All Things Audio -- topics from 2002 thru 2004 at DVinfo.net

David Phillips · February 15th, 2002, 02:54 PM

Hi shooters everywhere.
I have recorded a short interview sequence where the audio level on the speech is fine however, in the background, there is a lot of unwanted noise caused by the wind blowing through the trees. Does anyone have any idea how I can eliminate this noise.
It was recorded as a 16 bit stereo track and I am using FCP3 on a G4
Many regards to all.
David

Chris Hurd · February 15th, 2002, 03:02 PM

Hmm, sounds like a job for the Parametric EQ (in FCP audio filters), but in all honesty this sounds like a very tough nut to crack. Any chance you can re-record it? Find the freqs of the voices and pump them up a notch or two while lowering the overall volume of the clip. Just thinking out loud,

David Phillips · February 15th, 2002, 03:48 PM

Thanks Chris, I'll give that one a try.
No, can't re-record that's too easy.

Ken Tanaka · February 15th, 2002, 04:14 PM

David,
You might also have some luck massaging the sound tracks with Peak DV (which is supplied free with FCP3). It's a dedicated sound crafting app and has a few more facilities than the filter provides. I agree with Chris, however, that this will be a tough problem to fix. I'd bet that the noise comes in waves (with gusts off wind) so any intermitent mitigation might be unfortunately noticeable unless it's applied to the whole track uniformly.

Good luck.

Mark Austin · December 17th, 2002, 11:12 AM

that IS the question...

I'm going to try and and solve the balanced / unbalanced xlr cable run noise quandry once and for all.. I guess I need to know before I actually have to do this at a gig.

I have a 100' x 16 channel audio snake. I'm going to hook up my AT835b condenser to my MA300 on the GL2 at 100' then by daisy chaining the input to output I'll do 200', 300', to 1000' etc. and record the results, Then I'll do the same test with a dynamic mic.

Let me know if you're interested in the results and I'll post the audio clips for everyone's review. Maybe that will clear the air on just exactly what is possible with an unbalanced connection.

One last note: the folks that record symphonic music try not to use transformer balancing, the most common method by far (and the one used in virtually EVERY DV XLR circuit), because it imparts too much of it's own flavor to the signal. They tend to use circuits that are transformerless.

Check out this link for some in depth info on mic pre design & balancing methods from Millenia Media. If you think you are concerned about audio, then you must read this.
http://www.mil-media.com/docs/articles/design.shtml

Scott Silverman · December 20th, 2002, 04:37 PM

I would be very interested in the results. Thanks Mark!

Imran Zaidi · December 24th, 2002, 10:15 AM

I recently picked up a Gitzo G557 fishpole. One of the features of this pole is that though it doesn't come fed with cable, it has 'port holes' for threading the cable yourself.

However, these holes obviously don't accomodate the connectors (the holes aren't wide enough for any XLR connector that I've ever seen). So my question is, what's the point of having the holes in this thing? Is it for expert techs out there who perhaps can feed the cable and then fashion their own connectors?

Anyone fed a cable through a Gitzo before?

Jeff Donald · December 24th, 2002, 12:47 PM

You will need to soldier your own ends. Their are different types of XLR connectors. I have several mics that require what is described as mini XLR connectors.

Jeff

Charles Papert · December 29th, 2002, 03:16 PM

Just picked myself up a Tivoli PAL speaker as I had seen it mentioned on a location audio mixer website. I occasionally need amplified playback on location for one reason or another, and I had never seen a small 12v power speaker that sounded decent for the right price.

The PAL is a gorgeous little unit that has an integrated FM tuner (great quality, and the manual knob is delightfully old-school). It accepts a stereo mini-plug input, has a 3 hr NiMH rechargeable pack inside and sounds unbelievably good. You'll wonder how they got this sort of bass response out of such a small unit, but then again it was designed by audio wiz Henry Kloss. It's rubberized for location use, it's exceptionally solidly built, and comes in a bunch of cool colors. And priced right at $129! Ya gotta love the pricing on consumer-level gear.

Check out:

http://www.tivoliaudio.com/palinfo.htm

The usual disclaimer--I'm not affiliated with Tivoli etc. Just thought you cats might like it.

