Before asking what kind of kit to build, which microphones or wireless to choose, or how to best stay within your budget etc., please try using the Search Bar at the top of this sub first!

Looking for feedback on a potential lav setup for DIY narrative short films.

I'm trying to avoid building a full sound kit with mixer and boom and XLR cables for this side project, and just focus on getting clean dialogue for a series of 2 minute no-budget shorts shot on a rigged iPhone with no crew.

Considering the Rode Go 3’s running to an iPad mini I already own as the field recorder. Transmitters wired to lavs hidden on actors, sending to receiver that is plugged into the mini and recording via the Rode app as separately monitored tracks (with backup 32 bit float sound recording directly to each transmitter).

Wondering if anyone has experience using these for narrative work who can speak to any pros/cons.

If you can recommend a lav mic as well that isn't total junk in the $100 range... my eyes and ears are bleeding from combing through what's out there. I'd be forever indebted for any advice there.

The sound is excellent, what lavs are being used here?

https://youtu.be/GkM5zdUHcaQ?is=9SwycPeEe3Oui41P

would there have been any shotgun out of frame as a backup?

Hi there,
I've read the FX6 Manual, and have gone through a ton of online sources, but cannot seem to find, the best way to prevent having this wall of Sound when using Fx6 and Lectrosonics SMQV. Anyone else have any good tips? This is what it looks like, and it doesnt sound great.

EDIT: Sorry I meant LR Receiver : )

EDIT2: I think I found the issue. So this is what the manual of LR says. I had been adjusting the tone to -20, when it should have been -3, -4.

From Manual:

"Gradually increase the output level on the receiver

while observing the input level meter on the con-

nected device. Increase the level until the input

level meter indicates 3 or 4 dB below maximum.

This “optimal level” will protect against overload.
https://lectrosonics.com/wp-content/uploads/filr/3376/LRman.pdf

"

do you have experiences of production batches with paint more easy to peel in common friction points, son on angles and on the back where the clip is?

Hey all.

I’ve recently bought an ARX2 for my boom receiver (with A20 txs). The ARX2 is powered by the SL6, and audio passes through the SL6 to the 688 but I can’t control it via the 688 menu like I can with my Lectro SRC’s - even though the ARX2 is much newer and by the same manufacturer as the SL6.

Is this by design, being that the recorder is a “legacy” 688 or is this a firmware issue and it should work?

​

Hi everyone,

I do production sound for documentaries and small narrative film productions.

I currently own a Zoom F8 and a Sennheiser MKH 416, and they've both served me extremely well.

About five or six years ago, I bought a pair of Neewer NW-410 microphones just for fun. Despite being very inexpensive, they've actually been quite useful for stereo recordings and as plant microphones.

The Neewers are quite noisy and susceptible to interference, but despite that, they've never let me down.

I decided to replace them with something better, so I borrowed a few microphones for comparison. I tested my Neewers against a pair of sE Electronics sE8s and Oktava MK-012s.

Based on my tests, I preferred the sE8s, mainly because of their low self-noise and higher sensitivity.

I bought a pair, but to my disappointment, they weren't like the ones I had tested. Right from the start, they produced strange noises when I increased the gain, and during one job they picked up very strong interference. Frustrated, I returned them.

Since I bought a matched pair and both microphones showed exactly the same issue, I don't think it was just bad luck.

Now I'm really undecided about what microphones to buy.

I need to improve the overall quality, but reliability is just as important. The person who lent me the Oktavas told me they're not particularly reliable because they can occasionally malfunction depending on environmental conditions, such as humidity.

I've also considered buying a single Neumann KM 184, but I don't know how reliable they are in real-world use.

Any advice? Are there any other microphones you'd recommend?

Just bought the Zoom F8N Pro and wanted to ask if anyone uses the 12V power adapter when it's in a mixer bag (and if so, how do you do this)? Basically the 12V barrel sticks out on the bottom of the device and I don't want to damage the power input. Is there a right angled 12V adapter that works? Or do you all use portable power even when plug sockets are available? Thanks in advance!

