Bruce Watson
Forum Replies Created
-
[Terry Nutkins] “I am hoping that ultimately it does not appear to be a colossal loss in quality, but it is certainly less than perfect – primarily due to loss of bass and presence; coloration; and the room being more apparent. Additionally there are a few instances where the subject leans forward substantially, thus going noticeably off-axis.”
It should not be a “colossal loss in quality” since this particular mic is popular for dialog work in Hollywood, and they often record in the 45-60cm range. If you’ve been to movies, you’ve heard plenty of dialog recorded at 45-60cm and further out. I would consider this to be more “normal” than your work around 30cm. Indeed, recording so close as you did resulted in very noticeable proximity effect, some high frequency boost due to being so close, and a loss of room tone. This isn’t necessarily good; many post people would consider it bad (because it’s more stuff they have to fix).
[Terry Nutkins] “At this stage I am wondering to what extent the inferior audio can be treated so that it can seamlessly match the audio where the mic was placed 4-8” closer.”
Consider the reverse instead. That is, instead of wondering how to boost the bottom end and the presence region of your more distant recordings, you might want to consider reducing the bottom end and presence region of your close recordings. It’s much easier to add some skillfully designed reverb to your close recordings than it is to try to remove room tone from your more distant recordings. And remember that every room is different — room tone is not supposed to match from room to room. So when you cut from scene to scene, it’s expected that room tone will be different across the cuts.
-
[Daniel Stone] “We just bought three sets of the Sennheiser G3 wireless audio kits and they’re a nightmare”
Well, at least you start with a good attitude.
[Daniel Stone] “We do the Easy Setup and Sync at each location which doesn’t help at all.”
You’re keeping track of the frequencies you pick so that you use a different frequency for each transmitter/receiver set, yes? Including the Lectros. One of the interesting rookie mistakes people make is they carefully turn on exactly one receiver, run a freq. scan, pick the default frequency, sync with the transmitter, then shut that pair off and power up the next one. Rinse and repeat. And they all end up on the same frequency.
[Daniel Stone] “And we’re dealing with talking heads no more than 10 feet from the camera.”
And for this you’re using wireless? Wireless is a last resort, not a first. If you can run XLR cables, then run cables. The best wireless system sounds almost as good as a $20 cable, and is much less reliable.
[Daniel Stone] “Before I throw these in the dumpster I thought I’d see if there’s a trick or something we’re not doing right.”
Sounds like operator error to me. I’ve managed to get flawless service from my Sennheiser G3s in a mid-town Manhattan hotel, and on the associated trade show floor. There are few more challenging RF environments. I’m just sayin’ that the equipment is up to the challenge if you are.
The “trick” as you put it, is to recognize that radio transmitters are not plug-n-play fully automatic devices that you turn on “and they just work”. I wish that were the case, but it is not. Instead, one has to understand how the equipment works, how RF works, and how various pieces of equipment work together or against each other. Pick the right frequencies for each separate wireless set and use them all properly and they should all play together nicely. Don’t forget to silence the noise makers (cell phones, pagers, etc., and by silence I mean power them down so they cease talking to the cell phone towers).
Just remember that thousands and thousands of people are successfully using the Sennheiser wireless systems every day. If you aren’t… do you really think it’s the equipment?
-
Ah, another thought — the MKH60 (not the 8060, but the 60) should have a flatter response curve. All the non-80xx mics do. The MKH20 for example is ruler flat from 20-20k, perhaps the flattest omni mic readily available.
-
[Ty Ford] “If you’re outside and surrounded by hard, flat surfaces, e.g. pavement, walls, windows, the guns may not sound as good. It’s all about what they’re picking up from the sides.”
That’s why I said “generally”. And it’s why I don’t favor shotgun mics for interior work.
[Ty Ford] “I’m not sure how widely accepted the 8050 or 8060 are yet.”
