20 Apr
2013
20 Apr
'13
4:51 p.m.
Sorry this is a bit OT, I don't know whom else to ask.
I belong to a martial arts community which produces videos of guest
teachers when we host a seminar. We used to use a lavalier mic on the
teacher's chest. For reasons I don't understand, that practice was
stopped, and the mic was moved to the high ceiling rafter, where it picks
up the whole room. The result is that some of the most revered figures in
our art have had their words lost in the background noise. If I can't
convince those in charge to use the lavalier mic as it's designed to be
used, would a camera-mounted shotgun mic do better? Any suggestions as to
model? Any other suggestions for micing a moving subject 30 feet or so from
a wall-mounted camera?
I will try to get more particulars about the setup. I have noticed 2 XLR
connectors on the camera which are not used. The mic and the camera are fed
separately into the computer, I don't know what happens from there.
Probably uses Final Cut Pro.
Thanks,
Paul
20 Apr
20 Apr
5:58 p.m.
On Saturday 20 April 2013 10:56:30 Paul DeShaw did opine:
Sorry this is a bit OT, I don't know whom else to
ask.
I belong to a martial arts community which produces videos of guest
teachers when we host a seminar. We used to use a lavalier mic on the
teacher's chest. For reasons I don't understand, that practice was
stopped, and the mic was moved to the high ceiling rafter, where it
picks up the whole room.
Probably because the lav got damaged, so they took the cheapest route they
could.
People who make such choices simply do not understand that sound is
attenuated by distance according to the same laws as light in open space.
You can sit down beside a single candle and read your book if careful not
to let the candle wax drip on it. But put that same candle in a ceiling
fixture and it /may/ let you miss stepping on the cat.
What we call shotgun mic's that can be mounted on the camera, and which
have better pickup in that direction are available, are expensive with good
ones ranging from 300-1000 USD, check the Sienheiser(sp?) catalog, and in
my experience as a broadcast engineer over the last 50 years, have an
effective distance of perhaps 6 or 7 feet. The square law still wins
beyond that. They are also very finicky about their operating environment,
you cannot expect them to work when a hand is wrapped around the lengthy
tube body, or when all the little holes in the screen are filled with dried
sweat or spittle. This latter cleanliness is important for any mic.
So my advice is, if they want to produce videos, either get in it and do
the job right, or put the stuff out for a yard sale.
That means using a collar mounted, or even a headset boom mic, (at the
phone or computer store, often cheap enough to throw away when it fails,
AND being prepared for it to get in the way and be damaged AND having
another one just like it in the bag to be handed to the performer on 20
seconds notice at any time the one he/she is using becomes in-operable.
Anything less that that level of preparedness, and the willingness to
finance it, says to me they should get out of the business, they are just
wannabees.
I am not trying to be insulting here, but this is the real world, and
martial arts folks tend not to notice they just ran out of mic cord &
ripped it out of the connectors. So even if they do stay 'in the business
of making videos' they will need somebody on staff capable of opening the
connectors and repairing the connections, during a 10 minute intermission
if needed, or even completely replacing the cabling with longer versions,
and this /assumes/ somebody who really /knows/ how to solder, and has the
soldering tools to do it right.
Soldering is an art form, one I have found I can't teach just anybody to
do. Decent tools to do these repairs will run toward $300. The soldering
iron itself will run from $130 to $250 USD. Suitable razor sharp. /flush
cut/ 4" diagonal cutters, 5" curved nose suture clamps, solder suckers to
clean this up with, small, quality screw drivers that actually /fit/ the
screws, the knowledge to use the correct screwdriver for /that/ screw, even
a good, razor sharp pocket knife will be needed.
The result is that some of the most revered
figures in our art have had their words lost in the background noise.
If I can't convince those in charge to use the lavalier mic as it's
designed to be used, would a camera-mounted shotgun mic do better? Any
suggestions as to model? Any other suggestions for micing a moving
subject 30 feet or so from a wall-mounted camera?
I will try to get more particulars about the setup. I have noticed 2 XLR
connectors on the camera which are not used. The mic and the camera are
fed separately into the computer, I don't know what happens from there.
Probably uses Final Cut Pro.