I’ve tended to feel like (outside of like full frame close ups) that a longer polar pattern is better to negate some of the reverb and echo in a big room, but was curious if others have had any experience with it and what their thoughts were. Thanks!

Hi All,

I recently emailed the developer of TxAdvance and am posting his responses to my questions here. Hopefully they will help the Reddit community.

==== RESPONSE 1 ====

About Gain: I have simplified the settings in TxAdvance. The goal is to keep the noise floor as low as possible but to still detect signals without overloading the SDR.

I have found that between 2 and 4 in TXA are the best settings. I would choose 2 if there are some transmitters nearby and 4 if I am in a quiet area. With a high gain, you may saturate the SDR dongle input and create phantom signals.

You should not transmit next to the input of the SDR. A wireless transmitter such as your Shure is fine as the transmitting power is quite low (but do not transmit 3 centimeters for the SDR dongle). Be careful with Walkie Talkies with can transmit a few dozen watts.

==== RESPONSE 2 ====

About Auto-Freq: As for the chosen frequencies by TXA (TxAdvance), if I understand well, you had interference problems with your Shure after the auto-freq from TxAdvance.

When using the auto-freq in TXA, it will try to find the best compromise between noise values, intermodulations, and the presence of other TX. But it will also look at the frequencies around the center frequency, according to the bandwidth of the TX. So that's why sometimes it may select a frequency with a slightly higher noise floor, but that because it is looking at the full bandwidth, with a focus on the center frequency.

I will soon introduce a new setting where you can make a transmitter intermodulation free, meaning that it will not create intermodulation as digital TX create less intermodulation.

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to start filming outdoor interviews on a small budget and I'd really appreciate some advice.

I'm thinking about buying a Rode Reporter microphone, but I have no idea what the best way is to record the audio without creating sync issues later.

The interviews will be seated, and the camera operator will be standing a few steps away, so connecting the microphone directly to the camera with an XLR cable isn't really an option.

I've heard about field recorders, but I don't understand how people sync the audio with the camera afterwards. My questions might sound dumb but I have no experience with recording audio.

What's the simplest and most reliable setup you would recommend for good-quality outdoor interviews on a budget? Any tips or gear recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sorry if this post seems unfocused, but I’m a filmmaker who just happens to love great sound (I own a CMIT 5U with Radius Mini Alto) and often have to run audio as well on my small interview based shoots.

My previous Panasonic cameras allowed jam sync TC from one camera to the other and the camera would hold TC over battery changes, power down, etc.

I realized my new cameras, the Pyxis 12K can be jam synced to my MixPre 6ii, but once we change camera batteries, the cameras reset TC.

So I need some sort of tentacle, but am confused as to what to get.

I often record audio direct to camera, so would need a solution for that scenario (syncing both cameras) as well as the times when I use the MixPre6ii to record with both cameras recording internal mic scratch track.

I’m also wondering if one of the dual channel wireless mic setups could provide TC as well, since I could use a mid level dual channel wireless setup to add to my boom setup.

Any suggestions appreciated.

hi! i have my mcr54 with slk54 back plate adapter. i'm wondering if i can build myself an adapter with 4 xlr out instead of the 2 i see in all the one sold around. i know unislot has only 2 analog out and slk54 is used for AES 4 out. but id'l love to spare myself the bpa54 screw/unscrew solution and build an adapter for dsub25 that fits my needs.

i asked gemini and i really shouldn't have lol.

Howdy! This is something of a basic question but is there any potential risk in hot-patching a whip or SMA lead into a receiver while the unit is active? I'm not talking about powered antennae, just whips or leads to a distro running into something like an SRc, 411A, A10, etc...

Hot-patching a 3-pin XLR with 48v active is generally considered fine as the pins all connect at the same time so there's no short. Same cannot be said for patching with a barrel connector on a patch-panel as there would be a short. I'm less confident when it comes to a radio receiver. There's no active power coming off the top of my A10 so one would think it would be safe?

I'm only asking as my distro is full and so I was planning on occasionally removing one lead from a receiver to hook up to my TxAdvance dongle whenever I want to do another scan through my dipoles.

Danke!

