[Ty Ford]

Joe,

Loudness (apart from sheer volume) is a function of RMS to peak ratios. Here in the US, radio broadcasters in particular like to mash the audio with compressors and limiters to make it as loud as they can. Production companies making commercials for radio and TV and music companies do the same.

You can tell a track has been compressed by looking at it on the timeline. The denser the section, usually, the more it has been processed. This means that two pieces of audio with the same peak values can have very different loudnesses. Because there is no standard, if you’re just mixing audio from different sources just by levels, the apparent loudness may be all over the place.

Dolby has a piece of software that you may find helpful.
https://www.dolby.com/professional/pro_audio_engineering/dolby-media-meter-overview.html

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

Hello Joseph and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

I think what it means is you need a Dolby LM 100, or read up on one.
https://www.dolby.com/professional/pro_audio_engineering/lm100_01.html

Discovery runs all submissions through it and if they don’t make the specs, they kick the project back.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

Hello William and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

Rule #1 for location audio is….always listen, with a good set of headphones. The Sony MDR 7506 are industry standard. They are you first line of defense against crappy audio.

Stuff can happen at any time during an interview, and if you’re not listening, you’re great work can end up unusable.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

[John Livings] “If I understand everyone, Plugging a Balanced plug into an Unbalanced Input/Output (On Most Newer Equipment) will not cause any problems, But will not cause an unbalanced circuit to become balanced by plugging in a TRS plug. “

Pretty much, John! Except for every 5th wednesday. 🙂

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

and that’s fine, Sam, but in some older circuitry, using TRS plugs in TS jacks doesn’t work very well. So don’t toss your TS cables.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

[John Livings] “I am guessing the bottom line line is to use a balanced cable regardless of the 1/4” jack being TRS or TS. “

John,

There are “smart jacks” that can handle TS or TRS, but with TS you have the same problems I mentioned. So to refine your thought, use balanced connections (indicating balanced jacks and balanced cables) for best results.

The argument in favor of XLR connectors over TRS connectors is that XLR connectors provide a greater area of contact than do TRS connectors. Many XLR connectors also lock in, making the connection more secure.

The argument in favor of TRAS is that you can fit more on a panel. I also try to use only TRS plugs with metal housings to increase the effectiveness of the shielding. Plastic housings obviously don’t shield.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

Hello John and welcome back to the Cow Audio Forum.

Balanced is better for several reasons.

Balanced uses two signal wires surrounded by a separate ground mesh conductor.
Unbalanced uses one signal and one ground mesh conductor.

The mesh protects the signal wires from external interference.
The two signal wires are twisted around each other in such a way as to promote cancellation of interference that does get through the ground mesh. You’ll see this as CMR or common mode rejection.

In addition, having two signal wires results in a +6dB increase over a one signal wire (unbalanced) configuration.

So, less interference AND more signal.

Due to the increasing use of personal electronic devices, RF pollution has become a real problem. Neutrik has developed a more resistant XLR connector for balanced connection. The XLR has more complete shielding and contains components to block interference from getting into the signal.

https://www.neutrik.com/us/en/audio/204_1603252336/EMC-XLR_Series_productlist.aspx

Over the past two years, Audio-Technica has redesigned its line of industrial audio components to deal with the problems of increased rf pollution from personal electronic devices.

Having said all that, if it’s working for you, fine. But now you know……the rest of the story. Gotta say, a mixer with only TS unbalanced outputs….not a professional rig.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

Adam,

Yes, something’s not right.

Regards,

Ty

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[Ty Ford]

Hello Adam and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

As Sam suggests, the green light remaining on means you weren’t losing power. I’m guessing the receivers were being hit by some other signal, or perhaps you have an intermittent antenna problem.

Check to see if rechargeable batteries were used. That can cause problems with some systems when the batteries go below operating voltage. The unit loses power. Then they can be powered back up for short periods, after which they will drop power again.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ty Ford]

[Rob Neidig] “That Behringer and Nady equipment you are considering will pass the sound to your recorder. Both brands, however, make gear that is not of the highest audio or build quality and tends to wear out quickly. You are going to be recording audio that is being used in somebody’s trial. It matters – a lot. You are being fairly well compensated for recording this depo, right? If not, you should be. And the attorneys are all charging $150 an hour and up to be there. If your witness is a doctor or other “expert witness”, they may be charging $300 and up per hour to be there. Do you really want to use bargain basement gear that sounds crappy and might fail in that situation? If you’re going to be a professional, buy professional gear. Hope that’s not too harsh, but you’ll appreciate it in the long run.”

Hello Adrian and welcome to the Cow AUdio Forum.
Adrain’s such a cool name. How did you come by it?

Rob and I agree. I’ll pose my concern differently. Say you were a suspect in a murder trial. Would you be looking for the cheapest lawyer you could find?

Regards,

Ty Ford

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