Thanks,
Paul
Good luck Paul. Somehow, because I have BTDT, BTTS & wore it out, I have a
feeling you will be downwind of the blame for your efforts. Blamed for
spending all that money when they think it should be done for the cost of
the tape alone. (and they'll buy used, "recycled" tape to boot, not a good
deal in terms of PR either) First, they will need to understand the
problem, and then, actually /want/ to solve it. In my experience, they
will either look at the costs to continue and stop doing it, or will get
burnt until such time as the message is finally understood. During that
period, any great amount of harping on the subject will be perceived as
counter productive.
Thanks for wanting to do a professional job at something that, from what I
have seen, is usually done very poorly. You should be saluted for caring.
Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml>
Yow! I want my nose in lights!
A pen in the hand of this president is far more
dangerous than a gun in the hands of 200 million
law-abiding citizens.
6:43 p.m.
Thanks, Gene, for a truly illuminating rant -- the very best kind.
One could replace the specific jargon nouns with words like "task" and
"equipment" and have a great statement to review before starting any
project.
Deciding whether the "it" in question is worth doing properly.
On the other hand, I used to tell my film guys that not having enough
budget can force you to make great films because when you can't afford some
fancy thing you are forced to come up with something else.
But that something has to yield a quality result or you have to keep
thinking.
We didn't ever use tea-kettle steam like Roger Corman, but we always had
him as our ideal.
We won some nice awards along the way.
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 8:58 AM, Gene Heskett <gheskett(a)wdtv.com> wrote:
On Saturday 20 April 2013 10:56:30 Paul DeShaw did
opine:
Sorry this is a bit OT, I don't know whom
else to ask.
I belong to a martial arts community which produces videos of guest
teachers when we host a seminar. We used to use a lavalier mic on the
teacher's chest. For reasons I don't understand, that practice was
stopped, and the mic was moved to the high ceiling rafter, where it
picks up the whole room.
Probably because the lav got damaged, so they took the cheapest route they
could.
People who make such choices simply do not understand that sound is
attenuated by distance according to the same laws as light in open space.
You can sit down beside a single candle and read your book if careful not
to let the candle wax drip on it. But put that same candle in a ceiling
fixture and it /may/ let you miss stepping on the cat.
What we call shotgun mic's that can be mounted on the camera, and which
have better pickup in that direction are available, are expensive with good
ones ranging from 300-1000 USD, check the Sienheiser(sp?) catalog, and in
my experience as a broadcast engineer over the last 50 years, have an
effective distance of perhaps 6 or 7 feet. The square law still wins
beyond that. They are also very finicky about their operating environment,
you cannot expect them to work when a hand is wrapped around the lengthy
tube body, or when all the little holes in the screen are filled with dried
sweat or spittle. This latter cleanliness is important for any mic.
So my advice is, if they want to produce videos, either get in it and do
the job right, or put the stuff out for a yard sale.
That means using a collar mounted, or even a headset boom mic, (at the
phone or computer store, often cheap enough to throw away when it fails,
AND being prepared for it to get in the way and be damaged AND having
another one just like it in the bag to be handed to the performer on 20
seconds notice at any time the one he/she is using becomes in-operable.
Anything less that that level of preparedness, and the willingness to
finance it, says to me they should get out of the business, they are just
wannabees.
I am not trying to be insulting here, but this is the real world, and
martial arts folks tend not to notice they just ran out of mic cord &
ripped it out of the connectors. So even if they do stay 'in the business
of making videos' they will need somebody on staff capable of opening the
connectors and repairing the connections, during a 10 minute intermission
if needed, or even completely replacing the cabling with longer versions,
and this /assumes/ somebody who really /knows/ how to solder, and has the
soldering tools to do it right.
Soldering is an art form, one I have found I can't teach just anybody to
do. Decent tools to do these repairs will run toward $300. The soldering
iron itself will run from $130 to $250 USD. Suitable razor sharp. /flush
cut/ 4" diagonal cutters, 5" curved nose suture clamps, solder suckers to
clean this up with, small, quality screw drivers that actually /fit/ the
screws, the knowledge to use the correct screwdriver for /that/ screw, even
a good, razor sharp pocket knife will be needed.
