Boom pole + xlr cable suggestions.

[Wayne Brissette]

Originally Posted by Marco Leavitt

Bob, those are nice looking poles.

A local mixer bought one recently, I really like it. If I ever have a need for another pole, the Loons are on my short list of poles to look at.

Wayne

[Steve House]

Planning on getting a 12 foot Loon (Dat's one big honker of a boid!) this week if something else doesn't break on the car - unexpectedly needed a new muffler yesterday :( I'll post a review when able.

[Sacha Rosen]

I use a ambient 4140, I prefer to have a longer pole (16 footish) because I find I need that extra reach. You can always make the pole shorter but not longer. So for your 1st pole go longer, then get a shorty later.

[Spencer Dickson]

So I am looking at getting a K-Tek KE110CCR. I would get a carbon fiber model, but budgetary reasons prevent it. Are any other peripherals I should get besides cables? I was told they make adapters you plug into mixers so that you connect cables to the adaptor instead of the mixer, thereby preventing wear on the mixer, but I don't know what they are called. Also, a guy I talked with mentioned I purchase I sort of short, cloth jacketed xlr cable that connects to the mic, and then has the normal xlr cable attach to it. Supposed to lessen handling noise or something.

[Marco Leavitt]

This?

http://www.ktekbooms.com/products.php?id=53

Adds seven inches and doubles as a handgrip. Personally, I've never needed a handgrip, so I'm a little dubious about that. Just seems like extra weight to me, but I've never used (or seen) one, so take that for whatever it's worth. I think the idea of the second section of cable is to prevent any vibration noise coming from downstream on the cable. Never felt that it was needed (and I have that same pole you're looking at, except for the side adress), but who knows what I've been missing. Anybody ever use one of these things? Biggest handling noise issues I deal with are at the shockmount. I've actually banged that pole (aluminum and all) on the inside of a doorway and had the editor not even notice. I did, but still pretty impressive for a budget pole like that.

[Spencer Dickson]

That wasn't it, no. Hmm. Thanks for trying to find it though. I know my description was vague.

Anyone heard of Digiflex cable? That is what they sell at Lorne Lapham in Vancouver, the place I am thinking of getting my boom from.

[Ngo Vinh-Hoi]

Hi Spencer,

I really wouldn't worry too much about connector wear & tear on your MixPre. I've had one for 5 years and it's built like a tank. You can always provide strain relief by hooking a carabiner or velcro loop to your mixer bag and suspending any excess cable through that. Having said that, I generally use a 7' coiled jumper cable from my boompole to my mixer--less chance of getting tangled up in dangling cable. Here's one from Remote Audio, but plenty of other companies make them as well:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...LR_Jumper.html

Again, I definitely recommend an ENG breakaway cable for the mixer to camera connection for the reasons mentioned in my previous post on this thread. Remote Audio, PSC and Canare all make good ones that run about $200-$225 US.

Yrs,

Hoi

[Spencer Dickson]

What exactly is an eng breakaway cable?

So I should get a coiled jumper cable, a longer xlr to attach to that and the mixer, then an eng breakaway cable to run from the mixer to the cam?

[Marco Leavitt]

You need the breakaway cable most of all.

http://www.trewaudio.com/store/produ...&cat=13&page=1

Don't skimp either. Get the 25' extension too:

http://www.trewaudio.com/store/produ...&cat=13&page=1

Worth every penny. I promise you.

[Ngo Vinh-Hoi]

Hi Spencer,

Marco's definitely pointed you to the right breakaway cable for your MixPre. If you look at the photo, the end with 3 connectors goes into your mixer--1 XLR left channel out, 1 XLR right channel out, 3.5mm stereo male mini plug to the tape return jack. The 4 connector end goes to your camera--1 XLR L, 1 XLR R, 3.5mm stereo-M plug to the headphone jack to send a return signal to the mixer and the 3.5mm stereo-F jack so that the camera op can still monitor audio as well. About 3' from the camera end there's a quick-release connector (visible at the bottom of the photo) that allows the camera op to quickly disconnect so that he/she can change camera positions, etc. with minimum fuss. Much easier than running 2 separate XLRs and an unshielded headphone cable! Plus as Marco points out, it's really easy to add extensions if needed.

Caveats about using the camera headphone jack for confidence monitoring:

A) Make sure that the headphone jack volume is actually turned up enough to send a return signal--some shooters I've worked with get lazy about audio monitoring when working with an sound recordist and actually leave the headphone volume all the way down unless reminded otherwise.

B) On many cameras, the headphone jack is pre-record, which means you at least know that the audio signal is reaching the camera, but it still doesn't tell you what the final recorded audio sounds like.

As for how everything hooks up, here's what I usually do when I'm booming and mixing:

Short shotgun mic-->boompole w/internal XLR cable-->coiled 7' jumper cable-->mixer-->breakaway cable-->camera

No need for anything between the boom pole and the mixer in this scenario but the coiled XLR jumper....

Yrs,

Hoi

[Spencer Dickson]

I have been told that internally cabled booms, especially when made of aluminum, can have more handling noise, so I may get one that is externally cabled. What is the sound-chain like for an externally cabled boom? Mic>coiled jumper>mixer?