Dany Nativel · January 21st, 2003, 12:52 PM

I bought a mini-mount + universal shoe carriage + sleeve for the ME66 less than a month ago.

Today I went on their website and discovered a complete new design for the minimount !!!

What happened to the previous one (the one I just got) ?

Is there any issue with the older one ?

I suspect this one to be more cost effective as it doesn't require a sleeve to adapt to the different mics.
[correction] It's probably more cost effective but not cheaper ... went up to $189 !!!

Any information/comparisons for this new mount are welcome because I would feel bad for my very recent purchase if this new design is correcting major issues from the first gen.

Thanks

Dany Nativel · February 5th, 2003, 09:10 PM

I'm suprised that nobody jumped on my post to give me a feedback.

There must be somebody that bought the new design and owned the old one before.

Any comments are welcome !

Chris Hurd · February 5th, 2003, 10:29 PM

I have talked to Thomas Dyer at LWS about their new design, but have not seen it yet. We do need to get a review or comparison up on dvinfo.net -- I'll put this on my agenda.

John Jay · February 24th, 2003, 01:24 PM

I know there are a few headsets out there for cell phones, but is anyone developing a high quality microphone or microphone adapter for BlueTooth transmission?

I have heard Bluetooth is less susceptible to interference plus a notebook USB receiver unit is remarkably cheap

Neil Fisher · February 24th, 2003, 04:44 PM

it's low power so you wouldn't get high quality, and its limited to 30ft.

check out http://www.bluetooth.com and do a search, it's a great web site.

Harry Settle · March 6th, 2003, 08:25 PM

I just got a new Sony minidisk for a backup sound unit. My question is what microphone are you all using? Mono, stereo, mono/stereo adapter etc. I know that it has a stereo mic input, but, someone said I could use a mono mic with a stereo/mono adapter and it would input over both channels.

February 15th, 2002, 02:54 PM	#1
David Phillips Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Norwich Norfolk UK Posts: 112	Audio Problem Hi shooters everywhere. I have recorded a short interview sequence where the audio level on the speech is fine however, in the background, there is a lot of unwanted noise caused by the wind blowing through the trees. Does anyone have any idea how I can eliminate this noise. It was recorded as a 16 bit stereo track and I am using FCP3 on a G4 Many regards to all. David __________________ David Phillips

February 15th, 2002, 03:02 PM	#2
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Hmm, sounds like a job for the Parametric EQ (in FCP audio filters), but in all honesty this sounds like a very tough nut to crack. Any chance you can re-record it? Find the freqs of the voices and pump them up a notch or two while lowering the overall volume of the clip. Just thinking out loud, __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

February 15th, 2002, 03:48 PM	#3
David Phillips Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Norwich Norfolk UK Posts: 112	Thanks Chris, I'll give that one a try. No, can't re-record that's too easy. __________________ David Phillips

February 15th, 2002, 04:14 PM	#4
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	David, You might also have some luck massaging the sound tracks with Peak DV (which is supplied free with FCP3). It's a dedicated sound crafting app and has a few more facilities than the filter provides. I agree with Chris, however, that this will be a tough problem to fix. I'd bet that the noise comes in waves (with gusts off wind) so any intermitent mitigation might be unfortunately noticeable unless it's applied to the whole track uniformly. Good luck. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

December 17th, 2002, 11:12 AM	#5
Mark Austin Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 188	To balance or not to balance... that IS the question... I'm going to try and and solve the balanced / unbalanced xlr cable run noise quandry once and for all.. I guess I need to know before I actually have to do this at a gig. I have a 100' x 16 channel audio snake. I'm going to hook up my AT835b condenser to my MA300 on the GL2 at 100' then by daisy chaining the input to output I'll do 200', 300', to 1000' etc. and record the results, Then I'll do the same test with a dynamic mic. Let me know if you're interested in the results and I'll post the audio clips for everyone's review. Maybe that will clear the air on just exactly what is possible with an unbalanced connection. One last note: the folks that record symphonic music try not to use transformer balancing, the most common method by far (and the one used in virtually EVERY DV XLR circuit), because it imparts too much of it's own flavor to the signal. They tend to use circuits that are transformerless. Check out this link for some in depth info on mic pre design & balancing methods from Millenia Media. If you think you are concerned about audio, then you must read this. http://www.mil-media.com/docs/articles/design.shtml __________________ I'm humbled by the greatness that surrounds me.