The result is that some of the most revered
figures in our art have had their words lost in the background noise.
If I can't convince those in charge to use the lavalier mic as it's
designed to be used, would a camera-mounted shotgun mic do better? Any
suggestions as to model? Any other suggestions for micing a moving
subject 30 feet or so from a wall-mounted camera?
I will try to get more particulars about the setup. I have noticed 2 XLR
connectors on the camera which are not used. The mic and the camera are
fed separately into the computer, I don't know what happens from there.
Probably uses Final Cut Pro.
Thanks,
Paul
Good luck Paul. Somehow, because I have BTDT, BTTS & wore it out, I have a
feeling you will be downwind of the blame for your efforts. Blamed for
spending all that money when they think it should be done for the cost of
the tape alone. (and they'll buy used, "recycled" tape to boot, not a good
deal in terms of PR either) First, they will need to understand the
problem, and then, actually /want/ to solve it. In my experience, they
will either look at the costs to continue and stop doing it, or will get
burnt until such time as the message is finally understood. During that
period, any great amount of harping on the subject will be perceived as
counter productive.
Thanks for wanting to do a professional job at something that, from what I
have seen, is usually done very poorly. You should be saluted for caring.
Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml>
Yow! I want my nose in lights!
A pen in the hand of this president is far more
dangerous than a gun in the hands of 200 million
law-abiding citizens.
_______________________________________________
Linux-audio-user mailing list
Linux-audio-user(a)lists.linuxaudio.org
http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user
10:13 p.m.
On Saturday 20 April 2013 15:55:39 Pete Wright did opine:
Thanks, Gene, for a truly illuminating rant -- the
very best kind.
And TBT, rant IS the right word. I thought I was coming on strong, but
there really are times when that balloon needs a pin-prick too.
One could replace the specific jargon nouns with words
like "task" and
"equipment" and have a great statement to review before starting any
project.
Chuckle, would be recommended by Grandpa Gene. ;)
Deciding whether the "it" in question is
worth doing properly.
Precisely the point.
On the other hand, I used to tell my film guys that
not having enough
budget can force you to make great films because when you can't afford
some fancy thing you are forced to come up with something else.
Hopefully better because you can do it in one take.
But that something has to yield a quality result or
you have to keep
thinking.
Absolutely! The average viewer doesn't care if you had to drown 4 litters
of puppies as long as its entertaining him.
Well, we've played with the format, but not drastically because when the
ratings books come out, our news dept was consistently 2 to 5 points better
than the 'other guys'. Part of that back when I was the CE, was because of
a higher level of availability of the gear to 'get the story'. There were
times when I busted ass making sure there were cameras enough to go shoot
at every basketball game that night. Long hours, but then I didn't care if
I was late the next morning either. You do that when you are salaried. ;-)
We didn't ever use tea-kettle steam like Roger
Corman, but we always had
him as our ideal.
Now thats one I never heard about, tell me more, please.
We won some nice awards along the way.
We have a wall or 3 covered with those plaques. In 55 years, they do tend
to accumulate. Impresses the frogs too. :)
Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml>
Timing must be perfect now. Two-timing must be better than perfect.
A pen in the hand of this president is far more
dangerous than a gun in the hands of 200 million
law-abiding citizens.
11:47 p.m.
Three walls of trophies! Whew!
I only got a small broom-closet worth -- where most of them ended up, too.
Was especially proud to get Gold (best in show) with a little educational
film in Atlanta when that fest was still a big deal. “Harry and Tonto” was
the feature that year, and Art Carney bought me breakfast the morning after
the ceremony.
As to Roger Corman, the tea-kettle gimmick was a story he told about an
early sci-fi he did when they ran out of money for special effects. So the
very small model rocket jerked along on a wire through a cloud of
tea-kettle steam. It was B&W of course, and no worse, as I recall, than
some stuff I saw in early Dr. Who episodes.
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 1:13 PM, Gene Heskett <gheskett(a)wdtv.com> wrote:
On Saturday 20 April 2013 15:55:39 Pete Wright did
opine:
Thanks, Gene, for a truly illuminating rant --
the very best kind.
And TBT, rant IS the right word. I thought I was coming on strong, but
there really are times when that balloon needs a pin-prick too.
