[Sergei Toscani]

Hi Peter,

thanks so much for your reply and not at all flippant, I know what it’s like having to constantly explain the basics to nai’oobs, a little humour is necessary!

So HEADPHONES. Yes that’s what I was thinking with the Sescom LN2MIC-ZMH4-MON, with the additional headphone jack splitter.
As I wanted to have the Zoom to one side close to the boom mic also picking up sound as you suggest in 2) the problem would then be how does the camerman listen in? So the Sescom means that he doesnt need to be close to the Zoom… …Ok i’ll try and kill my inner noob – how about I just use a 3.5mm jack stereo extension cable to run from the Zoom to the headphones and the man??! Done, right?

3) Do you mean that the 5D’s audio capture would be awful – does it have any meters or cans? I didnt mean settings on the 5D for picking up its own audio, rather are there (in that setup) any optimum, relevant 5D settings to get the best out of the recorder.
But it was just a paranoid question as Im sure the Zoom doesnt rely on the 5D at all to record the sound well or badly. And im scrapping the sescom as youve suggested (im not that lazy with post or in a huge rush)

Thanks for the tip on max sound levels.
As I’ve not yet got my hands on the Zoom (and ive heard that the manual is terrible) do you know if the Zoom has any way of setting up markers to warn of sound levels reached, such as showing a maximum/highest db on the last recording or does that have to be done through pure observation whilst the audio is coming in during sound tests/rehearsals?

4) I think i’ll rent a boom pole with a new shotgun mic and xlr cable running straight from it into the Zoom. I’ll just clamp the boom to a mic floor stand and lazy arm.

If the mics are so sensitive to movement to need the suspension mount i think i’d prefer to work around a static boom/mic – more so than an unqualified/unsuitable/unimpressed stand-in to do the job. As you say the audio is almost everything in these situations – the shots and camera angles can work around the boom’s presence.

Thanks for the advice and for the reminder that it’s not just about setting it up as well as possible. Its blow for blow attention and checking that it sounds good that gives the results. I will of course be playing around with it and doing some of my own homework beyond merely asking you to spoon feed me.

Thanks again
(I’ll hold my breath)