Boom op a luxury anymore?

"For the last time, there is no such thing as a high quality wireless set up on an indie budget for making narrative film."
Really, are you serious?
Zaxcom has a great line of gear coming out in the next few months that many indie filmakers can afford. You may not want to spend that much money but many others will. The Trx900lt is hard wired (with a microsd built in)/ and wireless. You may think its absurd to purchase, borrow, rent high quality gear (3k a channel ) that will last you for years when one could stick a h4n on the end of broomstick for a super low budget film, I don't.
So you think you can't get great sound with high quality wireless and plant mics/boundary mics for many scenes?
 
I'm sorry, but do you work for Zax?

You're pushing a $3k product (in multiple threads) that's not even out yet, and comparing it to an ultra-cheap recorder used in a way that no one here would ever advise to use it. Most of us here are constantly advising people to rent good gear instead of buying cheap gear, particularly if the advice is for someone who'd not looking to be a sound guy.

No one in their right mind should trust a microSD card as their only recording media. The cards in the new zax recievers are there for backup, nothing more. If that wasn't the case, they wouldn't even bother with a reciver, they'd just put a little recorder box on the person being wired.
 
JordanBlock said:
No one in their right mind should trust a microSD card as their only recording media. The cards in the new zax recievers are there for backup, nothing more. If that wasn't the case, they wouldn't even bother with a reciver, they'd just put a little recorder box on the person being wired.
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Funny you mention that.
They did exactly that with a different model.
ZFR200
 
I don't work for Zaxcom. Point taken. I understand its a backup, I should have been clearer. I was trying to respond to the charge that a low budget film has to have cheap wireless. Renting is a great option for many, no doubt and lectro, audio ltd, sennheiser, sony make make great products.
As far as pushing Zax on another thread. Rippie asked him to do a search that every system had been discussed at length. I hadn't seen any talk about it on dvxuser and I am excited about it . I should have kept quiet as it most likely is not a product suitable for the op.
 
lambert said:
I should have kept quiet as it most likely is not a product suitable for the op.
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Im not ripping on the original poster but when someone says
"Money is an issue, but I'm not considering it cause I was something AWESOME ." [sic]

Its a safe bet they dont have $5500 to drop on a zaxcom 4 channel receiver
and 2 transmitters.

Could I be wrong? sure. Am I? I doubt it.
 
lambert said:
I don't work for Zaxcom. Point taken. I understand its a backup, I should have been clearer. I was trying to respond to the charge that a low budget film has to have cheap wireless. Renting is a great option for many, no doubt and lectro, audio ltd, sennheiser, sony make make great products.
As far as pushing Zax on another thread. Rippie asked him to do a search that every system had been discussed at length. I hadn't seen any talk about it on dvxuser and I am excited about it . I should have kept quiet as it most likely is not a product suitable for the op.
Click to expand...

It's cool, and I agree with you on the renting thing. Too many people with no budget also 'just have to own it' and it definitely impacts their audio quality as a result. I also agree that the new Zax gear does look pretty cool, hopefully I'll get a chance to play with it soon, were you at NAB and able to use it at all?
 
Your right Rippie, I should have saved the info for another thread dealing with top end wireless.
Jordan. No I didn't go to Nab but I hope to make the drive to Nashville and check out the new gear in the next few months. I guess this thread went off the rails a bit (my fault) when I just really wanted to have a discussion of the challenges of using plant/boundary mics and quality wireless for low/micro budget narrative films.
 
So this Trx900lt is considered cheap? And the price is 3,000.00? I can't find a price. I thought you could get a sweet diversity lectro setup for 2 grand.

Not to hijack the thread, because wireless pricing is a factor in the main topic question, but I ask because I have my humble Sennheiser G3 with a Sanken COS11D now that does OK. But I eventually want a nice wireless system (one transmitter and one receiver) as my main unit, with the G3 for backup or 2nd. Is this Trx900lt a step-up, or a step to the top? Is 2,000.00 realistic for stellar wireless sound?

Still with the knowledge that a real wired mic on a boom is best of course.
 
lambert said:
I just really wanted to have a discussion of the challenges of using plant/boundary mics and quality wireless for low/micro budget narrative films.
Click to expand...

I think that's relevant to the question, "Boom op a luxury anymore?". What are the alternatives? What's the best alternative short of a nice wired mic on a boom?
 
"Is 2,000.00 realistic for stellar wireless sound?" Used top end lectrosonics is doable for sure.
One Tx/rx zax is probably gonna run you around 3400. with the new tx.
2 channels will run you 2 tx and one qrx100. $5400. or 2700. a channel, a big drop from what you used to pay.
 
"I think that's relevant to the question, "Boom op a luxury anymore?". What are the alternatives? What's the best alternative short of a nice wired mic on a boom?"
It obviously depends on the scene. 2-3 people at a small table a blm-03 under a loose table cloth could give you excellent results, a small mic either a lav or a 8040 could be placed in a napkin holder, behind a plant,etc. Small lavs, boundary mics(cub-1 or blm-o3) or full sized can be placed in a number of places. Interior of cars you usually place a couple boundary mic or lav on the sun visor or even something bigger. Bathrooms have lots of places to hide mics and many times a boom won't work and a lav on the body is out of the question (make sure to treat the space as much as possible sound blankets, etc).
Is it unrealistic not use a boom op at all? Of course. I don't know what I was thinking starting this thread. Obviously I want every tool possible to record great sound but more and more filmakers are doing personal films that don't always have someone to boom (or in some instances they don't want anybody else involved for various reasons outside of the actors).
 
Luxury? I guess if you consider effective communication to be a luxury. I'd sooner put the camera in a fixed location and boom the audio myself (which I've done) rather than moving the camera and having someone less than focused on sound. Sound is too important to me, and it's been too much of an issue for most of the small budget productions I've seen.

My biggest mistake in starting to do indie video stuff was putting most of my available cash into the picture instead of getting sound right first. Maybe it's just me, but I'd sooner suggest that 24p is a luxury than a boom op and a pole. - Tim
 
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