One could replace the specific jargon nouns with
words like "task" and
"equipment" and have a great statement to review before starting any
project.
Chuckle, would be recommended by Grandpa Gene. ;)
Deciding whether the "it" in question
is worth doing properly.
Precisely the point.
On the other hand, I used to tell my film guys
that not having enough
budget can force you to make great films because when you can't afford
some fancy thing you are forced to come up with something else.
Hopefully better because you can do it in one take.
But that something has to yield a quality result
or you have to keep
thinking.
Absolutely! The average viewer doesn't care if you had to drown 4 litters
of puppies as long as its entertaining him.
Well, we've played with the format, but not drastically because when the
ratings books come out, our news dept was consistently 2 to 5 points better
than the 'other guys'. Part of that back when I was the CE, was because of
a higher level of availability of the gear to 'get the story'. There were
times when I busted ass making sure there were cameras enough to go shoot
at every basketball game that night. Long hours, but then I didn't care if
I was late the next morning either. You do that when you are salaried. ;-)
We didn't ever use tea-kettle steam like
Roger Corman, but we always had
him as our ideal.
Now thats one I never heard about, tell me more, please.
We won some nice awards along the way.
We have a wall or 3 covered with those plaques. In 55 years, they do tend
to accumulate. Impresses the frogs too. :)
Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml>
Timing must be perfect now. Two-timing must be better than perfect.
A pen in the hand of this president is far more
dangerous than a gun in the hands of 200 million
law-abiding citizens.
7:15 p.m.
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 11:58:13AM -0400, Gene Heskett wrote:
Soldering is an art form, one I have found I can't
teach just anybody to
do. Decent tools to do these repairs will run toward $300. The soldering
iron itself will run from $130 to $250 USD. Suitable razor sharp. /flush
cut/ 4" diagonal cutters, 5" curved nose suture clamps, solder suckers to
clean this up with, small, quality screw drivers that actually /fit/ the
screws, the knowledge to use the correct screwdriver for /that/ screw, even
a good, razor sharp pocket knife will be needed.
:-) It's indeed incredible what you find sometimes when opening up
the XLRs on the ends of a failed cable. Big, spherical blobs of tin
on the solder cups, insulation of signal wires destroyed by too much
heat... Not to speak of the rest of the cable. On of the first things
I had to do at the CdM was to replace or remake *all* the cables and
teach the users how to coil a cable after use. I still have a few 10m
long 'telephone handset' cables to show how it should *not* be done...
And some XRL-Fs which had the #1 socket ripped out by someone pulling
the cable... (it *does* take some force to do that)
Caio,
--
FA
A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia.
It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris
and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow)
10:16 p.m.
On Saturday 20 April 2013 16:14:36 Fons Adriaensen did opine:
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 11:58:13AM -0400, Gene Heskett
wrote:
Another voice of experience from having attended the wars, thanks Fons.
Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml>
BOFH excuse #363:
Out of cards on drive D:
A pen in the hand of this president is far more
dangerous than a gun in the hands of 200 million
law-abiding citizens.
Soldering is an art form, one I have found I
can't teach just anybody
to do. Decent tools to do these repairs will run toward $300. The
soldering iron itself will run from $130 to $250 USD. Suitable razor
sharp. /flush cut/ 4" diagonal cutters, 5" curved nose suture clamps,
solder suckers to clean this up with, small, quality screw drivers
that actually /fit/ the screws, the knowledge to use the correct
screwdriver for /that/ screw, even a good, razor sharp pocket knife
will be needed.
:
:-) It's indeed incredible what you find sometimes when opening up
the XLRs on the ends of a failed cable. Big, spherical blobs of tin
on the solder cups, insulation of signal wires destroyed by too much
heat... Not to speak of the rest of the cable. On of the first things
I had to do at the CdM was to replace or remake *all* the cables and
teach the users how to coil a cable after use. I still have a few 10m
long 'telephone handset' cables to show how it should *not* be done...
And some XRL-Fs which had the #1 socket ripped out by someone pulling
the cable... (it *does* take some force to do that)
Caio,
21 Apr
21 Apr
12:44 a.m.
