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).

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 (http://www.shure.com/pdf/booklets/audio_for_video_production.pdf), that answered all of my questions and then some.

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

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 (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&postid=154986#post154986), my question is: What do you guys think? Is this mic good stuff for video?

What do you think?

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/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=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)

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

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:

Richard - wanted to let you know that your v2k camera is out of surgery and
sounds great! I made your cables and just have to attach the MixPre to your
camera. I think I will get it out tomorrow.
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

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 (http://www.sounddogs.com/start.asp)? 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.

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

All standard XLR cables have one female end and one male end.
All standard XLR mics have a male output.
Any standard XLR device that receives a signal will have a female input. Standard XLR outs from a device will be male.

The only time this may be different is at some hotel PA installations to prevent someone from using standard cables to input a signal to the house system.

The other use for XLR gender changers is to convert an XLR to TRS cable between inputting or outputting.

Not all adapters are bidirectional, so using a gender changer to reverse the hookup of an adapter may not give the desired result.

Soundtrack is worth the price.
What you need to remember is that the sounds aren't "sounds" as you'd think of midi-triggered sounds from your sound card. They are real recordings of some of the best musicians in the world, recorded (generally) at the better studios available, using very high end equipment. They are actual performances, of actual musicians. Therefore, the quality is almost always very good.

I need some assistance in understanding how to set up the Audio for a XL1S. I would like to use the on board mic and a wireless lav. I will be using the Senn EW100 for the wireless. I know the Senn has a mini out put. Do I need additional adapters or will the Senn plug in with a mini to mini cable, and all is well?

Found it - I was of course looking in the wrong place!

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12726&highlight=EW100

Hey gang, the official Sony/VASST announcement is out for the Vegas 5 VASST tour, featuring myself and Gary Kleiner. We've added a couple cities, but more importantly, added a FREE evening event sponsored by Sony, where we'll be showing quite a bit of software, and going over some of the new features and workflow of the Sony Media Software tools on the evening before the 8 hour VASST training day in each city.
Specifics, including discount information, registration links for both the free and paid events can be found at
www.vasst.com/mailers/sonyblast.htm
Don't forget to check out the Vegas 5 veg contest, some great prizes there, too.
Gary and I are looking forward to meeting you all on the road!

Stinkin' spaces! Sorry. Link is fixed now. Thanks for the heads up.
www.vasst.com/mailers/sonyblast.htm

Does anyone have a schematic or plans for modifying a Sennheiser Evolution 100
transmitter's input to roll of low frequencies. I am trying to combat the
"motorboating" that occurs when using a Countryman in an automobile.

thanks in advance!
Hi Gerry, I had exactly this problem 15 years ago when I bought 3 x
Sennheiser 2012 radio mike systems.

Small, great design but being German the response was flat from 20Hz
to whatever
and when they were used in a car or on a boat the low frequencies
would drive the compansion system (only one compansion system) into
chaos.

I experimented with an active hi-pass filter round the mic channel but
it
tended to be unstable so I then reduced the input capacitor from 10uF
down
to something like 0.18uF and it changed the performance like a dream.

I suggest you look into such a modification.

Just goes to show that often the guys that design this stuff never put
it to the test like you and I!!!!

Kind regards

Mike

The Sennheiser Evo system does not use a rolloff in the audio path like the
3000/5000 series. In the 3k/5k there is a 24db/octave rolloff at about 80Hz to
allow for transmission of battery information.

In order to design a rolloff filter that will be effective if one uses just a
cap, that is good for 6db/octave. OK, but you'd have to set the knee at about
250Hz to have an effect at the 80Hz you need. Your overall result is very thin
sounding audio. So we need to more components in a different place in the
circuit to get a steeper slope at a lower frequency to do what you want.

