All Things Audio -- topics from 2002 thru 2004

[Mike Rehmus]

I own a Mackie mixer because it is cost effective but not by any means the best out there.

[Gints Klimanis]

Hey, Y'all,

Our Moderator Douglas Spotted Eagle is picture on page 78 of the July 2004 issue of "Electronic Musician" in the article "Look Through Any Window: Seeing sound from the inside out." If you have the issue, check him out.

Gints

[Gale Smith]

I just received the media packet from the Outdoor Channel in hopes of providing them with some wildlife footage. Their audio requirements are that there is no audio recorded on channel 1, only on channel 2. To me, that seems ridiculous. Doesn't that take away the ability of the camcorder to record in stereo? I did some recording only on channel 2, burnt it to disc, and then played it on a friend's dvd player. You could barely hear the audio even when the volume on the tv was turned completely up. Does anyone know why they would have that requirement? If not I will call them on Monday.

[Mike Rehmus]

It seems reasonable. They are going to do something else with the blank channel. TV isn't really stereo for the most part anyway.

If you couldn't hear a single channel, then either your recording or the transfer wasn't done correctly.

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Damn, I didn't even know I was in there, and I subscribe!

[Bob Schneider]

I was wondering if anyone can fill me in on the difference between Sonicfire Pro v.s. the Quicktracks version of the software. I know that Quicktracks is designed as a plug-in for Premiere Pro, but does it have the same features as the Sonicfire Pro version? In other words, if I was using Premiere Pro, should I use the less expensive plug-in version, or is there some benifit to using the more expensive Sonicfire Pro version? Or is there a difference at all?

Thanks in advance.
Bob

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Of course, you'll expect the shotgun to do better, but here is a short clip of one vs the other.
http://www.vasst.com/streaming/mictest.wmv
(This is NOT from the "Now Hear This" DVD)

[Matt Gettemeier]

Thanks for posting that Douglas... clips like this are educational and appreciated.

Beas and I have focused mainly on the sound of one mic or another, but I've thought it would be interesting to demonstrate a particular technique.

Bravo for the multimedia demo!

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/
Looks really interesting, and they claim 60 mph before it needs anything else. They claimed at NAB that it would be shipping in June/July of this year, but I've yet to see anyone review it. (I've asked since April)

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Anyone know of a place to find one of these? I've looked around for a few years off and on, never found a working one. I'm guessing I'm gonna have to find a non-working one and stick something else in it. Mostly for a prop, but would prefer a working one.
If you don't know what they look like, http://www.poupart.com/us/andy/vinta...TurnerS34X.htm

[Troy Tiscareno]

My recommendation for finding less-than-common items like this is to set up an automated search on eBay. It will email you once per day on any day that someone puts up an auction for the item you searched for. I've managed to get a lot of rare and/or obscure stuff this way, though it can take months or even years, depending on the item.

That's a cool looking mic, though.

-Troy

[Gary Randall]

I am looking for any info on audio-technica's wireless mic (ATR288W). Is this a good wireless mic? Anyone out there using it? I will be using it mainly for weddings and sermons. I have used it once and gotten a little static in my recording. The receiver is the Pro 88W/R and the transmitter is the Pro 88W/T

Gary

[Richard Tamayo]

Please tell me if this is correct. Is the SMG-1x able to go wireless?
If this is so would the 41xt, 51xt, wx/t-pro Transmitters work with the SGM-1x? What recievers would work in conjunction? Rather what is the recommendations for these combos do you guys use or have used? Lets say at a distance of 20 feet, I am just punching in a number to get an idea.

[David Ennis]

1. I've seen several references to using walls or windows to somehow tune or augment the performance of a shotgun indoors. Could someone expand on that a little?

2. Maybe I can sneak this question in here so I don't have to betray my ingorance in a subject line: I just can't seem to get the meaning of ENG from context in any of the posts I've read. What does it mean/stand for?

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

ENG= electronic news gathering.

Using a shotgun off of a wall has been discussed here several times, and is variable in results depending on the shotgun, the performance, and the room all working together (or not) to get a better (or worse) sound. Getting a shotgun mic near a wall pointing straight away from the wall, or putting semi-parallel to the wall pointing towards a corner sometimes works wonders in otherwise too-reflective rooms.