[Ty Ford]

U said: “Thanks, I know I wont get much for that amount … what standard are we talking about anyhow, what should I be saving for – still talking lowest prize as there’s so much equipment and software I also need to get my hands on… though audio is kind of underestimated people forget audio makes up for half the experience …”

I said: Frequency response, smoothness of response, dispersion angles for the mids and/or tweeters, peak power handling capabilities, if the monitors are powered.

FYI, professional film and video mics normally run from $600 to $3000. Lavs around $200-$300. Wireless systems $700-$10,000.

I’d say more than 50%. Video without audio is just “Surveillance. ”

U said:Six pairs, ok, I’m convinced – are you selling out?

I’m not sure whether to be offended or amused by your comment. I’m not here to convince you. You asked a question. I’m answering it.

U Said: “Somewhere one Hi Fi nerd wrote that sound is like wine so many grapes, so many tastes…”

I said: Go with your gut there Joanna, Find that Hi-Fi nerd and squeeze him till he gives up what the best monitors are for $600 a pair. I’m sure you’ll be fine. It’s only audio.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hi Joanna,

I have six pair of ATH-M50.

Good headphones are important, but you also need good monitors and the proper acoustical environment for them.

$600/pr is not a lot to pay for the kind of fidelity you may come to need to prevent mixing and EQ errors. Good monitors also increase mixing efficiency, allowing you do work more quickly and with less listener fatigue. I don’t know of any good monitors at your price point that deliver that.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Joanna and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

You need monitors as good or better than the best playback system you expect your video to be heard on.

What would that be?

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Greg and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

Sounds like maybe you crushed the transmitter input but not the received audio. So you’d get a lower height waveform, but it may still be clipped. I’d have to have a clip to look at and listen to, but that’s what your explanation sounds like to me.

There are several de-clipper plug ins on the market that MAY improve the sound. iZotope makes Rx.

Now you know why the pros ALWAYS listen to production audio.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Gabriel and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

Brian is absolutely correct. The Rode NTG-2 is such a camera. Even then, you need a special cable because most cameras have stereo audio input jacks, as does this Olympus.

The microphone is mono. So there’s a compatibility issue. You need a special cable that bridges the mono mic across both channels of the recorder. That cable looks just like a “normal” cable, but it’s wired so that pin #2 of the mic is connected to both the tip and ring of the 1/8″ plug.

You may have other issues because there is no synchronization between the camera and recorder. Each device has a clock in it. Yes, they are supposed to be running at the same rate, but it is not at all unusual for the clocks to be somewhat different. The Olympus audio of the same exact scene shot by the camera, may, in fact, be longer or shorter that the camera clip. The longer the shot the more it may be off.

Were I you, I would test this first by shooting a half hour on the camera and running the recorder at the same time. Use hand claps several times, especially at the beginning and end of the half hour to help line up the clips on the time line. Import both clips to the time line and see if they sync, or are even the same length. If they are, don’t expect the same thing to happen if you substitute another recorder or camera.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Stephen and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

David Clark noise attenuating headsets are what you want:

https://www.davidclark.com/PDFfiles/GroundSupportBrochure.pdf

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Matt and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

Hiss can creep in anywhere.

Most wireless have some hiss

Wireless with smaller mics like the B6 can have more because the diaphragms of the smaller mics just don’t generate the voltage that lavs with larger diaphragms usually do.

Not hitting the transmitter with enough modulation from the mic causes hiss.

Running the transmitter low and the receiver high can cause hiss.

Improper connections can cause hiss.

The issue is Gain Staging; understanding what level has to be set where in different places along the chain.

You may have to reduce the sensitivity of the transmitter if you have a shouting scene or you’ll overdrive the transmitter and nothing will undo that. You may have to raise the sensitivity of the transmitter if you have a very quiet person talking.

After you get that right check the receiver output and the recorder/camera input. If any input or output is turned up too high, you’ll likely get more hiss. Finding the sweet spot is where it’s at.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Curt and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

I see you hijacked this thread. In the future please start a new thread. It makes things easier to follow.

You have two DSLRs. DSLRs in general are notoriously bad for audio. You have chosen an OK mixer but getting your audio to something decent to record while running.

It sounds to me like you may be in over your head here and, if you want good audio (not budget or useless audio) you might consider hiring a competent sound person rather than risking a disaster.

Where are you ?

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hey John,

Most recently I’ve tried UnVeil and DeVerb unsuccessfully for dialog. If you can pull out the ring, you can hear unpleasant artifacts. I’m guessing it’s because it’s just a bare voice (or two) and that sound is a lot more fragile than reverb on music.

https://www.zynaptiq.com/unveil/

https://www.SPL-USA.com/De_Verb_plugin_p/2986.htm

Adding music and/or sound design are still the best ways I know to mask room ring. I think about this every time I see/hear a Star Trek episode and hear the hum of the Enterprise; a very handy way to cover up low level audio problems and edits.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

John,

I’ve tried a lot of software that claims to reduce reverb and for music they are somewhat successful. On dialog to reduce room ring, they are not. The only thing that was mildly effective was a six band system designed for Disney by George Massenburg for noise reduction.

He didn’t design it for reverb reduction, but in my review of it, it worked pretty well.

So, multi band expander/gates, which I’m guessing are what he was on to, seem to work to some degree without artifacts.

Regards,

Ty

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