Countryman B6 sound issue......

B

blando3

Well-known member
I recently purchased a hard-wired Countryman B6 for my video work. I got the one with gray sleeve which they advertise as good for most uses.
I did an exterior shoot with it using the HVX and a few interview subjects with slightly more range in their voices had fairly bad audio. It wasn't clipping, but I think it's referred to as overmodulation. Just a loud, unpleasant sound quality that I never get with my wireless Sennheisers (they have other issues). Is there a setting in the HVX I should be aware of? The mic itself doesn't have any controls, although I'm using the 0 DB Flat Response Protective Cap. I also have the +4DB Protective Cap.

Any thoughts on what I should be doing differently?
 
The frequency response caps would make very little difference in level and it's unlikely the mic itself would be overloaded in an interview setting.. even on the high-sensitivity model with loud talkers.
Are there internal software gain settings on the HVX? If so, that could cause the preamps to be over-driven, regardless of the external record volume setting.
Can you explain what you mean by "a few interview subjects with slightly more range in their voices had fairly bad audio".
You say "exterior", are you sure it's not wind noise?.. the B6 does not handle air movement very well. Can you post an audio clip?
 
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I can't post a clip because it's not approved for public viewing yet. It was one subject who had more energy - laughing, talking quiet, talking loud, shouting, etc - but it didn't seem as though it was clipping.
Definitely not wind noise. There's a Mic Gain setting in the HVX setup menu. I had it set to -50 db. Not sure if that was it.

Sorry I can't post anything. When it's public, I will.
 
Only suggestion I can think of without hearing the clip is to find a good level on manual mode. If it's not overmodulating, but sounds like it should, then it's likely on auto, which can generate a crushed sound on louder dialog.
 
I agree with Tyler. But where were the levels set? Are you sure the outbursts didn't clip?

Also.....some mic inputs say they have phantom power, but it's not full 48V DC. If the camera isn't feeding enough total voltage and current to the mic, it will sound distorted. Also Cameras sometimes have wacky settings somewhere down in the menus. Noise reduction, for example, when not needed, can really make a mic sound sucky (a technical term). :)

Regards,

Ty Ford
 
Sounds like a momentary clip to me. The voice is an amazing thing. You can have momentary peaks that are quite a bit higher than average. It's not all THAT bad on my laptop.

iZotope makes a declipper that works pretty well on short moments like this in their audio restoration package.

This is exactly why I use a good mixer with a good limiter. Right now that's a Sound Devices 442. They aren't made anymore, but if you can find a used one, get it, or go with their 552.

Regards,

Ty Ford
 
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