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 04:16:10PM -0400, Gene Heskett wrote:
Another voice of experience from having attended the
wars, thanks Fons.
Another essential tool is a bottle of acetone and earbuds
to clean out the thick layers of soldering flux that some
butchers leave...
Ciao,
--
FA
A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia.
It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris
and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow)
1:50 a.m.
On Saturday 20 April 2013 19:35:33 Fons Adriaensen did opine:
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 04:16:10PM -0400, Gene Heskett
wrote:
Defacto std part of the kit Fons, don't get in the pickup without it. I
made a false assumption that everyone knew it because I did.
But with all the meth labs about, I sure get sideways looks when I haul a
gallon of both that and alcohol to the register at ACE Hdwe. To me they
are just cleaning fluids. And I buy your 'ear buds', aka q-tips, single
ended 6" wooden sticks with a ball of cotton on one end, in 1000 piece
cartons from Sherwood Medical at the pharmacy. Around a tv station, a
carton might last half a year, and the 2 quart cans of solvents I refill
from the gallon cans will get refilled in a couple months each. I never
ever stick a dirty one back in the can either.
We used to use freon TF for tape head cleaning too, but when they started
yelling about the ozone layer, I switched to alcohol, and found that the 2x
a day or better job was only needed maybe once a week when using alky.
What the diff was, I don't know, but it sure cut down on the work, and much
much more importantly, the make-goods because the head clogged up in the
middle of the latest Ford commercial.
Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml>
QOTD:
"When she hauled ass, it took three trips."
A pen in the hand of this president is far more
dangerous than a gun in the hands of 200 million
law-abiding citizens.
Another voice of experience from having attended
the wars, thanks
Fons.
Another essential tool is a bottle of acetone and earbuds
to clean out the thick layers of soldering flux that some
butchers leave...
Ciao, 
22 Apr
22 Apr
11:16 a.m.
On Sat, 2013-04-20 at 22:44 +0000, Fons Adriaensen wrote:
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 04:16:10PM -0400, Gene Heskett
wrote:
I wouldn't clean such jacks, but ditch them.
Another voice of experience from having attended
the wars, thanks Fons.
Another essential tool is a bottle of acetone and earbuds
to clean out the thick layers of soldering flux that some
butchers leave...
11:37 a.m.
On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 11:16:11AM +0200, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
On Sat, 2013-04-20 at 22:44 +0000, Fons Adriaensen
wrote:
Depends. If they are not damaged I'll recycle them into a free pizza.
Ciao,
--
FA
A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia.
It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris
and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow)
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 04:16:10PM -0400, Gene
Heskett wrote:
I wouldn't clean such jacks, but ditch them. Another voice of experience from having attended
the wars, thanks Fons.
Another essential tool is a bottle of acetone and earbuds
to clean out the thick layers of soldering flux that some
butchers leave...
11:57 a.m.
On Mon, 2013-04-22 at 09:37 +0000, Fons Adriaensen wrote:
Depends. If they are not damaged I'll recycle them
into a free pizza.
:)
If I can scrape away a little bit flux it's ok, if not, it depends to
the situation.
You've to measure for short circuit, you have to ensure that the
position of the pins is still ok, to fit to other jacks and you've to
clean them. Seems to be not much time, perhaps 2 minutes only, but it
can become a > 20 minutes job. Miscalculate the time that is needed for
such job happens easily.
2:23 p.m.
On Monday 22 April 2013 07:41:06 Ralf Mardorf did opine:
On Sat, 2013-04-20 at 22:44 +0000, Fons Adriaensen
wrote:
You must have a jack store just around the corner, and a big budget then.
For me, fresh plugs & jacks were 700 miles and 4 days away in Chicago and
the evening news goes to air at 17:00 sharp, the Neutriks(sp) are
expensive, with the gold plated contact models over $5 copy at the time.
So if they weren't broken, they were cleaned up and pin stuck in beside the
female contacts to tighten them up and re-used.
And yes, when I bought them it was in bags of 24 each. Along with 1000
foot spools of Susan Clarks (Clark wire & cable in Chicago) star-quad mic
cable. There is no other like it, soft, pliable /and/ long lasting.
Belden's version is hard shelled, so hard it telegraphs into the connector
and breaks itself off in 10% of the time it takes to break the star-quad.
