well, he says, your camera is bigger now that the mixPRe is mounted and for it to fit in original box some styrofoam had to be removed.... Stiches? Probably.

I am posting this because I am thrilled with the service Greg offers and the professional and caring manner he does business.

Now my nice cam, please come home safely, the snows gone.:)

Thanks you GREG and the members of DVinfo.net!!!

UPS ground will take 3 days and be sure it's stessed that it was a repair. The weiners wanted $280 taxes and duty.

I wound up getting Greg to fax the UPS brokerage rerate dept.
Oyvey the pain !

Be sure to test the Oktava thoroughly. There are some duds out there.

HHB has a nice pro level Minidisc recorder out. I have used it with much sucess. However you may want to check out Marantz's Compact Flash recorders. They offer a wider selection of bitrates and compression. With minidisc your pretty much stuck with Atrac. Not that thats a bad thing. But the CF recorders allow you to get much longer record times

"hanging up phone" sound needed - Listener's perspective
 

Anyone know of a "hanging up phone" sound as heard by the listener, not from the perspective of the person hanging up?

(Tried recording it myself, but phones now don't make the type of noise I'm hoping for. It's the type of hang up sound heard in a Pink Floyd song (can't remember the name) where they recorded a call with an international operator, and the recipient keeps hanging up)

You've looked through SoundDogs? I just briefly scanned for "hang-up" and got quite a few results. Of course, these sound effects are not free. But they are generally well recorded for foley work.

Azden WR-22 Wireless Mic
 

What do you guys think of the Azden mic setup on this page: http://www.videoguys.com/azden.htm

I am looking at the Azden WR-22 dual wireless mic system on the right side of the page. Considering that I have a very limited budget, would this be a good buy? I like the ability to have one receiver that can pick up two wireless lav mics - maybe one for the officiant and one for the groom?

Thanks for your input!

Ref. book for audio and 24p issues
 

Ran across this today. Thought it might be of interest to some. Will try and go have a look at it this week. Could be a "must have" resource. Or not. :-) Have always heard that the DVX, which it mentions, has sync drift issues after 20 min., and this book claims to have some insights into all of that.

If anybody is interested, the site is:
http://www.locationsound.com/proaudio/ls/SBOK0002.html

Marcia

Basic audio adapter question (3.5 mono to 3.5 stereo)
 

Ok, here is the problem, my Optura 20 takes in a Stereo Mic input

I have this cheap Azden EX-413 mono microphone.

I have to plug in the mic's connector into the camera's jack 3/4th the way in to get sound from both the left and right channel. If I plug it in all the way, there is absolutely not sound. I'm guessing this is due to the fact the camcorder takes in a stereo input and the mic is mono. So I cut up a extra minijack stereo cable up, seperated the three wires. Since the stereo plug has 3 contacts, L, R, G, I combined the L and R. Then with the combined L and R I connected it the the tip of the mono mic's top contact. Then I took the ground of my cut up stereo wire and connected it to the ground contact of my mono mic. It still does not work, why?

edit: So in theory, this adapter from radio shack should work,

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F007%5F002%5F001%5F001&product%5Fid=274%2D374

Catalog #: 274-374

Provide mono output from stereo jack!

Accepts 1/8" mono phone plug
Fits 1/8" stereo phone jack

but the thing is, i'm going the other way around, mono mic to stereo input!

Any 3.5mm (1/8")mono to stereo adapter will work.
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F007%5F002%5F001%5F001&product%5Fid=274%2D882

anyone use the Sony WCS-999 wireless lav mic?
 

the Sony WCS-999 is supposed to be their comsumer level wireless lavalier mic.

Has anyone used it and can you report your results? ARe you using it with a XLR system?

I just bought one...hoping it's good enough for short films or documentaries.

Sound Forge 7 DVD's just about ready..
 

Gang,
We're taking pre-orders on the Sound Forge 7 VASST DVD featuring Jeffrey P. Fisher of the DMN forums. You can see a short stream on the VASST site now. This DVD has a special section dedicated just to video production, but covers all aspects of audio for video and covers a tremendous amount of music information too.
http://www.vasst.com/dvdproducts/soundforge.htm
Community prices apply.

Vegas 5.0 VASST Tour dates, locations, and agenda!
 

Folks, the Vegas 5.0 dates and loose agenda are posted on the VASST site, the agenda will show more in-depth when Sony officially launches Vegas 5.0.
http://www.vasst.com/touragenda/vegas5agenda.htm will get you there if you'd like more information.
Notice the addition of Toronto to this year's tour, and Orlando as well.
More, much more to come, along with some very exciting and fun news for each city. Stay tuned.
In three cities, we'll also be doing the ACID "No Copyrights" tour with Jeffrey P. Fisher in back-to-back dates, so it's your chance to catch a bunch of us on the tour. We hope to see you on the road.
Vegas 5.0 is simply awe-inspiring. Wait'll you see it in ACTION!
When you register, use the code COMM to receive special DVInfo.net registration discounts.

Registered for San Mateo and Acid. See you there Spot!

Ok I got it yesterday. Works great. Nice quality.

But one question, this may apply to all lavaliers. I get better audio whent he subject holds the mic up to his mouth, than with it on his chest. That is a given.

Are there mics out there that will do an outstanding job while on the chest? I'm thinking about volume and quality.

Apple soundtrack
 

Is it worth the money? I have a friend that is a pretty damn good composer so I can record his keyboard straight into the computer, but it sounds like a keyboard. Is Soundtracks quality really good? I am thinking I can use them in comjunction with each other.

Thanks Ken.

What about this one:

Basic question: what gender connectors do I need on the cable? I am planning to run it through the Shure A96F on the camera end so I need a male connector on the camera end of the cable. But what gender needs to be on the mic end of the cable that connects to the K6?