advice SQN 5S mixer, 2 wireless lavs and a boom at DVinfo.net

Thomas Berg Petersen · March 14th, 2007, 01:53 PM

I have a gig tomorrow and I am going to be doing sound, and I am not too familiar with the SQN 5S field mixer.

Most of the day there will only be two actors, so I will be running 2 wireless lavs on input ch1 and ch2 into the mixer and then feed the camera with the output ch1 and ch2 from the mixer.

But there is a scene where there are two other speaking actors in addition to the two main cast where I will need to boom them. I was thinking on attaching the boom on input ch3 in the mixer.

So my question is: How do I set up the SQN so I mix the two wireless lavs on output ch1 and run the boom to output ch2?

Thanks for your quick response.
Thomas

Vincent Rozenberg · March 14th, 2007, 02:16 PM

You can select that on the mixer with switches, so lavs on channel 1,2 on the mixer, directed to left/channel 1 out. And the Boom on channel 3 on the mixer, directed to right/channel 2. This is how all field mixers work basically.

Thomas Berg Petersen · March 14th, 2007, 02:58 PM

I know that this is one of the basic features of a mixer. But on this particular one, I am not sure where these switches are.

On the back on the mixer there are some panning switches. I wonder if they are the ones you are talking about?
Thomas

Vincent Rozenberg · March 15th, 2007, 01:26 AM

Yep, it's on the back. And there's a explanation written on it as well. See this pic if it isn't on yours:

http://www.sqn.co.uk/L5Sbase.html

Thomas Berg Petersen · March 15th, 2007, 07:43 PM

Thank you guys for your advice. It helped a lot.
I just wanted to let you know how it went down.

I sat the camera audio levels to 20db for my Mixer tone.

Of course when you are on a set with four talking actors, things changed in the last minute. For the the wide master shot, I decided to wire them all up using our old EV100 wireless which I believe used a Shoeps MK4. But regardless I mounted the mics on talent, I heard a lot of clothes noise, which was beyond use. I tried to use a little gaffa cup to protect the clothes interfere with the mic but nevertheless it didn't work.

So I would of course be interested in other microphones which are smaller and better for this kind of job. But perhaps it comes down to experience and of course have the right mics with you depending on the talents clothes. For example there was an actor with suit and tie, and his wireless mic was fine.

When we punched in I simply discared the wireless lavs and used a boom instead which gave great sound.

In the first couple of shots, I couldn't get the 2 camera XLR inputs to accept LINE, so I choose Mic which seemed to work. Of course two takes later I found out that the harness had switched the knob in the back of the SQN mixer to I/O or Mic out put. So I changed it back to LIne and then of course the camera took LINE.

I must admit I am very disappointed with the wireless lavs. It all come down to the microphone perhaps and how experienced you are setting it on talent. But the sound I got was a nightmare.

With the wireless lavs I did manage to use the back side of the SQN 5S to manage the mixing of what input goes out to what out put. So thanks for the posts all!!! But when I used the book, I cloned the mono signal into both Cameras XLR inputs.

This is just meant as a little info from a not so experienced production sound mixer.

Thanks again.
Thomas

March 14th, 2007, 01:53 PM	#1
Thomas Berg Petersen Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: NYC, NY Posts: 111	advice SQN 5S mixer, 2 wireless lavs and a boom I have a gig tomorrow and I am going to be doing sound, and I am not too familiar with the SQN 5S field mixer. Most of the day there will only be two actors, so I will be running 2 wireless lavs on input ch1 and ch2 into the mixer and then feed the camera with the output ch1 and ch2 from the mixer. But there is a scene where there are two other speaking actors in addition to the two main cast where I will need to boom them. I was thinking on attaching the boom on input ch3 in the mixer. So my question is: How do I set up the SQN so I mix the two wireless lavs on output ch1 and run the boom to output ch2? Thanks for your quick response. Thomas __________________ Thomas

March 14th, 2007, 02:58 PM	#3
Thomas Berg Petersen Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: NYC, NY Posts: 111	I know that this is one of the basic features of a mixer. But on this particular one, I am not sure where these switches are. On the back on the mixer there are some panning switches. I wonder if they are the ones you are talking about? Thomas __________________ Thomas

March 15th, 2007, 07:43 PM	#5
Thomas Berg Petersen Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: NYC, NY Posts: 111	Thank you guys for your advice. It helped a lot. I just wanted to let you know how it went down. I sat the camera audio levels to 20db for my Mixer tone. Of course when you are on a set with four talking actors, things changed in the last minute. For the the wide master shot, I decided to wire them all up using our old EV100 wireless which I believe used a Shoeps MK4. But regardless I mounted the mics on talent, I heard a lot of clothes noise, which was beyond use. I tried to use a little gaffa cup to protect the clothes interfere with the mic but nevertheless it didn't work. So I would of course be interested in other microphones which are smaller and better for this kind of job. But perhaps it comes down to experience and of course have the right mics with you depending on the talents clothes. For example there was an actor with suit and tie, and his wireless mic was fine. When we punched in I simply discared the wireless lavs and used a boom instead which gave great sound. In the first couple of shots, I couldn't get the 2 camera XLR inputs to accept LINE, so I choose Mic which seemed to work. Of course two takes later I found out that the harness had switched the knob in the back of the SQN mixer to I/O or Mic out put. So I changed it back to LIne and then of course the camera took LINE. I must admit I am very disappointed with the wireless lavs. It all come down to the microphone perhaps and how experienced you are setting it on talent. But the sound I got was a nightmare. With the wireless lavs I did manage to use the back side of the SQN 5S to manage the mixing of what input goes out to what out put. So thanks for the posts all!!! But when I used the book, I cloned the mono signal into both Cameras XLR inputs. This is just meant as a little info from a not so experienced production sound mixer. Thanks again. Thomas __________________ Thomas

March 14th, 2007, 02:16 PM	#2
Vincent Rozenberg Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Posts: 475	You can select that on the mixer with switches, so lavs on channel 1,2 on the mixer, directed to left/channel 1 out. And the Boom on channel 3 on the mixer, directed to right/channel 2. This is how all field mixers work basically.

March 15th, 2007, 01:26 AM	#4
Vincent Rozenberg Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Posts: 475	Yep, it's on the back. And there's a explanation written on it as well. See this pic if it isn't on yours: http://www.sqn.co.uk/L5Sbase.html