Quality was recognized it seems, more than once our greenhorn news folks
attended some doings where there were 5 or more other news crews there, and
cable losses during the cleanups after the show seemed to me to be
excessive. More than once they took good mics and cabling and came home
with junk because somebody else beat them to it when picking up their
stuff. And yes, they wore a chewing out for taking a $250 mic & $50 cable
& coming home with a $20 radio shack mic that looked "something" like the
one they took.
That is of course what happens when you are in a market below 160, because
you are a 'school station' whether you like it or not. They spend a few
months working for you fresh out of 'journalism school', and they are
either good enough they are gone on to a bigger market with a bigger
paycheck, or bad enough to be sent back to flipping burgers.
And guess what else I use that same cable for? Because the currents aren't
excessive, 4.2 amps peak, it makes great motor cables for the essentially 2
phase stepper motors that run my cnc lathe and milling machine. Any other 4
conductor + shield(mylar foil shield covered by an 78% braided drain) cable
would have failed from the flexing years ago.
Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml>
When you're dining out and you suspect something's wrong, you're probably
right.
A pen in the hand of this president is far more
dangerous than a gun in the hands of 200 million
law-abiding citizens.
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 04:16:10PM -0400, Gene
Heskett wrote:
I wouldn't clean such jacks, but ditch them. Another voice of experience from having attended
the wars, thanks
Fons.
Another essential tool is a bottle of acetone and earbuds
to clean out the thick layers of soldering flux that some
butchers leave... 
5:44 p.m.
On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 8:23 AM, Gene Heskett <gheskett(a)wdtv.com> wrote:
And yes, when I bought them it was in bags of 24 each.
Along with 1000
foot spools of Susan Clarks (Clark wire & cable in Chicago) star-quad mic
cable. There is no other like it, soft, pliable /and/ long lasting.
Belden's version is hard shelled, so hard it telegraphs into the connector
and breaks itself off in 10% of the time it takes to break the star-quad.
Haven't used Belden's quad, but have you tried out Canare's? L4E6 is
remarkably cheap, as in cheaper than non-quad cable for many things and I
have had very good luck with it here.
I used to save a lot more jacks etc. than I do now. Even on a tight budget
however these days it is often a much better idea for me to get new cables
two-day shipped via Amazon from a knock-off (GLS Audio is remarkably decent
for the price, even with knock off Neutrik connectors) and keep a stash of
Neutrik connectors on hand. I keep spools of cable on hand only if I don't
have time to order the cables so I can put one together in a hurry.
Seablade
23 Apr
23 Apr
2:46 a.m.
On Monday 22 April 2013 11:47:21 Thomas Vecchione did opine:
On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 8:23 AM, Gene Heskett
<gheskett(a)wdtv.com> wrote:
I've heard good things about it, but little experience, and likely none in
the future as I've been retired for 11 years now. So I get to play with
the toys I want to play with. :) How is it for lay there like cooked
spaghetti suppleness?
And yes, when I bought them it was in bags of 24
each. Along with
1000 foot spools of Susan Clarks (Clark wire & cable in Chicago)
star-quad mic cable. There is no other like it, soft, pliable /and/
long lasting. Belden's version is hard shelled, so hard it telegraphs
into the connector and breaks itself off in 10% of the time it takes
to break the star-quad.
Haven't used Belden's quad, but have you tried out Canare's? L4E6 is
remarkably cheap, as in cheaper than non-quad cable for many things and
I have had very good luck with it here.
I used to save a lot more jacks etc. than I do now.
Even on a tight
budget however these days it is often a much better idea for me to get
new cables two-day shipped via Amazon from a knock-off (GLS Audio is
remarkably decent for the price, even with knock off Neutrik
connectors) and keep a stash of Neutrik connectors on hand. I keep
spools of cable on hand only if I don't have time to order the cables
so I can put one together in a hurry.
Seablade
Amazon, which I do occasionally use, did not exist back then.
I did get, I hope, my problems with ebay/paypal cleared up this morning,
but like breeding elephants, lots of kicking and screaming both to get
their attention and to get the proof (it just works) the next time I try to
buy on ebay. Those folks are a certified PIMA to deal with, they never
make a mistake (it says here). If they never make a mistake, then I've got
that famous bridge, now in Sun City AZ for sale...
Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml>
The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any
reward.
-- John Maynard Keynes
A pen in the hand of this president is far more
dangerous than 200 million guns in the hands of
law-abiding citizens.
5:20 a.m.
On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 8:36 PM, Gene Heskett <gheskett(a)wdtv.com> wrote:
I've heard good things about it, but little
experience, and likely none in
the future as I've been retired for 11 years now. So I get to play with
the toys I want to play with. :) How is it for lay there like cooked
spaghetti suppleness?
Not bad at all in all honesty. Not perfect but easily as good as any other
mic cable I have had experience with.
Amazon, which I do occasionally use, did not exist back then.
Yep, I also have a nice supplier for a variety of manufacturers locally to
me, so not going to complain:)
I did get, I hope, my problems with ebay/paypal
cleared up this morning,
but like breeding elephants, lots of kicking and screaming both to get
their attention and to get the proof (it just works) the next time I try to
buy on ebay. Those folks are a certified PIMA to deal with, they never
make a mistake (it says here). If they never make a mistake, then I've got
that famous bridge, now in Sun City AZ for sale...
I avoid ebay and paypal both like the plague, probably for very similar
reasons to what you just experienced.
Seablade
22 Apr
22 Apr
6 p.m.
+1 on the Clarks star-quad. Its just mechanically awesome cable. I
too press it into all sorts of non-audio uses :-)
If only it was cheaper... I'll look at that Canare....
Monty
23 Apr
23 Apr
2:46 a.m.
On Monday 22 April 2013 19:57:06 Monty Montgomery did opine:
+1 on the Clarks star-quad. Its just mechanically
awesome cable. I
too press it into all sorts of non-audio uses :-)
If only it was cheaper... I'll look at that Canare....
Monty
When I found it, quite by accident as Susan mentioned it one day as I was
lamenting the lack of such a cable, as flexible and well shielded as her
type 7559 video cable was, a cable that I have used to replace the about 5
miles of the West Penn stuff that had been built in 3 months before I
walked in the door in 84 to be the CE, and found I couldn't keep the color
subcarrier out of the rest of the system due to the very poor shielding of
the West Penn stuff, so the first runs replaced were the color subcarrier
runs. Which I found once I had started to replace them, I had to replace
the rest as quickly as I could in order to get things back in phase, the
7559 with its foam core was also about 8% faster than the West Penn, with
correspondingly lower higher frequency losses. In the end I had to redo
the DA's too, replacing straight ones with delay adjustable ones before I
finally got it all back on the same phase. With the adjustable DA's, then
I could treat the rest of the cable replacement in groups the individual DA
fed. In the analog days, keeping every input to a 24 wide video switcher
in color phase was damned near impossible, so I finally set myself an
allowable error of 5 degrees, which corresponded to about 4.5 feet of 7559.
Best for my sanity (what little I had the first 3 or 4 years while I was
trying to make a tv station out of the crap I agreed to maintain) that way.
Funny part about tracking the color was that I got half my off color
reports from a color blind operator, who because he needed to, quickly got
as adept at reading the vectorscope as I had been for 25 years already. He
is still there, Director of IT Operations now.
I'm probably boring the list by now, so I'll get me coat. :) Thanks for
reading.
Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml>
<Knghtbrd> If I start writing essays about Free Software for slashdot,
please shoot me.
A pen in the hand of this president is far more
dangerous than 200 million guns in the hands of
law-abiding citizens.
3:12 a.m.
On 23/04/13 02:00, Monty Montgomery wrote:
+1 on the Clarks star-quad. Its just mechanically
awesome cable. I
too press it into all sorts of non-audio uses :-)
If only it was cheaper... I'll look at that Canare....
Monty
+2 for Canare quad cable. We do over 250 gigs a year where I work and
use mainly Canare and most of the leads are many years old. The main
problem we have are the Neutrik XLR plugs wearing out!
Roger
11:04 a.m.
On Sat, 2013-04-20 at 11:58 -0400, Gene Heskett wrote:
$130 to $250
For that task I'm using an Ersa Multitip C25 at home. I only replaced
the default soldering tip with a soldering tip that keeps free of
tinder.
