Rodney Morris
Forum Replies Created
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The me90 requires phantom power to operate correctly. However, it will still pass audio without it. The result will be a very low audio signal with distortion in the peaks (transients) of the audio. Confirm that you have turned on phantom power.
I’m not familiar with the me90. It sounds like it has the k6 power module and then a screw on mic capsule. I believe the k6 can also be battery powered. If you are operating with a battery, make sure it is a new battery.
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Do your clients supply a flash card that they can take with them (for the transcription)? Or do you transfer the files to a computer and burn a disc?
The trusty CS104 huh? I would have gotten that mixer if the 442 hadn’t just become available (back in ’01).
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Hey Ed,
I’m curious as to the Marantz unit. You say it sounds fine (for transciption). Are you using the built in preamps or are you feeding a line level input into it? I really was serious about purchasing one a few months back, but was scared off by reports of noisy preamps. Would you ever use it as a main recording device?I have a portable ProTools system with my laptop that I use to record v/o with a local celebrity at his home. When I worked in a studio I would record to ProTools and to a DAT backup, and it saved me a couple of times when ProTools crashed. Currently, I have no such backup system. Thus, the interest in the Marantz. I probably wouldn’t use the preamps on it anyway, but if I ever had to, it would be nice to know I could trust them.
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Also, the H4 comes with a built in USB port for easy connection to your computer. Unfortunately, the H4 only records PCM or MP3 files – I would’ve liked to have at least seen BWF (WAV) files. I guess that’s one of the compromises of this product for it’s low price.
What’s your budget for this?
For the ultimate in portability, check out the HHB Flashmic. I’ve used HHB recorders in the past and was very pleased.
BTW – if you buy from Sweetwater, you should be able to get them to send you three or four different recorders for you to demo, assuming that you’re going to buy one of them.
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The Sound Devices 302 is a three channel mixer and would be perfect for what you want to do. I wouldn’t even bother looking at anything else. Expect to pay around $1300.
I’ve actually been considering the Zoom H4 Handy Recorder ($300) as a backup recording device to my portable ProTools rig. It’s 24bit capable and has 2 XLR inputs. I could care less about the built in effects. I considered the Marantz PMD670, but had reservations due to several reviews claiming it has a noisy preamp. I’m assuming you don’t need something with timecode features.
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If want to learn to edit audio, then you should learn on a ProTools system. It is, IMO, the best audio editing software available. Some of the other DAWs excel in other areas, but I think ProTools is the editing tool of choice. Besides that, it’s the most popular software and the most accessible in studios around the world. So if you’re going to learn, you might as well learn the system that might lead you to work in the future.
If you are wanting to learn how to add reverb, delays and other effects then you need something that has lots of good sounding plug-ins. While ProTools is great, some of the Digi plug-ins aren’t. You have to buy 3rd party plug-ins to get great sounding reverbs, EQs and such. You can certainly learn with Digi’s plugs, but I would upgrade eventually.
On the super cheap side, try Audacity. It’s free, cross-platform audio recording and editing software.
https://audacity.sourceforge.net/
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Rent (or buy) some duvatine curtains and hang them about a foot away from the back and side walls. Make sure they’re long enough to reach the floor. If it’s a drop ceiling, you can just tie them on to the metal frames. Use the fourth duvatine to divide the room in half (or whatever dimensions work). I’m assuming the floors have soom type of industrial carpet on them which is fine. If it’s a hard floor then you’ll need to put something down (like moving blankets, just make sure you don’t create a trip hazard for the talent).
If you don’t have enough money to do the audio right, then you don’t have enough money to do the show. 🙂
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As Ty said, without more info it’s difficult to troubleshoot what was happening with the Lectros. You can get Lectrosonics in different frequency blocks. It’s possible the block the clients systems were in were just jammed up by competing frequencies, especially if you’re in a hotel near an airport. Also, the transmitters may have been set too low. With the Lectro analog systems (not sure about the digital hybrid), the higher the audio level being sent from the transmitter, the stronger the signal and vice versa. If it’s too low, you could be hearing noise up, which sounds like a quick “phhhtt” and would happen occasionally.
Hire an audio tech who knows what they’re doing and will provide the equipment. That’ll help more than anything. BTW I’m available in the SW Florida area… hint, hint 🙂
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Well, it’s a good thing I’m not trying to impress anyone now is it?
I understand full well that 1kHz tone has always been the MAIN reference tone, but it certainly isn’t the ONLY reference tone. There are some mixers available (Sound Technologies) that have 400 Hz tone as the default tone. As long as the said tone is 0dB (-20db digital) reference level, then I see no real problem using 400, 600 or 1000, unless that client has specified reference levels ahead of time (ie, 1kHz at 0dB, 400Hz at 8dB below reference, etc.). In the absence of analog tape machines that need multiple frequency alignment everytime you record, I see little point for your argument.
I’ve been using 400Hz for a couple of years and have heard no comments from anyone “down the line” which means that it works well enough to not cause any problems. Trust me, if there was a problem our clients would let me know – QUICKLY. I understand different tones exist for a reason, and though I don’t propose to know it all (far from it), I do have a pretty good idea what works in a post house (I worked in one, as an audio mixer) – 400Hz has never been a problem.
Maybe you could point me to some resources that will convince me to not use 400Hz. If I’m wrong, I’ll change my mixer back to 1kHz and will post an apology and the correct info. I certainly don’t want to be guilty of propogating incorrect information and practices that are detrimental to our industry. I’ve worked too hard to make a name for myself as a competent audio engineer to let that happen.
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I would suggest the new Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro. It is a firewire interface, not USB, so the latency issues with the original Mbox and Mbox 2 shouldn’t be a problem. I have the Mbox 2 (USB) and the latency issues with monitoring drive me batty. I use mine as a portable recording system for recording v/o with Dick Vitale. I’ve recorded v/o for Sprint, EA Sports, Scott’s Lawn and others using this system. I generally use either an Audio Technica 4050 condenser or my Schoeps MK-41 mic for the job.
Check this page to see if your system meets the requirements to run ProTools LE:
https://digidesign.com/index.cfm?langid=100&navid=54&itemid=24211