AT4073a Dropouts? Levels Flucuate

D

danmckinney

Member
Okay so Ive been shooting a lot of high school football lately and my shotgun mic isnt doing so well. The first couple days I noticed the wind was bad and my levels were too unconstant because the wind would cut through the sound. I got a rycote softie and now Im expirecing the same thing. Ill get good levels but while Im moving with the camera the sound will drop really low for a second and then pick back up. I dont know wheather it has to do with the roll off switch or because the wind screen isnt working, or the mic is broken. I have a short sound clip if anyone could please give me some feedback on what is wrong.
 
Do you get the same results if you record something indoors? I'm guessing that somehow the wind is still hitting the mic (maybe up the back of the softie?). I much prefer full blimps to eliminate this possibility, but I would recommend you try recording something with just the mic indoors to see if you still have the problem.

Another problem I had with my old 897 was if I moved it too fast, it would give me a "drop out". Never did track down why, just stopped swinging it fast. Could this be a problem?

HTH,

Phil
 
Dan,
I use a 4073a outdoors and find that a softie only works in mild wind conditions. I can certainly have drop outs when a gust comes along. Usually the drop outs are accompanied by some mic rumble which easily identifies them as wind induced. But a lowering in signal level strikes me as odd. Are you using an automatic level control on your camera input? If so, then what may be happening is that the mic rumble is triggering the ALC to momentarily lower the level. What camera are you using?
-Dan
 
Im using a dvx100b and yes I am moving the camera around, but its wierd I find when theres a steady conversation the mic level is balenced and fine. However if there are other sounds going on: ie someone tackling another player while the coach is yelling the levels drop and pick back up. its almost like the shotgun is having a hard time focusing on one specific source for the sound. Please tell me if any of this makes sense
 
Sounds like ALC but I am pretty sure the DVXb didn't have this. Someone with DVXb correct me if I am wrong. Are you running the mix through a mixer?

A softie is not going to work in anything but the slightest of winds.

Cheers
 
Some limiters sound like this and ALC sounds like this. Neither is related to the mic, check the camera or mixer. THe Marantz PMD671's limiter works this way (one reason I use the MixPre as a front end).
 
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