The dialog recording pros over on Jeff Wexler’s JWSound Group forum seems to be very high on 8050/8060 mics as a group. I’ve been following the JWSound Group forums for years. One of the big reasons they seem to like the Sennheisers is that they are RF condensor mics, and therefore handle wet conditions well. This group also is very high on the Schoeps CMC5/6 with mk41 capsule (hypercardioid) for interior work.
I like the Schoeps mics too, but even used they are often well over the $1200 budget of the OP, so I didn’t bother to mention them.
[Ty Ford] “It does have a “smiley face” (big on bottom, big on top) EQ that I didn’t like for voice.”
But the dialog guys like this. Given that boom operators are usually 45+cm from talent’s mouth, the bottom end boost works fairly nicely for either men or women to give their voice a bit of extra warmth. The high end boost includes the presence range which is usually a nice plus for dialog clarity.
We aren’t talking singing here. I don’t think either the 8050 or 8060 will be on very many recordist’s top 10 list for singers.
For the OP: rent your choice if you can. Try it out in your own work, see what you think before you spend the money and commit to it.
-
… lets just edit the question to ask will a different type of mike than the AT 4053 be better for outdoor shoots and if so what would you suggest up to about $1200.
In general, a shotgun can sound better in exteriors when booming dialog. For $1200, I’d be looking for a Sennheiser MKH 8060. A large amount of exterior dialog recording in Hollywood is done with 8060s. A lot of people like the Sanken CS-3E also, but it’s another $200.
Don’t forget wind protection. For exteriors you’ll want a basket and a furry at least. Something like the new Rode/Rycote blimp windshield.
-
Rob and Richard have answered most of your questions. But there are always questions that newbies don’t know enough to ask.
In this case, if you’re going to film outdoors, you’re going to want to have wind protection for your mics. This is almost a requirement for boomed mics outdoors. You’re looking at something more or less like the new Rode blimp with the Rycote suspension (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?N=11056426&InitialSearch=yes&sts=pi). It’s possible that you might be able to get by with a slip on furry like the new Rycote Super-Softie, it depends on your environment.
Another thing is humidity. If you’re going to be filming in the desert, no worries. But if it’s a rainforest in the rainy season, you’ll have to find a mic that can stand it and still work. The best for that duty IMHO are the Sennheisers. These are RF condensers and aren’t much effected by humidity. This is one of the reasons the MKH 416 keeps handing around — one of the most popular shotgun mics for dialog recording out there. Still. And the used markets are flooded with them (and they are widely counterfeited, so be careful).
The real problem though is that no one on your crew is a boom op. It’s not something you can pick up overnight. It takes some talent, a lot of practice, and dedication to the craft. Moving a mic at speed without creating any handling noise, hitting aim points with precision, and not dipping into the frame or leaving a visible boom shadow takes a special temperament. Just sayin’.
-
“can anyone help me decide between the 788T and the Zaxcom Nomad field recorders?”
What are you planning to use them for?
-
Take a look at / listen to the Oscar Sound Tech lavs (https://oscarsoundtech.com/). I bought two to replace the stock lavs from Sennheiser for my G3 wireless systems. A very significant upgrade. And they’ll also run over XLR cables with the optional XLR power supply. Highly recommended, and much less expensive than the Rode lav.
That said, they are somewhat sensitive to handling noise. But if you follow “standard procedure” when mounting lavs, you’ll make a cable loop below the mic and stick it down with gaffers’ tape (or something) which usually takes care of cable handling noise, at least for me.
-
The MixPre-D does have a USB port, and it does have AES3 output. So it’s got a ADC on board. I’m thinking it’s probably possible to use it as a USB audio interface to your computer. But I’ve never tried it, so I don’t really know.
-
The joy of a MixPre-D is that you can run balanced line out to a separate recorder, like a DR100mkII (I don’t know if your Zoom H4N can take pro line out), while simultaneously sending unbalanced mic out to your camera. That’s how I use mine.
If your camera audio is good enough, you can use it without any sync issues in post, and the recorder files become backups. If camera audio not good enough, you can use it as a guide track to help sync the audio from your recorder in post.
But if money is tight, a Tascam DR-60D seems like the obvious choice for use with a DSLR.