I have Sennheiser schematics and I'll do some investigating but at this point,
to cure this electronically inside the transmitter will be expensive and
non-reversible. Better to use a cheap Radio Shack lavalier that has no low end.
--
Regards,

Klay Anderson
http://www.klay.com
Hi Brad,
Your proposed capacitor between the mic leads would roll off the highs
which is the opposite of what you want to do. Replacing the DC
blocking cap that is in series with their input should work. The cap
is C101 and is a 0.22uF capacitor. I would replace it with a 0.047
cap. That would move the first pole from 40 Hz to 160 Hz. The roll
off will be gentle and even though 160 Hz roll off sounds brutal, it
actually won't sound bad on voice.
Disclaimer: This ain't our product and the unit we have may be out of
date. If a Sennheiser expert or someone with actual experience makes a
better suggestion, take it.
Larry F
Lectro
Hi Klay,
Looking at an Evolution we have here, there looks like an 18 dB per
octave roll off formed by C101, C102, and C104. Doing a Spice
simulation, the front end -3 dB point is 30 Hz with a rapid falloff
below that. Using the value of capacitor that I recommended earlier,
the -3 dB point is moved to 95 Hz at 6 dB per octave if the electret
impedance is very high. For real world mics the roll off is probably
at 120 Hz. Again, I would try the 0.047 uF capacitor in place of C101
and see if that is enough roll off. If not, try a 0.022u to roll off
at 160 Hz.

A better way to form the filter is to replace all three capacitors
with 0.1u and thus have a rapid roll off below 65 Hz. This is a pretty
good place to roll off in general and you could just leave the mod in
permanently. IMHO, that is a better universal roll off and is what we
have done for years on units that don't have roll off controls.
Previous posted comments about sticking my nose in, still apply.

Best Regards,
Larry F
Lectro
Hi Brad,
Your proposed capacitor between the mic leads would roll off the highs
which is the opposite of what you want to do. Replacing the DC
blocking cap that is in series with their input should work. The cap
is C101 and is a 0.22uF capacitor. I would replace it with a 0.047
cap. That would move the first pole from 40 Hz to 160 Hz. The roll
off will be gentle and even though 160 Hz roll off sounds brutal, it
actually won't sound bad on voice.
Disclaimer: This ain't our product and the unit we have may be out of
date. If a Sennheiser expert or someone with actual experience makes a
better suggestion, take it.
Larry F
Lectro

(Lectro as in Lectrosonics)

This USENET group is rec.arts.music.production.sound.
If you ever read the USENET groups, this is a good and very high-end discussion about sound. They frequently discuss gear that costs more than my entire sound outfit.

The best way is to google them. Rec.Art.s.Movies.Prod.Sound is the best followed by Rec.Audio.Pro The information contained in 4 to 5 years of posting from some very big names in the industry is absolutely phenominal.

Regular posters include John Coffey, Glen Trew, Jeff Wexler (mixer of last Samuria), Jay Rose, Ty Ford and many many more. Marty Atias and Oleg Kaizerman who are members herem, are long time contributors to RAMPS and RAP.

Use the links below. Try typing in "boom mic" , "hypercardoid" or "shotgun", and wind up with several days reading. You couldn't buy an encyclopedia this complete. These people know their stuff

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=rec.arts.movies.production.sound

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=search+any+topic&btnG=Google+Search&meta=group%3Drec.audio.pro

I'm looking to buy two sets of wireless microphones. Right now I am using Samson's cheapest set of wireless, but they don't have channel knobs, so I can only use one at a time, which is a pain. I'd like something that will let me use two mics at once, and is sub 300 dollars a set. Thanks.

AKG PT40 & PR40 are right at $300 a set, work very, very well, and come in about 6 different freqs, in the 800 MHz range. Diversity receive too. I love mine.

How would I go about getting good sound recording a live band (in a bar) with a VX2100?

What do you have to work with, do you have any other gear than just the camera?

Good is subjective, it depends on what your standards are, it would also help to know what you'd use the footage for. Most importantly , what is your budget.

Read a few pages of posts here in the audio forum, to get a feel for the site and then give us more to work with.