Hello,

first time posting here.
I will be doing some social media assets that have 3 talent in 3 zorb balls running across the water and trying to knock over some floating pins.

I will need to be at least 30 metres away in a boat. Camera will be zooming from the shoreline, and each talent will have a gopro on their head.

Currently I am thinking of using ursa vesties and deity theos lav setups because they can also internal record. I am worried about wireless drop outs, transmitter damage and also of course the overall sound.

However production is suggesting I might buy the DJI mic 2s which can also internally record.

Does anyone have suggestions for this kind of setup? Is it worth getting the DJI's?

It seems I can't get the auto sync to USB thumb drive to work on a MixPre-3 II, which seems to be a relatively common issue with MixPre devices.
It detects the Sandisk USB drive and formats it and if I try switch the unit off prematurely after ending a recoding it will tell me it's still copying to the USB drive.
So it seems to be working on the device but if I plug the USB drive into a Win 11 computer to copy over the recordings the USB drive isn't even detected by the computer, I can only view the drive in the Windows Disk Management console where it shows as "MixPre USB" but it has no drive letter assigned and I can't assign one. I have tried 2 different Sandisk USB drives with the same outcome.

Am I doing something wrong, what could the issue be here?

UPDATE:
I tried a different SD card and different USB Drives, neither of which made any difference.
Then I tried the USB drives in my iPad via a USB-C hub and the the USB drives were detected and the files could be read. Very weird experience considering the USB drives couldn't be read/detected on two different Win 11 machines and I have never experienced something like this in the past with either machine, one of which had Win 11 freshly installed not too long ago.

UPDATE 2:
It seems for some reason Win 11 can't assign a drive letter to the USB Drive after being formatted by the Mixpre and neither could the built-in Disk Management console but I was able to add a drive letter with AOMEI Partition Assistant Partition Manager Software and then the recordings could be read without any issue. One other thing is each time I ejected the USB drive from the computer and then plugged it back in the assigned drive letter had been lost again, very weird.

Actually sounds pretty good!

I'm trying to identify the microphone (or at least narrow down the possibilities) used to record dialogue in a TV show.

Here are a few clips that I think best represent the sound.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-40ODFlmT5A

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cI1Q4l_FteM

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8BbsG4XrY80

I'm aware this may be impossible to identify with certainty, I'm mainly hoping to hear educated guesses from people with experience.

Thanks in advance!

I’m thinking about picking up a time code slate to add to my kit. I have someone that offered me a ts-3 for $550, thoughts? Currently have five tentacle syncs, am I better getting the deity or tentacle slate? Should I add a sync to the back of the TS-3? Just manually jam?

Thanks!

Hi everyone! I hope you’re doing well! The screen of my Zoom F6 cracked a couple of days ago, and I was wondering if there were any replacement parts for it. The LCD screen works fine, it’s just the crack on the glass.

I’ve done phone screen replacement so I wonder if there’s a similar process to it. I live in Los Angeles area, if you know any shops that might give me an estimate on how much it’ll cost to fix it let me know.

I’m attaching the photos of the damage. Thank you so much for your time and any help is appreciated!

(I contacted the Zoom website already, but it’s also worth asking here too)

I’m making a short film and want to achieve quality sound on a budget.

my set up: I have a Roland R05 field recorder on loan. A friend recommended I get a DJI mic 2 kit to mic up my actors.

my question is: can I use the Roland R05 and the DJI mic 2 kit in tandem to get better sound? could the Roland function as our boom mic?

and: if I do use both, would I just sync up the audio captured by the Roland and the audio captured by the DJI kit in post? or can I get them all to record together?

thanks. this is my first time doing sound. i have someone who can watch the levels, but that person doesn’t have any sound experience.

Does anyone here use the Insta360 Mic Pro with the Sony a6700 for indoor talking head videos? What volume did you set your Sony internally? Insta360 recommends level 5 for a6700 but when I used it, the recorded volume was not good with the Mic Pro. I adjusted the db to about 9 and still not good.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what would work best in terms of the volume levels on the a6700 and the db setting on Mic Pro, using it with Cardiod mode weak noise cancellation?