If I have to solder a cable to pot case etc. I've got a second Ersa with
30 W.
To unsolder I'm using desoldering wick.
IOW, don't pay $130 to $250, but $13 to $25 instead. The best soldering
irons I know are from Ersa, but Ersa soldering iron stations are crap.
The best conventional soldering and desoldering iron stations I know are
from Weller, but even a Monacor Weller-fake is much better than an Ersa.
However a soldering station for amateurs is overkill. The best way to
solder is hot air soldering, I never used it, even not when working
professional. If you have to solder a lot beiing an professional, I
agree with a conventional soldering station for perhaps $130 to $250 or
what ever something like a Weller should cost.
IMO amateurs don't need to solder, but it can't harm to learn it and do
it yourself.
Regarding to the microphony I also disagree with Gene, I recommend to
ask an experienced amateur or professional close to you, to take a look
at the room and then to recommend an elCheapo solution.
If what you are doing should be professional, then you should pay an
professional engineer to do the job.
2 Cents,
Ralf
20 Apr
20 Apr
6:30 p.m.
On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 07:51:44AM -0700, Paul DeShaw wrote:
Sorry this is a bit OT, I don't know whom else to
ask.
I belong to a martial arts community which produces videos of guest
teachers when we host a seminar. We used to use a lavalier mic on the
teacher's chest. For reasons I don't understand, that practice was
stopped, and the mic was moved to the high ceiling rafter, where it picks
up the whole room. The result is that some of the most revered figures in
our art have had their words lost in the background noise. If I can't
convince those in charge to use the lavalier mic as it's designed to be
used, would a camera-mounted shotgun mic do better? Any suggestions as to
model? Any other suggestions for micing a moving subject 30 feet or so from
a wall-mounted camera?
The 'pro' solution for such a scenario would be a wireless lavalier
(being 'cabled' is probably not what you want while demonstrating
martial arts), or a semi-gun on a boom. Semi-guns are the ones that
are 35-45 cm long, price range $250..300. Even such a mic will not
produce usable sound 30 ft from the speaker in typical gym acoustics,
so you don't want it on the camera but closer. That means either a
boom + operator, or someone sitting near the edge of the tatami
holding and pointing it. If the speaker doesn't move too much you
could also suspend it pointing down 30 degrees or so towards the
speaker, but clear of the ceiling.
Ciao,
--
FA
A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia.
It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris
and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow)
21 Apr
21 Apr
2:38 a.m.
Lavalier mics are horrible unless a person is sitting still.
Get a head boom mic that goes around the back of the neck and hooks over both
ears. Like this: http://www.fullcompass.com/product/255293.html
Also floor boundry mics are a possibility, though the ability to use them
depends heavily on the layout of the room.
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/297411.html
You can still keep the ceiling mic as an ambience mic.
-Reuben
On Saturday, April 20, 2013 07:51:44 AM Paul DeShaw wrote:
Sorry this is a bit OT, I don't know whom else to
ask.
I belong to a martial arts community which produces videos of guest
teachers when we host a seminar. We used to use a lavalier mic on the
teacher's chest. For reasons I don't understand, that practice was
stopped, and the mic was moved to the high ceiling rafter, where it picks
up the whole room. The result is that some of the most revered figures in
our art have had their words lost in the background noise. If I can't
convince those in charge to use the lavalier mic as it's designed to be
used, would a camera-mounted shotgun mic do better? Any suggestions as to
model? Any other suggestions for micing a moving subject 30 feet or so from
a wall-mounted camera?
I will try to get more particulars about the setup. I have noticed 2 XLR
connectors on the camera which are not used. The mic and the camera are fed
separately into the computer, I don't know what happens from there.
Probably uses Final Cut Pro.
Thanks,
Paul
4235
days inactive
4238
days old
linux-audio-user@lists.linuxaudio.org
22 comments
9 participants
participants (9)
-
Fons Adriaensen -
Gene Heskett -
Monty Montgomery -
Paul DeShaw -
Pete Wright -
Ralf Mardorf -
Reuben Martin -
Roger -
Thomas Vecchione