[Marco Leavitt]

It's possible to get a rattle if you handle the pole roughly, but in practice it's a non-issue. I've never had a blown take over it. Some people prefer externally cabled poles, but they can be way more difficult to manage. Depends on your style I guess.

[Spencer Dickson]

Marco, I ordered those cables from Trew...to avoid having to look elsewhere. Thanks for saving me time. I ordered a K-Tek KE 110 and a twenty five foot XLR from Lorne Lapham. Thanks guys. I wouldn't have made a purchase this quickly without your advice. I would be flying blind without this forum, given my lack of technical gusto. Haha.

[Chris Swanberg]

I've had an interesting relationship with boom poles. Built my own painters pole boom.... relativelycheap, but subject to handling noise greater than whatI expected. used a non internally wired Gitzo carbon fibre... love at first sight. Bought a Gitzo internally wired aluminum pole on E-bay relatively cheaply.....discovered that: a) aluminum poles are not as bad as my painters pole experience might have suggested. b) Gitzo makes a quality pole it seems. c) internally wired poles are more convenient and frankly the allegations of increased noise from internally wired poles are not being born out on my use. Not sure if this helps, hope so.

[Shahryar Rizvi]

Hey guys, I've just purchased (well offered to purchase, let's hope the seller hasnt sold yet) a used K-tek 110CCR. I was in debate between this and the Rode boompole and felt the price difference between the new Rode Boompole and the price I Was getting the K-tek for was not large enough to justify getting the "better" K-tek.

The seller was the same person who I bought my XH-A1 from last week. Prior to owning this XH-A1, I had been using a Sony HC1 for a couple of years. Now, I'm looking forward to getting more serious about video production.

I plan to mainly recording stand-up comedy around the DC area but also would like to get started on some short film projects. I hope the boom pole will be a good addition to what I personally have (the two cameras mentioned, a Sony MZ-RH1 Hi-MD Minidisc recorder, and an AT-822) plus what others who work with me will have.

A lot of posts in here in regards to the K-tek caught my eye:

Originally Posted by Shaun Roemich

I've just purchased a K-Tek 110CC (Internally wired) Avalon (aluminum) that I love and spec'd a K-Tec 110 Carbon Fibre at my former 9 - 5. I like these poles for MY application which is documentary video and not filmmaking. My audio guy likes the weight and the reach (even on the aluminum, the weight is quite manageable at 110") and I liked the cost effectiveness of the aluminum pole.

Again, everyone will have their own preference and budget. The K-Tek fit both of mine.

Glad to hear this. The first project I'm planning on working on will be mockumentary so hopefully the K-tek will work well for me too.

Originally Posted by Andrew Dean

...
So about your question, I bought the ktek 10' internally wired aluminum avalon. And, its "ok". The glue at each joint is lumpy and unsightly, and for one joint caused a "catch" when the pole was closed until i took a file to it. (pretty!). They were sold out of the side exit model so i bought a rear exit, thinking i could swap it out later... but the xlr on the pole is glued on. Having the internal wiring is cool, but the xlr dangling from the top takes a bit of care during transport and you absolutely need both hands and a leg or two to extend the pole fully, due to the internal coiled cable wanting to spring the pole shut again.

If I had to do it over, i'd absolutely get side exit (everybody that uses the pole tries setting it down on the ground on the xlr connector) and I'd put the money i spent on the internal cabling into a longer, lighter, probably carbon fibre pole.
...

Bummed to hear the negatives on the Aluminum K-tek from you. Well, at least I got the side exit part down with my CCR purchase.

Originally Posted by Shaun Roemich

The weight difference on the K-Tek Avalon 110 versus the 110 Carbon fibre is 100g (about 1/4 pound). To me, that's nothing. As well, I PERSONALLY would never go with a pole that wasn't internally cabled. Too much cable management for my liking (but I am a bit of a klutz...)

Good to hear that the weight difference is not too bad in your eyes. The price of a new carbon fiber vs. the price of the used Ktek Aluminum 110CCR was pretty high so the carbon fiber was really no option for me.

Originally Posted by Ngo Vinh-Hoi

...

K-Tek's aluminum poles are just fine and very cost effective though. I've bought 15 internally-cabled ones for my university and they've stood up very well to student use and abuse other than a tendency for the cables to get kinked, which can prevent you from fully collapsing the pole.

Yikes, I'll have to look out for this.

Originally Posted by Ngo Vinh-Hoi

...
Regarding XLR cables, just make sure that they're "Star-Quad" 4-conductor cables for less susceptibility to electrical and RF interference. Canare, Mogami and Belden are all fine, with Neutrik or Switchcraft connectors as mentioned by other posters. Any sound house can make you custom cables in your choice of length and colors if what you want isn't already hanging in their display. ...

This is where I wonder what else I will need. There's a lot of discussion on ENG breakaway cables. I don't have a mixer right now - prob can't make that purchase and everything that goes with it for a while. I was just planning on recording with the boom pole either to my MZ-RH1 Hi-MD or to my XH-A1 (hmm.. could I even use my laptop? A 15" 2.2 ghz MacBook Pro?). So what exactly should I get in terms of size and quantity for this (1 cable? 2 cables?)

Sorry for the newbie questions. Like I said, I'm pretty new to this so any advice would be appreciated.