December 20th, 2002, 04:37 PM	#6
Scott Silverman Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Cupertino, California, USA Posts: 301	I would be very interested in the results. Thanks Mark! __________________ Scott Silverman Shining Star Digital Video Productions Bay Area, CA

December 24th, 2002, 10:15 AM	#7
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	Gitzo Fishpole and Cable Feeding I recently picked up a Gitzo G557 fishpole. One of the features of this pole is that though it doesn't come fed with cable, it has 'port holes' for threading the cable yourself. However, these holes obviously don't accomodate the connectors (the holes aren't wide enough for any XLR connector that I've ever seen). So my question is, what's the point of having the holes in this thing? Is it for expert techs out there who perhaps can feed the cable and then fashion their own connectors? Anyone fed a cable through a Gitzo before?

December 24th, 2002, 12:47 PM	#8
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	You will need to soldier your own ends. Their are different types of XLR connectors. I have several mics that require what is described as mini XLR connectors. Jeff

December 29th, 2002, 03:16 PM	#9
Charles Papert Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 6,810	All Things Audio -- topics from 2002 thru 2004 Just picked myself up a Tivoli PAL speaker as I had seen it mentioned on a location audio mixer website. I occasionally need amplified playback on location for one reason or another, and I had never seen a small 12v power speaker that sounded decent for the right price. The PAL is a gorgeous little unit that has an integrated FM tuner (great quality, and the manual knob is delightfully old-school). It accepts a stereo mini-plug input, has a 3 hr NiMH rechargeable pack inside and sounds unbelievably good. You'll wonder how they got this sort of bass response out of such a small unit, but then again it was designed by audio wiz Henry Kloss. It's rubberized for location use, it's exceptionally solidly built, and comes in a bunch of cool colors. And priced right at $129! Ya gotta love the pricing on consumer-level gear. Check out: http://www.tivoliaudio.com/palinfo.htm The usual disclaimer--I'm not affiliated with Tivoli etc. Just thought you cats might like it. __________________ Charles Papert www.charlespapert.com

January 21st, 2003, 12:52 PM	#10
Dany Nativel Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Odenton, MD Posts: 106	New Minimount design I bought a mini-mount + universal shoe carriage + sleeve for the ME66 less than a month ago. Today I went on their website and discovered a complete new design for the minimount !!! What happened to the previous one (the one I just got) ? Is there any issue with the older one ? I suspect this one to be more cost effective as it doesn't require a sleeve to adapt to the different mics. [correction] It's probably more cost effective but not cheaper ... went up to $189 !!! Any information/comparisons for this new mount are welcome because I would feel bad for my very recent purchase if this new design is correcting major issues from the first gen. Thanks

February 5th, 2003, 09:10 PM	#11
Dany Nativel Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Odenton, MD Posts: 106	I'm suprised that nobody jumped on my post to give me a feedback. There must be somebody that bought the new design and owned the old one before. Any comments are welcome !

February 5th, 2003, 10:29 PM	#12
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	I have talked to Thomas Dyer at LWS about their new design, but have not seen it yet. We do need to get a review or comparison up on dvinfo.net -- I'll put this on my agenda. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

February 24th, 2003, 01:24 PM	#13
John Jay Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: US & THEM Posts: 827	Bluetooth microphone??? I know there are a few headsets out there for cell phones, but is anyone developing a high quality microphone or microphone adapter for BlueTooth transmission? I have heard Bluetooth is less susceptible to interference plus a notebook USB receiver unit is remarkably cheap __________________ John Jay Beware *PLUGGER-BYTES*

February 24th, 2003, 04:44 PM	#14
Neil Fisher Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Saskatoon SK Canada Posts: 136	it's low power so you wouldn't get high quality, and its limited to 30ft. check out http://www.bluetooth.com and do a search, it's a great web site.

March 6th, 2003, 08:25 PM	#15
Harry Settle Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bemidji, MN Posts: 276	Mic for Sony MZ-N707 I just got a new Sony minidisk for a backup sound unit. My question is what microphone are you all using? Mono, stereo, mono/stereo adapter etc. I know that it has a stereo mic input, but, someone said I could use a mono mic with a stereo/mono adapter and it would input over both channels. __________________ "DOH"!!!