Hey Gang,
We keep getting lots of emails about the VASST tours, wanted to post updates to maybe save our office manager from replying to so many:
We've got the Ulead VASST tour with Mike Downey and Jeffrey P. Fisher, details at http://www.vasst.com/touragenda/uleadcertagenda.htm
Gary Kleiner and I will be the instructors on this tour, tag-teaming various functions and segments through the day.
With Gary on the tour, we'll be giving away a copy of Excalibur and Neon at each city, plus everyone gets some fun goodies in their attendee bags from Gary.
We'll also have great products from Artbeats, Sony, VASST, and other fun things in the attendee bags. We'll have giveaways from Sony, ADS, Artbeats, VASST, and other manufacturers.
There is a FREE Sony event the night before each full day training event in each city, where we'll be showcasing Vegas, ACID, Sound Forge, and Noise Reduction, you can register for this FREE event on the VASST website, http://www.vasst.com/registration
I think I speak for Gary as well in saying we're looking forward to getting out there and meeting you all, spending time in your city, and getting to know some of you directly.
Audio is a featured section in the day as well.
See you on the tour!!
See full tour details at
http://www.vasst.com/touragenda/vegas5agenda.htm

Hi everyone,

I am looking into getting a MIPro MR-801 wireless system. I haven't seen any opinions on this set, and only one review of any MIPro system.

Anyone used this set or other MIPro products?

Mi search still continue...In italy there are no way to purchase what you want without driving for hundreds ok km. So I decide to order mi mic by internet but... I can't test it with my camera and I have to trust you...so please help me. I would a good mic for my mx500 camera, the sound of the onboard one sometimes it's no clear...
The 2 most named in this forum are:

Apex 191, but it require an xlr adaptor and an hotshoe adaptor

Ezden ECZ-990

Frank gave me his impression about the first one, now I want to know about the ezden, and of course if someone test it with a mx500...

thanks Marco

Hey Douglas, the scoop on the web site sounds awesome! Am all signed up and am looking forward to meeting you in LA.

Marcia

For general run & gun type video and just a basic replacement for the PD170 mic, is the ME64 a good replacement? I already have a ME66 but want something not so directional for general purpose use. Will the ME64 fit the bill? If not, what Sennheiser can I use that is a basic replacement for the PD170 mic? I want to be able to use my K6 module I already have.

Rather than hijack the thread "building mood with music for dramatic video" (which is relevant and highly recommended) I chose to ask my question separately.

I cheaped-out and bought the ACID Music (Screenblaster) which by various reviews has most of the music creation features of the full ACID Pro. The collection of loops bundled with ACID Music is too heavily hip-hop and techno for my preferences. I would like recommendations from users. Which loop CD collections are the most useful for scoring documentary genre videos? If you could choose any five CDs to score your videos, what would you choose? I found a good deal on loop collections through efolletts.com (an academic discounter) and I'd like input from users so that I buy effectively.

Joseph

Which 5 only?....damn, that's hard.

Any of the Orchestral series.
Any/All of the Bill Laswell libes
Numina
Junkyard Rhythms
American Piano

Are my forced 5 picks. But that's a really tough one.
Any of the Hark Production libraries are great too, but they're not Sony-distributed. I think it's http://www.harkproductions.com and tell Kevin I sent you.

We'll be giving away a bunch of free loop libes on the VASST ACID and VASST Vegas tour, starting in Denver next week.

http://www.vasst.com/training_tours.htm

The 64 is really your only option if you want a less directional mic for general purpose use with your K6.
The 62 is omnidirectional.
The 65 is designed to be a handheld hypercardioid.

Two other mics that might be useful in this situation are the AT3031 cardioid and the AT873r hypercardioid. Each is in the $170 ballpark for the complete mic. They are both phantom only, so if you were also planning on using the mic separately from your camera this might not work out.
If your PD170 mic input is noisy and benefits from a very hot mic, these mics aren't as sensitive as the 64. However they generally work better in loud environments like live music or indoor sports.
They would have the added benefit of being a complete mic, you could still use your K6/ME66 simultaneously.

With any of these choices, you need a good mini-furry windscreen for outdoor use under run and gun conditions. Don't forget to factor that into your cost.